She’s five feet tall and larger than life! She once grounded an entire A&P school’s ego. Meet Mary Latimer — a pilot, mechanic, controller, examiner, and walking aviation pioneer. In this episode, she narrowly avoids lawn-darting a Cessna 172 from 5,000 feet with no elevator control using trim like a Jedi, and managed a mag failure mid-checkride. She once told an Air Traffic Control manager she was only going to hit one airliner! From launching 2,000 passengers in one night to getting told to “go back to the kitchen,” Mary’s tales are equal parts horrifying and hilarious. Oh — and she turned a terrified passenger into a private pilot. Mary’s been breaking barriers, rules (when necessary), and stereotypes for over 50 years. Aviation students: take notes. Everyone else? Just hang on and try not to say “it gets hard sometimes” on the radio!
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One thought on “I Was Only Going to Hit One; Episode 162”
Absolutely loved this episode. Mary is someone who exudes the “Can Do” attitude. She would have made an excellent Naval Aviator which means “Mary could have been a Marine aviator”. If it only were not for those damn height limitations.