Jen asked Katherine Sharp Landdeck:

Did being a pilot yourself help when it came to making connections with the WASP over the years? They must have really trusted you to understand why they wanted to fly so badly back in WWII, even when many of them were told in subtle and not so subtle ways that women just didn't do that and certainly not for the military. Reading your book, it seems the research process must have been fascinating!

Katherine Sharp Landdeck Being a pilot really did make a big difference when doing my oral histories with the women. Their tone and attitude would always shift as soon as they realized we shared that love of flying. They would talk about the planes differently, describe little details knowing I got it, and gossip about things only another pilot would understand.
While a lot of the research was typical of a historian - in the archives, digging into primary sources - the best part was going with the women to airshows and finding some quiet corner to talk while planes buzzed overhead. I still can't believe I was so lucky!

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