Sarah Byrn Rickman's Blog, page 5

Believe Me, Book Reviews Matter

THANK-YOU TO ALL MY BOOK REVIEWERS!

Last weekend I received my most recent review of Betty Gillies WAFS Pilot and I want to share it. In fact, I’d like to share several of my reviews.

This just in from Margaret Dennis “Peg” Carnahan, Lt. Col. USAF (retired), a 1980 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, the first class to admit and graduate women. Peg is now a commercial pilot.

TERRIFIC FOR YOUNG AND OLD ALIKE

Once again, Sarah Byrn Rickman displays her talent for capturing WASP history from a personal perspective. Through meticulously annotated references and personal interviews, Ms. Rickman provides an in-depth portrait of Betty Gillies and the WAFS. Even those who believe themselves well-versed in WAFS/WASP history will gain new insights.

While this book is written for the “young reader”, it is equally captivating to adults. Ms. Rickman’s engaging writing style is comfortable and makes it hard to put the book down. As with her other writings, the big gift of this book is her personal knowledge of many WAFS/WASP pilots through years of interviews, oral histories and research. Through her, you truly get to know these amazing women as individuals and live their experiences. This is a great addition to any library, and a terrific book for young readers who love history.

Peggy Carnahan

A WELL-RESEARCHED AND ACCURATE ACCOUNT

This is a well-researched and accurate account of an extraordinary woman and pioneering aviator! Sarah Rickman brings Betty’s 2-plus years as an exceptional pilot and WAFS squadron leader to life. Learning to fly at Roosevelt Field, Long Island, and attending the very first meeting of the Ninety-Nines here in Valley Stream in 1929, Betty became an original charter member of this legendary group of women pilots, still in existence today! She later became the first woman to fly the formidable P-47 Thunderbolt, produced by Republic Aviation Corp., Farmingdale, NY, in 1943, and eventually directed one of the most successful, efficient, important ferrying operations by the WAFS/WASP during World War II.

This book is highly recommended reading for all!

Julia Lauria Blum

INSPIRING BOOK FOR YOUNG ADULTS!

Sarah Rickman has done it again! Betty Gillies WAFS Pilot: The Days of Flights of a World War II Squadron Leader is a wonderful read. This is a fantastic story of an amazing American hero, Betty Gillies. This true story is inspiring and insightful into what the WASP pilots did to help the war effort. Very few people know that over 1,000 young women answered the call of their country to help with the war effort by flying military aircraft as civilians, allowing the men to fly in combat.

These women were true heroes, they delivered brand new airplanes, many of those planes had never been flown before, to bases all over the U.S. Betty was a leader of this group and one of the first females to fly the B-17. Sarah is a great historian and brings to life this story of one of America’s most inspiring women. I highly recommend this and Sarah’s other books.

T. Lee

THE AUTHOR HAS A GREAT STYLE

Once I had a minute to read I could not put the book down. Interesting, well written and an easy read. I really enjoy Sarah Rickman’s style of weaving the words of Betty into the narration. I felt like Betty was recounting her history for me, in her own words. Thank you for bringing her interesting history as a WAFS to life. Loved the historic images scattered throughout the book as well.

TC

 PORTRAIT OF COURAGE AND LEADERSHIP IN AVIATION!

This is an extraordinarily well-written account of just two years in the life of Betty Huyler Gillies, one of the leaders of the WAFS during WWII. Gillies was the 5th President of The Ninety-Nines, Inc., the world’s oldest and largest organization for female pilots. She was a trail-blazer on a multitude of levels and Rickman tells her story beautifully. This is a MUST READ!

Jacqueline Boyd

***

My thanks to all these readers. I need more reviews, if any of you, my followers, have read Betty Gillies WAFS Pilot and would care to post a review to Amazon or Facebook, I’d be most appreciative. In the meantime, keep reading!!! And THANKS for reading my Blog!

Betty Gillies WAFS Pilot: The Days and Flights of a World War II Squadron Leader

Click here to buy on Amazon.

From Flight to Destiny Press

For Age 12 to Adult

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Watch Sarah’s Aviatrix Book Review Interview

My WASP Journey on Film, in Books

March is Women’s History Month and that occasion has brought me a new friend and contact, Liz Booker. She wanted to do a filmed interview with me about my WASP books and hear about how I came to write my 10 WASP books … and counting.

Last year Liz, also a pilot and writer, started the Aviatrix Book Club Facebook Group (open to women and men). They have small group virtual discussions throughout the month on a featured book that anyone can host and anyone can join.  She also created the Aviatrix Book Review Website to serve as a central source to find books featuring women in aviation.

The Author with Amelia Earhart, at The Forest of Friendship, Atchison, KansasThat’s Where I and My Books Come In

I gave her the short version of my lengthy and somewhat convoluted WASP and book-writing journey. It, of course, began when I met my first WASP, Nadine Nagle, in 1990 and fell in love with her story and the WASP story. The Women Airforce Service Pilots are the women who flew for the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II. Eleven hundred two of them (1,102) collectively flew every aircraft in the USAAF’s WWII arsenal. Only 25 are still with us. The youngest is 97.

Nadine Nagle in WASP uniform

Liz wanted my interview to contain the longer, more comprehensive version of my story. On March 8th we did it. We both had a ball! She posted it to YouTube the following week where you may now view it! You can watch it here.

