Annual Glanville Lecture: Mandy Hickson – Cleared for Take Off!

The Eleanor Glanville Centre will host its first Annual Glanville Lecture 25th of April in the Isaac Newton Building on the Brayford Pool Campus.

This year’s speaker is Mandy Hickson, the UK’s first female fast-jet pilot. The talk entitled ‘Cleared for Take Off’ will offer an insight into Mandy’s career in the Royal Air Force, her incredible journey to become one of the UK’s first female, fast-jet pilots and how she overcame many obstacles to develop the skills to succeed in such a demanding career.

Finding a love of flying early in life, Mandy worked hard to achieve her ambition to be a Royal Air Force pilot. She was only the second woman to fly a Tornado GR4 on the front line, completing three tours of duty and 45 missions over Iraq.

Flying a multi-million pound fighter jet in hostile territory is not an everyday career, and comes with a high degree of pressure and responsibility. It’s a dream job that takes years of ambition, training and commitment, but for Mandy Hickson, it was a dream that became reality.

Throughout her time, Mandy was the only female aircrew and later juggled life as a working mother of two young children.

Now a civilian, Mandy draws on her experiences to train and inspire others, covering the core areas of human factors; decision making, communication, leadership, behaviour, workload, conflict, fatigue and stress management.

The lecture will take place from 5pm – 7pm and will be followed by a Q&A and a wine reception. The lecture is free to attend but prior booking is essential. To book your place please visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/annual-glanville-lecture-tickets-42000860705?aff=ehomecard.