WASP ANN BAUMGARTNER CARL, 43-W-5

“Last time we spoke,” Wilber Wright said one day, “I asked what sort of a girl would want to fly experimental military aircraft. You didn’t say, “ he laughed."

“Well, I guess just a sort who, instead of religiously practicing the piano, had to go out and see what was happening in the woods that day, or down at the brook, or high on the hill. And then one day she saw an airplane fly by.”

Ann Carl, A WASP AMONG EAGLES
p. 83

_____________________

The following is reprinted from Ann's own words from WASP Betty Turner's "OUT OF THE BLUE AND INTO HISTORY:"

I was born Bugust 27, 1918, in the US Army Hospital, in Augusta, Georgia.

I graduated from Walnut Hill High School in Natick, Massachusetts, and from Smith College at Northampton in 1940. I was inspired to fly by a visit from Amelia Earhart to my grade school, an incident I would never forget. My father, an engineer and patent attorney, took me to the Newark Airport to watch the mail planes came in at night to watch Clarence Chamberlain train for his attempt to fly the Atlantic. I learned to fly in 1940 at Somersset Hills Airport at Basking Ridge, New Jersey. I soloed in eight hours and bought an old Piper Cub to build flying time.

I learned of the WASP organization while working as a writer for the New York Times. I reported for service in the WASP in January 1943 , at Howard Hughes Field, Houston Municipal Airport, in the class of 43-5. After graduation September 11, 1943 I was assigned to Camp Davis, North Carolina, flying and towing targets for artillery cadets to shoot at. From there, I was assigned to Wright Field Air Base in Dayton, Ohio, where experrimental testing of US and foreign military planes is done. Among the tests I flew were: air refueling using a B-24 as tanker and a P-38 as refueling aircraft; the first pressureized fighter cockpit in a special RP-47; tests flying a special P-38 where a cockpit replaced one engine turbo in order to test off-center flying in preparation for the twin-mustand P-82; weight and distance flying of the B-29 in preparation for the atom bomb mission to Japan; and evaluation flight of our first jest plane, the YP-59A fighter. I was the first woman to fly a jet for nearly 10 years. I also flew some British bombers and the German JU-88.

AFter deactivation, I married the designer of the P-82, Major William Carl, who later designed and built hydrofoil boats for the Navy and Grumman Aerospace. We have two children, one in England and one in Canada, Peter and Peggy. While the children were in school, I did flight instruction, performing insturment training for United Airlines, third pilots at Zahn's Airport on Long Island. My ratings included: private, commercial, instrument, multi-engine, flight instruction and instrument.

I was a jounalist specializing in science and the environment. I continued writing for Newsday and other publications. An avid sailor, my husband and I sailed the Atlantic twice and cruised the Mediterranean, the British Isles, and the French Canals. For the past 15 years we have resided in Kilmarnock, Virginia, where I have written a sailing book, The Small World of Long Distance Sailors, and a flying book, A WASP Amoung Eagles, about what it was like to be an experimental test pilot in WWII.

Links:

USAF MUSEUM FACT SHEET

FIRST FLIGHT SOCIETY ONLINE

Excerpt from Ann's Book--
PBS American Experience

_______________________

REPRINTED FROM TIME-DISPATCH

Ann G.B. Carl, first U.S. woman to fly jet, dies

Saturday, Mar 22, 2008

By KATHERINE CALOS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

A school lecture by Amelia Earhart in 1932 inspired Ann Gilpin Baumgartner Carl to learn to fly. Like Earhart, she became an aviation pioneer. She was the first American woman to fly a jet airplane. While serving with the Women's Air Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II, she first flew the turbo-jet powered Bell JP-59A on Oct. 14, 1944.

During her wartime career as a test pilot at Wright Field in Ohio, she was the only woman test pilot flying World War II combat aircraft such as the P-38, P-47 and P-51.

She met Orville Wright and often found herself seated next to him at dinners, said her son, Peter Carl of Cambridge, England.

While flight testing the P-82 Twin Mustang, she met her husband-to-be, William P. Carl. They married on May 2, 1945, four days after the Allies claimed victory in Europe.