My Contribution, Ten Books 30 Years Later

The gist of it is, back in the ’90s, few people had heard about the WASP. I set out to change that. Ten books and 30 years later, I have, to some degree, done that. But there’s so many more stories out there to tell.

Liz asked me to send her some of my blog posts about the WAFS and WASP, written over the past two years. I did, and she has posted three of them. You’ll also find the links below.

Her author interviews and aviation writers’ discussions can be found on her website, YouTube, and on any podcast subscription service under Aviatrix Book Review. My interview is part of a series for Women’s History Month 2021 about women who flew for their countries during WWII. Links to all can be found here: https://linktr.ee/literaryaviatrix

I hope you watch the film and also check out the blog posts.

Here Are the Links AgainHere is the link to my interview: https://aviatrixbookreview.com/authorinterviews/women-in-aviation-history-wwii-the-united-states/YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/vRF6c5615-EFrom Sarah: THANKS for reading my blog and I hope you enjoy the interview! Find my books on Amazon!

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MEMORIES — THE WAFS REUNION, 1999

Hosted By My Friend and Mentor, Nancy Batson Crews … A Women’s History Month Special! …

The house, as Nancy had described it, sat at a ninety-degree turn in the road. As I rounded the corner and pulled into the drive, two women sitting on the front porch rose from their wicker chairs, waving. One of them was Nancy. The other, I knew the minute I laid eyes on her, was Teresa James.That was how The WAFS Reunion, June 1999, began.

Florene, Teresa and Nancy  A Gathering of WAFS Eagles

Nancy enlisted the help of a lot of people to bring off this gathering of Eagles. She convinced Birmingham’s newest Marriott to give her complimentary rooms for the visiting WAFS. The Southern Museum of Flight hosted the press conference to introduce the WAFS to Birmingham.

Monday evening, after two trips to the airport to meet arriving flights, we congregated in the hotel lounge. The six WAFS— Nancy Batson Crews, BJ Erickson London, Teresa James Martin, Gertrude Meserve Tubbs LeValley, Barbara Poole Shoemaker and Florene Miller Watson — totally captivated the serving staff. The young men and women—new employees because the hotel was newly opened—fought for the opportunity to bring them drinks and food and then hung around for conversation.

With the other five situated at the Marriott, Nancy and I called it a night and drove back to her place. Nancy was beaming.

Next morning, we gathered at the Southern Museum of Flight for a tour, then got ready for the afternoon press conference. The WAFS sat behind a long table. The museum director introduced them. All six told their flying-in-WWII-stories for the press and guests and they answered questions. Nancy was beaming.

Fannie Flagg Treats the WAFS to Lunch

The Irondale Café was on Wednesday’s schedule. Fannie Flagg — Alabama author/humorist who immortalized the café in her book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café — treated the WAFS to Southern fried chicken and those legendary fried green tomatoes. During lunch, Fannie called personally from California to wish the WAFS well for their reunion. Her great aunt Bess Fortenberry owned the café from 1932 to 1972. When Flagg wrote her famous novel, her aunt and the cafe became famous.

Nancy’s friends, family and the aviation community turned out in force for the reception back at the museum where they met and talked with these ladies in person. Nancy (third from left), the hostess with the mostess, was elegant in a long straight white skirt open to the knee and matching top decorated with sparkly things. Nancy was not a woman who paid a lot of attention to clothes, but when she wanted to look good, she carried it off with aplomb.

Nancy Was Beaming, She’d Been Doing a Lot of That!

Thursday morning, I hurried to finish my filmed interview with Poole because she, Gertrude and B.J. were leaving that afternoon. Florene, Teresa and I were spending the night at Nancy’s.

Tears were shed as a museum staffer arrived to pick up the three who were flying out. All three hugged me like I belonged with them and said they hoped we could all do this again. It had been wonderful. They all thanked Nancy repeatedly. She was the reason they had all come together again 57 years after it all began in Wilmington, Delaware. Nancy was beaming! She’d been doing that a lot!

When we got back to Nancy’s that evening — after dinner at Cracker Barrel — I prevailed on Florene to let me interview her. She was the only one I had not had time to film. She agreed.

Midnight Interview With Florene

Nancy and Teresa went to bed and Florene and I sat up until midnight. The audio portion of the videotape is alive with the sounds of an Alabama country summer night. The windows were open to let the night cool in. To a chorus of cicadas, other insects and croaking frogs, Florene talked about her WAFS years.

Film from interviews with these 6 incredible ladies appears in my 23-minute documentary “Six WAFS Up Close and Personal.” For more information on the film, please contact me — Sarah Rickman — at sarahbyrnrickman@gmail.com

My first WASP (WAFS) book was the result of this reunion. The Originals: The Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron of WWII was published two years later.

For Nancy’s story, please read my biography of her: Nancy Batson Crews: Alabama’s First Lady of Flight (University of Alabama Press, 2008). Available on Amazon.

Note: Twenty-two when she joined the WAFS, Nancy Batson earned the nickname the Golden Girl of the Ferry Command.3 Her prowess at the controls of an airplane, her absolute dedication to the job, her winning personality, and her engaging Southern accent all contributed to her acceptance by both the men and the women of the Ferrying Division.

Sarah’s Books Are  Available On Amazon. Click here to check them out.

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Mercury 13, 60th Anniversary Gala Saturday, February 27

See You in the Morning (Feb 27) at 11 A.M. Central Time!

