Was it possible that a woman could actually fly a plane as well as a man? And if she did – and he was released from stateside duties as a result – did he really want to be sent on combat missions overseas? Success for the Women Airforce Service Pilots was a complicated issue. Friends and family wondered, Why on earth is she leaving …her family…her freedom…a good job…a teaching career…the Rockettes…college…? Male instructors at Avenger Field wondered publicly if the women could really fly these military planes, and male pilots worried privately that they could.

The Women Airforce Service Pilots faced some unexpected challenges and resistance when they signed up. All in all, becoming a WASP took guts, skill, and stamina. Hydraulics, meteorology, Morse code, aerodynamics, physics, and airplane maintenance were just some of the required courses.Īdd to that, their male-sizes-only “zoot suit” uniforms didn’t fit, the weather was hot and dusty or cold and snowy, the bays (barracks) were crowded, the latrines were spartan, and sometimes meat loaf, grits, and squash just wasn’t a dream dinner. A woman could be in camp one day, and her locker cleaned out the next. If the trainee failed the check ride, she went before the commanding offier and a board who determined whether or not she would stay in the program. If an instructor felt a trainee was not meeting the requirements during any phase of flying training, that trainee was sent on a check ride with an Army check pilot. Although the women were already licensed pilots, they had to learn to fly America's military aircraft. The training Women Airforce Service Pilots received was as rigorous as that of the male cadets. Famed aviator Jacqueline Cochran was named Director of Women Pilots. By 1943, all training took place at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas.

In 1942, a women’s flying training detachment program was created and approved.

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