National WASP Museum

by Steve Templeton

Title

National WASP Museum

Artist

Steve Templeton

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

The National WASP Museum that honors the women who flew military aircraft in WWII for the United States is located at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, TX. I did a photo shoot with some local models dressed in period clothing, and light painted the 3 airplanes on display at the museum.

The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is a biplane flown during the 1930s and 1940s as a military trainer aircraft. As the Army PT-17 Kaydet, it served as a primary trainer for the military forces throughout World War II. The PT-17 was a conventional biplane of rugged construction with large, fixed landing gear and tandem open cockpits. WASP Classes began receiving primary training in PT-17s in December 1943. The trainees logged a total of 70 flight hours in the Stearman, primarily at the auxiliary fields. Our PT-17 in fact originated as a Jacobs (R-755) powered PT-18 in October 1940, one of only 150 such planes built. It is properly painted in the original U.S. Army Air Corps trainer paint scheme. The plane was first delivered to the Dallas Aviation School at Love Field, Dallas, Texas before being transferred to the W.F. Long Flying School, Hicks Field. In June 1941, it was transferred to the British Flying Training School (B.F.T.S.) No. 1 at Terrell, Texas, where it was flown in training RAF cadets until being sold as army surplus in June 1945.

In 1942, as the country reeled from the attack on Pearl Harbor, trained male pilots were in short supply. Qualified pilots were needed to fight the war. The Army also was desperate for pilots to deliver newly built trainer aircraft to the flight schools in the South. Twenty-eight experienced civilian women pilots volunteered to take those ferrying jobs. They formed the country’s first female squadron late summer 1942.

Between November 1942 and December 1944, 1,074 more women were trained to fly first in Houston and then moved to Avenger Field in Sweetwater, TX. Nancy Love and Jacqueline Cochran founded the two programs (Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron and Women’s Flying Training Detachment) that became the WASP.

WASP flew every aircraft in the Army’s arsenal. In addition to ferrying, they towed gunnery targets, transported equipment and non-flying personnel, and flight-tested aircraft that had been repaired before the men were allowed to fly them again. For over two years, the WASP went on to perform a wide variety of aviation-related jobs and to serve at more than 120 bases around the country.

The man who championed the WASP was Army Air Forces Commanding General “Hap” Arnold. He was revered by the U.S. Congress, but in June 1944 when he sought to officially designate the WASP as members of the United States military, Congress said “no.” After a protracted fight, the WASP were granted military status in 1977, thanks to a law signed by President Carter. These 1,102 Women Airforce Service Pilots flew wingtip to wingtip with their male counterparts and were just as vital to the war effort.

Uploaded

September 26th, 2022

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