October 18, 2020 • 11 mins
Hello and welcome to the new season of If women were meant to fly, the sky would be pink, season 2 Episode 1, Back On Board - I am Enid Otun.
· In this episode: I am still uncertain about job offers and leaving for greener pastures, I seem to experience more sexist abuse as I become a more senior crew member, the Lagos Flying Club gains a dedicated and enthusiastic student with just one problem, and I welcome more women pilots into our slow-growing fold.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Enid Otun (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to the new season of if women were
meant to fly, the sky would bepink. Season Two, Episode One,
back onboard. I'm Enid Otun. Inthis episode, I am still
uncertain about job offers andleaving for greener pastures. I
seem to experience more sexistabuse as I become a more senior
(00:24):
crew member. The latest flyingclub gains a dedicated and
enthusiastic student with justone problem, and I welcome more
women pilots into our slowgrowing fold.
(01:06):
Welcome, everyone to season two.
Yes, we are back and ready toget airborne as I navigate my
way through the latter stages ofmy senior years as a first
officer. As pilots we werecontinually tested either in the
aircraft, a simulator, both or aswimming pool. Yes, I did say a
swimming pool. This is where wepracticed our dinghy drills.
(01:30):
Since we partially flew overwater, it could be considered a
small probability that you mighthave to ditch with a plane load
of passengers. The Twin Ottercarries an inflatable dinghy,
and not only would we have toretrieve it, but we had to make
sure that we got all ourpassengers into it, as well as
ourselves along with the rest ofour emergency kit. Whilst you
(01:51):
couldn't really assess everypassengers ability to climb out
of an airplane and into adinghy, possibly soaking wet and
via the ocean, attached to alife jacket, the pilots had to
prove that they could do it eachand every time. This involved
climbing out of the water andhoisting yourself over and into
(02:12):
the dinghy. It wasn't a favoriteemergency drill of mine, but I
was always on board withpracticing everything that you
could, and being prepared forevery eventuality on dry land or
otherwise.
We were split into groups witheither a captain, or a senior
first officer ,or both in chargeof the drills. On this
(02:35):
particular occasion, I was incharge of the new second
officers who were joining us andwho were getting their first
taste of emergency proceduresout of the flight deck. With an
inflatable dinghy in the pool,we took it in turns to jump into
the water simulating anemergency where we had to hoist
ourselves into the dinghysuccessfully. You were not
(02:58):
allowed to assist the nextperson in, although in a real
emergency, you would be doingjust that, to help your
passengers. The one thing abouta great big dinghy, is that it's
deceptive just how far and howmuch effort is required to hoik
yourself over and into it. Oncein the water, with your
(03:19):
lifejacket, you have additionalbulk to add to your own
bodyweight. Now, I have in pastexercises ended up underneath
it, half astride it, nowherenear it, and eventually
successfully but in anundignified manner in it. In a
(03:40):
real emergency, this of coursewouldn't matter and it wouldn't
be given a second thought.
However, in a small groupsetting, wanting to display an
effective technique, ending uptangled in the grab ropes with
one leg in and one leg at anangle that shouldn't be
physically possible, all dignitygoes out of the window, much to
my dismay.
(04:02):
In spite of a very busy flyingschedule, I was still able to
teach students the flying clubmost weekends, as well as
conducting ground schoolsessions. I had a good number of
students at that time and onemore was soon to be added. Now,
he wandered into the airfieldlate one Saturday afternoon,
just as I was finishing theday's ground school. He was
(04:23):
slightly taller than me and veryskinny. He respectfully asked if
he could discuss some flyinglessons with me, and of course I
said yes. He was so very keen tofly, he told me he had been
bitten by the flying bug veryearly on in his childhood. And
although his family were poor,he had an uncle who was willing
to enable him to achieve hisdream. He was passionate and
(04:47):
dedicated, and had startedreading through flight manuals
before he ever decided toapproach us for lessons. I was
impressed with his dedication,and I understood it so well. In
the following weeks, we enrolledhim in the private pilot's
license course on theunderstanding that if he
completed the coursesuccessfully, he would plan to
(05:07):
go to the academy in Zaria, tocomplete his commercial pilot's
license, and from therehopefully join the world of
commercial aviation. He stoodout, always dressed nicely in
his white shirt and blacktrousers and was always asking
questions. He alwaysrespectfully called me maam,
which made me feel quite old,but I appreciated his
(05:29):
politeness. He was without doubtone of the most dedicated and
enthusiastic students I'd evertaught. There was only one
drawback to this scenario, andit was a big one. He just
couldn't handle the aircraftsafely.
