High Flyers by Ann McCallum Staats

Author:Ann McCallum Staats
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2022-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

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9

Kimberly Scott Ford: The Glide-Path Forward

The day started early. Kimberly Scott Ford was at the preflight briefing for today’s mission on the KC-135 Stratotanker, a hefty plane capable of providing air-to-air refueling for US and allied aircraft. There was a lot to go over, so the initial part of the meeting would last a good two hours. First Kimberly needed to know where she and the two other crewmembers were going—and how to get there. The plane was carrying thousands of pounds of fuel, and it was their job to deliver that fuel on time. Kimberly made sure she understood the exact coordinates of the rendezvous. Get it wrong and any planes that were low on fuel would be forced to abort their missions.

Not on my watch, she vowed.

Today’s preflight briefing also included a detailed analysis of the weather, both here at the base and en route to the meet-up location. It was hard enough for the boom operator—the person in charge of the fuel line—to connect the refueling boom to another airplane during calm weather. If high winds or excessive weather was predicted, the task would be almost impossible—and dangerous.

Once Kimberly and the others had gone over the details of the mission, including emergency procedures, they headed to the plane. Using a series of detailed checklists, Kimberly helped to conduct a preflight inspection of the plane itself along with the systems onboard. Although constantly upgraded and modified, the Stratotanker was decades old. It was critical to make sure that everything was working properly, not only for herself and the crew, but also for the planes that were relying on them today. Finally, it was time to close the emergency exit. Kimberly strapped herself into the pilot seat in the cockpit.

Fired up, four turbofan engines propelled the gray-bodied aircraft down the runway. Kimberly eased the heavy plane into the air, accelerating to 500 miles per hour (800 km/h). Now it was up to her and her copilot to get to the refueling location exactly on time. Confident and more than capable, she marveled at the opportunity she had to pilot this plane. It made no difference that she was Black or that she was a woman. Up here in the skies, Kimberly was home.

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