page_title: Women in aviation
section_title: 1940s
hierarchical_section_title: Women in aviation / History / 1940s
caption_attribution_description: English: Women Civil Service workers (Bowen, a riveter, and Olsen, her supervisor) of the assembly and repair department work on the Pratt &amp; Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial engine of a Consolidated PBY Catalina at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas (USA).
context_page_description: Women have been involved in aviation from the beginnings of both lighter-than air travel and as airplanes, helicopters and space travel were developed. Women pilots were also called "aviatrices". Women have been flying powered aircraft since 1908; prior to 1970, however, most were restricted to working privately or in support roles in the aviation industry. Aviation also allowed women to "travel alone on unprecedented journeys." Women who have been successful in various aviation fields have served as mentors to younger women, helping them along in their careers.
  Within the first two decades of powered flight, women on every continent except Antarctica had begun to fly, perform in aerial shows, parachute, and even transport passengers. During World War II, women from every continent helped with war efforts and though mostly restricted from military flight many of the female pilots flew in auxiliary services. In the 1950s and 1960s, women were primarily restricted to serving in support fields such as flight simulation training, air traffic control, and as flight attendants. Since the 1970s, women have been allowed to participate in military service in most countries.
context_section_description: As World War II began, women became involved in combat. In the United States, prior to the war, pilots typically flew only in good weather, so that they could judge ground position. Flying in combat required pilots to fly in varying conditions, and a push for instrument training began. By 1944 around 6,000 women had been trained as Link Trainer operators and were teaching male pilots how to read instruments. WAVES like Patricia W. Malone transitioned after the war to commercial flight simulation instruction, where women dominated the industry of flight training operators.
  In 1939, Jacqueline Cochran wrote to the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, about using women pilots in the military. Later, Nancy Harkness Love also made a similar request to the US Army, however both women's ideas were put on hold until 1942. Love was then put in command of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron [WAFS], which developed a reputation for quiet efficiency and became a well-respected unit. General Henry Arnold on September 14, 1942, put Cochran in charge of a new program called the Army Air Forces Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD). By August 5, 1943, the WFTD was merged with the WAFS to form the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). The WASPs supported the military in various ways, flying new planes from factories to Army Air Force bases, worked as test pilots, worked as flying chauffeurs and helped tow targets for antiaircraft gunnery practice. The WASPS never gained full military benefits, the organization was disbanded in December 1944. WASPS finally earned veteran status retroactively in 1979.
  Besides working as women pilots, American women also started working as air traffic controllers during WWII. Commander Frances Biadosz was the only WAVE to wear wings for air-navigation during World War II. Women in the United States were also hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to work as scientists and engineers, as well as analysts, reviewing data from windtunnels on airplane prototypes.
  In 1940, Major Phyllis Dunning (née Phyllis Doreen Hooper) became the first South African woman to enter full-time military service as the Commander of the South African Women's Auxiliary Air Force (SAWAAF). In 1941, the Southern Rhodesia Women's Auxiliary Air Service was commissioned. Within a few months over 100 women recruits were providing clerical services, sewing skills, parachute packing, and serving as drivers, equipment assistants and mechanics. Another South African, Rosamund Steenkamp became the first woman in the world to fly a jet, when she flew a Gloster Meteor III in August 1945, when jet-engines were still a revolutionary technology, for the Ministry of Aircraft Production's Air Transport Auxiliary.
  The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), a British civilian operation during World War II, had scores of female pilots, under the command of Pauline Gower.  Margot Duhalde, a Chilean woman, flew transport missions for the ATA during World War II and after the war became the first woman pilot of the French Air Force, flying transports to Morocco. For her services, Duhalde was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1946. Valérie André, a neurosurgeon and member of the French army, became the first woman to fly a helicopter in combat, while serving in Indochina (1945). The Royal Canadian Air Force created a Women's Division in 1942, offering women 2/3 the pay of their male counterparts. Though barred from combat and flying, women performed aircraft maintenance and served in air traffic control, in addition to other duties. By the end of the war, over 17,000 Canadian women had served in the Women's Division either at home or abroad.
  Korean Lee Jeong-hee, who had earned her pilot's license in 1927, joined the Republic of Korea Air Force in 1948 and was appointed first lieutenant. She was the founding commander of the Women's Air Force Corps in 1949, but was captured and taken to North Korea when the Korean War broke out.
  Unlike other countries fighting in WWII, the Soviet Union created an all-woman combat flight unit, the 58
caption: Female mechanics work on R-1830 of PBY at NAS Corpus Christi 1942
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