I still don't understand why you are using the word 'launch' in that strange way--pilots are launchED only if you are talking about that kind of catapult device on an aircraft carrier OR they are in a rocket or something, they don't 'launch' from an air field, they TAKE OFF.
I agree 'launched' is the wrong word here. I have just looked up 'sortie' and that seems more correct. sortie-2)a flight by an aircraft on a military operation. quote taken from 'Little Oxford English Dictionary'
Folks, I don't think quibbling over the verb launch is really the issue here. Conveying his attitude toward the high risk of his job is the issue at hand. My recommendation assumed he had a cavalier attitude about the likelihood of death, but art now seems to be saying it's more like stoicism. The difference is that a cavalier attitude conveys an air of recklessness, but stoicism is more a somber acceptance of the risk. Communicating those distinctions in character is a skill every writer learns to sharpen with experience.
Aha, now your original wording makes a lot more sense. If she is mentally unbalanced and makes flippant comments about her own death, it indicates she hasn't fully accepted it. It may be hard to convey all that in just two sentences.
Thank you for your responses. And that is what I feel about her. The more I write about her the more complex I really want to make her. I've actually decided to have this line early in the story, as to define where she is mentally. I feel like making the events in the story to help her make a human connection with others. How she finds her humanity after losing it for so long.