(05:57):
He seemed to struggle right fromthe very start. Basic flight
maneuvers had to be repeatedtime and time again with
alarming regularity. At first, Ithought it was nerves, but very
soon it became apparent that hejust didn't have the
prerequisites to handle anaircraft. I carried out extended
ground school sessions with himon my own time to try to help.
(06:20):
But as we approached 25 hourswith no sign of a first solo
flight, I knew that I had tomake some difficult decisions
about his continued training. Ididn't take these lightly. I
held many discussions with himabout his progress, I sought
advice and I arranged to checkflight with an instructor from
the flight Academy in Zaria thatI had trained with in the US,
(06:43):
and I continued to try to finddifferent ways to help him
become proficient. He failed hischeckride and the recommendation
was the same as mine. There wasno improvement. I made a
difficult decision to terminatehis training. But I always felt
so bad that I destroyed hisdream. Even though I knew it was
the right decision to make forhis sake. A few years later,
(07:06):
unfortunately, I would be provedright in the worst possible way.
Back on the twin otters, Icontinued to build my flight
hours towards a command. Soon itwould be time to attain my
airline transport pilot'slicense, ATPL for short, so that
I could become a captain whenthe time was right. I would soon
be returning to the US to buildthe number of requisite night
(07:28):
hours for license issue.
However, I was still wrackedwith indecision about job offers
elsewhere. I confided in mychief pilot, and he understood
my conflict, but he was certainthat once I'd attained my ATPL,
and with the length ofexperience i'd gained with the
company, I would soon be offereda command. Now Bristow
helicopters had given me mycommercial start and had stood
(07:49):
by me, giving me the sameopportunities as the male
pilots, and not making anydistinction when it came to
ability. I felt that I owed themmy loyalty.
I was still on the receiving endof a number of unhelpful
comments, however, and as Imoved to the left hand seat for
line training, the comments grewmore and more unkind. Some of
(08:13):
the more bewildering ones where"I don't think that you can
legally become a captain". "Whenyou are married, your husband
will not allow this". And mypersonal favorite from a female
passenger no less. "We have toobey our menfolk, there is no
way that a man will takeinstruction from a mere woman".
It seemed to be a direct threatto some, that a woman be seen
(08:36):
with the same authority as aman. For the most part, I
responded by letting out a bigsigh, and saying that they were
welcome to their opinion, but itwould make no difference because
I was up here and they were backthere. Walking to destination
was always an option if theypreferred. It had become and
would still be a part of mystruggle as a woman in a culture
(08:58):
that did not give equal footingto the sexes. People always had
to have their say, whilst notfully appreciating the hurt that
they inflicted, to make themfeel better about themselves.
Luckily, I was blessed with anever thickening skin. Besides,
they would soon have more thanone or two women to pick on.
(09:19):
Aero Contractors had a femalepilot now, as did the German
construction company JuliusBerger. The Julius Berger
operations were right next doorto us alongside the police
airwing. We struck up afriendship which provided much
needed support at the same time,she had experienced the same
kind of reception from herpassengers and in some cases
(09:39):
much worse. For her, there wasalso an element of racism
involved and she was often toldthat her position as a co pilot
was only to fulfill a quota. Shewas tough and determined though,
and had a hard exterior. Afterall, she had to do all of this
without the kind of support hercolleagues should have given
her. I tried to be that supportas much as I could, and having
(10:03):
witnessed some of the hostilityshe experienced firsthand, I
knew it could have been worse.
It was several years before Icame to realize, that that time,
had taken a heavy toll on her.
Thank you for listening. Asalways, your reviews and
comments are very muchappreciated. Thank you to Lucy
Ashby for the editing of thisepisode. If you'd like to ask a
(10:26):
question or make a comment,please do so on our social media
sites. We're on Instagram,Facebook and Twitter, or send us
an email. Our email addresses.
theskyispinkpilot@gmail.com orvisit our website,
www.skyispink.co.uk.
