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Wally Funk Net Worth: How Rich is Wally Funk Actually in 2022?

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3 years ago

July 20, 2021

Mary Wallace Funk popularly known as Wally Funk is an American aviator and astronaut. She was the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board and also the first female Federal Aviation Agency inspector. Wally Funk net worth at the moment is unavailable and is under review.

Full Name	Mary Wallace Funk
Date of Birth	February 1, 1939
Age	83 years old
Born Place	Las Vegas, New Mexico, United States
Married	Not Available
Net Worth	Under review

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Early Life

Funk was born on February 1, 1939, in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and grew up in Taos, New Mexico. Her parents owned a store and used to sell collections of artworks. From early childhood, Funk had an interest in planes. At the age of 7, she used to make planes from balsa woods.

Other than that, she was also interested in horse riding, skiing, hunting, and fishing. At the age of 14, she became an expert marksman and received the Rifleman’s Award.

Regarding her education, she went to Stephens College in Missouri. She graduated in 1958 with her pilot’s license and Associate of Arts degree. After that, she completed her Bachelor of Science degree at Oklahoma State University.

Wally Funk’s Career

Funk became a professional aviator at just 20 years old. Her first job was at Fort Sill, Oklahoma where she worked as a Civilian Flight instructor. With that job, she became the first female flight instructor at a US military base.

In 1968, she earned her Airline Transport Rating make her the 58^th woman in the US to do so. Three years later, she earned the rating of flight inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration making her the first woman to complete the FAA’s General Aviation Operations Inspector Academy course. She worked with the FAA as a field examiner for four years and was promoted to FAA SWAP as a specialist in 1973.

In 1985, Funk retired from the post as an Air Safety Investigator after serving for 11 years. Two years later, she was appointed Chief Pilot at Emery Aviation College where she oversaw the entire flight program for 100 students.

Funk had a dream of going to space from an early age. When NASA began accepting women in the late 1970s, she applied three times. However, she was rejected for not having an engineering degree or a background as a test pilot.

On July 1, 2021, Blue Origin announced that Funk will be one of four to be on the flight to go to space. After the successful flight, she became the oldest person to fly to space at the age of 82. The previous record was held by John Glenn at the age of 77 in 1998.