Tomorrow morning, February 27, fans of the Mercury 13 will meet, VIRTUALLY, to celebrate their 60th anniversary! — 11 am to 1 pm Central Time. Those in the other three time zones need to adjust accordingly. The celebration is courtesy of the Ninety-Nines Museum of Women Pilots (MWP), located in Oklahoma City. Proceeds from the ticket sales go to support the WMP.

Jerrie Cobb

In 1960-’61, Jerrie Cobb, Myrtle “K” Cagle, Rhea Hurrle Allison Woltman, Irene Leverton, Jane Hart, B Steadman, twins Jan and Marian Dietrich, Jeri (Sloan)Truhill, Gene Nora Jessen, Sarah Gorelick Ratley and Wally Funk, successfully passed the same physiological tests as those undergone by the Mercury 7 astronauts.

Mercury 13 fans will get to meet and greet Gene Nora and Wally, the last two surviving members of that special group, personally on February 27. Via clips from film shot during the group’s 30th anniversary reunion October 28, 1991, you will meet B Steadman, Myrtle Cagle, Rhea Woltman and Irene Leverton.

Tickets are almost gone, but the link to Eventbrite is posted below, so those of you who desire to attend can still give it a shot! A few slots still are available. The deadline is 7 pm tonight February 26, (Central Time).

Eileen Collins Is the Keynote SpeakerEileen Collins

Eileen Collins, the first woman astronaut to pilot and later command a space flight, is our Keynote Speaker. Janet Ivey, of PBS’s Emmy-winning Janet’s Planet, is our Emcee. Alyssa Carson, a 19-year-old aspiring astronaut, is also our guest.

Sadly, Rhea Woltman took her final flight earlier this month. We had hoped to have her with us. Joining us instead is her nephew, Todd Hurrle, who will talk a bit about his incredible aunt. There will be a moment of silence to remember the 11 who have flown west.

These women pilots first were known as the First Lady Astronaut Trainees — though they really weren’t trainees. They were, for lack of a better word, guinea pigs undergoing testing. Today, they are far better known as the Mercury 13.

I had the good fortune to be working for IWASM (the International Women’s Air and Space Museum) back in 1991. My boss Joan Hrubec and I had established the museum’s popular Monday night “Women in Aviation” program series, filmed at Miami Valley Cable Council in Centerville, Ohio. The show appeared on the local public access TV station in the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio. We planned to kick off the 1991-92 year with a panel discussion among these women known then as the FLATs: First Lady Astronaut Trainees.

Joan HrubecIWASM Exec. VP “B” Steadman One of the 13

IWASM’s executive vice president, B Steadman, was one of the 13 and we at the museum definitely wanted to recognize her.

                                         B Steadman

Only five of the women were able to attend. But we celebrated big time!!! The Sunday before the Monday evening presentation, we hosted Jerrie Cobb, Myrtle Cagle, Rhea Woltman, Irene Leverton and B Steadman with a big luncheon at the Officers Club at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

IWASM, today, resides in Cleveland, Ohio, at Burke Lakefront Airport, at the southern end of Lake Erie. The museum, however, opened officially in the fall of 1986, the first tenant of the recently refurbished Asahel Wright House, Centerville, Ohio.

Note the “Wright” name. Yes, Asahel Wright was a distant relative of THE Wright Brothers — Orville and Wilbur — who made Dayton, Ohio, famous when they built the first “heavier than air” craft to fly.

IWASM Moves From Centerville to Cleveland, in 1998

The house at the center of town was one of the original stone houses at that intersection built in the wilderness in 1797. The City of Centerville and the Centerville Historical Society’s wanted to preserve the house. The community kicked in, worked on the structure, and did the job. To get a tenant for the house, the City offered the fledgling museum — IWASM— a lease for a dollar a year. The museum opened in fall 1986.

The two lived happily ever after, until 1998 when the museum moved to Cleveland. Need for more space plus the fact that the two women responsible for the museum lived in Cleveland. It had become a hardship for them to travel to the other end of Ohio every other week to keep the museum open and functioning.

I feel so fortunate to have been a part of IWASM during its early days in Centerville. Today I still serve as one of the museum’s advisors. And I thank them so very much for making the film of the 1991 reunion available to the 99s Museum of Women Pilots to show in connection with the Mercury 13’s big 60th gala!

Two Sarahs: Ratley and Rickman: at the 99s 90-Year Celebration, November 2, 2019

Order Tickets by 7 pm

http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mercury-13-sixty-years-after-tickets-131127197979

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Celebrate 60 Years With the Women of Mercury 13!

Join the 99s Museum of Women Pilotsin a February 27 Salute to the Mercury 13

After the 1962 Congressional Hearings ended their dreams of space travel, the women pilots who made up the Mercury 13 went on with their lives. Some brushed it off and forgot about it, others never really shook the resentment, but did move on. Yes, some bitterness remained.

Wally Funk never gave up her dream of going into space, and she continued to push forward in her chosen field, aviation, and carved for herself a multifaceted career. Wally’s story is told by author Loretta Hall, Higher, Faster, Longer: My Life in Aviation and My Quest for Spaceflight, released last summer. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=higher+faster+longer+wally+funk&

WALLY models a Space Suit.

I was fortunate to get to know another of the Mercury 13 women, B Steadman.

In 1964, I was a reporter/special writer for the Women’s Department at The Detroit News, the afternoon paper that covered Detroit and its vast network of suburbs. I spotted a one-inch story about a Royal Oak woman, Lorraine McCarty, who had won the Michigan SMALL Race. I considered it an insult that a woman from Royal Oak (a large suburb) had won an air race and the City Room thought the story was worth only an inch of copy. And it was buried on the back page.

