The first female pilots to lead Mexico's Independence Day parade

Two women of the Mexican Air Force will fly for the first time in the military parade for the 209th anniversary of Mexico’s Independence , which will take place next September 16 .

The air pilot of the Air Squadron 401 , Karen Vanessa Velázquez Ruiz , will be in charge of one of the four F-5 supersonic aircraft , while her colleague, Miriam Martínez Magaña , will pilot a Texan T6C , used for training.

Both of them will cross the sky of Mexico City with different basic fly formations , such as squadron , that involves three elements, and the V-shape with five to nine elements, both of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.

Originally from Mexico City, lieutenant Karen Vanessa Velázquez Ruiz is the first woman of the Mexican Air Force to pilot an F-5 Tiger and, furthermore, the leading aircraft.

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“My main duty is to keep control of times and help the craft’s commander to keep the speeds, and thus, be able to go through on time,” she explains in an interview with EL UNIVERSAL .

Thrilled by the challenge ahead, Velázquez Ruiz, of 29 years old, adds that the fast F-5 aircraft will only perform the diamond formation in their two tours over Mexico City’s Zócalo .

“The main characteristic of the F-5 aircraft is that it is supersonic ; this means it can fly over the speed of sound and its main missions are air-to-air combat, air interception, and air escort,” she comments.

For her, it represents a great satisfaction , but at the same time, she says, it is a great challenge to pilot an aircraft of this kind “that demands too much from you because it requires a lot of study and practice .”

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She asserts that the National Defense Ministry (Sedena) has been working on including more women in all the military sectors, generating an environment of equity and fellowship .

Just a few days before the military parade , she says she feels calm, “but very excited because I want the day to come, but all in due time, for now, we’re getting ready.”

She points out that she used to fly fighter aircrafts 295 in which she performed many operations to help the population with the DNIII-E Plan in different states of the country.

Pilot Miriam Martínez Magaña

will pilot a Texan T-6C aircraft ; she is the first female aircraft commander in a military parade . “It is something amazing; I’m part of a formation of 20 airplanes ; I think I have a great responsibility as a craft commander, representing women, and participating in the formation of 20 airplanes is to trust in the 19 crafts around me,” she says.

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The young woman asserts that she is focused on all the responsibility that she will carry next Monday during the air show , however, she feels “calm with the work we’re doing.”

A total of 72 aircraft (50 planes and 22 helicopters) will cross the sky with different formations during the military parade.

This Wednesday, the aircraft of the Mexican Air Force made a final practice of the air parade in Santa Lucía’s Military Air Base in the State of Mexico.

Mexican Air Force coronel, Edgar Manuel Campos Martínez , explained that the pilots will be synchronized with the land parade, which is expected to last for 1.5 hours .

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