Relief Wings was founded in 1940 by

Ruth Rowland Nichols Ruth Rowland Nichols (February 23, 1901 – September 25, 1960) was an American aviation pioneer. She is the only woman yet to hold simultaneous world records for speed, altitude, and distance for a female pilot. Biography Nichols was born in ...

as a humanitarian air service for disaster relief. Consisting of private aircraft, volunteer medical professionals and a network of medical facilities, Relief Wings were able to contribute an effective air-ambulance service to the programme of civil defence. Relief Wings was organised and run by women, with women being eligible to participate in any of the roles available in the organisation. Chapters of Relief Wings were organised in 36 states of the US. The slogan of Relief Wings was "Humanitarian Service by Air". From 1942 Relief Wings assisted the civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force,

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded mem ...

(CAP), providing an adjunct relief service during World War II. By becoming an adjunct service to CAP, Ruth Nichols was able to get the appropriate military and aviation permissions for Relief Wings so that the wartime restrictions on private flying did not apply to the group. Nichols went on to earn her Lieutenant Colonel ranking due to her service with Relief Wings.

References

Public benefit flying organizations Organizations established in 1940 {{US-org-stub