Salute!
Sorry,
Megan, if we heathen colonists have morphed the original "King's english" word in the interest of brevity ( one letter shorter). Least we rebels have had a few female pilots join and flown a few tours as Thunderbirds. How about Arrows or Blues or.....
Our first "Bird" gal was FiFi , 15 years ago (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicole_Malachowski) , and she went right to the wing position with no year as narrator or such as is the custom for many low time pilots that make the team. A Mudhen pilot, and she done good for two seasons. Meanwhile, the Birds got a super solo pilot - Sam. See:
Thunderbirds select 2nd female pilot for the 2007 season Gotta tellya, I have seen the Birds since I was a clueless yute back in the 50's with dreams, and then flew with and even trained some of them. Sam was up with Dwelle and maybe another guy I flew with, but even smoother as a solo. Great hands.
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Sad, very sad to see the outcome of what should have been a fairly routine cross country flight. RIP
Gums sends...