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You are cleared for takeoff. Roger Metro Tower. Podcast 011 is rolling. Welcome to Females in Aviation, Past and Present, Episode 11.
We are here today with Susan Papp Miller, a retired Navy pilot who currently works as an ASEC simulator instructor and is involved with a mentoring program called Girls on the Run. Welcome, Susan. Well, thank you very much. Pleasure to be here.
So, Susan, why don't you begin by telling us how you got your start in the Navy? Your pilot and you know, it's a talk to him. It's really crazy like that. So, training is like, you just took me to a barobale and we flew around and I was like, there's a teach me how to do this and pay me for it.
He was like, yes, it's a qualification. So, I immediately went back. I was in my senior year of college. I immediately had gone back and started studying.
And then, I graduated with tests. I got exception off of their Canada Schools program. Okay. Oh, that's awesome.
What was the year of then when you started your team? It was 91 when I first went in. Okay. It was in there in it, but it's in college.
I mean, I didn't tell me. Oh, good for you. But I could do it. You could.
Yeah. And my career started in the 70s and there were no airline pilots. There were definitely no ladies welcome in the military as well. No.
In fact, I remember going to the recruiters because I really came from poverty and I was struggling to pay for flying lessons. Actually, I worked weekends at a flight school one day a work for one hour of flying. Wow. And then my regular job during the week.
But when I went to the recruiters' office, Susan, it was like, oh, you can't be a pilot in the military. What are you thinking? And they could just say that back then. I'm worried about lawsuits or discrimination or anything.
So needless to say, I didn't join the military. So it's been kind of fun doing these interviews with you ladies. And just to hear you guys say, oh, so I went and joined the National Guard so I could get some flying time. I'm like, really?
Just like that. And I can remember when I was in primary. They were asking, what do you think you want to fly? And always, you know, the jets are supposed to be the appealing aircraft.
But for like my son, I tend to have to really want to do P3s. Like I really want to do because they really want to go. So it's the time that was considered combat role and it wasn't. Right.
And I can remember for flight, later stage, private P3 pilot, and it's been played in the way to go back as instructor in T34. I was trying to keep the form with, he'd ask me, I want to fly. I was just funny that he felt so comfortable saying it. Sort of like, you know, he's like, well, you know, women are not flying.
He's like, well, I don't want to fly P3s. And he's like, frankly, I hope they never are. I think that will really change the dynamic and really kind of really really be free. You know, I'm scared.
I can't, well, flying, you tell me, I'm like, I'm your student. I'm trying to fly this. But I said, that was fine. But that's ultimately when I ended up doing what I was flying.
P3s, because it opened up just mirrored in bands. There's a couple of girlfriends and I were going through flight school and they had a one-girl head to light the peelers. They called her back up like two days later and said, it's been a friend of Congress for the first. You're going, you know, you're going P3s.
No, wow. That was kind of exciting. So we were sort of on the front. That was my only sort of on the front way.
So we were the first unfortunate. They took the six of us, the girls kind of going through and placed them together and they kind of took us and put us all in different squadrons. They're like, Jenny and said her to, to its main poly state here in Jacksonville and I went out to Hawaii and Jan went to, you know, would be. So they wanted, they kind of took us and put us whatever sort of separated us that we were breaking at the same time.
Well, they didn't want you all together. Yeah, we had too much power in one place. They might overpower us. Oh, yeah.
But like I said, I look back at my career. My goodness, what a, what a experience. That's why, you know, when this girl's in the run program or going to talk to girls in schools, just be the best to do this. I mean, no, extremely intelligent.
Not actually gifted and anything. It's just a willingness to work hard. That's, yes. You know, I know totally what you're saying.
I did an interview yesterday, not as the interviewer, but as the interviewee with another woman who does a podcast series called Walk a Mile. And she does a different occupation each week. And I did this interview with her yesterday. And I said, almost word for word, what you just said.
She asked me the question, what's the biggest misconception that people have about your job? And I said, just that it's that pilots are all gods up on pedestals and it's impossibly hard to do. And we're really unique, brilliant, special people because we're not. Oh, if you have the passion and the desire and you stick to it, I don't care if you graduate from high school with a sea average, you can do this.
Right. If you want it badly, no. Well, actually, I was very sure. And I got to the forecheck ride, so I told right in primary, number three, you had to go, if you had to go, basically, talk to one against me.
