" wrote in message roups.com...

I am all for that. Same standards, same opportunities. Women can and
do perform well in high-stress environments, generally speaking.

I know full well than some can, so yes I agree. And the competent
ones suffer because of the bad ones. People start painting them
all with the same brush, or however the saying goes.

I like to fly, but I daresay I don't have whatever it takes to fly an
F-14 in carrier operations. But then, *statistically*, you don't
either. Very few people do.

I'll admit that the only cockpit I've ever even SAT in was in a Herc
that was parked at an airshow. But as far as ever being able to fly
an F-14 in carrier operations, we'll never know. Maybe I'm a cocky
s.o.b. but I suspect I'd have had no problems, if I'd chosen that
route--always had great vision, kept very fit, good reflexes/coord., never
had an auto accident, and damn few--very few--tickets, so I'm also
disciplined to obey rules. But of course, I could've also been
a wash-out at it, I don't know. Truth is, I'd have been more interested
in flying the bigger stuff anyway.

But women can do ok, given the chance. Debby Rihn-Harvey, Svetlana
Kapanina, and Patty Wagstaff are examples of this.

Again, I have no doubts of this. But there's too much damn politics
at work today.

---------------