A woman is born and remains free and has equal rights with a man. A woman has the right to climb the guillotine; she must also have the right to enter the podium. ("Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens")
- Olympia de Gug, 1791
Dreams tend to come true. Since childhood, the American Kara Haltgrin dreamed of space and dreamed of repeating the exploits of the heroes of her childhood - Gagarin, Armstrong, Sally Ride … Speed and maximum height - what could be more beautiful?
But the NASA astronaut detachment just like that, "from the street" is not taken - you need to have a pilot's license or, at least, to be a candidate of sciences. Kara did not like the prospect of cramming boring formulas - the girl made a choice in favor of a pilot's career. Become a military pilot? Why not? Emancipation gives women equal rights.
After graduating from high school, Kara tried to go straight to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis - an elite educational institution, before graduates of which any horizons open up: navy, aviation, marines, NASA, scientific research or work in the interests of the CIA and NSA - the most interesting projects on every taste.
"… Failure of the exams at the flight institute, a dream is a dream, but astronauts are not accepted …"
I had to limit my imagination and go to a regular Texas State University. After earning an engineering degree in aerospace, Kara went on a “second run,” this time, without delay, enrolled in the US Naval Aviation Officer School in Pensacola, Florida.
Well, naval aviation sounds good. Pilot's license, reputation and service with VAQ-33 Squadron, an auxiliary group of coastal-based electronic warfare for the United States Naval Forces. Maybe she will be satisfied with the position of navigator-navigator or operator of onboard electronic systems … No! Kara wanted to sit at the helm of the plane on her own.
The girl made great efforts. In addition to maintaining excellent physical shape - height eighty meters, chest press - 100 kg, she continued to diligently study aviation sciences, and now it was her turn - the Prowler EA-6B motors were straining on the runway.
The four-seater subsonic electronic warfare aircraft is an unprepossessing-looking machine that resembles a fat seal. Has she dreamed of such a "prince" since childhood?
Service in VAQ-33 was short-lived - in 1993, Kara Khaltgrin achieved a transfer to a real job: Kara wanted the thrill of becoming the world's first female pilot of an aircraft carrier!
Now all her dreams were associated with the helm of the Tomkat, a heavy deck interceptor, a super-machine worth more than $ 40 million.
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a two-seater interceptor fighter with a variable geometry wing. The heaviest production aircraft carrier-based with a normal take-off weight of over 30 tons!
The first fourth-generation fighter to enter service with the US Navy in 1972. The maximum speed of the Tomcat is more than two speeds of sound. The variable geometry wing provides efficient and economical flight in any selected range of altitudes and speeds. A serious complex of onboard electronics, which combines the AN / AWG-9 radar, the AN / ALR-23 infrared system, capable of detecting contrasting thermal targets at a distance of more than 200 km, as well as the know-how - the CADC on-board computer for automatic control of all aircraft systems. But the main "highlight" of the F-14 was the long-range AIM-54 "Phoenix" air-to-air missiles, capable of hitting targets at a range of 180 km.
Despite its gigantic appearance and reputation as a formidable fighter, the F-14 turned out to be too bulky and heavy to be based on the cramped deck of an aircraft carrier, in addition, it suffered severely from the low reliability of its engines - it is known that a quarter of 633 US Navy Tomcats crashed in aviation accidents and disasters.
This is the kind of life partner Lieutenant Haltgrin chose for herself. The choice was not easy - the mastery of the wayward "Tomkat" proceeded with a creak and in terrible agony; Kara failed the first qualification test, failing to land the Kotyara on the deck of the ship.
And yet, the determined Lieutenant Haltgreen achieved her goal - in the summer of 1994, she finally got admission to independent control of the F-14 and was enlisted in the VF-213 Black Lions fighter squadron stationed aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln.
However, evil tongues argue that Lieutenant Haltgrin was allowed to fly the F-14 bypassing all the rules - the command of the Navy tried to hush up the hype surrounding the sexual harassment scandal at the Tailhook symposium *, and was in a hurry to demonstrate to the opponents of women's service in the Navy that sex is not as weak as the dirty chauvinists claim.
* The Tailhook scandal is an event that took place in September 1991 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Tailhook (literally "tailhook") carrier-based aviation association. Since the end of the symposium at the Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, about 100 US Navy pilots and veterans have been prosecuted and disciplined for harassing their colleagues in the service (a total of 83 women filed applications (including Kara Haltgreen), and that surprisingly, 7 men - however, it's too early to draw any conclusions, American ladies themselves are capable of a lot).
In general, be that as it may, Lieutenant Haltgrin received the coveted F-14 pilot license and began intensive preparations for the upcoming campaign in the Persian Gulf. Along with the admission to control an aircraft carrier, glory came - the first female pilot of a carrier-based fighter became a welcome guest on various television talk shows and filming documentaries about service in the American Navy.
