Aviation for Women is the flagship member publication of Women in Aviation International. Articles feature women who have made aviation history, professional development ideas, and current-topic articles.
Issue link: https://afwdigital.epubxp.com/i/694422
28 Aviation forWomen J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 naval aviator. The carrier takeoff or "cat shot" is one that not many who have experienced it will forget. "That frst carrier launch is like the frst dip in the greatest roller coaster ever built times a thousand," Meagan said. Van- essa agreed with the roller coaster analogy and added that the landing was also exhilarating. "You had to be prepared for it and tightly strapped in or you could fnd your head in the con- trol panel," Vanessa said. Meagan also recalled the landing on a carrier as an exhil- arating experience. "Your heart starts to race as you line up with the ship," she said. "Then as you roll out behind it on f- nal, your breathing starts to get harder. You make sure you are calm-sounding on the radio as you call the ball, and then you hit the deck. You go from 140 knots to 0 in just seconds. It is a pretty memorable arrival." Meagan completed her training and joined VF-213 The Blacklions for the fnal Tomcat deployment to support Opera- tion Iraqi Freedom. After those fnal missions the famed fght- er was retired to the boneyard and to museums around the country. "The saddest day for me was when I few my F-14 to the boneyard and parked it for the last time," Meagan said. "I transitioned into the F/A-18 Super Hornet. It is a great plane, and still a lot of the same people, but it is just not the same without the big Tomcat. It is like if on your 16th birthday if your dad gave you a 1970 Chevelle. Yeah, it leaks, gets bad gas mileage, and it's loud. But when you drove it down the street everyone knew you owned that street. Then your father took that car from you and gave you a brand new Volvo with auto- matic everything. It is nice and new, and performs fantastic, but you still miss that old Chevelle." T H E N E X T C H A P T E R Meagan and Vanessa had both achieved their dream of fying the F-14 and then found themselves at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives. Vanessa elected to leave the Navy after eight years of active duty and another seven in the Navy Reserves. Meagan became an instructor pilot in the F/A- 18 so that she could train the next crop of naval aviators and NFOs as Vanessa had done before her. After her tour as an in- structor, she too joined the Navy Reserves where she is still currently serving. Now they needed to fnd a new dream, a new driving force in their lives. For Vanessa that entailed joining a start-up company, Pre- vailance Inc., in 2007 as one of the frst employees. After sev- eral years with Prevailance Inc. in various key positions lead- ing to tremendous growth, Vanessa is now the vice president of strategic development. In this role, she was instrumen- tal in the development of a new company, Prevailance Aero- M E E T VA N E S S A A N D M E AG A N Hear more about Vanessa and Meagan's careers at EAA's WomenVenture Power Lunch on Wednesday, July 27, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. The presentation at Theater in the Woods is open to all AirVenture attendees, with the option to purchase a $5 boxed lunch. For more information or to register visit www.EAA.org/womenventure . PHOTO COURTESY OF MEAGAN FLANNIGAN