First African American woman to fly the U-2 reconnaissance plane

Air Force Lt. Col. Merryl Tengesdal is the first African American female to fly the Air Force's elite U-2 reconnaissance plane.


Lt. Col. Merryl Tengesdal is currently stationed at
the North American Aerospace Defense Command
and U.S. Northern Command.

After her college graduation, she applied for Naval Officer's candidate school and was selected for the U.S. Navy's flight aviation program. It was after her OCS graduation that she began a career of flying the Navy's SH-60B Sea Hawk helicopter. Colonel Tengesdal spent 10 years flying in the Navy before transferring to the Air Force in 2004 to fly the U-2 reconnaissance plane.

"I was one of five women in my class and the only female that graduated, I just stayed focus as I went through the training process," she said. "The U-2 plane is used for reconnaissance and can reach above 70,000 feet in the air while lasting over nine hours in the sky. One of my greatest highlights was providing ground troops pertinent information during Operation Enduring Freedom."

Read more: http://avstop.com/march_2011/black_history_in_the_now.htm

 

Wow...what a spectacular achievement. The Stealth is a stunning piece of machinery.