Mrs. Carl, 89, died Thursday in a Kilmarnock nursing home. Mr. Carl died Feb. 19.

Mrs. Carl's adventurous spirit continued after the family settled on Long Island, N.Y. She was a flying instructor and began a sailing career with her husband. After his retirement, they sailed the yawl "Audacious" across the Atlantic to cruise through Europe and return. They eventually settled in the Northern Neck of Virginia, from which they commuted yearly for 22 years by boat to Abaco Cay in the Bahamas.
Born at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga., in 1918 while her father served there during World War I, Mrs. Carl graduated from Smith College in 1939 with a pre-med degree. She had brief stints as a medical researcher, a dancer and a writer for The New York Times before realizing her ambition to fly.

She wrote about her military experiences in "A WASP Among Eagles: A Woman Military Test Pilot in World War II" and about her sailing life in "The Small World of Long Distance Sailors."

In addition to her son, she is survived by a daughter, Margaret "Peggy" Laufer, of Ontario, Canada, and three grandchildren.

Her memorial service will be Sunday at 3 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church in Kilmarnock. Her cremains will be buried at sea with the cremains of her husband.

WASP RUTH STEELE WILSON, 44-W-5

RUTH STEEL WILSON, beloved wife, mother and grandmother passed away on March 10, 2008. She lived a great life for 88 years and leaves this world a better place.

Born Ruth Lorraine Steel in Bozeman, Montana to David A. and Kathleen Steel on December 12, 1919. Ruth was a woman of talent, beauty and brains. As a girl growing up in Chicago she had her own sailboat and taught sailing in Jackson Park Harbor. At the University of Chicago she excelled, participating in leadership activities and leading a Great Books discussion group.

After graduating from college, Ruth learned to fly and trained to be a WASP (*Women Airforce Service Pilots) in Sweetwater, Texas. *After graduation, she was stationed at Minter Field in Bakersfield, California, where she met *Army Air Force pilot James Sharp Wilson III, her husband of 63 years.

As a mother, Ruth was given the extraordinary challenge of raising five children including one with special needs. She not only accepted and met the challenge, but worked tirelessly for over 50 years with the Lake County Association for the Retarded (currently known as Arc BRIDGES) helping improve the quality of life for mentally handicapped children and adults and their families.

Throughout her busy life as a parent she somehow found time to pursue her own interests in sewing and writing (she penned a weekly column for the Gary Post-Tribune for several years). She loved sailing the family Snipe on Lake Michigan and countless north woods lakes of Wisconsin and Michigan. Canoeing, cross country skiing and taking photographs were also passions of hers.

As the family chronologist, she created photo albums telling the story of many years of activities and adventures including numerous trips in the family airplane.

When her children were grown and moved away, she wanted to learn more about the financial world so she spent several years working for a tax firm, an insurance company and a real estate brokerage. She also enjoyed investing in stocks, bonds and real estate. She loved to travel in the Midwest and found great pleasure and satisfaction in everyday life.

Miller Beach and the Dunes were home. The gardens, birds and landscapes, the seasons and the people were dear to her heart.

Ruth was preceded in death by her parents and her sister Ann Anderson. She leaves behind her husband, local watercolor artist Jim Wilson; her children Tracy (and her husband Andy Nelson) of La Jolla, California; Jim (and his wife Janice) of Plainwell, Michigan; Chuck (and his wife Becky) of Newport, Rhode Island; Scott Wilson of Merrillville, Indiana and Kim (and his wife Jan) of Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. She also leaves seven grandchildren Drew, Tim and Gray Nelson, Jayne, Jimmy, Sally and Maggie Wilson. Ruth will be deeply missed.

A Memorial Service will be held at 12:00 noon on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at the Marquette Park United Methodist Church, 215 N. Grand Boulevard in Miller.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Arc BRIDGES, 2650 W. 35th Ave., Gary, IN 46408, phone number (219) 985-6562. Burns Funeral Home, Hobart in charge of arrangements. www.burnsfuneral.com

Published in the Post-Tribune from 3/12/2008 - 3/14/2008.

