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Chapter 26
Mandy Hickson and Flt Lt Michelle Goodman
Breaking new ground is not limited just to businesspeople; it comes in many forms and this next two Brilliant Minds certainly did this.
Mandy Hickson served for over 16 years in the Royal Air Force as Fast Jet Pilot flying the Tornado GR4 Ground Attack aircraft. She is one of only a handful of female pilots in the UK military to have operated in hostile war zones. During this time, she has amassed around 2000 flying hours on 8 different aircraft types.
Michelle Goodman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), the first time the honour has been awarded to a female pilot. The DFC, awarded for “an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy.”
Both these women broke down barriers and overcame adversity to fulfil their passion, but it wasn’t always easy, and they had to over come many barriers.
By Harvey Thorneycroft
Chapter 26: Mandy Hickson and Flt Lt Michelle Goodman
Breaking new ground is not limited just to businesspeople; it comes in many forms and this next Brilliant Mind is one of the most positive and exceptional women I have ever met.
At 17, Mandy Hickson was awarded a RAF Flying Scholarship and went on to gain her Private Pilot’s Licence at the age of 17. A little worryingly, she could fly before she could drive! Whilst at university, she continued to foster her love of flying with a RAF organisation, the University Air Squadron, and it was during this time in 1990 that the RAF changed their rules and opened the doors to female would be fast jet pilots – no sex change was required.
Although five women officers had qualified as Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots in the 1950s, the RAF did not allow women to pursue a career in flying until Julie Ann Gibson and Sally Cox became the RAF’s first career pilots in 1990.
Mandy attempted to join the RAF. The selection process is a particularly gruelling three days of interviews, medicals, team building, leadership exercises and aptitude tests. The aptitude tests consist of hours of computer-based exercises, designed to test hand to eye co-ordination, memory, mental agility, and the like. She was informed that she had failed at the first attempt to be a pilot. She was devastated but you can do them twice in a lifetime, so she waited a year and went back and resat them and failed them again. This would officially be the end of the line; you can go no further if you have failed them twice.
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