I went into my editor’s office and showed her the article. “Can’t we do better than this?” She looked up at me and said, “find her.”

I did. Using Detroit’s huge phone book — we had neither computers nor the Internet in 1964 — I found a McCarty listed in Royal Oak. My call to that number was answered by Lorraine herself.

“I’m Going to Flint With Them!”

The next day, a News photographer and I drove to Detroit City Airport. Lorraine and Pat Arnold — she was the pilot and owner of the winning aircraft and Lorraine was the copilot — planned to pick us up and fly us to Flint Michigan to do the interview and take photos.

My photographer refused to get in an airplane flown by women. We had to stage our photos at Detroit City Airport. “I’m going to Flint with them,” I told him. He climbed back in the Detroit News car and drove off. I climbed into the backseat of the Piper Comanche and we took off for Flint.

We parked at Trimble Aviation, an FBO (Fixed Base Operator) at the Flint Airport. Both Pat and Lorraine hangered their airplanes there. Then I met the woman who ran the FBO and Trimble Aviation — B (nee Trimble) Steadman. I soon learned “who” she was. “B” was one of the 1961 female-in-space guinea pigs. A doctor in New Mexico, Randolph Lovelace, was testing women’s reactions to physiological simulations of what scientists thought would be “life in space” for human travelers. He was one of a few physicians who thought this was a worthwhile idea

Thank you Dr. Lovelace!

“B” Trimble Steadman

The meeting between B and me was a meeting in time that would return later in our lives.

When the interviews were done, Lorraine took me up for a flight in her single-engine, two-seater Piper Colt. My FIRST really small airplane! I was wearing a tight skirt and high heels – that’s what we wore to work back then.

Sitting in the right seat, the copilot’s seat, I was so terrified of touching the rudders with my feet and throwing the Colt into a spin, I sat with my feet frozen the entire flight. I could hardly walk when we got down!

My Story on Lorraine and Pat Ran in Sunday’s Detroit News

Lorraine drove me back to her home in Royal Oak, where my husband picked me up. “I want to learn to fly,” I said.  Of course lack of money made that impossible. I wrote my story and it appeared in the Sunday Women’s Edition of The Detroit News, along with great photos of Lorraine, Pat and the Piper Comanche.

I met B Steadman again 25 years later.

The International Women’s Air and Space Museum (IWASM) had located three blocks from my home in Centerville Ohio. When I left my job as editor of the Centerville-Bellbrook Times in 1989, IWASM hired me to help them get better known in Dayton Ohio’s south suburbs.

B was IWASM’s executive vice president. I would be working with her, as well as with Joan Hrubec, the museum administrator. I also would be working with Nancy Hopkins Tier, the President of IWASM AND a Charter Ninety-Nines who had known Amelia Earhart. Women in Aviation became my job, my passion, and a few years later would lead me beyond journalism to what I had wanted to do since age 5 — write books.

Jerrie Cobb

In 1991, the Mercury 13 pilots would mark their 30th anniversary. The museum planned to have a Reunion for them. By then, Joan and I had established the museum’s annual Monday night FILMED Women in Aviation Series. We planned to kick off the 1991-92 year with a Mercury 13 panel. Note: they were called FLATs then: First Lady Astronaut Trainees.

The weekend, before the presentation, we hosted Jerrie Cobb, Myrtle Cagle, Rhea Woltman, Irene Leverton, and of course B Steadman. Wally, no longer in Dayton, could not come. By then, Jean Hixson and Marian Dietrich were gone. Jan Dietrich, Janey Hart, Jeri (Sloan)Truhill, Gene Nora Jessen and Sarah Ratley were unable to attend.

Sarah Gorelick Ratley

Unfortunately, before we got to the taping of the lecture Monday evening, Jerrie Cobb had to leave. Bummer! But, the show must go on, and did!

Eileen Collins

Now — 30 years later — a VIRTUAL 60th anniversary celebration of the Mercury 13 is happening.

On February 27, Mercury 13 fans will be able to meet Gene Nora and Wally. Via film clips from the October 29, 1991, IWASM Reunion, they will meet B Steadman, Myrtle Cagle, Rhea Woltman and Irene Leverton.

Eileen Collins, the first woman astronaut to command a space flight, is our Keynote Speaker. Janet Ivey, of PBS’s Emmy-winning Janet’s Planet, is our Emcee. Alyssa Carson, a 19-year-old aspiring astronaut, is also our guest. Time: 11 am to 1 pm Central Time! Those in other time zones, please take note!!! PLEASE JOIN US!!!

Tickets $25 for adults; $15 for youngsters through 12th grade.

Here is your invitation:

Here’s a link: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mercury-13-sixty-years-after-tickets-131127197979

Photo credits: IWASM, 99s Museum of Women Pilots, Wally Funk Personal Collection, Eileen CollinsSee you February 27th!!!

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Sarah Meets Eight More of “The Mercury 13”

Wally Becomes One of  “The Mercury 13”

Before Wally Funk became my first flight instructor in 1991, she distinguished herself — 30 years earlier. Back in 1961 — she was one of the 13 women pilots who hoped to be America’s first female astronauts. These women are known today as “The Mercury 13.”