(*edited for accuracy by np)

WASP ISABEL MADISON VAN LOM, 43-W-4

IN HER OWN WORDS from Betty Turner's "Out of the Blue and Into History"

"I was born on November 8, 1917, on a farm near Crystal City, Missouri. While living in Crystal City and working as a stenographer, was attracted to the air when some men in town purchased a Piper Cub and arranged for an instructor from nearby St. Louis to give lessons.

In March of 1941, I had my first lesson and continued flying, earning my private and commercial licenses.

I was accepted in the Women's Flying Training Detachment program on February 15, 1943, at Houston, Texas, and was graduated from the program at Sweetwater, Texas on August 7, 1943, in class 43-4 as a WASP.

Was assigned to Air Transport Command (ATC) and reported to the 5th Ferrying Group, Love Field, Dallas, Texas, where I remained until the WASP were deactivated on December 29, 1944. I flew single engine trainer planes and twin-engine utility planes, the P-39, P-40, P-47, P-51, P-63, and checked out as first pilot in the B-25 and C-47 (the cargo version of the DC-3.)

After deactivation, I earned my instructor rating and instructed at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and on a program at Oregon State College in Corvallis, Oregon, where I met my husband, Gerald Van Lom.

We were married in 1949, and lived in Portland, Oregon, and later moved to the Beaverton, Oregon area with our five children, William, Christine, Richard, Gretchen and Charles.

In Beaverton, I worked for Tektronix, Inc., an electronic firm, and retired after 18 years as a contract administrator for the service department.

I have been a volunteer in the emergency service department at St. Vincent de Paul in Portland.

________

Like so many WASP, Isabel gave back to her community and made a difference in her world.

_______

Isabel passed away at Providence St. Vincent's Hospital on Feb. 22, 2008 at age 90.

A memorial Mass will be said at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, 5th and Franklin Street, Beaverton, at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27. Recitation of the holy rosary precedes the Mass at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests remembrances to the charity of your choice.

Isabel is survived by her children: Christine Florendo, Juneau, Alaska; William M. Van Lom, Portland; Richard G. Van Lom, Peoria, Ariz.; and Gretchen Van Lom, Seattle; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Isabel's son, Charles E. Van Lom, preceded her in death in 1995 and her husband, Gerald, in 1998.

WASP GRACE PUTNAM JONES, 43-W-7

Always a lady... Grace Jones was a pioneer--in fashion and in flying. Her store in Salado, Texas, became quite famous all over the world. "GRACE JONES" was so much more than a store. Because of Grace's keen eye and extraordinary taste, she raised the bar for FASHION--and her tremendous talent was sought after and studied. Even Stanley Marcus tried to hire her. However, Grace was independent. Born into one of the founding families of Texas, she was always her own woman. Grace was also a WASP... a very well dressed WASP!

She passed away quietly February 16, 2008. Below are 3 links: Wings Across America "FINAL FLIGHT" (which includes the original article in the Temple Daily Telegram and photos of Grace
A wonderful personal tribute from the Austin School of Design Blog by fashion designer and teacher Mary Margaret Quadlander Austin American Statesman Obituary

Emily Bell (Brundle) Henrich, 44-W-5t

February 19, 2008

Emily Bell (Brundle) Henrich, 88, another hero of World War II and America's "Greatest Generation," peacefully took her "last flight home" in the late afternoon hours of Feb. 14, 2008. She was the beloved wife of the late William Henrich, with whom she had shared 27 years of marriage prior to his death. He was the "love of her life."

Born on Dec. 14, 1919, in Canada, she was the daughter of the late Robert W. and Mabel (Smith) Brundle of Stroudsburg.

