2/28/2023 0 Comments Life of delta pilot![]() ![]() I made some lifelong friends from that group and several of us are now fellow pilots with Delta. I did my best to fit in with the other students and to just be “one of the guys,” but at times, I felt isolated. Air Force’s pilot training program?Ĭook: My classmates were accepting of me, but it was still hard being the only woman in my section. I said, ‘Yes, my bags are packed! When can I leave?’ That moment, my life changed completely.ĭNH: What was it like as one of the only women in the U.S. A new program had crossed his desk for pilot training of five women with no prior experience. Three months passed, and the recruiter called me back, asking if I was still interested. However, I knew in my heart that I wanted to be a pilot, so I stuck to my guns and turned down the opportunity. ![]() He explained that they were only training women who already had military experience, but I could become a navigator instead. I think he was more amused by me than anything. I was instantly intrigued and captivated, so I got up my courage and decided to talk to an Air Force recruiter about pilot training. One day I came across a newspaper article that said the military was putting women through flight training for the first time. Flying lessons were $38 an hour, so it took 19 hours of work for just one hour of flying. It wasn’t until I was in college when I thought, ‘I’m going to take flying lessons and get my license.’ĭNH: How did you decide to take your aviation skills to the military?Ĭook: While I was taking lessons, I was also putting myself through school, making $2 an hour plus tips as a waitress – it was 1979. But at the time, flying was a completely male-oriented career. We would build them together from kits, put a motor on them and then go out and fly them. I became interested in flying through my dad’s collection of model airplanes. If there was anything to drive or ride – motorcycles, cars, boats – I was on it. Now, Cook is living out her dream as an L.A.-based-Delta pilot, and in the coming months, she will be featured in Women Veterans Alliance’s “What Does a Woman Veteran Look Like – Ten Women Answer the Question, Volume 2.” Delta News Hub talked with her about being a pioneer for women in aviation and how she got to where she is today.ĭelta News Hub: What first spurred your interest in aviation?Ĭook: Growing up, I was always active and loved the outdoors. ![]() She would later become one of the first women to fly combat missions, in Operation Desert Storm. As a result, she was one of the first civilian women to complete U.S. Air Force, putting her on a path she had never imagined possible – becoming a pilot. Then, when an unexpected opportunity arose, Cook changed course and joined the U.S. Despite falling in love with aviation when she was a girl, women pilots were rare in those days so Cook never considered making her hobby into a career. As a college student in 1979, Cathy Cook had plans to go law school and in her spare time, she would fly airplanes. ![]()
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