The US Navy command turned a blind eye to the hype surrounding the new lieutenant - even her exotic radio call sign "Revlon" (a brand of cosmetics) was taken for granted. In the end, desperate Kara became the symbol and favorite of the nation - so let the whole world watch how women's rights are respected in America!
… Death is not terrible for the hero,
While the dream is mad!
On October 25, 1994, just 3 months after receiving clearance to fly the F-14, Lieutenant Kara Spears Haltgreen crashed to her death.
F-14A Tomcat (serial number 160390, tail code NH), piloted by Kara Haltgrin, fell into the water while landing on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. The surviving newsreel footage shows how one of the Cat's engines stalled, after which the plane finally lost speed, turned over and crashed into the water right behind the stern of the aircraft carrier.
The second crew member - the operator of electronic systems Matthew Clemish managed to safely leave the emergency vehicle; Kara hesitated for only a split second - at the moment when her ejection seat was triggered, the plane was already in an inverted position. A strong blow to the water left her no chance of salvation. The search helicopter managed to lift only a crumpled flight helmet out of the water.
Haltgreen plane crash
The US Navy command initiated an operation to lift the wreckage of the aircraft from the bottom of the ocean - 19 days later, the mangled aircraft, flight recorders and the body of Lieutenant Haltgreen, still strapped to the ejection seat, were lifted from a depth of 1,100 meters. Kara Haltgreen was buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
F-14D plane wreckage. A similar case, 2004
The resonant plane crash sparked a new round of fierce controversy over the service of women in the navy and aviation. Passions were in full swing - a class "A" accident, with the loss of an expensive plane and the death of a female pilot who had just received permission to fly it. What conclusions were drawn from this whole bad story? Politically incorrect question - is there a place for women in carrier-based aviation?
The results of the investigation of the incident were presented in the open - the official version connected the disaster with technical malfunctions on board the aircraft, Lieutenant Haltgrin was completely removed from the blame.
Vice Admiral Robert Spahn, commander of the US Navy in the Pacific, said that testing a similar scenario on a flight simulator (surging and stopping the engine on the landing glide path) showed that 8 out of 9 male pilots could not keep the F-14 in the air and suffered a disaster.
A new round of scandal erupted after information about the results of an internal investigation by the US Navy was leaked to the press - experts agreed that the pilot's mistake was the cause of the plane crash: realizing that the plane was landing at the wrong angle, Kara tried to correct the direction of flight - a critical situation for engines of the F-14 "Tomcat" aircraft. Under certain flight conditions, at a speed close to the stall speed, such a maneuver reduces the density of the air flow going through the engine compressor below the limit level - a surge occurs and the engine stalls.
The F-14 pilot's instruction strictly prohibits "yaw" during landing, alas, Kara violated this condition. The left engine stalled. What happened next raises no questions: the plane finally lost speed and fell into the water.
Disappointed in female pilots, the US Navy command removed from flights Kara Haltgrin's colleague - another desperate girl Carrie Lorenz.
Lieutenant Lorenz also served on the aircraft carrier Lincoln as a pilot for the F-14 Tomcat interceptor, but, alas, the death of a colleague put an end to her further career as a carrier-based pilot. Carrie was asked to "take my things out." Lieutenant Lorenz was not at a loss, and went to court, accusing the leadership of the fleet of discrimination and sexism. The case ended in a settlement agreement - Carrie was paid compensation in the amount of 150 thousand dollars, on the condition that she forgets how to look in the direction of the aircraft carriers and the Tomcat aircraft.
In 1997, the "desperate housewife" returned to flight work, but alas, slippery decks of ships are a thing of the past - now she is allowed to fly only ground-based aircraft.
Epilogue
At a time when American women in whole squadrons are mastering the Strike Needles and Raptors, the US Navy carrier-based aircraft completely abandoned the flight services of the "beautiful half of humanity." Why did it happen? Was Lieutenant Haltgrin's absurd death to blame?
Aside from the idea that the F-14 squadrons were originally specialized in the destruction of Soviet and Russian missile carriers, Karu Haltgrin is purely humanly sorry. A strong and purposeful lady. Stubbornly walked towards her dream. Died while performing at the age of 29.
Frankly, the girl is not to blame. Just as her "steel cat" is not to blame. The pilot and the plane acted to the limit of their strengths and capabilities, alas, the specificity of carrier-based aircraft is such that the landing of the Tomcat on an aircraft carrier is like running on a razor's edge - the Internet is replete with stories about the death of carrier-based aircraft.
The concept itself is flawed - in conditions when the masses of jet fighters are tens of tons, and landing speeds noticeably exceed 200 km / h (while the machine balances on the verge of stall speed) - in such conditions, even a 300-meter deck of aircraft carriers "Nimitz" is not enough for a safe and efficient operation of modern aircraft.
As for the precedent - women at the helm of a carrier-based fighter … Well, well, feminists have achieved equality with men. Now let gays fight for equality with women.
