Reportagem sobre as duas "Thunderbirds"

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Meus prezados:
A Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron "Thunderbirds", da USAF, conta com duas oficiais em sua equipe que, aliás, é composta só por Majores sob o comando de um Tenente-Coronel. .
Eis um artigo do “Dayton Daily News” sobre as duas “Thunderbirds”, com mais de 1.500 horas de vôo.
Uma é a nº "3", ala direita da formação diamante e a outra é "solo".
Female Thunderbirds pilot living a dream
By John Nolan
Staff Writer
Friday, July 20, 2007
DAYTON — Samantha Weeks recalls that her dream of becoming a military fighter pilot started 25 years ago when, at age 6, she was aboard a KC-135 tanker and watched as it refueled fighter jets over the Atlantic Ocean.
"It was awe-inspiring to me to be in the air and seeing the fighter pilot in the cockpit," Weeks wrote in an interview by e-mail. "It was then and there that my mind was made up, even though women at the time were unable to be a part of that world."
Now, at 31, Weeks is a U.S. Air Force major who flies for the Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, more commonly known as the Air Force Thunderbirds. The aerial performance team began this month touring in Europe before coming to Dayton to be the featured act in the Vectren Dayton Air Show on the 60th anniversary of the Air Force.
It will be the 33rd annual Dayton Air Show. The Thunderbirds have participated in about half of them. This will be the second year a female pilot has flown for the team in Dayton, but the first time with two women among the six pilots.
Maj. Nicole Malachowski, 32, in her second season with the Thunderbirds, is the other female pilot.
Their four male colleagues are Lt. Col. Kevin Robbins, 41, of Winter Haven, Fla., commander of the Thunderbirds; Maj. Chris Austin, 34, of Huntington Beach, Calif.; Maj. Scott Poteet, 33, of Durham, N.H., and Maj. Ed Casey, 33, of Sparta, N.J. Along with Weeks, Austin and Poteet are in their first seasons of flying for the Thunderbirds.Weeks said she is looking forward to flying in Dayton, where Orville and Wilbur Wright pioneered aviation.
"It's an honor to represent the advancement over the past century," she wrote.
She also hopes that more women will find a home in the cockpit.
"When I began flying fighters in 1999, there were only 31 females flying in fighters," Weeks wrote. "Today, there are approximately 85 female pilots. I think it will continue to increase as more women know the opportunity exists and is a great way of life."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
Maj. Samantha Weeks
Hometown: Rome, N.Y.
Position: Flies the No. 6 jet as one of two solo pilots outside the Thunderbirds' diamond formation.
Background: Joined Air Force in 1997 from the Air Force Academy. Served as a flight commander and instructor pilot with the 12th Fighter Squadron, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. She has logged more than 1,500 hours as an Air Force pilot.
Maj. Nicole Malachowski
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nev.
Position: Flies the No. 3 jet as the right wing pilot in the diamond formation.
Background: Served as a flight commander and instructor pilot with the 494th Fighter Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom. She has logged more than 1,900 hours as an Air Force pilot.
Segue um vídeo sobre a Maj. Nicole que, inclusive, pilotou F-15 em Kosovo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlK4vRw- ... ed&search=
Quando será que teremos a nossa "Nicole" na Esquadrilha da Fumaça?
Creio que são três as candidatas:
Carla Alexandre Borges Garcia
Daniele Ferreira Cesar Lins ( 1ª a solar T-27 )
Fernanda Kozlowski Görtz ( 1ª a solar T-25 )
Pô! Teremos que esperar dez, doze anos para sabermos a resposta...
Um abraço e até mais...