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More than eleven hundred women pilots flew military aircraft for
the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. These
pioneering female aviators were known first as WAFS (Women's
Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron) and eventually as WASP (Women Airforce
Service Pilots). Thirty-eight of them died while serving their
country. Dorothy Scott was one of the thirty-eight. She died in a
mid-air crash at the age of twenty-three. Born in 1920, Scott was a
member of the first group of women selected to fly as ferry pilots
for the Army Air Forces. Her story would have been lost had her
twin brother not donated her wartime letters home to the WASP
Archives. Dorothy's extraordinary voice, as heard through her
lively letters, tells of her initial decision to serve, and then of
her training and service, first as a part of the WAFS and then the
WASP. The letters offer a window into the mind of a young,
patriotic, funny, and ambitious young woman who was determined to
use her piloting skills to help the US war effort. The letters also
offer archival records of the day-to-day barracks life for the
first women to fly military aircraft. The WASP received some long
overdue recognition in 2010 when they were awarded the
Congressional Gold Medal-the highest honor that Congress can bestow
on civilians.
She flew the swift P-51 and the capricious P-38, but the heavy,
four-engine B-17 bomber and C-54 transport were her forte. This is
the story of Nancy Harkness Love who, early in World War II,
recruited and led the first group of twenty-eight women to fly
military aircraft for the U.S. Army.
Love was hooked on flight at an early age. At sixteen, after just
four hours of instruction, she flew solo "a rather broken down
Fleet biplane that my barnstorming instructor imported from parts
unknown." The year was 1930: record-setting aviator Jacqueline
Cochran (and Love's future rival) had not yet learned to fly, and
the most famous woman pilot of all time, Amelia Earhart, had yet to
make her acclaimed solo Atlantic flight.
When the United States entered World War II, the Army needed pilots
to transport or "ferry" its combat-bound aircraft across the United
States for overseas deployment and its trainer airplanes to flight
training bases. Most male pilots were assigned to combat
preparation, leaving few available for ferrying jobs. Into this
vacuum stepped Nancy Love and her civilian Women's Auxiliary
Ferrying Squadron (WAFS).
Love had advocated using women as ferry pilots as early as 1940.
Jackie Cochran envisioned a more ambitious plan, to train women to
perform a variety of the military's flight-related jobs stateside.
The Army implemented both programs in the fall of 1942, but
Jackie's idea piqued General Hap Arnold's interest and, by summer
1943, her concept had won. The women's programs became one under
the name Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), with Cochran as the
Director of Women Pilots and Love as the Executive for WASP.
Nancy Love advised the Ferrying Division, which was part of the Air
Transport Command, as to the best use of their WASP ferry pilots.
She supervised their allocation and air-training program. She
proved adept at organizing and inspiring those under her command,
earning the love and admiration of her pilots. Her military
superiors trusted and respected her, to the point that she became
Ferrying Division commander Gen. William H. Tunner's
troubleshooter.
By example, Love won the right for women ferry pilots to transition
into increasingly more complex airplanes. She checked out on
twenty-three different military aircraft and became the first woman
to fly several of them, including the B-17 Flying Fortress. Her
World War II career ended on a high note: following a general's
orders, she piloted a giant C-54 Army transport over the fabled
China-Burma-India "Hump," the crucial airlift route over the
Himalayas.
Nancy Love believed that the women attached to the military needed
to be on equal footing with the men and given the same
opportunities to prove their abilities and mettle. Young women
serving today as combat pilots owe much to Love for creating the
opportunity for women to serve. Her foresight and tenacity nearly
seventy years ago helped ensure their future. Now author Sarah Byrn
Rickman, aviation historian, presents the first full-length
biography of Nancy Love and her role in the WAFS and WASP programs.
Her book will appeal to all with a love of flight.
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