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Title: |
Reflections on 9/11 and the Future of Aviation - Legends of Air and Space Lectures |
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Sub Title: |
Presented by Cradle of Aviation Museum, Long Island's Air and Space Museum |
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Date: |
July 11, 2012 |
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Time: |
7:00 PM
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| Admission: | Free admission, reservations required. Group reservations at 516-572-4066. |
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Location: |
Cradle of Aviation Museum |
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Street Address: |
1 Davis Avenue |
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Garden City, NY 11530 |
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Description: |
Major Heather "Lucky" Penney tells her story as a 9/11 First Responder and as an F-16 Pilot in Iraq.
Major Heather Penney grew up in an aviation community of air racers and fighter pilots, and dreamed of one day joining that elite brotherhood herself – but girls couldn't be fighter pilots. When Congressional legislation opened combat aviation to women, she immediately applied to the 121st Fighter Squadron, and became the first woman in the D.C. Air National Guard to fly the F-16.
When two airliners were flown into the World Trade Center twin towers then-Lieutenant Penney was in a briefing room. After the Pentagon was hit, she was scrambled as part of a two-ship team to intercept another hijacked airliner and protect Washington DC. Taking off in unarmed jets, Penney and her flight lead would have had no choice but to ram their aircraft into what we now know was Flight 93.
Penney spent the next nine months flying a combat air patrol over our Capitol’s skies, and deployed as a Scud-hunter in western Iraq during the opening phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After two combat tours in Iraq, her last flight in the F-16 Viper was in February 2009. She continues to serve as a traditional Air Guardsman as a mission-ready aircraft commander in the C-38 Gulfstream 100. Major Penney works at Lockheed Martin as Director, U.S. Air Force Air Superiority Systems, and has two young daughters. She has raced in the jet class at the Reno Air Races, co-pilots the Collings Foundation B-17 as a volunteer, and has more than 2,000 hours in military jets, antique and vintage tail draggers. |
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Contact: |
516-572-4111 |
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