Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II
Author | : Sarah Byrn Rickman |
Publisher | : University of North Texas Press |
Total Pages | : 354 |
Release | : 2008 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781574412413 |
ISBN-13 | : 1574412418 |
Rating | : 4/5 (13 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: "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. Male pilots were in short supply, so into this vacuum stepped Nancy Love and her Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). Initially the Army implemented both the WAFS program and Jacqueline Cochran's more ambitious plan to train women to do many of the military's flight-related jobs stateside. By 1943, General Hap Arnold decided to combine the women's programs and formed the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), with Cochran as the Director of Women Pilots. Love was named the Executive for WASP."