Meeting the demands of Corps values

`For as long as I can remember I always wanted to be a pilot. I don't know where it came from. I went to St Olaf's Primary in Balally and St Raphaela's in Stillorgan, Dublin. After the Leaving Cert I went to Glasgow University and studied aeronautical engineering for a year before applying for an Air Corps cadetship.

The first interview is a general one where they want to know information about yourself and get an idea of your current affairs knowledge; it wasn't too specific on the Air Corps. It's a bit intimidating, walking into a room with five people sitting there in uniform and you sitting way back from the table. It's not too bad once you start talking, though - you relax a bit.

After that you do aptitude tests. If you get onto the next stage, you are called for a technical interview. They ask you about flying and what you know about aircraft. I wasn't a plane spotter or anything but I knew a basic amount from my year in aero engineering.

There's no point trying to pretend that you know stuff you don't because they're all professionals. There is then a test of hand/eye co-ordination where you have to do things like keeping a ball in the centre of a computer screen using pedals.

I had a final interview at which there was also a fitness test. You can't really have the same standards for the fellows as for the girls - you have to do the same run but girls are allowed one or two minutes more. You have to do the same number of press-ups and sit-ups but the press-ups are modified - you do them from your knees.

It was actually near the end of the interview process when I was asked how many female pilots I thought there might be. I guessed six or seven, but was told I'd be one of the first. I always just presumed there would be women here before me.

There were six women at the Cadet School in the Curragh. One girl was also from the Air Corps also but she went back to college eventually. I was used to living in a male environment because most of my friends at home are blokes and I have two brothers. One or two of the girls would have been my best friends but you don't really think about male or female. The people you get on best with are the people who are going to be your closest friends.

The course at the Curragh was physically tough but you'll get through it if you want to enough. In Baldonnel it's more intensive mentally. You really have to want to do the job. I wanted to do search-and-rescue and you have to have something to look forward to. An interest in sport is important - they're looking for active people and they put a huge emphasis on it in the cadet school.

I'm proud of being where I am now. I never thought I would actually get the chance to do it. My friends say I'm more confident, I think it's as a result of being used to relying on others.

When you're flying, you could be in command of an aircraft and the crew. It isn't like the army where you're in charge of a platoon but you're still trained to be responsible for the aircraft. There is mutual respect between officers and men - you work together. I'd only give an order if I knew what I was saying and they have a respect for you because they know what you've gone through and been trained for.