Source: NW Prime Time - The Monthly Newspaper Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle for People over 50 Vol. 3 No. 4 April 2003. First Women of Flight by Joan Corufel PBS television has run a documentary on them. Life Magazine did a feature article on them. And Horizon House, a retirement community located in downtown Seattle, has one of its very own - a First Woman of Flight! Resident Jean Howard is ont of the women who flew for the military in World War II. They were prpperly designated as "Women Airforce Service Pilots," or WASPS. This remarkable group of pilots flew all over the country ferrying aircraft from factory to base, serving as flight instructors and test pilots and flying tow-targets for anti-aircraft artillery. An Exhilarating Opportunity When Jean Taylor graduated from college and returned to her home in Hibbing, Minnesota, she discovered that the local Junion college was offering a course on flying. Class size was limited, with only 10 percent enrollment open to females. Jean made up that percentage as the only girl. She had a pilot's license and 80 hours in the air by the time the invirtation to apply for the WASPs was posted at her flying school. She had been flying Piper Cubs so the promise of a transition to piloting a single engine, open cockpit was exhilarating. he ordered 45 minutes of calisthenics, which they did while still in dresses, pearls and high heels In April of 1943, she arrived in Sweetwater, Texas, as a part of the sixth contingent of WASPs. Women went through the same training as the men; six weeks of primary work, six weeks of basic training, and six weeks of advanced procedures. "The most fun was the instrument training," says jean. Women washed out at each level, but Jean graduated to fly AT-6s and twin-engine aircraft. She was based first in Wilmington, Delaware, then Kansas City, Kansas, and then Dallas, Texas. Some of the plane delivieries, however, were to much colder climates. She recalls having to heat her engine with a blow torch before she could fly out of Terre Haute, Indiana. Jean's flying credits include a PT-19A and a C-47. Her greatest thrill came while working in the experimental aircraft division at the Dayton, Ohio Air Force base, when she took the controls of the formidable B-29. High Heels and Zoot Suits The concept of WASPs began with flying ace Jacqueline Cochran, who convinced Hap Arnold, chief of Army Air Forces, to offer the program. Of the 25,000 women who applied, 1,830 were chosen. They arrived for training at Sweetwater in February 1943. According to a June 9, 1999 article in Life Magazine, all did not go well. The base commander of Avenger Field was so angered at having women on his base that he ordered 45 minutes of calisthenics, which they did while still in dresses, pearls and high heels. However, Jean says that her group, properly dressed in the standard one-;iece "zoot suits," was always treated as a group of professionals. WASPs flew DC-3s, P-51 Mustangs, B-17s and the B-29, the longest long-range bomber ever built. Eventually, WASPs pil9oted every moddel of militgary plane. The End of an Era In the closing months of 1944, men began returning from active duty and demanding pilot positions. The women reluctantly witnessed the end of the WASP corps. Women did not fly again in combat until 1991. There are now well over 1,000 women pilots in the military. Jean still enjoys a very active lifestyle, and lives with her husband at Horizon House. + Joan Carufel is the administrator from Marketing & Community Relations at Horizon House, a community of active, older adults in downtown Seattle. Horizon House offers independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing. To learn more about Horizon House, call Joan at 206-624-3700. * * * COMMENT: While visiting my Mother residing out at South A area just off Pacific Ave., Tacoma during WWII, I readily recall the P-51 Mustangs, a double fuselage, prop driven plane that practiced combat maneuvers and one plane towed a target as part of their practice. The practice dog-fighting maneuvers of those new, beautiful fighter planes was a wonder to witness as they flew very fast and their ability to fly extremely fast and accomplish their quick, agile maneuvers was a marvel for we civilians to see. Their powerful, screaming engines and the double fuselage aerobatics is something that I shall never forget. That double fuselage, highly maneuverable plane of the time, eventually became known as the Black Hawk if my memory serves me correctly - anyway it became so named for its R a d a r capability in which r a d a r was a relatively new word in our vocabulary - electronic technology that allowed a plane to "see" objects of interest in combat, yet be relatively "blind" from being seen by other radar seeking sources. I still marvel whenever I see the P-51 Mustang, or the Black Hawk version of the plane whenever I see pictures or ref to them, as I recall their introduction into the war effort in Tacoma that I was able to witness and look in awe at their maneuverability. Perhaps there were pilots like Jean Taylor who were among the pilots who were learning the capabilities of that fighter plane over Tacoma in those trying times. These people/pilots are to be admired for their Service to that war effort, but we seldom hear the real story about them. They are to be honored for their part in the success derived in WWII, also. Carroll in Snohomish * * * 30 * * *