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Collette O’Malley leads a quiet life now at the Knights of Columbus Towers, but a few decades back she was involved with a top secret government project in a secret location.
“I worked on the stealth fighter, not the stealth bomber but the fighter,” O’Malley said. “I worked in a black world then, which means top secret. Now it’s gray, which means that the plane can be shown. Pretty soon it will probably become obsolete.”
She said that she became involved with the plane through work with Link Flight Simulators in her hometown, Binghamton, N.Y.
“I was born in Pennsylvania, but moved to Binghamton when I was 5,” O’Malley said.
She said that the flight simulator business was started by Edwin Link of Binghamton.
“He invented the simulator during World War II to train pilots,” O’Malley said. “They saved lives.”
She added that Link also invented instrument flying and the Sea-Link, a submersible intended for use in underwater archaeology and research. Tragically, his son, E. Clayton Link, and another diver died in 1973 when their Sea-Link became entangled in debris off Key West, Fla.
“I was working on a word processor at Link, then I got a call on a weekend for a secret project,” O’Malley said. “I worked on the proposal and we got the contract from the government.”
The contract was for Link to build a flight simulator to train pilots for the stealth fighter.
“The stealth doesn’t fly like an ordinary plane,” she explained. “Even seasoned pilots had to learn to fly it all over again.”
She and her husband, Patrick O’Malley, moved to an apartment in Las Vegas. O’Malley and others working on the secret project were flown up into the mountains every Monday.
“That’s all I can say about that, because there may be something else going on there now,” she said. “I was briefed by the FBI, and I couldn’t even tell my kids what I was doing.”
An editor, she worked on the written materials the pilots had to study in conjunction with their training on the flight simulators.
“The planes were only flown at night, and the people in the towns who saw them thought they were flying saucers,” O’Malley said. “We worked 10-hour days, from Monday through Thursday, then spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Vegas. After sleeping with planes flying all night, the silence in Vegas was deafening.”
Collette O’Malley leads a quiet life now at the Knights of Columbus Towers, but a few decades back she was involved with a top secret government project in a secret location.
“I worked on the stealth fighter, not the stealth bomber but the fighter,” O’Malley said. “I worked in a black world then, which means top secret. Now it’s gray, which means that the plane can be shown. Pretty soon it will probably become obsolete.”
She said that she became involved with the plane through work with Link Flight Simulators in her hometown, Binghamton, N.Y.
“I was born in Pennsylvania, but moved to Binghamton when I was 5,” O’Malley said.
She said that the flight simulator business was started by Edwin Link of Binghamton.
“He invented the simulator during World War II to train pilots,” O’Malley said. “They saved lives.”
She added that Link also invented instrument flying and the Sea-Link, a submersible intended for use in underwater archaeology and research. Tragically, his son, E. Clayton Link, and another diver died in 1973 when their Sea-Link became entangled in debris off Key West, Fla.
“I was working on a word processor at Link, then I got a call on a weekend for a secret project,” O’Malley said. “I worked on the proposal and we got the contract from the government.”
The contract was for Link to build a flight simulator to train pilots for the stealth fighter.
“The stealth doesn’t fly like an ordinary plane,” she explained. “Even seasoned pilots had to learn to fly it all over again.”
She and her husband, Patrick O’Malley, moved to an apartment in Las Vegas. O’Malley and others working on the secret project were flown up into the mountains every Monday.
“That’s all I can say about that, because there may be something else going on there now,” she said. “I was briefed by the FBI, and I couldn’t even tell my kids what I was doing.”
An editor, she worked on the written materials the pilots had to study in conjunction with their training on the flight simulators.
“The planes were only flown at night, and the people in the towns who saw them thought they were flying saucers,” O’Malley said. “We worked 10-hour days, from Monday through Thursday, then spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Vegas. After sleeping with planes flying all night, the silence in Vegas was deafening.”
She was allowed to try her hand at the simulator.
“A red light went on and I said, ‘What was that?’ They told me I’d crashed it,” O’Malley said. “I wish I hadn’t done that.”
She worked for three years and really enjoyed it.
“I was lucky to have such an interesting career,” O’Malley said. “I spent a lot of years raising kids.”
Her job ended when her husband developed leukemia.
“I retired to take care of him,” O’Malley said. “Pat only weighed 97 pounds and was cold all the time, and my sister said to bring him down to Florida, so I did. After Pat died, I went back to Binghamton.”
She came to Pittsburg in 2007 to be near son Jeff Steinmiller, who is director of the Overman Student Center, Pittsburg State University. She also has two other sons, James Steinmiller, a sports writer in Lynchburg, Va., and Tom Steinmiller, who’s in electronics sales in Wake Forest, N.C. O’Malley has four grandchildren, Casey Steinmiller and Kyle Steinmiller, St. Mary’s Colgan students, and Tommy and Jessica Steinmiller, Wake Forest.
“I think Pittsburg is a delightful little city, and I just love the Knights of Columbus Towers,” O’Malley said. “Some of the residents are the most friendly people I ever met in my life, and Steve Hicks is a good landlord and friend. I miss my friends back home, but God has given me good friends here.”
