Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War Two

The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) flew every frontline aircraft in the U.S. Army Air Forces inventory during World War II — fighters, bombers, and transports across 77 different types. Only 1,074 women graduated from the program, 38 were killed in service, and none received military benefits or veterans’ status until 1977, more than three decades after the program was disbanded.

Why Did the Military Need Women Pilots?

By 1942, the United States was consuming pilots faster than training pipelines could produce them. Every qualified man was needed overseas in combat units. But stateside, critical missions still had to be flown: ferrying new aircraft from factories to bases, towing targets for gunnery practice, and test-flying planes fresh out of maintenance — including aircraft that mechanics weren’t entirely confident were airworthy.

Two women recognized this gap before most military leadership did.

Jacqueline Cochran was already one of the most famous pilots in America, having won the Bendix Trophy in 1938 by racing from Burbank to Cleveland faster than any competitor. She was well-connected and had been writing letters to every general she could reach, arguing that the military needed women pilots.

Nancy Harkness Love shared the same vision but took a quieter, more diplomatic approach. She had been flying since age sixteen and held a transport rating — she could fly anything with wings.

In the fall of 1942, both women launched programs almost simultaneously. Love’s Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and Cochran’s Women’s Flying Training Detachment operated separately until the summer of 1943, when the Army merged them into a single organization: the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Who Were the Women Who Qualified?

The entry requirements alone tell the story of how exceptional these pilots were. Applicants needed a private pilot’s license with at least 200 hours of flight time. In 1942, a woman with 200 hours had overcome barriers most people today can barely imagine — flight schools that refused women, banks that wouldn’t finance a woman’s training, and families who considered the entire pursuit reckless.

25,000 women applied. Fewer than 1,900 were accepted. Only 1,074 graduated.

Training took place at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas — a flat, dust-covered airstrip in West Texas where the wind never stopped. The women lived in barracks originally built for male cadets, with unreliable plumbing and a reliable scorpion population. The Army issued men’s flight suits because no one had manufactured flight gear for women. The trainees called them “zoot suits,” with some five-foot-two women cinching up coveralls designed for six-foot men.

The training syllabus was identical to what male cadets received: primary, basic, advanced, instrument, and cross-country phases totaling 210 hours of flight training, plus ground school in meteorology, navigation, physics, and military law. The washout rate was unforgiving.

What Aircraft Did the WASP Fly?

This is the part of the WASP story that consistently surprises people. These pilots didn’t shuttle small trainers around quiet airfields.

WASP pilots flew 77 different types of military aircraft, covering every fighter, bomber, and transport in the Army Air Forces inventory. The list includes:

P-39 Airacobra
P-40 Warhawk
P-47 Thunderbolt — one of the heaviest single-engine fighters of the war
P-51 Mustang
P-61 Black Widow — a complex twin-engine night fighter
B-26 Marauder — an aircraft so feared it earned nicknames like “the Widowmaker”

How Did WASP Pilots Tame the B-26 Marauder?

The Martin B-26 Marauder had a deadly reputation. Male pilots called it the Widowmaker, the Flying Coffin, and “One a Day in Tampa Bay” after the string of training crashes at MacDill Field in Florida. With high wing loading and a fast landing speed, the B-26 was absolutely unforgiving if a pilot fell behind the airplane. Male pilots were refusing to fly it, and morale in B-26 training units had collapsed.

The Army’s solution was both practical and calculated: send WASP pilots to Dodge City, Kansas to fly the Marauder. The reasoning was blunt — if women could handle the B-26, the men would be shamed into getting back in the cockpit.

The women flew it. They towed targets with it. They flew administrative missions in it. They demonstrated that the airplane was perfectly manageable when flown precisely and by the numbers. The male pilots got the message.

The WASP knew exactly why they had been assigned the Marauder. They flew it anyway, because the airplane needed flying and they were pilots.

What Were the Most Dangerous WASP Missions?

Beyond ferrying, WASP pilots took on missions that carried serious risk and almost never receive adequate attention.

Target towing for live gunnery practice required flying at a set altitude and airspeed while dragging a long fabric target on a cable. Soldiers on the ground fired live ammunition at the target. The gunners were students, and their accuracy left much to be desired. Some WASP pilots returned with bullet holes in their aircraft — holes that were not in the target.

Test flying was another high-risk assignment. After major maintenance or repair, someone had to take the aircraft up to verify it was airworthy. That someone was frequently a WASP pilot. They flew planes that had been damaged and rebuilt, aircraft modified with experimental equipment, and machines that no one was entirely sure about.

38 WASP pilots were killed in the line of duty.

Why Were the WASP Denied Military Status?

When a WASP pilot died, the military did not pay for her funeral. Her coffin received no flag. Fellow WASP members would pass a hat to collect money to send the body home and sometimes purchased a flag with their own funds to drape over the casket. The women were classified as civil servants, not military personnel — no military benefits, no veterans’ status, no GI Bill.

In December 1944, Congress voted on a bill to grant the WASP full military status. It failed. Male civilian ferry pilots lobbied aggressively against the measure, fearing that militarizing the women would result in the men being drafted into combat units.

On December 20, 1944, the WASP program was deactivated. The women received no discharge papers, no veterans’ benefits, and no official recognition. Their service records were sealed and classified.

How Long Did It Take to Recognize the WASP?

For more than 30 years, the WASP story was effectively erased from official history. When the Air Force began admitting women to pilot training in 1976, press coverage called it the first time women would fly American military aircraft. Surviving WASP members saw those headlines and pushed back.

It took until 1977 — thirty-three years after deactivation — for Congress to finally grant the WASP veterans’ status. Many of the original pilots had already died.

The fight continued. In 2010, the WASP received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow. At the ceremony in Washington, roughly 200 surviving WASP attended, most in their late eighties and nineties. Some wore their original uniforms. Some arrived in wheelchairs. They were finally, officially honored.

Where Can You See WASP History Today?

Several preservation efforts keep the WASP story alive through restored aircraft and dedicated museums.

The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) maintains a Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor — the military version of the Beech 18 — restored to its wartime configuration with olive drab paint and military markings. The WASP flew the C-45 extensively as a utility transport and twin-engine trainer. The CAF uses the aircraft as a flying classroom at airshows and fly-ins, where visitors can walk up, look inside the cockpit, and learn about the women who flew these machines.

The National WASP World War II Museum in Sweetwater, Texas, located at the original Avenger Field, preserves artifacts and oral histories from the program. The field where those women trained is still there, and the West Texas wind still blows the same way it did in 1943.

There is also an ongoing effort to identify and restore primary trainers connected to the WASP program — Stearman biplanes, Fairchild PT-19s, and Vultee BT-13s flown at Avenger Field. Some have been traced through serial numbers to specific training classes. A few are flying again today with Avenger Field markings, and every flight is a small act of historical justice.

Key Takeaways

1,074 women graduated the WASP program and flew 77 types of military aircraft during WWII, including every fighter and bomber in the Army Air Forces inventory.
WASP pilots took on some of the war’s most dangerous stateside missions — towing live-fire gunnery targets, test-flying questionable aircraft, and flying the feared B-26 Marauder when male pilots refused.
38 WASP pilots died in service without military funerals, benefits, or official recognition; their records were sealed and classified.
Congress denied the WASP military status in 1944; it took until 1977 for veterans’ recognition and 2010 for the Congressional Gold Medal.
The National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, Texas, and restored wartime trainers flying with Avenger Field markings ensure the story endures.