(10:47):
In the next episode, I preparefor two months in the US to
obtain my airline transportpilot's license. I experienced
an interesting medical issuethat I could only laugh at years
later, and political upheavalrocks the country.
Thank you and goodbye.
Hello, and welcome to the new season of if women were
meant to fly, the sky would bepink. Season Two, Episode One,
back onboard. I'm Enid Otun. Inthis episode, I am still
uncertain about job offers andleaving for greener pastures. I
seem to experience more sexistabuse as I become a more senior
(00:24):
crew member. The latest flyingclub gains a dedicated and
enthusiastic student with justone problem, and I welcome more
women pilots into our slowgrowing fold.
(01:06):
Welcome, everyone to season two.
Yes, we are back and ready toget airborne as I navigate my
way through the latter stages ofmy senior years as a first
officer. As pilots we werecontinually tested either in the
aircraft, a simulator, both or aswimming pool. Yes, I did say a
swimming pool. This is where wepracticed our dinghy drills.
(01:30):
Since we partially flew overwater, it could be considered a
small probability that you mighthave to ditch with a plane load
of passengers. The Twin Ottercarries an inflatable dinghy,
and not only would we have toretrieve it, but we had to make
sure that we got all ourpassengers into it, as well as
ourselves along with the rest ofour emergency kit. Whilst you
(01:51):
couldn't really assess everypassengers ability to climb out
of an airplane and into adinghy, possibly soaking wet and
via the ocean, attached to alife jacket, the pilots had to
prove that they could do it eachand every time. This involved
climbing out of the water andhoisting yourself over and into
(02:12):
the dinghy. It wasn't a favoriteemergency drill of mine, but I
was always on board withpracticing everything that you
could, and being prepared forevery eventuality on dry land or
otherwise.
We were split into groups witheither a captain, or a senior
first officer ,or both in chargeof the drills. On this
(02:35):
particular occasion, I was incharge of the new second
officers who were joining us andwho were getting their first
taste of emergency proceduresout of the flight deck. With an
inflatable dinghy in the pool,we took it in turns to jump into
the water simulating anemergency where we had to hoist
ourselves into the dinghysuccessfully. You were not
(02:58):
allowed to assist the nextperson in, although in a real
emergency, you would be doingjust that, to help your
passengers. The one thing abouta great big dinghy, is that it's
deceptive just how far and howmuch effort is required to hoik
yourself over and into it. Oncein the water, with your
(03:19):
lifejacket, you have additionalbulk to add to your own
bodyweight. Now, I have in pastexercises ended up underneath
it, half astride it, nowherenear it, and eventually
successfully but in anundignified manner in it. In a
(03:40):
real emergency, this of coursewouldn't matter and it wouldn't
be given a second thought.
However, in a small groupsetting, wanting to display an
effective technique, ending uptangled in the grab ropes with
one leg in and one leg at anangle that shouldn't be
physically possible, all dignitygoes out of the window, much to
my dismay.
(04:02):
In spite of a very busy flyingschedule, I was still able to
teach students the flying clubmost weekends, as well as
conducting ground schoolsessions. I had a good number of
students at that time and onemore was soon to be added. Now,
he wandered into the airfieldlate one Saturday afternoon,
just as I was finishing theday's ground school. He was
(04:23):
slightly taller than me and veryskinny. He respectfully asked if
he could discuss some flyinglessons with me, and of course I
said yes. He was so very keen tofly, he told me he had been
bitten by the flying bug veryearly on in his childhood. And
although his family were poor,he had an uncle who was willing
to enable him to achieve hisdream. He was passionate and
(04:47):
dedicated, and had startedreading through flight manuals
before he ever decided toapproach us for lessons. I was
impressed with his dedication,and I understood it so well. In
the following weeks, we enrolledhim in the private pilot's
license course on theunderstanding that if he
completed the coursesuccessfully, he would plan to
(05:07):
go to the academy in Zaria, tocomplete his commercial pilot's
license, and from therehopefully join the world of
commercial aviation. He stoodout, always dressed nicely in
his white shirt and blacktrousers and was always asking
questions. He alwaysrespectfully called me maam,
which made me feel quite old,but I appreciated his
(05:29):
politeness. He was without doubtone of the most dedicated and
enthusiastic students I'd evertaught. There was only one
drawback to this scenario, andit was a big one. He just
couldn't handle the aircraftsafely.
