A biography for Wally Funkhasn’t been written yet.
“I wasn't a bra burner, I'm not a political person. I saw there was an old-boys' network, but my philosophy has always been to get over it, and move on.”
“I was brought up that when things don't work out, you go to your alternative.”
“I've never been bitter.”
“I've been in the Concorde, I've seen the curvature of the Earth, the beginning of the darkness. I want more - I want to go up there.”
“I think we all know what actually happened. It was a good old boy network, and there was no such thing as a good old girl network.”
“I've been flying forever and I have 19,600 flying hours.”
“I've done a lot of astronaut training through the world, Russia, America. And I could always beat the guys on what they were doing because I was always stronger and I've always done everything on my own.”
“I want to go up there so bad, I've had my sights set since 1962.”
“Nothing has ever gotten in my way. They say, 'Wally, you're a girl, you can't do that.' I said, 'Guess what, doesn't matter what you are, you can still do it if you want to do it,' and I like to do things that nobody's ever done before.”
“I went on to Oklahoma State University, who was the best flight school in the United States at that time from the mid '50s on to the '70s.”
“As a flight instructor 30 years ago, I had quite a few female police officers who wanted to be pilots. But the guys would say 'no.' They wanted those jobs to themselves.”
“You know me, I go higher, faster, larger, as long as I can.”
“I love flying. That's my job. That's what I love.”
“We hadn't been to space yet, so there was no idea what the human body would have to endure in terms of stress. That's why they tested us to the limit.”
“I've never met a stranger.”
“I had to drink radioactive water.”
“I can't tell people that are watching how fabulous I feel to have been picked by Blue Origin to go on this trip. I'll love every second of it.”
“Everything that the FAA (the Federal Aviation Administration) has, I've got the license for.”
“I wanted to go into exploration. I've always been an explorer in my youth.”
“It was the era when women were in the kitchen. Space travel was the old-boy network.”