By Emme Hornung
Following the return of ScaleVenture at the EAA Aviation Museum on Saturday, October 17, retired fighter pilot Cmdr. Meagan Flannigan will be presenting a special Speaker Series in the EAA Education Center at 4 p.m. to lead a discussion and Q&A session on flying the F-14 Tomcat with the U.S. Navy in conjunction with this year’s ScaleVenture theme.
Meagan, like many fighter pilots of her era, was inspired by the iconic film Top Gun at the age of 10. It was her first real exposure to aviation and fighter jets — she watched it twice in one night, and it was that night she decided someday she was going to fly the F-14.
This was in 1990, three years before women were allowed to even train as fighter pilots due to the Combat Exclusion Policy, but her parents didn’t tell her that. Instead, they encouraged her to follow her dreams. “You always have naysayers, but it doesn’t matter. It’s all about who you choose to listen to,” she said.
Every choice she made in high school was to prepare for the United States Naval Academy —keeping up her grades, joining clubs and athletics, and writing letters to senators and congressmen to ask for letters of recommendation.
Her hard work and dedication paid off, and Meagan earned her ticket to the Academy, eventually flying the T-34 in flight school. She carried that same dedication throughout her training to come out on top when it came time to receive her flight assignment, and again it proved to be worth it. She was one of the last four pilots to be assigned to the F-14 prior to its retirement in 2006.
Just 14 years after seeing Top Gun that lit the spark, she was flying the Tomcat. “It definitely was worth all the work, those short-term sacrifices to achieve long-term goals. On that first flight I knew it was worth it,” she said.
Meagan flew the F-14 from the USS Theodore Roosevelt during the Iraq War in 2005-2006 before transitioning to the F/A-18F Super Hornet — comparing the two aircraft to a 1976 Chevelle versus a 2017 Audi. The Hornet had all the fancy bells and whistles, but something about the classic rawness of the Tomcat makes it “the most spectacular airplane ever made.”
Join us as Meagan shares more of her inspiring story and experiences flying the F-14 Tomcat, and find out who she presents the Judge’s Choice award to for the “Best F-14 Tomcat” scale model.
If arriving after 4 p.m. for the Speaker Series presentation, admission is free for EAA members and youths, and just $5 for nonmembers. If you plan to arrive prior to 4 p.m. to enjoy ScaleVenture activities, regular museum admission rates apply for nonmembers. Learn more about ScaleVenture here.
If you’re unable to attend, all Speaker Series presentations are recorded and will be available to members to watch here at a later date.
Speaker Series is supported by Alro Steel, Capital Credit Union, Community First Credit Union, Cozumel Mexican Grill, Kwik Trip, Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Specialists, Pilotsmith, Sargento, and The Taqueria.