When America and NASA entered the “space race” with the Russians in the late 1950s, it was assumed that men would carry our flag into that great beyond known as Outer Space. And that job did fall to seven carefully selected military test pilots who successfully passed the physical and psychological tests to qualify for Project Mercury. These astronauts became known as “The Mercury Seven.”

Two physicians, Randolph Lovelace of the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque, NM, and Air Force Brigadier General and surgeon Don Flickinger, were in the forefront with the Mercury Project.

Wally Tries On Space Suit at Space Camp, 1991The Sensory Isolation of Outer Space

Lovelace designed and administered the tests for the seven astronaut candidates. The primary focus was the men’s physical aptitude for space flight. In the meantime, Flickinger worked with the Aeromedical Laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, to develop tests to “measure how a potential astronaut might respond to the unique stresses of outer space.” This included “a sensory isolation test calculated to gauge how an astronaut candidate reacted to the “simulated silence and stillness of space.”

The Mercury Seven program moved ahead. Many of us well remember the space launches of the early 1960s in which these men were the pilots and — yes — guinea pigs. And they were our heroes.

Both Flickinger and Lovelace happened to think that women, too, might be good candidates for space flight — that women might even be better at dealing with the loneliness, the solitude of space. But even though the space program was a civilian project — not military — NASA was not interested in pursuing the potential use of females in space flight. So the two doctors decided to test a woman candidate as part of their own independent study.

Ackmann’s ‘The Mercury 13′ Source for This Blog

*Note: Material in this and the following paragraphs are from pages 37-50, The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight, by Martha Ackmann: New York, Random House Publishing Group, 2003.

At an Air Force Association meeting the fall of 1959, Lovelace and Flickinger met their ideal candidate, 28-year-old Jerrie Cobb. She was an “accomplished and motivated pilot, willing to take chances.” Flickinger wanted Cobb to undergo the same drills and testing the seven male astronauts already had undergone. He planned to compare her results to those of the men.

On the invitation of Dr. Lovelace, Jerrie reported to the Lovelace Clinic on February 15, 1960. She passed everything with flying colors! Then things REALLY got interesting.

Obviously, more than one female subject was needed. Flickinger asked Cobb to suggest other women pilots who might be qualified for testing. In the meantime, famed woman aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran, who had known Lovelace for many of years, got wind of the program. She contacted him. She wanted to know everything. By November 1960, somehow, she had become his “special consultant for women in space.” [The Mercury 13, page 81]

Funding Needed for Further Testing of Women

Testing more women would be costly. Cochran anted up the money.

That changed things. Cochran had a reputation for messing up other people’s already well-thought-out plans. Most of the 24 additional women invited to undergo the testing were suggested by Cobb or Cochran. But the list did included some who wrote to Lovelace directly. And that is when Wally Funk enters the picture.

Twenty-one year old Wally had read about Jerrie Cobb’s testing in a Life magazine article. She wanted to be part of this and wrote to Lovelace. She already had 3,000 flying hours. Lovelace was looking for women with at least 1,000 flight hours. He invited her to take part. Wally in turn told Gene Nora (pronounced Janora) Stumbough about the testing when she ran into her at an Oklahoma collegiate aviation gathering. Gene Nora, 24, also wrote to Lovelace and was accepted. They were the two youngest of the Mercury 13.

Of the 24 invited, six declined, leaving 18 candidates.

Eighteen More Women Pilots Tested

Between January and August of 1961, those 18 women pilots underwent the same battery of physiological screening tests, as had the Project Mercury astronauts. Jan Dietrich was the first to be tested —the week of January 17, 1961. She passed.

Wally was the second to arrive at the Lovelace Clinic, February 28. She, too, passed. Following Wally those who successfully passed the testing were: Marion Dietrich (Jan’s twin sister) and Rhea Hurrle (Allison Woltman) in March; Jerri Sloan (Truhill), B Steadman and Irene Leverton in April; Sarah Gorelick (Ratley) and Myrtle Cagle in June; Janey Hart and Gene Nora Stumbough (Jessen) in July; and Jean Hixson in August. Twelve qualified.

Jerrie Cobb and the 12 add up to “The Mercury 13” — also known informally as the First Lady Astronaut Trainees or “FLATS”.

That the program was canceled later that August was a shock to the women and became a harsh reality they had to deal with. By then, magazine and newspaper articles had made the public well aware of the fact that women WERE undergoing these tests and what it might mean.

Expectations Too High, Congress Enters the Picture

Unfortunately, expectations of how these women pilots might be used in America’s journey into space were blown out of proportion, misrepresented, and also misunderstood. This led to Congressional hearings in 1962. Jerrie Cobb and Janey Hart (wife of Michigan Senator Phil Hart) testified as to the worth of the Mercury 13 program. Nothing changed. The 13 women got no further and it would be 21 years before America put a woman into space.

Those who want to know the real, whole, and accurately told story of these 13 women should read Martha Ackmann’s fine book, The Mercury 13. As already noted, Ackmann’s book is the source for much of this article.

Yours truly, in addition to Wally, also knew B Steadman well. And I was fortunate enough to meet Janey Hart, Myrtle Cagle, Irene Leverton, Rhea Woltman and Jerrie Cobb at the 30th Reunion in 1991 — as well as Gene Nora Jessen and Sarah Ratley later through the Ninety-Nines. I learned a lot from talking personally with these women.

