Mary Feik

Mary Feik (/faɪk/ FYKE;[1] March 9, 1924 – June 10, 2016) was an American aviation engineer, mechanic, pilot, instructor and aircraft restorer.

While flying a P-59 jet fighter during gunnery training, she witnessed tracer rounds coming within feet of the aircraft's nose.

"I was the only person to fly open cockpit in a jet airplane ... the airflow over this little windscreen was so great that I think I was off the seat no matter how tightly I was strapped down," she said.

The pilot training manuals and technical engineering reports she authored were distributed throughout the Armed Forces.

Her deployable rigs allowed aircraft procedures and limits to be tested with running engines on the ground.

Feik's personal Short Winged Piper is undergoing restoration for donation to an air museum.

A recipient of many aerospace honors, in 1994 Feik was inducted into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame.

Every year, she gave a speech to cadets from throughout Civil Air Patrol at the National Honor Guard Academy and also to a gathered assembly of basic cadets and staff at the Civil Air Patrol's Tri-Wing Encampment, held by Maryland Wing.

The Northrop Alpha project on display
CAP Mary Feik Achievement ribbon