The Women's Flying Training Detachment was a group of women pilots during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Their main job was to take over male pilot's jobs, such as ferrying planes from factories to

United States Army Air Force 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 ...

installations, in order to free male pilots to fight overseas. They later merged with the Women Airforce Ferrying Squadron (formerly the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron) to form 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 history

While on a trip to England,

Jacqueline Cochran Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to br ...

observed that an organization had been founded for English women pilots to do jobs for male pilots, such as plane ferrying. Being quite interested, she contacted General

Henry H. Arnold Henry Harley Arnold (June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was an American general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army and later, General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), ...

suggesting that a similar organization be founded in the United States. He approved on September 15, 1942, and the Women's Flying Training Detachment was born. Around the same time, some other women pilots, such as

Nancy Harkness Love Nancy Harkness Love (February 14, 1914 – October 22, 1976), born Hannah Lincoln Harkness, was an American pilot and airplane commander during World War II. She earned her pilot's license at age 16. She worked as a test pilot and air racer in t ...

, were also founding similar organizations in which female pilots replaced male pilots in order that the men could be moved to more important duties.

Training

Initially, the training in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, TX, lasted 23 weeks and included 115 hours of flying time. However, not long after, the program moved to Sweetwater, TX and the training increased to 210 hours flying time and became 30 weeks long. To be accepted, trainees were required to be between 21 and 35 years of age and had to have at least 200 hours flying time before entering. This later dropped to 18 years of age minimum and at least 35 hrs. flying experience. The training consisted of mostly

cross-country flying Cross-country flying ( XC flying) is a type of distance flying which is performed in a powered aircraft on legs over a given distance and in operations between two points using navigational techniques; and an unpowered aircraft (paraglider, hang g ...

with no

gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...

nery.

Veteran Status

Because they were not considered a real part of the army, they and other women pilot organizations were not guaranteed all the rights of

veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

. If a woman pilot was killed while on duty, her family would pay for her body to be shipped home, and they couldn't hang a golden star in their window to show the sacrifice they had made. Also, any women pilots who died in training didn't have the right to have an

American Flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

draped over their coffin.{{cite web, url=http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/09/wwii_women_pilots_to_get_long-.html, title=WWII women pilots to get 'long-overdue' honor; Local woman who died while serving as a WWII pilot is among them, first=Kalamazoo Gazette, last=staff, website=MLive.com, date=20 September 2009

References

All-female military units and formations *

Early history

Training

Veteran Status

See also

References