First all-female F-15SG fighter crew say they make a good team
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First all-female F-15SG fighter crew say they brand a adept team
F-15SG pilot Captain Julie Lim and weapon systems officer (fighter) Lieutenant Hannah Teo accept come a long manner since starting flight training together in 2016.
Helm Julie Lim (left) and Lieutenant Hannah Teo are the outset all-female F-15SG crew in the Republic of Singapore Air Forcefulness. (Photo: MINDEF)
SINGAPORE: For Helm (CPT) Julie Lim, 28, and Lieutenant (LTA) Hannah Teo, 26, their journey to the cockpit of the Republic of Singapore Air Force'south (RSAF) almost advanced fighter jet was spent generally together.
In 2016, they began flight training – called the basic wings course – at Pearce Air Base in Australia around the aforementioned time, where they flew the turboprop PC-21 planes.
The pair – CPT Lim slightly alee of LTA Teo – so moved on to the advanced flying course in Cazaux Air Base of operations in French republic to fly the M-346 avant-garde jet trainers.
"We graduated from our fighter wing course at around the same time in 2019, and that's when we were both posted back to Singapore, where we are both in the 142 Squadron," CPT Lim told reporters on Wednesday (Sep 22).
So when the F-15SG cockpit canopy finally closed on them – CPT Lim in forepart every bit the airplane pilot and LTA Teo behind equally the weapon systems officer (fighter) (WSO) – for their first operational flying in June 2020, it was as though things were meant to be.
CPT Lim and LTA Teo are the starting time female duo in the RSAF to fly the F-15SG together. The WSO is in charge of navigating, monitoring surface and air threats, equally well as managing onboard weapon systems.
LTA Teo said information technology was a "great opportunity" to be able to fly with some other female coiffure member, pointing out that an all-female pairing does not come around very oft.
"When we get paired together, it'southward like ii inferior air crew in the cockpit together," CPT Lim added. "That brings a whole new set up of learning, and we get to learn a lot more from flying together and making mistakes together, and figuring out what to practice in a get-together, so it'due south exciting in that way."
CPT Lim and LTA Teo had flown dissimilar missions with other more than senior crew, calling them valuable opportunities to learn a whole lot from more experienced pilots and WSOs, but to them the experience of ii good friends taking to the skies together was unlike any other.
LTA Teo said information technology is easier and more comfy to fly with CPT Lim, adding that every coiffure fellow member has their "quirks".
"Nosotros've been training so often together, the camaraderie that we have and the corporeality of time that we spend with each other (mean) we know each other's habits and we are very comfortable working with each other," she said.
CPT Lim said having LTA Teo as a partner as well helps them build more confidence in their abilities.
"Because like I mentioned, nosotros're very used to flight with more senior air coiffure or our instructors, and then when nosotros are flight together, we realise the responsibleness that we have, and it helps to develop our conviction," she added.
In Apr, both of them were posted to the Peace Carvin V detachment in Idaho, US. They are currently honing their skills at this twelvemonth's Practice Forging Sabre, held in Idaho from Sep xiv to 25.
LTA Teo, who is participating in the practice for the first time, described it as an "eye-opening experience" as she gets the rare opportunity to use the jet's weapons.
CPT Lim, also a kickoff-timer at the practice, said it has helped her appreciate the integration between the army and air forcefulness, "and see how our task as F-fifteen air crew fits into that bigger picture".
DIFFERENT BEGINNINGS
CPT Lim has appreciated aviation since she was a young daughter, spurred past her dad'south career every bit an RSAF helicopter pilot.
She attended the Singapore Youth Flight Order and graduated with a individual pilot licence, earlier studying aeronautical technology at academy.
"Growing up being exposed to every air force open house and Singapore Air Bear witness I could remember as a kid, I definitely had an interest to sign on and to pursue being a pilot as a career," she said.
The path for LTA Teo, who does not come from a military family unit, was a piffling different. In inferior higher, she played netball competitively, and she yearned for a career that would challenge herself physically and mentally.
"So I thought, why not join the air force since information technology seems similar a challenging career," she said. "When I actually signed on, I really wanted to fly, considering I e'er saw on every National Day the jets fly. So, that kind of sparked my interest."
While CPT Lim said the dream at the start of flight grooming was always to be a fighter pilot, she pointed out that the RSAF'due south needs come start.
"The truth well-nigh the air force training journeying is that were nosotros go posted to depends on fourth dimension and space, so it's not really necessarily 100 per cent where we want to go," she said.
"I've seen the kind of good work that my dad has done in humanitarian aid and things like that, only I've as well seen his friends who were the so-called tip of the spear every bit fighter air crew.
"I guess it's i of those things where you never know where you're going to get, and it really depends on what the air strength needs at that point in time, and I think that was the mindset that I had going into my training stage."
When asked about her challenges in preparation to be a fighter airplane pilot, and whether gender was a gene at all, CPT Lim said the training was "challenging for everyone regardless of gender".
"It's not easy to acquire how to fly an aircraft in the duration that nosotros are given to learn, as well equally to attain the circuitous missions that nosotros need to exist able to do," she said.
"So, I think there were definitely many challenges forth the mode. There's actually no perfect flight for us that we come down and say that, 'Oh aye, that was an awesome flight.'
"There's always something to learn, so the whole thing that keeps us going is to proceed striving to be better each time. And to keep improving from at that place."
CPT Lim advised immature women who aspire to be fighter pilots or WSOs similar them to "follow your passion".
"There may be many things in life that, especially for immature girls when they're at the stage where they are choosing what they want to practice for the rest of their lives, in that location will always be a lot of question marks," she added.
"Regardless of whether your passion is in a more male-majority environment, if you practise what you enjoy, that will be really what keeps you happy at piece of work every day."
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/female-pilot-fighter-f-15-rsaf-forging-sabre-281566
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