In next week’s blog, you’ll read more about the Mercury 13. You are invited to meet some of them virtually on Feb. 27, when the Ninety-Nines Museum of Women pilots presents THE MERCURY 13: SIXTY YEARS AFTER.

Here’s the Invitation!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mercury-13-sixty-years-after-tickets-131127197979

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SARAH AND WALLY AT SPACE CAMP, 1991

“Let’s Go to Space Camp,” Wally said

Wally Funk was my flight instructor. I had been taking flying lessons from her for a month. The year was 1991.

I met Wally at Women in Aviation (WAI) in St. Louis in early March that year. Joan Hrubec, administrator of the International Women’s Air and Space Museum (IWASM), Centerville, Ohio, and I drove to St. Louis for the conference.  I worked for Joan and IWASM as a PR person of sorts. She hired me to help the museum become better known in the southwest Ohio.

Why? Because until six months before, I had been the editor of the local twice-weekly newspaper, the Centerville-Bellbrook Times. I “knew the territory” — Dayton’s south suburbs, Centerville, Kettering, Oakwood, Springboro, etc.

Sarah (left), Wally (right)Joan Was a Walking ‘Women of Aviation’ Encyclopedia

I went to work for Joan in January 1990, so 1991 was my second WAI. Under Joan’s very knowledgable tutelage in the subject, I was now well-versed in the history of women in aviation, particularly American women pilots. I was going to do a talk and slide presentation for IWASM on that subject. Wally, a well-known veteran pilot and flight instructor, also was one of the speakers at the conference. Everybody knew Wally. Joan introduced me to her.

“You should get Wally to teach you to fly,” said Joan. “She’s living out in north Dayton now.”

My logbook says I had my first lesson on April 1, 1991. We spent the hour on ground school instruction. On April 2, I learned to pre-flight, execute the checklist, and taxi the two-seater Cessna 152, tail number N757HJ. I made two takeoffs and landings. On April 5, I earned a “star” for performing a flawless pre-flight. Then we flew for an hour. I did some 360 degree turns, learned to trim the airplane, did pattern flying, and made two takeoffs and landings.

I was hooked. I was on my way!!! But, sadly, I was NOT a natural. A bit long-in-tooth to pick it up quickly and decidedly over-cautious, I struggled. Landing a tricycle gear airplane eluded me, but I persisted! A month into my flying, Wally brought up Space Camp. I knew Space Camp was part of the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. I thought it was for kids.

Space Camp Is for Big Kids Too!

Well it WAS for kids, but it also was for adults who, now grownup kids and thoroughly engrossed in the Space Program, also wanted to go to Space Camp. “Space Camp is located at One Tranquility Base, Huntsville, Alabama 35805. Huntsville is home to the second-largest research park in the United States and the fourth largest in the world. America’s space program was born here,” says its modern-day website.

I had watched all the launches in the ’60s. On July 20, 1969, our family sat glued to the 17-inch black and white screen in our living room. We — my mom and dad, my husband, Rick, and my two small boys, Jim 2 ½ and Chuck, 11 months — all watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Moon.

Seven months earlier, on Christmas Eve 1968, we had listened as Apollo 8 orbited the Moon ten times before returning to Earth.

My Husband Thought I Was Nuts!

So Wally and I went to Space Camp. My husband thought I was nuts. My now college-age kids thought it was cool!

Space Camp was full of adventures and Wally and I ate it up. We bought the blue coveralls the astronauts wore. (See photo above). I later donated mine to IWASM, where it is remains, today, proudly on display.

Our team — five women and four men (See photo) — went through simulated “space-flight” exercises in a “space vehicle.” We were treated to movies in 3-D — or was it Surround Sound? Meals in the mess hall. We slept on bunks in dorms. I remember Wally claimed the upper bunk before I could. It reminded me of being at camp when I was a teenager. In fact for three days, we were teenagers again!

Driving from Dayton to Huntsville and back, we stopped and spent the night with my mother in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the family home. Wally and my Mom hit it off! (See photo.) Enroute back to Dayton, we also stopped in Nashville to visit my aunt in a retirement home. We wore our blue astronaut coveralls, everyone stared at us. My aunt told me they all asked, “Are they really astronauts?”

But I Never Soloed!

Between April 1 and September 1, 1991, I logged a total of 18.5 hours with Wally, but I never soloed. Consistently making good landings continued to elude me.

Wally moved back to Texas that fall and turned me over to Wendy, a young woman instructor she knew. Then Wendy’s husband was transferred. I quit flying.

I tried again in 2009. I soloed!!! — in an Aeronca Champ. Turned out taildraggers and I were a match!!! I did my cross-country in November 2010, passed my check ride spring of 2011 and got my license.

Wally and I see each other annually at the Women in Aviation, International, conference. And, having now acquired my license, I joined the Ninety-Nines, the Organization of Women Pilots. Now, we also meet at Ninety-Nines events. It’s old home week!!! Fond memories for both of us.

More about Wally in my next blog!

Thank you for reading my blog. And check out my books about women pilots on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sarah+byrn+rickman&i

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January 20, 2021 vs January 6, 2021 — Contrast in Democracy

In the Wake of Violence, Order

January 20, 2021 — Washington D.C., The United States of America

It’s Inauguration Evening, January 20, 2021. Why am I not exhausted from spending the entire day in front of the television screen? Why? Because today has been America’s best day in months, years, possibly a decade or two. Today was a day for celebration, renewal, a vision of what can be.

