Can a woman make Top Gun?
A former Navy fighter pilot has his doubts, and a physician at Hill Air Force Base says there are a lot of unanswered questions. But they both agree the only way to find out is to give women the chance."Academically and hand-to-eye coordination, men don't own any advantage over most women pilots. I knew women pilots who were far better educated than the men and ended up assigned to less glamorous missions," said Mike Dunn, a former fighter pilot who graduated from the elite Navy Fighter Weapons School, popularly known as Top Gun school. He is now a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserves and a commercial airline pilot living in Sandy.
"But it's not a matter of mechanics; it's whose body will perform better. I am not convinced that the female body is as capable in the cockpit as a male."
Col. Aaron Barson, a physician and chief of aeromedical services at Hill, said there are a lot of physical and sociological unknowns about women flying in a high-speed fighter jet, which puts intense physical strain on the body. At the same time, he noted, there are some misconceptions.
All that may become an issue after Defense Secretary Les Aspin's announcement this week that women now can fly combat missions.
The most commonly known challenge of a fighter pilot is dealing with "G's," or the gravitational pull that occurs when a jet turns at high speeds. A person sitting in a chair on the ground is subjected to one G. The F-16 at Hill can subject a pilot to up to 9.2 Gs, which means the person's weight is multiplied nine times.
The gravitational pull on the body at 9.2 G's is intense, Barson explained, as all fluids are forced to your feet, which can cause the pilot to pass out if too much blood drains from the head. And soft body tissues, such as skin and muscle, are being stretched and pulled down.
"It's painful; it hurts everywhere," he said. "In the meantime, someone is trying to kill you."
Dunn, who has also played the adversary as a flight instructor, added that "high-G fighting is what it's all about. The pilot who can turn the fastest and bring his weapons to bear wins the battle."
Dunn questions whether women can take the physical strain. But Barson said that while women may not have the physical strength of men, that has little to do with overcoming gravitational forces.
Pilots wear special "g-suits" that squeeze the legs and abdomen to prevent blood draining from the head and upper body. Pilots also go through a lower-body flexing and breathing exercise, called the M-1 maneuver, to keep themselves conscious.
Barson said the Air Force is developing a new "g-suit" called the "combat edge" that will allow pilots to withstand high g-forces. The suit squeezes arms, legs and abdomen, and tightens around the face to increase oxygen pressure in the body and prevent the pilot's chest from collapsing.
While body strength may not be a factor, a woman's menstrual period, pregnancy and weak bladder control do present some unknowns when it comes to withstanding high g-forces, Barson said.
"Certain questions aren't answerable except by experience. We can guess, but you won't know it until you do it," he said.
The physical strains weren't at issue, however, when a presidential commission studied the issue of women's roles in the armed forces last year. Barson explained that the commission was more concerned with the sociological impact of letting women behind the controls of a fighter jet.
According to Barson, the concerns range from how will citizens react when a mother, who happens also to be fighter pilot, is shot down and taken prisoner to whether a woman can command a wing of male fighter pilots.
"A fighter pilot is the ultimate male role of a gladiator, and now you have women wanting to become a part of that," Barson said. "What we are doing is a big social experiment that gets down to deeply held values."