Do you think it's true that women make better helicopter pilots than men?

1LT William Clardy — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 19:13:14 -0400

http://time.com/8404/army-women-helicopter-pilots/

Army Women: Better Chopper Pilots Than the Guys?

Report suggests female aviators "may operate aircraft more safely"

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made Jun 3 at 2015 7:22 PM

CSM Michael J. Uhlig — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 19:22:10 -0400

Why are we continually getting wrapped up in the gender segregation? This attempt at dividing our team is getting old. The stats indicate female pilots have fewer accidents....numbers are numbers, lets get after the mission and quit stoking the gender superiority themes.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 3 at 2015 7:47 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 19:47:08 -0400

1LT William Clardy. While this is an interesting story . . . and the statistics are worth pondering . . . the circumstances are very limited . . . and the numbers are very small . . . so we cannot reach any firm broad based conclusions based on this report.

In my experience, men and women are equally outstanding helicopter and fixed wing pilots, co-pilots, flight engineers, and crew . . . don't discount or dismiss anyone who is brave enough to get into and fly any military aircraft . . . whether bomber, fighter, gunship, transport, or cargo.

Warmest Regards, Sandy

p.s. When it is a life & death situation . . . who cares who is driving . . . they are all outstanding!!!

o http://www.takepart.com/article/2011/06/03/retro-action-june-4-1974-sally-murphy-armys-first-female-helicopter-pilot

Retro Action, June 4, 1974: Sally Murphy, the Army's First Female Helicopter Pilot

Murphy, left, meets Col. Laura J. Richardson and the next generation of female pilots in 2009. (Photo: army.mil) On this day, Col. Sally D. Murphy becomes the first female U.S. Army helicopter pilot when she graduates from the Army Aviation school at Fort Rucker, Alabama. After completing her training, Murphy joined a small unit supporting early warning and signal intelligence in Germany, according to Aviation Archives. The trailblazer was...

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Jun 3 at 2015 9:30 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 21:30:17 -0400

I don't like threads with A>B, b<c, etc. I taught academics for flight school in the scout community and I can tell you that there are stellar performers and potential politicians across the sexes, ethnical backgrounds, and however else we choose to categorize, separate, and breakdown service members. I am tired with women flunking Ranger school, women who are sooo badass that they can shoot lightning bolts out of their ass, women pirates vs. men pirates, etc.

Response by SGT Darryl Allen made Jun 3 at 2015 9:51 PM

SGT Darryl Allen — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 21:51:32 -0400

Finally, a category I can speak knowledgeably about.

So as a crewmember, I've had the privilege of flying with a good amount of pilots, and much like the statistics suggest, there were far more male pilots than female pilots. Of my small sample of female pilots, I've had some good ones, and some not-so-good ones. Of the men, I've had a more significant sample size to compare against and while there are certainly some men that are also not so apt at sick wiggling, I find that the sub-par females stick out more so than the males.

Now maybe that's just a small prejudice I have because the percentage of bad female pilots I've encountered is higher (small sample sizes skew numbers like that), or maybe it's some primal subconscious prejudice about woman car drivers and I'm simply transferring that association along to helicopters.

So I'm pretty sure I made a point, but now I just feel like I was rambling and drawing no conclusion at all. Sorry?

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 3 at 2015 9:53 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 21:53:23 -0400

All this means is women pay less for insurance premiums on their helicopters.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 3 at 2015 10:28 PM

SCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 22:28:40 -0400

Did you ever meet Major Ed "Too Tall" Freeman? How about Colonel Hugh Mills? The skies of Vietnam were no place for men, let alone women. No, I don't think they do as a group. Some individual women are sure to be standouts. There are always exceptions.

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Jun 3 at 2015 10:55 PM

SSG Trevor S. — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 22:55:01 -0400

I've met some outstanding women who flew the machines in my charge.

Response by SGT Bryon Sergent made Jun 4 at 2015 9:47 AM

SGT Bryon Sergent — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 09:47:21 -0400

I think whether you are a man or woman it doesn't matter. Get me where I need to go in one piece and land, not crash! If the door gunners cant't take care of it, we can help! just get me on the ground! When I have been out for a month or so, tired and hungry just get me home! Don't care if your a man or woman. You are my pilot either way. Get me home, get me on the ground, land, don't crash. AS far as attack choppers hit your target, save my ass and we will have a beer at the pub any day on me. male or female doesn't mean nothing to me. Had a female pilot many times at Ft. Campbell they where great.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 4 at 2015 5:09 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 17:09:52 -0400

The focus should be more on dividing the enemy into unrecognizable bits rather than dividing our forces by insignificant details, such as which restroom the pilots use.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 4 at 2015 5:34 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 17:34:25 -0400

Maybe so.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 5 at 2015 12:33 AM

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 00:33:49 -0400

So this article suggests that women are better helicopter pilots and nobody seems to think twice about it. Yet say men make better Infantrymen than women and the whole world implodes.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 11 at 2015 2:15 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 14:15:57 -0400

YES

Response by LtCol Robert Quinter made May 6 at 2017 8:08 PM

LtCol Robert Quinter — Sat, 06 May 2017 20:08:31 -0400

Not having been in a conflict where female pilots were involved, I can't comment based upon experience, however, my opinion is the study proves nothing. To start, there is nothing in my mind that precludes a female from being as good or better than a male pilot. Second, there is nothing that precludes a female from being a worse pilot than a male. This study shows me that, of the sampling, the female pilots had fewer accidents.
As much as we swash buckling aviators would like others to believe otherwise, it does not take a lot of strength to fly an aircraft, so we can't blame fitness or brute strength. Being a good combat pilot requires skill, but being a great one requires skill plus some indefinable personality trait. I've known very skilled pilots I would not want flying my wing, and fair pilots I would choose. Just as the combat effectiveness of males varies, so will the females.
One statement I took exception to was that pilots don't choose their missions, their seniors choose them. That infers someone plugging names into missions. I wrote my Vietnam squadron's flight schedule and the specific traits of each pilot were considered down to whether the pilot and copilot could communicate with each other. Seats are filled according to the specific mission and each pilot's compatibility with that mission and the rest of the crew.
Accident rates vs combat effectiveness. Accidents are defined by the dollars necessary to repair, or whether the aircraft can be repaired. Many times I elected to risk accident level damage to an aircraft to accomplish the mission. One mission comes to mind. I was medevac and had recovery of a Recon Marine who had fallen off a cliff and broken his back as my mission. I had no litter, only a horse collar and there was no landing zone. The horse collar would probably have killed the Marine, so I elected to make my own zone. Took between one and two feet off of five of the six blades as I cut my way into a zone, but picked up the Marine and got him safely to the med center. The cost of the five blades would have been enough to justify an accident, but it had to be done. Would a female pilot have done the same? Probably, if she had the mission in mind and knew her bird.

Response by SMSgt Lawrence McCarter made Aug 3 at 2020 1:11 AM

SMSgt Lawrence McCarter — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 01:11:54 -0400

I haven't found a persons gender has much to do with their aptitude for flying, some have some natural skills and adapt and learn quickly some other people don't. It mostly breaks down to the individuals ability and then added proper flight training. Perhaps I'm old enough I've seen more male pilots but I haven't seen gender as being a measurable dividing line for ability to fly.