So I'm sitting there female, female, female, before at the time, I was at 01, she was like, what are you doing here? And she's like, you know, she goes back down my van 13, too. If your instructors were taking time to figure out that you guys believe in yourself, and she's like, this is the end of the road, you're just buying out with all of this. You know, obviously devastated at times.
Oh, sure. And I can remember her, like, when she walked away, I remember thinking, I was still a little insecure, but I remember thinking, if I get through this and I finish, I want to be her. I want to be the one that, you know, seeks those people out that are struggling and saying, you know, you can do it, especially women. And I do it for my male students as well.
But especially women who are going through that insecurity and that struggle and lifting them up and saying, no, you can't do it. You've got to believe in yourself. But yeah, I can remember her walking away. I still have that picture of my mind of her walking away.
I want to be here. I want to be in that position where I can help those who are up and coming. And it sounds like you made up your mind and did that. Yes.
And I actually was funny. I got my online. He was happy. He was like, what happened?
He was like, what happened? He didn't do it. He was ready for the checker. I did the checker.
He said, what happened? I understand he was a nice guy. He was so nice. And I said, I think I need somebody who's going to yell at me.
He was going to get on me. He set me up with a special wife. He set me up with this guy. And I heard every list of her band and he was like, throwing stuff.
And I remember halfway through the first extra flight I got. I got so mad at him. And I was like, in my mind, I was like, which kind of, I know I can do this. And it was like, click.
And he was over. And at the end of the second flight, he's like, I knew the incident. You decided you could do it. It looks like, oh yeah.
I guess that works. I'm now retired from the Navy. I'm now doing instructing and the simulators for ASIC. As EC or contracted by the government, the PA pilot.
So I can teach classes. They come to us for specialised tests, pilots, or sets. So the PFO, Orange, and TurboPro, primary team, what they can possibly use as running in there. Facebook page that we're both on with the lady pilots.
I don't know if you noticed the lady. She's a military pilot and she was going out for her, I don't know the military terminology, but her equivalent of the ATP oil exam. And everybody, I mean, she must have had 60 women responding. I think she was going, you know, having her check ride tomorrow or something.
And everybody was just giving her advice and giving her encouragement. Good. It's just, it's amazing that we have that and that's out there. The thing I said to her that I found and I told her this, I said, you are so worried about looking bad because you're a woman because that's what she said.
I'm the only woman and I said, you're so worried about being the woman who fails when all the men pass that you likely have over prepared, which is what I always did. I so didn't want to look bad in front of that room full of guys. And nine times out of ten when I went to flight safety and, you know, to learn a new aircraft or for recurrent training or whatever. On the written part, I outscored every man in the class.
Because I was so worried about, as you just said, they have, they seem to grow up learning more about hydraulics and mechanics and all those things that we don't grow up with for the most part. And so I would just over study hydraulics and electrical systems and all that stuff, not to look like the fool. Yeah, very similar experience. What would you say is the biggest misconception about being a military pilot?
Okay. So the biggest misconception that we mentioned earlier is piloting is not hard to do and a desire to achieve it. And it takes hard work. I mean, there's no doubt that it takes time if you need to really focus on studying.
It takes a lot of armchair flying when you're just sitting in your chair in your room and practicing your muscle memory procedure. But if you work hard enough, you can do it and it's worth it in the end. So you don't have to be super intelligent. You can be an average intelligent, average athletic ability and be an excellent pilot if you want to put time and effort into it.
Very good. It's all about desire and dedication. Yes. Okay.
And I guess other than that, is there anything I haven't asked you about your job that you would like to share? Or are there any, like, an amusing story or anecdote that you would tell about your experience as a military pilot? I think what it was, it kind of relates to the military pilot side of it. It's one of the reasons why I really want to use it now that the follow on PA, the reason I chose that over jet flying onto an aircraft carrier are in charge of the amount of comfortable with women and with all that it was wonderful.
So they had asked for them. And they wanted to just kind of touch me. I want to thank them. Oh, yeah.
I want to thank them. Oh, that's great. That was one of my more memorable experiences. It wasn't necessarily a flight, but it was involving the position I was in.
Oh, that's better. Yeah, you were like a goddess to that, it sounds like. Yes, it was the course on the guys made fun of me afterwards. But it was very exciting.
It was very exciting, very touching. Yeah, it sounds like it was good for you. Thank you so much for making time for me today. I really appreciate it.
You're welcome. Thank you for talking and it was very nice. Very nice meeting you. We did the current conflicts and rules.
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