We survived January 6, 2021 — two weeks ago, the darkest day in our country in many, many years.

I remember 9-11 all too well. I don’t actually remember Pearl Harbor, but I, then a small child, was in the back seat of my parents’ car on December 7, 1941. We were on our way “Home” to Tennessee to spend Christmas with family. My father, the historian, made sure I knew what happened that day so that I would never forget.

Remember Pearl Harbor!

Throughout the war, we children were taught to “Remember Pearl Harbor!” We sang Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition! and Nothing Can Stop the Army Air Corps!

I remember April 12, 1945, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia. More vivid is V-J Day four months later, August 14, 1945. I understood we had won “THE WAR.” Only 8-years-old, I “got it.” I still do! My friends and I marched up and down the sidewalk along 6th Avenue in East Denver, banging pots and pans and shouting to the people riding the Number 6 streetcar home from work: “The War’s Over, the War’s Over!”

November 22, 1963

On November 22, 1963, I was a reporter for The Detroit News. It was Friday and we in the Women’s Department on the 4th floor were putting the finishing touches on the Sunday Front Page and the rest of the 16-page Women’s Section. Two floors down in the City Room, my husband of 10 months was the man standing in the door to the teletype room when the machines — all at once — started their loud clacking. He pulled the AP wire from the teletype machine and scanned the message. Kennedy Shot in Dallas.

All hell broke loose in the City Room. The news spread rapidly to the 4th floor and the rest of the building. In spite of the shock and the tears in our eyes we, the staff of the Women’s Department, went back to work that awful Friday afternoon. We tore up the already laid out pages and began replacing the photos and the stories we had spent the week writing.

Our hastily written new stories and bunches of photos of President John F. Kennedy focused on the man and his family, not the politics nor the carnage. We left that to the City Room. We put the Sunday Women’s Section to bed on deadline! 5 pm! I went home and got drunk. My husband had to put me to bed, sobbing my heart out.

King, Bobby Kennedy, Wallace, Ford, Reagan

I remember 1968 when, in two months’ time, we lost both Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. I remember when George Wallace was shot. I remember President Ford’s brush with assassination, and the day President Reagan was shot. Will it never end!!!

And of course it hasn’t. On January 6, 2021, an angry mob attacked “The People’s House” with the intent to harm or kill the dedicated souls of BOTH parties who “do” the country’s work — the men and women of our House of Representatives and the Senate, and our Vice President!

Not since August 1814 had the U.S. Capitol been breached by the enemy. That time, it was a foreign power, the British from across the sea. But on this January 6, it was citizens of this, our very own country. Vicious sedition on the part of men and women who are fully endowed with the privilege of being born Americans, who have inherited all the amazing rights American citizenship gives us and all that those rights mean. Still, they spit on, violated what their America, our America stands for.

Freedom of Speech, Not Freedom to Maim and Kill

They could have protested peacefully and still gotten their voice heard and their message across! But Freedom of Speech does not, to my knowledge, include the right to maim and kill!

We Americans — all Americans — are the most fortunate, blessed people in the world. So WHY?!

They were disgruntled?!! Bull pucky! Aren’t we all, over events we cannot control? Covid, for God’s sake — we ALL are threatened by it! We ALL must deal with it. And we, most of us, good citizens of these United States are dealing with it the best we can. Get a grip, people! Agents of change must be positive and focused on being and doing better.

Now, the events of today — January 20, 2021 — are the beginnings of the washing away of that awful stain. Our new, validly-elected — yes the election was fair and square — President Joseph R. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, by being open and honest and genuine, have shown and will show us a way forward without throwing away What Has Worked For Us For 232 Years!!!

Is There a Balm in Gilead? — It’s Called Hope

Today, three former Presidents, each of whom served two terms for their country, gave their blessing to the nation’s peaceful transition of power — which all three, representing BOTH parties, had seen and had experienced in each of their terms: Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Jimmie Carter, the elder Patriot-President, unable to attend due to his health, sent his blessing.

We are Americans, we are patriots, we love our country and what it stands for. We believe in America and who we are and what we can be — if we work together.

That’s America!

God Bless America!Thank you Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. May God be with you.Remember Pearl Harbor! Remember 9-11! Sing the Star Spangled Banner with all  your heart and salute Old Glory like you meant it. That’s what it means to be an American!* * * * *

Thank you for reading my blog – a bit of a switch from what you’re used to seeing here. And STAY SAFE! Wear your Mask. Keep your distance. And, oh yes, please think about buying one of my books! I write about the dedicated and very patriotic women pilots of World War II.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Sarah+Byrn+Rickman

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A REVIEW OF BETTY GILLIES WAFS PILOT

Betty Gillies WAFS PilotThe Days and Flights of a WWII Squadron Leader From Aimee Luna, Story Circle Network

Imagine, if you will, what it must have been like to be one of the first women pilots flying for the United States military in the World War II era. In Betty Gillies, WAFS Pilot: The Days and Flights of a World War II Squadron Leader, author Sarah Byrn Rickman spectacularly shares the incredible true story of this gutsy woman and her fellow women pilots. WAFS (Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron) pilots were civilian women who stepped up and aided the U.S. Army Air Forces with delivery of aircraft from the manufacturing factories to the military flight training schools, in a time when there was a severe shortage of men to fill the positions.

