Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

^^ Lol!

[the dancer of spaz]

Well ya see, someone asked, "what pilots do we have on base?" And someone else answered "we have Sam Carter." Then the first guy said "Okay send him up?"

And of course they didn't notice Sam was a woman since she was wearing her helmet and flight gear

LOL! Sweeet.


... I'm assuming they didn't look below her neck then?

[Agent_Dark]

LOL! Sweeet.


... I'm assuming they didn't look below her neck then?

Well, flight suits aren't exactly very revealing

[L.A. Doyle]

I'm going to go against the flow of logic here and say that from the very first episode, I understood (whether that was intended or not intended) that Sam WAS a pilot. From that moment on (for me) she was a pilot, I liked the fact that she was a pilot, and (as a viewer) I could really care less at this point what weird incontinuity issues and/or "proof"/"disproof" arguments come up with respect to this issue because in my mind, Sam Carter's character is, was, and forever will be a pilot in the USAF. And that's good enough for me.

It's good enough for me too. And I love your avatar.

[RealmOfX]

As for women flying in combat - well there is the OFFICIAL date that they were allowed to and the actual dates preceeding that - go ask some female pilots.

[jckfan55]

i attribute sam's '100 hours' to being in an awacs plane during the gulf. they flew over enemy air space but didn't engage

That's been my interpretation too. Logging hours in enemy airspace doesn't necessarily mean you were the pilot. On the other hand, pulling out of a simulated bombing run seems to imply she was piloting, based on the info various people have shared.
Based on her technical skills it makes more sense to me that she wouldn't be a pilot. I think AWACs carry a bunch of specialists. I don't think it takes anything away from Sam to NOT be a pilot. Most flight crew for NASA aren't pilots either. If Sam had become an astronaut I think she'd have been a "mission specialist."
Too bad they were so inconsistent at the beginning--must have been before they got the AF advisor. I'm pretty sure they only started locking him in the closet in the later seasons.

which ignores the reality of jack, with all his off world trips being able to maintain the flight hours necessary to be qualified to fly on earth. then again, harmon rabb did...)

[the dancer of spaz]

Well, flight suits aren't exactly very revealing

The original 302 ones were! Remember those two sleek, silver numbers Jack and Sam donned in S6?

[Agent_Dark]

The original 302 ones were! Remember those two sleek, silver numbers Jack and Sam donned in S6?

Yeah, they were some new fancy flight suit design. They wouldn't have been around in the early 90's though.

[Mandysg1]

Yeah, they were some new fancy flight suit design. They wouldn't have been around in the early 90's though.

Unfortunately the only pic of a flight suit with gear I can come up with is of Bush wearing it and I wouldn't want to post that here

but it would definitely hide the ah aspects of Sam that Spaz mentioned

[Skydiver]

i'm gonna stick to my dissenting guns...females were not pilots in the gulf war, not combat pilots at least. Sam doesn't wear her wings, logging time in airspace does not equal piloting and who's to say that noone EVER took her up for a ride

IMHO, sam became a pilot because the show started to center itself around ships and it would have cost too much to hire an extra to be her pilot (not to mention being sorta silly) thus sam became a pilot

that's how i interpret it, others can do as they wish

not being a pilot doesn't make her less of a character

[the dancer of spaz]

i'm gonna stick to my dissenting guns...females were not pilots in the gulf war, not combat pilots at least. Sam doesn't wear her wings, logging time in airspace does not equal piloting and who's to say that noone EVER took her up for a ride

IMHO, sam became a pilot because the show started to center itself around ships and it would have cost too much to hire an extra to be her pilot (not to mention being sorta silly) thus sam became a pilot

that's how i interpret it, others can do as they wish

not being a pilot doesn't make her less of a character

Good point! I totally agree. Whether she is a pilot or isn't, she has so many other positive attributes going for her, that it's fine either way.

I guess my issue is (kinda whingey)...

Spoiler:

They made Jack a pilot, even though you guys said that his credentials don't really prove that he could've been a pilot and a black ops guy AND a ground troops guy, right? Or am I off on something? I guess I just find it rather lame that they made both of them pilots for the logical reason of bare necessity. And they made sure to put Jack at the helm all the time, but they seemed to have issues with Sam being anywhere but at shotgun (unless, of course, she's flying around a n00b billionaire with a death wish).

And with Cameron, they've done the same thing: They made him a black ops guy, a pilot AND the leader of the team, when evidently that's not plausible, and they showcase him front-and-center on the ground and in the sky whenever they get the chance.

It's just... disconcerting. This really isn't meant to take away from Jack or Cameron, because I like me a man who knows how to steer a ship and all... It just seems to me that they were afraid of making Sam "Everything Girl," so they phased that out of her character, even though they had no qualms about making Jack and Cameron three-in-one officers. And they always opted out of showcasing Sam's canon abilities to pilot in the heat of the moment, because (I'm guessing) they thought it either looked cooler, more realistic or both to have the guy at the helm.

And then you look at something like BSG, where they show all the guys and all the gals in the cockpit without any fanfare about it either way. Sometimes, despite my unwarranted hate-mongering of BSG, I think the series is lightyears ahead of what TPTB of the SGs are capable of at this point.

[Skydiver]

i agree with you totally. they did do the same thing to jack and cam...and it was more expediency in the story than anything approaching reality

personally, i kinda like her NOT being an earth pilot. i mean, fcol, she's a crack shot, astrophysist and leader in her field, gorgous as all get out, a good sport, has tons of friends....dang, there's gotta be SOMETHING she can't dot

[Uber]

Hey...how about this...Sparky has a crush on her!

[Agent_Dark]

dang, there's gotta be SOMETHING she can't do

Keep a girl/boyfriend for any length of time

[ChevronSeven]

Jack is not a pilot. He knows how to fly the aircraft and logged in more hours in the F-302 than any other member of the SGC. Jack's specialty is in black ops. He's a master parachutist. You don't have to be a pilot to be a member of the USAF. Hammond, Landry and Mitchell are all qualified pilots with their pilot's wings.

Sam flew in the Gulf. But her speciality is in astrophysics. She's a scientist. A darn good scientist. The Pentagon saw something special in her enough to trust her with the Stargate project. She's probably flown more in the F-302s than in her entire career pre-Stargate program.