Emily served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. She entered Army Air Force flight training to become a member of the elite and controversial military unit, the WASP, the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (class 445). Emily was one of 1,830 pilots selected from 25,000 applicants. The program was activated in September 1942. She began her military training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. They flew all types of aircraft, from the fastest pursuits, experimental jets and the B-29 bomber, to the smallest utility aircraft. Assignments included towing targets for aerial gunnery practice flying, engineering flights, test flights, instructing cadets, and other missions thereby releasing male pilots for combat. When the male pilot shortage had been successfully corrected, the WASPS program was deactivated on Dec. 20, 1944, with 60 million miles flown in 78 different military aircraft and with 38 WASPS killed in the line of duty.

Emily was a friend of renowned author Ernest Hemingway. She was herself a published author, having written, "Who, What, Where, and When" (author, Emily Bell Henrich, copyright 1999, published 2000 by Dunedin Florida) which was an account of her and her siblings growing up in a large family in rural Stroudsburg and surrounding areas.

Her most recent manuscript, also a true story, "A China Odyssey" (author, Emily Bell Henrich, Dunedin Florida/Linda Mutchler Rushin, Henryville, PA, copyright 2005, San Francisco, CA) is an account of the life of William Arthur Goodrich, her first husband, whose parents had been Methodist missionaries in China and had been murdered during the Boxer Rebellion. They hid their infant son to protect him and he was rescued by the Palace Guard that was sent to the missionaries' home by their friend, the Empress of China, who kept the boy and raised him within the palace walls until he was 11. (copyright 2005).

Emily also was employed as an administrator by the Pineallas County Courthouse. She was an accomplished award-winning artist and loved to travel the world with her beloved husband, Bill Henrich.

Emily was a resident of Florida most of her adult life. She returned home to Monroe County recently to be close to her family.

"We live with the wind and sand and our eyes on the stars." (WASPS) Farewell on your last flight home, dear sister.

Emily is survived by a stepdaughter and son-in-law and dear friends, Barbara and Sal Anzalone of Eugene, Ore.; four sisters, Star Jean Mutchler of Stroudsburg, Mary V. Smith of Stroudsburg, Jeanette Reto of Pen Argyl and Annestesea Sacher of Jeffersonville, Ind.; and many, many beloved nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by one sister, Judy LaBar, and two brothers, Gordon and Charlie Brundle.

There will be a viewing from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, followed by services at 7:30 in the William H. Clark Funeral Home, 1003 Main St., Stroudsburg, with the Rev. Thomas Anderman officiating. Cremation will follow in H.G. Smith Crematory, Stroudsburg.

Graveside services and burial will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in the Sand Hill Cemetery, Marshalls Creek.

reprinted from The Pocono Record

WASP MARJORIE M. GRAY, 43-W-1

February 11, 2008, WASP Marjorie Murry Gray passed away at the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook, NY. Marjorie was 95.

______________________

From her own words, p. 38 "Out of the Blue and Into History" by WASP Betty Turner.

Marjorie M. Gray
Smithtown, New York

"I was born March 21, 1912 in Manhattan, New York City. I had worked during college breaks at a hotel on Shelter Island and returned to the area, and Westhampton Beach which I was acquainted with, after finishing college in 1933.

I flew on my first flight July 4, 1937, and one year later soloed at Nelson Airport in New Jersey.

After graduation from the first class of WASP at Ellington Field in April 1943, I was stationed at Newcastle Air Force Base, Wilmington, Delaware under the command of Betty Huyler Gillies. I flew the B-24, B-25, B-26, DC-3 and 15 other types of military aircraft.

After deactivation, I opened an FBO (Fixed Base Operation) in 1946-1950, and trained pilots and flew charters. I subsequently worked for Curtiss Aviation, and then as associate editor for Flying Magazine, 1953-1060.

I joined the Air Force Reserve in 1950, and retired as Lt. Colonel in 1972. I was governor of the 99's New York, New Jersey Section in 1946. In 1956 I was awarded the Lady Hay Drummond Hay Award for Outstanding Achievement Aviation. I had earned a seaplane, multiengine, instrument and instructor's ratings and commercial license.

I moved to Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York in 1965 and retired from Grumman Aviation in 1981. I was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in Teterboro, New Jersey in 1992.

