First woman selected to join Blue Angels six-ship core demo

[Avnut]

The Blue Angels have selected a woman to be part of the six-ship core demonstration team for the 2023 season. Her name has not been released as of this message pending the official Navy announcement.

The news started circulating on Wednesday when the team was flying to Thunder Over Michigan when an in-flight conversation was picked up between two of the pilots.

First Woman Blue Angels Jet Demonstration Pilot Selected
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/b ... tion-pilot

[p51]

I would have assumed that this would have happened already, as there have been some excellent female Naval aviators.

[Chris Brame]

UPDATE: Lt. Amanda "Stalin" Lee has been officially named as selected for 2023 season demo pilot by the Blue Angles (sic), you can read all about her in our new post here. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/m ... demo-pilot

[bdk]

Stalin? I wonder how that nickname was selected.

[ZRX61]

I would have assumed that this would have happened already, as there have been some excellent female Naval aviators.

They probably delayed the decision a bit after the last female pilot with the team taxied their C130 into a light pole...

[Xray]

Hopefully not mandated tokenism, we'll see.

[BK]

I would have assumed that this would have happened already, as there have been some excellent female Naval aviators.

There have been half a dozen female pilots in the Thunderbirds starting in 2006.

[Mark Allen M]

Hopefully not mandated tokenism, we'll see.

Perhaps she earned it.

[Fouga23]

Finally! It's about time!

[Jeremy S]

This question came up at Oshkosh 2017 when the Blue Angel Pilots were doing Q & A: https://youtu.be/F-0xCt2GRr8?t=4287

[JohnB]

As the link in the first post makes it clear, getting the right person to volunteer at the right time, for them and the Navy, isn't as simple as it may seem.
As it said, out of all female Navy pilots, few are fighter pilots (it reports half the Naval aviators are helicopter pilots...I was surprised by that), and fewer still have the appropriate amount of flight time and in a good career window...neither too junior or senior.

Then you have a huge travel schedule.
I can imagine for a lot of people with families, that would be a deal breaker.

[ricusa]

I remember the Thunderbirds performance at the 2007 Mustangs and Legends had a Female solo and one in the four ship team.

[Ryan Harris]

As the link in the first post makes it clear, getting the right person to volunteer at the right time, for them and the Navy, isn't as simple as it may seem.
As it said, out of all female Navy pilots, few are fighter pilots (it reports half the Naval aviators are helicopter pilots...I was surprised by that), and fewer still have the appropriate amount of flight time and in a good career window...neither too junior or senior.

Then you have a huge travel schedule.
I can imagine for a lot of people with families, that would be a deal breaker.

She is also the current West Coast Super Hornet demo pilot, so I'm sure that didn't hurt her chances.

[p51]

Hopefully not mandated tokenism, we'll see.

People immediately said the same about Kara Hultgreen when she spiked herself off the surface in an ejection seat while failing to land a Tomcat on a carrier. Many thought it was easy to assume she just 'didn't have it' until much later, records about her flight experience (coupled with flying a plane that was notoriously tough to land in certain conditions) seem to bear out that she made it further than males in her flight classes who didn't make it to fighters with the same scores...

[JohnB]

She is also the current West Coast Super Hornet demo pilot, so I'm sure that didn't hurt her chances.

In that case, I saw her at a recent AFB open house.
Being the Demo pilot means she can certainly handle the Super Hornet. She put on quite the display.
(I was atop the announcers booth near show center waiting to do my thing, the Super Hornet is loud).

Hopefully, the transition to the Blue Angles will be easy.
I wish her the best of luck.