Nancy Batson Crews
Nancy Batson Crews

Author: Sarah Byrn Rickman

Publisher: University of Alabama Press

Published: 2009-08-02

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 0817355537

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A riveting oral history/biography of a pioneering woman aviator. This is the story of an uncommon woman--high school cheerleader, campus queen, airplane pilot, wife, mother, politician, business-woman--who epitomizes the struggles and freedoms of women in 20th-century America, as they first began to believe they could live full lives and demanded to do so. World War II offered women the opportunity to contribute to the work of the country, and Nancy Batson Crews was one woman who made the most of her privileged beginnings and youthful talents and opportunities. In love with flying from the time she first saw Charles Lindbergh in Birmingham, (October 1927), Crews began her aviation career in 1939 as one of only five young women chosen for Civilian Pilot Training at the University of Alabama. Later, Crews became the 20th woman of 28 to qualify as an "Original" Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) pilot, employed during World War II shuttling P-38, P-47, and P-51 high-performance aircrafts from factory to staging areas and to and from maintenance and training sites. Before the war was over, 1,102 American women would qualify to fly Army airplanes. Many of these female pilots were forced out of aviation after the war as males returning from combat theater assignments took over their roles. But Crews continued to fly, from gliders to turbojets to J-3 Cubs, in a postwar career that began in California and then resumed in Alabama. The author was a freelance journalist looking to write about the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) when she met an elderly, but still vital, Nancy Batson Crews. The former aviatrix held a reunion of the surviving nine WAFS for an interview with them and Crews, recording hours of her own testimony and remembrance before Crews's death from cancer in 2001. After helping lead the fight in the '70s for WASP to win veteran status, it was fitting that Nancy Batson Crews was buried with full military honors.

Deep South Aviation
Deep South Aviation

Author: Don Dodd

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780738502465

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Since the 1920s, Birmingham, Alabama, has played a vital role in the development of aviation in the Deep South and the nation. From aircraft construction to Air Guard activity, and from the evolution of commercial airlines to military training bases, Birmingham has contributed greatly to one of the most significant advancements of the twentieth century. Deep South Aviation explores the fascinating history of aviation in and around Birmingham through vintage images of the pilots, aircraft, and aviation enthusiasts of years past. Included are photographs of the early airfields, the Alabama Air National Guard, and the Birmingham Naval Air Station. Culled from the archives of the Southern Museum of Flight, these captivating images tell a story that began with a few brave individuals who surmounted the sky. Photographs were also taken from Alvin W. Hudson's collections on Fairgrounds Air Shows, Roberts Field, and the Birmingham Municipal Airport; Cecil Greene's collection on the Alabama Air National Guard; and generous friends of the museum who donated from their private collections.

Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II
Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II

Author: Sarah Byrn Rickman

Publisher: University of North Texas Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 1574412418

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"When the United States entered World War II, the Army needed pilots to transport or "ferry" its combat-bound aircraft across the United States for overseas deployment and its trainer airplanes to flight training bases. Male pilots were in short supply, so into this vacuum stepped Nancy Love and her Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). Initially the Army implemented both the WAFS program and Jacqueline Cochran's more ambitious plan to train women to do many of the military's flight-related jobs stateside. By 1943, General Hap Arnold decided to combine the women's programs and formed the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), with Cochran as the Director of Women Pilots. Love was named the Executive for WASP."

WASP of the Ferry Command
WASP of the Ferry Command

Author: Sarah Byrn Rickman

Publisher: University of North Texas Press

Published: 2016-03-15

Total Pages: 463

ISBN-13: 1574416375

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

WASP of the Ferry Command is the story of the women ferry pilots who flew more than nine million miles in 72 different aircraft—115,000 pilot hours—for the Ferrying Division, Air Transport Command, during World War II. In the spring of 1942, Col. William H. Tunner lacked sufficient male pilots to move vital trainer aircraft from the factory to the training fields. Nancy Love found 28 experienced women pilots who could do the job. They, along with graduates of the Army's flight training school for women--established by Jacqueline Cochran--performed this duty until fall 1943, when manufacture of trainers ceased. In December 1943 the women ferry pilots went back to school to learn to fly high-performance WWII fighters, known as pursuits. By January 1944 they began delivering high performance P-51s, 47s, and 39s. Prior to D-Day and beyond, P-51s were crucial to the air war over Germany. They had the range to escort B-17s and B-24s from England to Berlin and back on bombing raids that ultimately brought down the German Reich. Getting those pursuits to the docks in New Jersey for shipment abroad became these women's primary job. Ultimately, more than one hundred WASP pursuit pilots were engaged in this vital movement of aircraft.

Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman

Author: Cathleen Small

Publisher: Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC

Published: 2017-07-15

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 150262754X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Inspired by soldiers returning from World War I, Bessie Coleman decided to become a pilot, but in 1916 American flight schools did not admit women. This book examines the challenging times and amazing accomplishments of Coleman on her journey to not only become the first woman of African American and Native American descent to earn an international aviation pilot's license, but also a successful civilian pilot and famous stunt flyer.