I reflect on my years in aviation as the best time in my life and have made lifelong friends through aviation, and have accrued over 3,000 hours of flying.

___________________

Marjorie is survived by her longtime friend and guardian, Madeline Steiner, 70, of Smithtown. A religious service and cremation will be at 3 p.m. Friday, February 15 in Washington Memorial Park in Mount Sinai, NY.

to link to obituary at Newsday

WASP CODYE GWEN CLINKSCALES LINDER, 44-W-5

Woman one of first military pilots

Codye Linder was among the first women to fly military aircraft during World War II

by Mark Zaloudek

______________

PORT CHARLOTTE, FLORIDA — Aviation buff Codye Gwen Linder beat the odds to become one of the first women to fly U.S. military planes during World War II, and later helped her fellow WASPs win government acknowledgment of their military service.

Linder, 85, who died Feb. 8 of complications from Parkinson's disease, was proud of her stateside military service and would have flown combat missions if women had been given the opportunity, said her daughter, Barb Linder of Port Charlotte.

"She always thought that women could do anything that men could," her daughter said.

Linder was among nearly 1,100 Women Airforce Service Pilots who took on sometimes perilous assignments as civil servants at military bases throughout the United States during the war.

The roles fulfilled by female pilots helped free up male pilots needed overseas as U.S. involvement in the war escalated.

Linder test-flew repaired planes to make sure they were safe for combat, and flew planes towing targets for live anti-aircraft artillery practice by male gunners on training missions. WASP also helped relocate planes from aircraft factories to the bases where they would be deployed.

Linder survived a couple of close calls during her nearly 13 months of service through December 1944. During her first solo flight in a fighter plane, the landing wheels would not lock into place. After several unsuccessful attempts to correct the problem by ascending, diving and reascending sharply, as instructed by the traffic tower, she finally managed to dislodge a wire that had wrapped around the wheels' locking mechanism and landed safely, her daughter said.

Another time, she landed a plane despite a malfunctioning wing flap. Workers later discovered that several tools they accidentally left in the repaired wing shifted during takeoff and jammed the wing flap, Barb Linder said.

Although more than 25,000 women applied for WASP training, fewer than 2,000 were accepted, and fewer than 1,100 completed their Army Air Forces training, Barb Linder said.

Unlike their male counterparts, the women had to buy their own uniforms and pay their own way to return home after completing their assignments.

The 38 WASPs who died carrying out their duties received no medals, death benefits or military burials.

Linder was one of many WASPs who wrote letters to Congress years later seeking recognition -- and vindication -- as war veterans.

After years of resistance, the federal government recognized the WASPs in 1979 as former active duty military eligible for benefits through the Veterans Administration.

Born Oct. 2, 1922, in Macon, Ga., Codye Clinkscales developed an early interest in aviation when pilots, instructors and flight students would come into her parents' restaurant next to a small airport and talk about flying.

She took flying lessons from a professional barnstormer and his wing-walking wife, and received her pilot's license by age 20.

Linder graduated with honors from Winthrop College with a dual major in biology and chemistry before the war, and after the war worked as a government air traffic controller and a chemist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab before marrying decorated Army Air Forces veteran Walter Linder, a former fighter pilot, in 1947 and starting a family.

While teaching high school honors science courses in Kettering, Ohio, for 19 years, she also taught a course in aviation ground school that enabled students to apply for a private pilot's license upon completion, her daughter said.

Linder's lifelong interest in aviation also included hang-gliding in her 50s and taking her first hot-air balloon ride in her early 80s, her daughter said.

Upon retiring 25 years ago, she lived in Daytona Beach and Tampa before moving to Port Charlotte in 2001.

In addition to her daughter, she is survived by two sons, Walt of Joplin, Mo., and Cody of Columbus, Ohio; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be private with inurnment at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.

Memorial donations may be made to TideWell Hospice and Palliative Care, 5955 Rand Blvd., Sarasota, FL 32438.

ARTICLE reprinted from the sarasota herald tribune
Thursday, Feb 21, 2008

Photo in Wings Across America offices

posted Feb. 22, 2008