When I was little I was like most kids - okay maybe not like most girls, because the first subject matter I remember being fascinated with was dinosaurs. They literally blew my little mind away - creatures so enormous, so deadly, and so....well, extinct! They were as mythical to me, as dragons and fairies. I spent what seemed like an eternity in equal measure wishing dinosaurs would once again roam the planet, and being incredibly thankful I would never have to worry about being chased by a velociraptor. As I grew older the dinosaur obsession died and was replaced by the next best thing....sharks, of course (at least they still existed)! This was mostly thanks to the 'Quest' collectible magazines we used to get in South Africa. Nearly every second magazine would contain terrifying imagines of Great Whites with their gargantous jaws splayed open, or a Thresher shark with its elegant tail fin on display.
Then when I was 12 years old everything would change. My father (like any good German) is a die hard Arnold Schwarzenegger fan...and so when the movie 'True Lies' was released to 'VHS' (those are old fashioned DVDs for you young people) - he was first on the movie rental store list to check it out. As it had an age restriction I was not allowed to watch it - but like any child, I used every opportunity to walk past the television set to catch glimpses of the 'not for children' movie. I happened to walk by during the scene of the Harrier jet doing a vertical take-off from the bridge. This trumped dinosaurs AND sharks - it was quite literally 'the coolest thing ever' in my mind. Not only did it solidify my personal love of Arnold,for being able to fly a fighter jet (at 12, OF COURSE, I believed this was real - it's Arnold, come on!), but it would be the start of a somewhat heart-breaking love affair with aviation.
Becoming a pilot is an expensive exercise, and something that was not an option when I finished school - so instead I studied computers (from dinosaurs-sharks-airplanes...to computers - no wonder it never enthralled me). However, 2yrs later South African Airways would post an advertisement in the Sunday Times newspaper for their Pilot Cadet Scheme (PCS), I applied immediately. Out of the blue 8 weeks later I would receive a notification in the post to report to Jet Park for initial screening and aptitude tests for the PCS - I was over the moon, over 6000 applications had been received by SAA. I attended the initial session, and again, weeks later,I would receive a notification to say I had passed and would be required to complete fitness & medical tests. We had now been whittled down to a group of only around 50-60 people. I knew I was strong, fit and healthy, the worst was over and I had now convinced myself that this was it - I was going to 'live the dream'. Weeks later I would be called back for further medical evaluation - and as I sat with the neurologist who was by now taping my closed eyes and running a third EEG, she turned to me and said "I am not allowed to discuss these sessions with possible cadets but I can see how your heart is set on this. Lisa, I cannot pass you - you have what is known as an abnormal EEG, this is a 'fail item' in the PCS due to the possibility of epilepsy." I left the hospital gutted, I would go on to see another neurologist who had worked in the South African Air force, who would run the same tests, and confirm the same findings.
I would continue to work in the IT industry for another three years before receiving a phone call from a fellow computer programming graduate who loved aviation. He had put me forward for a position in an aerial geophysics company...the rest as they say - is history. I may never get to captain an aircraft - but I did get to spend a great few years working within the aviation industry.
**This post is in honour of my Gramps who turned 93 today! He flew the Halifax on cargo missions for the RAF during World War II - next week he will get to meet my husband for the first time and talk 'flying stuff' (,")
