1943: The First Women Who Flew Naval Aircraft | Hellcats & TBM Avengers by Julia Lauria-Blum

Their first assignment was to test the F6F Hellcat right off the assembly line. On that day, Grumman closed the airfield, telling personnel to go home in case “things didn’t work out.” Bud Gillies, however, invited the press, and these women soon became media favorites.

The F6F Hellcat became the best carrier-based fighter of World War II, and this aircraft was the type of fighter considered to be the backbone of the Naval Air War in the Pacific. A larger and more powerful development of the earlier F4F Wildcat, the Hellcat, was designed to counter Japan’s excellent Zero fighter.  The Hellcat’s design sacrificed speed for a high rate of climb and exceptional maneuverability. It was also a very rugged and well armored design. The plane was deployed operationally in the Pacific in August 1943 where it participated in every major engagement of the war. At one point in 1944 Grumman was turning out one Hellcat per hour – 644 in one month – an aircraft production record which has never been equaled. A sum of over 12,000 were built.

At first, male pilots couldn’t grasp the idea of women doing their jobs. Many of them ignored the women when they walked into the Ready Room, and some even threatened to quit, but Bud Gillies stood firm and suggested that these men to go right ahead if they wanted to, but as the women proved their exceptional piloting skills, their male colleagues changed their minds and came to accept them.

In 1943, a New York Times article reported, ‘Three young women are diving over Long Island these days in first-flight tests of the Navy’s speedy Hellcats and Avengers. Part of their job also has been to try out feminine ability in this spectacular and strenuous field of flying — a test that has won them an official “well done” from Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, maker of the planes. [‘3 Women Serve as Test Pilots For Navy Hellcats and Avengers; Win Official ‘Well Done’ From Grumman for Ability to Master Difficult Task – Light-Hearted as They Go About Job’; New York Times, Nov. 16, 1943]

Origins

Elizabeth Hooker began flying at an early age and soloed at the age of 15. Born and raised n Baltimore, she studied for a medical career at Johns Hopkins University and decided that flying was of more interest. She left Johns Hopkins to attend Smith College and entered a Civilian Pilot’s Training Program. She earned her private license in 1940, received her instrument rating, and returned to the CPTP as an instructor in Boston. Elizabeth’s first day at Grumman was in December of 1942 where she began as an instrument flight instructor and Link Trainer operator while doing courier work in Grumman ‘Widgeons’. A November 16, 1943, Fox Movietone Newsreel reported that as Hooker flew the Hellcat at low altitude, she attempted to lower its wheels for landing. The gear would not extend, but because of her excellent knowledge of the airplane, she located the problem quickly and calmly lowered the landing gear with the emergency hand pump and landed safely.

Cecil ‘Teddy’ Kenyon was an accomplished pilot before the war and a charter member of the Ninety-Nines. She earned her pilot’s license in 1929 and was one of the original 26 women pilots to attend the Ninety-Nines’ first meeting on November 2, 1939, at Curtiss Airport, Valley Stream, on Long Island. In 1933, she won the National Sportswomen Flying Championship at Roosevelt Field, New York. During the late 1930s, Teddy flew for the Civil Air Patrol. As a test pilot for Grumman, she had the opportunity to fly Grumman aircraft as they came off the production line, including F4F Wildcats, F6F Hellcats, and the TBF Avenger. She logged over 3,000 hours as a test pilot for the high-performance fighters and the TBM.

Barbara Kibbee Jayne began flying in 1937 and earned her pilot license at the Ryan School of Aeronautics in San Diego. She became an instructor in the Civilian Pilots’ Training program in Troy, New York, where she hailed from. In 1941, Bud Gillies persuaded her to be a chief instructor at the exclusive Long Island Aviation Country Club, where she instructed the rich and high-society to fly. Once the war started, Barbara became a courier pilot at Grumman, flying parts and staff in transport and passenger airplanes. In July 1943, she checked out in the F6F Hellcat and became a factory production test pilot, of which she remained until the end of the Second World War.