Pioneer leaves cockpit

Capt. Jane Foster is kind of a big deal, but she'll never tell you that.
One of the first female fighter pilots in the world and one of the first women to receive her military wings in Canada, Foster is as modest as they come.
As an instructor at 15 Wing Moose Jaw, her kind face and relaxed demeanour inspired confidence in her students but didn't intimidate them. However, since learning more about her career, many have confessed they would've been a lot more nervous flying with her if they had known her story beforehand.
"I just love this job," Foster said.
Foster, whose parents immigrated to Canada from Holland after the Second World War, knew she wanted to be a fighter pilot after picking up a book about First World War flying aces as a child. Since flying for the Canadian Forces wasn't an option for women at the time, Foster got her private pilot's licence instead.
One afternoon, she entered her local recruiting centre and found out the Air Force had opened a trial course for female pilots.
"They needed two more women to fill out the course," said Foster. "I was in the right place at the right time - pure luck."
Foster came to Moose Jaw in 1983 for training and received her wings on the CT-114 Tutor jet.
She spent the next four years here as an instructor, where she met and married Col. Richard Foster, a fellow jet pilot and the current commander of 15 Wing.
In 1988, the military decided to conduct a two-person course in Cold Lake, Alta., to determine whether women could become fighter pilots.
Foster was chosen as a test case and her dream of being a fighter pilot finally became a reality.
"I trained on the F-5 for six months, then flew the F-18," said Foster.
After completing her course - and becoming one of only two female fighter pilots in the world - she was posted to 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron.
She spent a year on exercises in Canada, the U.S. and overseas before deciding the F-18 wasn't for her.
"I scared myself one too many times," she said.
Foster flew the T-33 Thunderbird as a target plane for the F-18 for a few years before getting out of the military to raise two children, Sean, 15, and Patricia, 13.
She re-enlisted as a reservist while her husband was posted to Bagotville, Que., then found herself back in Moose Jaw in 2005.
While here, Foster realized, she was in an ideal position to get back into the cockpit.
"I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to do it," she said. "It had been 15 years since I'd flown."
Her doubts went out the window as soon as she finished training.
"One of my proudest moments was when I finished that refresher course," said Foster. "I proved to myself that I did deserve (my wings) the first time."
Foster has been instructing students since 2006, but made her last flight as a military pilot on May 30.
Her husband is being posted to Ottawa and she's going with him.
"I'm getting out of the military," she said. "I'm going to spend some time with my family. I'm going to miss the (flying school), the student pilots, the energy on the base."
According to her students, it won't be half as much as they'll miss her.


For more, see Friday's Times-Herald