Quotes Take Reader Into the Cockpit With Betty

From the moment Betty Gillies receives the telegram announcing that her prior flying experience might qualify her to fly army training aircraft, the story is riveting. It is made even more so by the direct quotes from Betty’s personal diary, such as: “Below was fog and black stuff. Directly in front of me were these two snow-covered peaks, well over ten thousand feet, the sun coming up through the pass between them. And above it all was this sleek airplane, flying on wings of gold.” The quotes in the book take the reader right into the cockpit with Betty.

Sarah Byrn Rickman, in this carefully researched and beautifully written account, takes us on a deep dive into Betty Gillies’s experiences as a wartime ferry pilot.

The Adventure of Their Lives!

Although the WAFS women were on the adventure of their lives, they faced plenty of challenges. Simultaneously, they were making history as the United States’ first women pilots serving their country in a war while also fighting for gender equality.

“The WAFS were not out to prove they could wear pants. They only wanted to prove they could fly.”

Despite many trials, these courageous women forged ahead with their missions; they proved that women pilots are equally as capable and vital to the success of the United States military as their male counterparts. They succeeded in paving the way for today’s women pilots.

The book includes a lovely dedication from the author to Pete and Glen Gillies, Betty Huyler Gillies’s son and granddaughter, whose contributions helped bring Betty’s story to reality. “A picture is worth a thousand words” accurately describes the photographs found throughout the book, as they share just as much as the story itself shares.

Also included: a delightful poem written by Betty, a list of the aircraft she flew, a glossary and acronyms of WWII aviation and military terms, Betty Gillies’s aviation timeline, and much more.

Young Readers Will Find Inspiration In These Pages

This book should, without a doubt, make its way into the hands of young readers far and wide. It is an inspiration for those wishing to embark on journeys that may seem impossible, to blaze new trails.

Sarah Byrn Rickman is the author of ten books about the women who flew for America in World War II. Her first two books in this series, BJ Erickson: WASP Pilot and Nancy Love: WASP Pilot were published by Filter Press in 2018 and 2019. She has since established Flight to Destiny Press from which this third book, Betty Gillies: WAFS Pilot, was published. Sarah holds a Sport Pilot Certificate and flies 1940s~ vintage tail-wheeled aircraft—like the WAFS and WASP flew back in the day. Her favorite is the Aeronca Champ 7-AC. She currently serves as editor of the WASP News, the official newsletter for the WASP archives, located at the Texas Woman’s University Library, Denton, Texas. Author website: https://sarahbyrnrickman.com/.

Categories:  Biography ,  Children’s ,  Nonfiction

Learn more about Betty Gillies:

Buy your copy of Betty Gillies WAFS Pilot here.

If you’d like to watch the book launch of Betty Gillies WAFS Pilot (featuring stories about Betty from members of Betty’s family) click here.

Read my poem dedicated to Betty Gillies. Click here.

Story Circle Network: https://www.storycircle.org/book_review/betty-gillies-wafs-pilot/

Betty Gillies, WAFS Pilot

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NOW IN AUDIO: Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of WWII

First Nancy Love Biography Released by Audible

Proud to announce that Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of WWII is now available on Audible! Give it a listen! You’ll like it!

The University of North Texas Press, my publisher, decided this year to offer my full biography of Nancy Harkness Love in audio. I am SO pleased about this! In the process, I had great conversations with my narrator, Alice C. Schoo-Jerger, as she called occasionally to check pronunciations, usually of names.

And it’s just in the “St. Nick of time” for Christmas for that person on your list who prefers audio books. Have to admit I’m fast becoming one of those individuals. I “read” while walking my sweet Black Lab, Lady, around the neighborhood.

Nancy Love photo courtesy the WASP Archive, Texas Woman’s University

Here’s what Amazon says about the Nancy Love biography:

She Led the First Women Who Flew US Army Aircraft in WWII

Nancy Harkness Love, early in World War II, recruited and led the first group of 27 women to fly military aircraft for the US Army.

Love “fell in love” with flight at 16. After just four hours of instruction, she flew solo in what she described as “a rather broken-down Fleet biplane that my barnstorming instructor imported from parts unknown”. The year was 1930. Record-setting aviator Jacqueline Cochran (and Love’s future rival) had not yet learned to fly. Amelia Earhart, the most famous woman pilot of all time, had yet to make her acclaimed solo Atlantic flight.

The Army Needed Ferry Pilots, the Women Stepped Forward

When the United States entered World War II, the Army desperately needed pilots to move — or “ferry” — its trainer airplanes to flight training bases. Most male pilots were assigned to combat preparation, leaving few available for ferrying jobs. Into this vacuum stepped Nancy Love and her 27 experienced women pilots. They were first known as the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and later as WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). By fall 1943, the Army needed pilots to move combat-bound aircraft across the United States for overseas deployment. The women learned to fly those fighter aircraft and then ferried them to the docks for shipment abroad.

Nancy Love advised the Ferrying Division, part of the Air Transport Command, as to the best use of their WASP ferry pilots. She proved adept at organizing and inspiring those under her command, earning the love and admiration of her pilots.

The book is published by the University of North Texas Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks

What readers say:

“This is an ‘edge of your seat’ story even if you know the outcome…. Worthy of the best-seller list!” (Commander Trish Beckman, U.S. Navy (Ret.))

“This book is a must read.” (Peggy Chabrian, former President/Founder, Women in Aviation, International)

“A must read for all who relish courage, tenacity, and a fearless desire to serve our nation in time of its greatest need.” (The late Brig. Gen. Linda K. McTague, Air National Guard)

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