Never having met one, I do admire the young lady "steelies" who adorn crew rooms these days, so I understand. I would have welcomed one as copilot on QRA at Waddo back in the '60s - hand-picked by me of course! - although my wife might not have thought it such a good idea. Apart from this sexist nonsense, I am sure they match their male counterparts in co-ordination, spatial judgement, determination, wit, ability to hold their booze and all the other essential characteristics of the military aviator. Physical strength no longer seems to be a "must" in this age of fly-by-wire and powered flight controls. The ability to withstand 'g' involves the use of certain abdominal muscles which, I have heard, are also important in childbirth, so they may hold the advantage there.
Which was the last aircraft where a certain, and considerable, level of physical strength was a
Sine Qua Non ? The Meteor, I think. "Little guys" were sent to the Vampire AFSs (202 and 208). Even so, during the initial dual phase of the course at Driffield and Middleton a few students were identified who could not cope with the rudder loads on an asymmetric overshoot while hand-pumping the gear up (the "ball-breaking" test). They were sent off on Vampires too (the ultimate disgrace!). Aileron break-out forces at 400kts/0.7M usually demanded two hands, which left none for ranging the gunsight graticule.
By contrast the Hunter, even in "manual" was sloppy and sluggish, but should not have presented a problem to a fit young lady. The Canberra on se overshoot was a bit of a handful, but you had a powerful and rapidly-available rudder trimmer. And the Vulcan - well, we never bothered to practise anything less demanding than a double-engine failure (on one side) at max gross. And then the problem, if I remember, was an electrical system one.
Any other bids for the last real macho aeroplane?
As an aside, I cannot help being moved by the facility provided by Pprune for people to pay their last respects and tributes to mates who have "bought it". If it had been available in the '50s , I think there would have had to be a standing thread for the latest Meatbox prang, and it might have been bad for morale. Progress has indeed been fantastic.
