Commander Trish Beckman, USN (retired)
WMA President 1993 - 1995
Currently flies for Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group, Seattle, Washington. She holds FAA licenses as an Aircraft Dispatcher and a Flight Navigator. She flies as a System Operator (similar to flight engineer) for production test flights of the Boeing 737, and as a Navigator for production ferry flights and engineering test flights. Additionally, she has flown as an aerial photographer in the company's T-38 aircraft.
Trish spent over 28 years on active duty in the Navy (8 years enlisted and 20 years as an officer). As a Naval Flight Officer (NFO, or Navigator), she has flown in 67 types of military aircraft. Her primary aircraft qualifications were in the EC-130Q, F/A-18D, E-6A, S-3A/B, and F-15E.
Besides being a graduate of the US Naval Test Pilot School, Trish also instructed there. She has a BS in Aerospace Engineering (North Carolina State University), an MS in Aeronautical Engineering (Naval Postgraduate School), and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA, Webster University).
Trish is a Past President of Women Military Aviators, Inc. (WMA), is a founding board member of Women in Aviation, International (WAI), and is also a founding board member of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation (SAAHF).
Biography as of 15 February 2004