The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) were a brave and dedicated group of aviators who played a critically important role in the air war during World War II.  They did not participate in combat directly, but flew a wide range of missions that were essential to the Allied war effort, freeing up qualified male pilots for combat duty.

The WASPs were not military service members but were federal civil service employees who were attached to the U.S. Army Air Forces.  Their training was nearly identical to male pilots except for the combat-related portion of instruction. In all, 25,000 women applied for admission to the WASP training program.  1,830 were admitted, and 1,074 completed the course and were assigned to operational duty.

WASPs were assigned to ferry aircraft between factories and air bases throughout the country.  WASPs eventually flew 77 types of aircraft, including the P-38 and F-5 Lightning, P-39 Airacobra, P-40 Warhawk, P-63 King Cobra, C-54 Skymaster, C-46 Commando, B-26 Marauder, B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator. Although ferrying was principal duty of the WASPs, many of them were assigned to Training Command where they towed gunnery targets and served as flight instructors.

A WASP at the controls of a PT-17, a variant of the BT-13 with a different engine.

On May 18^th, museum docent Blair Griesheim will present the story of the WASPs and how their service eventually opened the way for today’s women pilots of all the military services.  The presentation will begin at 9:00 am and will be followed by a flight demonstration of the museum’s PT-13 Kaydet primary trainer, an aircraft used by WASP instructors to train Aviation Cadets during WWII.