Not all F/A-18 pilots have heard of Leslie Shook, but every Hornet pilot knows her voice. The Boeing employee is the voice of the "oral alert," a series of pre-recorded commands that help a pilot avoid his or her imminent demise.
Shook is now retiring from the company, which put together a nice tribute video to her.
The F/A-18 can sense when corrective action is needed—right away—and the plane promptly warns the pilot what needs to be done. Bitchin' Betty will bark commands like "Pull up! Pull up!" until the pilot complies. There are numerous Bitchin' Betties across various airplanes, with Erica Lane voicing the AH-64 Apache and Sue Milne the Eurofighter Typhoon (where she is known as "Nagging Nora.")
Why have women shouting a pilots? Early voice studies indicated that female voices, in addition to having a greater range, were more authoritative and more likely to grab a pilot's attention. Shook's voice, sharp and matronly, sounds like your mother. And everyone should listen to their mother.
Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE News, and others. He lives in San Francisco.