(05:57):
He seemed to struggle right fromthe very start. Basic flight
maneuvers had to be repeatedtime and time again with
alarming regularity. At first, Ithought it was nerves, but very
soon it became apparent that hejust didn't have the
prerequisites to handle anaircraft. I carried out extended
ground school sessions with himon my own time to try to help.
(06:20):
But as we approached 25 hourswith no sign of a first solo
flight, I knew that I had tomake some difficult decisions
about his continued training. Ididn't take these lightly. I
held many discussions with himabout his progress, I sought
advice and I arranged to checkflight with an instructor from
the flight Academy in Zaria thatI had trained with in the US,
(06:43):
and I continued to try to finddifferent ways to help him
become proficient. He failed hischeckride and the recommendation
was the same as mine. There wasno improvement. I made a
difficult decision to terminatehis training. But I always felt
so bad that I destroyed hisdream. Even though I knew it was
the right decision to make forhis sake. A few years later,
(07:06):
unfortunately, I would be provedright in the worst possible way.
Back on the twin otters, Icontinued to build my flight
hours towards a command. Soon itwould be time to attain my
airline transport pilot'slicense, ATPL for short, so that
I could become a captain whenthe time was right. I would soon
be returning to the US to buildthe number of requisite night
(07:28):
hours for license issue.
However, I was still wrackedwith indecision about job offers
elsewhere. I confided in mychief pilot, and he understood
my conflict, but he was certainthat once I'd attained my ATPL,
and with the length ofexperience i'd gained with the
company, I would soon be offereda command. Now Bristow
helicopters had given me mycommercial start and had stood
(07:49):
by me, giving me the sameopportunities as the male
pilots, and not making anydistinction when it came to
ability. I felt that I owed themmy loyalty.
I was still on the receiving endof a number of unhelpful
comments, however, and as Imoved to the left hand seat for
line training, the comments grewmore and more unkind. Some of
(08:13):
the more bewildering ones where"I don't think that you can
legally become a captain". "Whenyou are married, your husband
will not allow this". And mypersonal favorite from a female
passenger no less. "We have toobey our menfolk, there is no
way that a man will takeinstruction from a mere woman".
It seemed to be a direct threatto some, that a woman be seen
(08:36):
with the same authority as aman. For the most part, I
responded by letting out a bigsigh, and saying that they were
welcome to their opinion, but itwould make no difference because
I was up here and they were backthere. Walking to destination
was always an option if theypreferred. It had become and
would still be a part of mystruggle as a woman in a culture
(08:58):
that did not give equal footingto the sexes. People always had
to have their say, whilst notfully appreciating the hurt that
they inflicted, to make themfeel better about themselves.
Luckily, I was blessed with anever thickening skin. Besides,
they would soon have more thanone or two women to pick on.
(09:19):
Aero Contractors had a femalepilot now, as did the German
construction company JuliusBerger. The Julius Berger
operations were right next doorto us alongside the police
airwing. We struck up afriendship which provided much
needed support at the same time,she had experienced the same
kind of reception from herpassengers and in some cases
(09:39):
much worse. For her, there wasalso an element of racism
involved and she was often toldthat her position as a co pilot
was only to fulfill a quota. Shewas tough and determined though,
and had a hard exterior. Afterall, she had to do all of this
without the kind of support hercolleagues should have given
her. I tried to be that supportas much as I could, and having
(10:03):
witnessed some of the hostilityshe experienced firsthand, I
knew it could have been worse.
It was several years before Icame to realize, that that time,
had taken a heavy toll on her.
Thank you for listening. Asalways, your reviews and
comments are very muchappreciated. Thank you to Lucy
Ashby for the editing of thisepisode. If you'd like to ask a
(10:26):
question or make a comment,please do so on our social media
sites. We're on Instagram,Facebook and Twitter, or send us
an email. Our email addresses.
theskyispinkpilot@gmail.com orvisit our website,
www.skyispink.co.uk.
(10:47):
In the next episode, I preparefor two months in the US to
obtain my airline transportpilot's license. I experienced
an interesting medical issuethat I could only laugh at years
later, and political upheavalrocks the country.
Thank you and goodbye.
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