Betty Gillies
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Betty Gillies (January 7, 1908 – October 14, 1998) was an American
aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
, and the first pilot to qualify for the
Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...
, later amalgamated into the
Women Airforce Service Pilots The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...
.


Early life

Betty Huyler was born in 1908 to a relatively prosperous family on Long Island. She began flying in 1928 when she was a student nurse at Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and on May 6, 1929, after a total of 23 hours of flying time, including instruction, obtained license #6525. Huyler immediately began building time toward a commercial license and when it was formed in November 1929, she joined The Ninety-Nines, an international organization of women flyers, first led by pioneer woman flyer
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
. The name of the group was chosen because 99 women were present for the first meeting, including Huyler. Between 1939 and 1941, she was the president of the 99s and led the fight against the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) over the prohibition for women to fly during pregnancy.Rickman 2008, p. 92. She later owned and flew a
Grumman Widgeon The Grumman G-44 Widgeon is a small, five-person, twin-engined, amphibious aircraft. It was designated J4F by the United States Navy and Coast Guard and OA-14 by the United States Army Air Corps and United States Army Air Forces. Design and deve ...
amphibian. In 1930, Huyler was married to Brewster Allison "Bud" Gillies, a vice president of
Grumman Aircraft The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...
Corporation.Chen, C. Peter
"Betty Gillies".
''World War II Database''. Retrieved: August 21, 2014.


World War II

In 1942, Gillies was the first pilot to qualify for the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. She entered the WAFS on September 12, 1942. At this time, she had amassed 14 years of flying experience, running up a total of 1,400 flying hours to her credit and held various aeronautical ratings. When Nancy Love transferred to Love Field, Dallas, Texas to start a new WAFS ferrying unit, Gillies was made squadron leader of the WAFS assigned to the 2nd Ferrying Group,
New Castle Army Air Base New Castle National Guard Base is a United States Air Force installation under the control of the Delaware Air National Guard, located at New Castle Airport in New Castle County, Delaware. Overview The base is the home of the 166th Airlift Wi ...
,
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
. In early March 1943, Gillies became the first woman to fly the
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...
when she was checked out on the aircraft at Wilmington. The "check out" consisted of an explanation of aircraft systems, flight characteristics and emergency procedures. One of the outstanding ferry missions accomplished by the original Squadron at Wilmington came in April 1943, when four Fairchild PT-26s were delivered from Hagerstown, Maryland, to DeWinton, Alberta, Canada, a distance of more than 2,500 miles. Gillies was flight leader, and the other three pilots were Nancy Batson, Helen McGilvery and Kathryn Bernheim. The type of aircraft flown had a cruising speed of only around 100 mph. The group left Hagerstown on April 18, spent the night at
Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...
(697 miles away), spent the next night at North Platte, Neb., after a run of 585 miles, then made a long hop of 846 miles to Great Falls, Montana. On April 21 they flew the remaining 275 miles to DeWinton, Alberta. All four pilots were back at the 2nd Group by Friday evening, April 23, and were commended by Colonel Baker for their efficient and prompt delivery, which included not only the flying of the aircraft but also the paperwork involved in such deliveries, such as flight logs, gasoline reports and RON (remain over night) messages. On August 15, 1943, Love and Gillies qualified as first pilots (aircraft commanders) on Boeing B-17s and made three deliveries together during the balance of the month. On September 2, 1943 Gillies and Nancy Love departed Cincinnati on a ferry mission to deliver a B-17F to England; however, the mission was canceled before the aircraft left Goose Bay, Labrador. Gillies remained squadron leader of the
Women Airforce Service Pilots The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...
assigned to the 2nd Ferrying Group at New Castle Army Air Base until the WASPs were disbanded on December 20, 1944. Betty and her husband Bud Gillies, had three children. One of her children died at age 4; her remaining son and daughter became commercial pilots, and four of her grandchildren become pilots as well.


Postwar

After World War II, Gillies was a
ham radio operator An amateur radio operator is someone who uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way personal communications with other amateur operators on radio frequencies assigned to the amateur radio service. Amateur radio operators hav ...
who, using her radio, connected phone calls to ships in the Pacific from her home in California. She had her huge antenna directed at the Antarctic and maintained contact with the staff and Navy personnel in
Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...
who were stationed there for two year hitches. She also participated in the Navy
MARS Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
program under the call sign NNN0AYT. Staying connected to aviation, Gillies was the Chair of the All Woman Transcontinental Air Race (AWTAR) from 1953–1961. In 1964, Gillies was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as the first Federal Aviation Administration Women's Advisory Committee. She died in 1998.


Awards and honors

Gillies Received a
Paul Tissandier Diploma Paul Tissandier (19 February 1881 – 11 March 1945) was a French aviator. Biography Tissandier was the son of aviator Gaston Tissandier and nephew of Albert Tissandier, Gaston's brother. Tissandier began his flying career as a hot air ballo ...
from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in 1977 and the National Aeronautic Association Elder Statesman of Aviation Award in 1982.


See also

*
Women Airforce Service Pilots The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...
(WASP) *
Women Airforce Service Pilots Badge {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 The Women Airforce Service Pilots Badge is an award of the United States Army that was issued during the Second World War. The badge created for the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP (not WASPs, because th ...
*
Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...
(WAAF - British) *
Women's Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an Auxiliaries, auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942 and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the U ...
(WAC) *
WAVES Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. * Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music * Waves (ban ...
*
SPARS The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve, also known as the SPARS (SPARS was the acronym for "Semper Paratus—Always Ready"), was the women's branch of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. It was established by the United States ...
*
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* Haynsworth, Leslie and David Toomey. ''Amelia Earhart's Daughters''. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1998. . * Merryman Molly. ''Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) of World War II.'' New York: New York University Press, 2001. . * Pelletier, Alain. ''High-Flying Women: A World History of Female Pilots.'' Sparkford, UK: Haynes, 2012. . * Rickman, Sarah Byrn. ''Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II''. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press, 2008. . * Stewart-Smith, Lt. Col. Natalie J
''The Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II: Perspectives on the Work of America's First Military Women Aviators.''
Pullman, Washington: Washington State University, 1981.


External links




Oral History Transcript of Florene Miller Watson by Rebecca Wright in March 2000

Award Winners of the Wesley L. McDonald Elder Statesman Award winnersColorized photograph of Betty Gillies on Worth1000.comwww.jacquelinecochranairshow.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillies, Betty 1908 births 1998 deaths Aviators from New York (state) Women Airforce Service Pilots personnel