The Women with Silver Wings
The Women with Silver Wings

Author: Katherine Sharp Landdeck

Publisher: Crown

Published: 2021-03-30

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 1524762822

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“With the fate of the free world hanging in the balance, women pilots went aloft to serve their nation. . . . A soaring tale in which, at long last, these daring World War II pilots gain the credit they deserve.”—Liza Mundy, New York Times bestselling author of Code Girls “A powerful story of reinvention, community and ingenuity born out of global upheaval.”—Newsday When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Fort had escaped Nashville’s debutante scene for a fresh start as a flight instructor in Hawaii. She and her student were in the middle of their lesson when the bombs began to fall, and they barely made it back to ground that morning. Still, when the U.S. Army Air Forces put out a call for women pilots to aid the war effort, Fort was one of the first to respond. She became one of just over 1,100 women from across the nation to make it through the Army’s rigorous selection process and earn her silver wings. The brainchild of trailblazing pilots Nancy Love and Jacqueline Cochran, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) gave women like Fort a chance to serve their country—and to prove that women aviators were just as skilled as men. While not authorized to serve in combat, the WASP helped train male pilots for service abroad, and ferried bombers and pursuits across the country. Thirty-eight WASP would not survive the war. But even taking into account these tragic losses, Love and Cochran’s social experiment seemed to be a resounding success—until, with the tides of war turning, Congress clipped the women’s wings. The program was disbanded, the women sent home. But the bonds they’d forged never failed, and over the next few decades they came together to fight for recognition as the military veterans they were—and for their place in history.

American Heirloom Baby Names
American Heirloom Baby Names

Author: Charlotte Danforth

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2006-06-27

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1101210486

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Names have power! A child’s name—and the source of that name—can have a profound effect on their character and future. Use this book to pick a name that expresses the lasting qualities valued by your family—qualities like integrity, creativity, courage, innovation, compassion and patriotism. Gathered from the pages of our history books and rooted in the nation’s heartland, the names in this book are appealing and timeless. They are the names of real-life American poets and soldiers, artists and pioneers, entrepreneurs, teachers and athletes; people whose professions ranged from venerable statesmen like William Jennings Bryan to lighthouse keepers like Barbara Mabrity. Distinctive and prestigious, these names can give your child an instant, natural role model—the heroes and positive idols who have had that name before. The entries in this magnificent baby name book include: • Wonderful classic names and moving descriptions of the heroic Americans who bore them • References to writings by and about each namesake that families can enjoy together • Historic sites related to each heirloom name suitable for family field trips • Famous names in all ethnic groups • The greatest names in medicine, law, statecraft, sports, business, philanthropy, exploration, invention, and more!

Secrets In The Sky
Secrets In The Sky

Author: Melinda Rice

Publisher: Taylor Trade Publications

Published: 2001-02-26

Total Pages: 121

ISBN-13: 1461662184

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

It's 1943 and the world is at war, but 12-year-old Bethany Parker is stuck at home in Sweetwater, Texas. When the Women Air Force Service Pilots come to town, she is thrilled. They are glamorous and daringóand they befriend Bethany! When one of the women dies during a training flight, Bethany is convinced the mysterious crash was the work of a Nazi spy, and she sets out to prove it. The Lone Star Heroines series brings to life real events in Texas history and shows young readers how girls living during those exciting times experienced and even contributed to those dramatic events. Each book in the series includes a chapter of background stories and pictures of the actual people who lived them. Look for other stories of The Lone Star Heroines Series, and the Lone Star Heroes series for boys, too.

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion
The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion

Author: Fannie Flagg

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2013-11-05

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0812994639

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. The one and only Fannie Flagg, beloved author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven, and I Still Dream About You, is at her hilarious and superb best in this new comic mystery novel about two women who are forced to reimagine who they are. Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama, has just married off the last of her daughters and is looking forward to relaxing and perhaps traveling with her husband, Earle. The only thing left to contend with is her mother, the formidable Lenore Simmons Krackenberry. Lenore may be a lot of fun for other people, but is, for the most part, an overbearing presence for her daughter. Then one day, quite by accident, Sookie discovers a secret about her mother’s past that knocks her for a loop and suddenly calls into question everything she ever thought she knew about herself, her family, and her future. Sookie begins a search for answers that takes her to California, the Midwest, and back in time, to the 1940s, when an irrepressible woman named Fritzi takes on the job of running her family’s filling station. Soon truck drivers are changing their routes to fill up at the All-Girl Filling Station. Then, Fritzi sees an opportunity for an even more groundbreaking adventure. As Sookie learns about the adventures of the girls at the All-Girl Filling Station, she finds herself with new inspiration for her own life. Fabulous, fun-filled, spanning decades and generations, and centered on a little-known aspect of America’s twentieth-century story, The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion is another irresistible novel by the remarkable Fannie Flagg. Praise for The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion “A beautifully told tale, world-class humor, and characters who live forever in a grateful reader’s world. Fannie Flagg keeps getting better and better. The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion proves it.”—Pat Conroy “If all the self-help books that promote ways to ‘find yourself’ were stacked in an enormous pile . . . none would approach the sweet wisdom with which Flagg infuses The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch “It’s Flagg’s pleasure to hit her characters with several happy endings, but the real happiness is that she’s given us another lovable—and quirky—novel.”—The Washington Post

Weekend Pilots
Weekend Pilots

Author: Alan Meyer

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Published: 2015-12-30

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1421418584

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The first scholarly book to examine in detail the role of masculinity in aviation, Weekend Pilots adds new dimensions to our understanding of embedded gender and its long-term effects.