female pilots should not be allowed in the cockpit

[TWT]

I saw that doco a while back on SBS (?).2 stories stand out.The bomber being delivered (forgot what type).Female pilot shuts down and exits,awaiting a car to pick her up.Blokes show up with the car and refuse to believe she was the only pilot,so they then searched the aircraft looking for the male pilot.Egg on face.

A spitty lands through the soup around the airfield.Flying operations had been suspended at the field due weather.Male pilots were wondering why this aircraft was airborne at all.Pilot gets out ,they walk over,then she takes off her flying hat (?) and reveals long flowing hair.She flashes a smile and casually saunters off.Stunned silence from blokes.

[Pontius]

the plane could stall whilst in auto pilot!

Lear, you're either a good-wind up merchant or an immature, Microsoft pilot who has no inkling of interacting with real aircraft or real women. I suspect the latter

[baswell]

the plane could stall whilst in auto pilot!

Lear, you're either a good-wind up merchant or an immature, Microsoft pilot who has no inkling of interacting with real aircraft or real women. I suspect the latter

Are you trying to imply autopilots can't stall aircraft or did you just pick the wrong part of Lear's post to quote?

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Hi 'CP',

And said well........

[pakeha-boy]

Quote...At the end of the day it's a blokey sort of job .......

Beautiful statement...I want to marry you...............I fly with the ladies,long and short haul...no issues,no worries,no problems......get over it rahore

[Trojan1981]

I am surprised this thread hasn't been locked yet.

Anyway, I think it's a combination of afformentioned reasons. Flying doesn't appeal to as large a proportion of women as it does men; flying is not a lucrative, secure career or a financially smart career choice; widespread predjudice against women exists in GA.

One former chief pilot once reportedly said "If women were meant to fly the sky would be pink!" and that was for a government operator.

I disagree. The few woman pilots I know are more than competent.

[Brian Abraham]

I often think it is a bad idea to have a mixed sex cockpit on a long haul flight as there is a danger of sexual actions being carried out and the plane could stall whilst in auto pilot!

this may seem silly to some, but human beings can become very open minded when stuck in a cockpit for 8 hours with an attractive male/female next to them.

I say its a matter of time before an accident could occur due to this.

I think Learjet-45 has just finished reading the book "She'll Never Get Off The Ground". Grow up son, it's fiction. The ending ain't real life and detracts from what otherwise is a great read.

[Worrals in the wilds]

I also think he's been watching too many LMFAO music videos and assuming they're actually serious.

I am surprised this thread hasn't been locked yet.

Despite the inauspicious start, it's a valid question and people have made some interesting points, particularly wrt GA. Out of interest are there many female airline captains these days? I recall it being fairly unusual five or so years ago, although there were a lot of female FOs.

[PA39]

At one stage I had 16 female pilots learning to fly. Some went onto the airlines, some charter jocks and some stayed pvt pilots.

I can say with all honesty that girls are much better pilots than blokes. Blokes sit at the bar after work and tell each other how good they are and the girls tell each other how bad they were!! A girl is more cool, calm and collected and handle pressure far better than guys. You don't need to be Arny Swaznegger to fly a bloody aircraft, just common sense, something sadly lacking in overtestosteroned young male pilots.

Sorry fellas but that is my experience over many years as CFI and CP.

[PilotKarl_777-300]

this may seem silly to some, but human beings can become very open minded when stuck in a cockpit for 8 hours with an attractive male/female next to them.

I say its a matter of time before an accident could occur due to this.

I think there was an accident that happened involving this type of scenario. I remember seeing it on Air crash investigation couple years back.

I can say with all honesty that girls are much better pilots than blokes. Blokes sit at the bar after work and tell each other how good they are and the girls tell each other how bad they were!! A girl is more cool, calm and collected and handle pressure far better than guys. You don't need to be Arny Swaznegger to fly a bloody aircraft, just common sense, something sadly lacking in overtestosteroned young male pilots.

I honestly think anyone could become or make a great pilot regardless of sex gender. If a person wants to learn to fly and become a good pilot then go for your life! I've witnessed a lot of female pilots who make bad mistakes, same with blokes. It's the just common sense that you mentioned, which i'd say is 100% correct

And like many have said, GA is more of blokes job. I tend to find most female pilots remain as instructors or go into private flying!

Safe flying! PK777-300

[Worrals in the wilds]

I think there was an accident that happened involving this type of scenario. I remember seeing it on Air crash investigation couple years back.

You're not thinking of a lightie are you? I remember one in the US a while back that resulted in two fatalities; a small Cessna from memory.

[MakeItHappenCaptain]

Was told a story (possibly a furphy) about WWII pilots refusing to fly a certain type (beaufighter????) initially due to handling concerns. WAAC delivery including full aerobatic display on arrival at the location.

No problems after that.

[blackhand]

Well aren't we a bunch of Sensitive New Age Guys.
Womans place is in the kitchen, and looking after the babies.
No disputing that woman is compentent enough for flying, but when sh1ts are trumps you can't beat a bloke full of adrenilan and testosterone up the front.

[Pontius]

Are you trying to imply autopilots can't stall aircraft or did you just pick the wrong part of Lear's post to quote?

Hi Baswell,

No, I'm not trying to imply autopilots can't stall an aircraft but I think I should have probably quoted the rest of Lear's inane comment for context. His suggestion that 'sexual actions' on a longhaul flight is any more likely to lead to the autopilot stalling the aircraft than a flight with no 'sexual actions' is ludicrous. The guy is clearly very immature, given the depth to his argument regarding female pilots and he's not helped by either the idiocy of his instructor nor his lack of knowledge of aircraft systems.

I believe the evidence bears out the fact that women, as a group, are less attracted to becoming pilots than men but once they have decided that is what they want to do then all bets are off. I have probably flown with over 120 individual female pilots (a VERY quick scan of the logbook) and have interviewed a good deal more. In general (and excuse a sweeping statement), I have found they are better prepared than blokes for the interviews and have put more thought into the process. I would propose they are more cerebral during training but I have seen a great many girls who are a 'good pair of hands' and don't need to rely on brain power and extra 'study'. Once on the line, though, I have found very little difference in the performance of the job between the girls and boys. As a proportion, I reckon the number of 'screw ups' and character traits has been the same between both sexes and I genuinely have no compunction about flying with either.

I do wonder how I've managed to avoid the problems that Lear and his wise instructor postulate. Maybe they might want to ponder some other ill-considered opinion; how about gay pilots? Surely similar 'sexual actions' between them could cause the autopilot to stall the aircraft on a longhaul flight