The WASP & the Buzz on Drones…and a war worker named Norma Jean Dougherty
A big topic in the news these days is about the use of drones, otherwise known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). A drone is a small or medium aircraft without […]
‘P’ is for Pursuit | The WASP who ferried the hottest fighters of the day by Julia Lauria-Blum
From the early to the middle of the 20th century, the name ‘Pursuit’, or the letter ‘P’, was primarily used by the U.S. Army Air Service – later called the […]
Aline ‘Pat’ Rhonie | Pilot, Artist, WAFS Original by Julia Lauria-Blum
Aline ‘Pat’ Rhonie was a pioneering pilot who learned to fly in 1930 in Reno, Nevada and on Long Island at Roosevelt Field during the ‘Golden Age of Aviation’. By […]
Nancy Harkness Love: Fighting for Equality in the Skies by Heather B. Moore
Author of Lady Flyer: The Extraordinary True Story of WWII Aviator Nancy Harkness Love Following World War 1, a plethora of trained pilots returned to American soil. Jobs such as […]
1943: The First Women Who Flew Naval Aircraft | Hellcats & TBM Avengers by Julia Lauria-Blum
To the layman it comes as something of a shock to think of women as test pilots at the controls of some of our speediest combat planes, putting through their […]
A.J. May Starr 43-W-4 | From the Women Flyers of America to the WASP by Julia Lauria-Blum
Alice Jean May Starr, more familiarly known as A.J. Starr, first became interested in aviation as a young child when Charles Lindbergh soloed across the Atlantic in 1927, as did […]
Trainers & Heavy Bombers | The WASP & the T-6 ‘Texan’, B-17 Flying Fortress, and B-29 Superfortress by Julia Lauria-Blum
On December 7, 1944, the Commanding General of the USAAF, Henry ‘Hap’ Arnold, addressed Class 44-W-10, the very last graduating class of WASP. During the course of his address General […]
An Extraordinary Day in March | A WASP Congressional Gold Medal by Julia Lauria-Blum
On an extraordinary day in March of 2010, I stood before the steps of the U.S. Capitol, admiring the majestic beauty of its immediately familiar white dome rising over 285 […]
A Day in the Life | From Houston to Avenger Field by Julia Lauria-Blum
In November 1942 the very first class of the WFTD (Women’s Flying Training Detachment) Class 43-W-1, arrived in Houston where they trained at Houston Municipal Airport (briefly called Howard Hughes […]
On the Home Front and Overseas | The Impact of ‘Woman-power’ During WWII by Julia Lauria-Blum
To simply say that American women played a critical role as ‘weapons’ in the war effort during World War II, would be a drastic understatement. To put that in context, […]