Ann Baumgartner Ann G . Baumgartner Carl ( August 27 , 1918 – March 20 , 2008 ) was an American aviator who became the first American woman to fly a United States Army Air Forces jet aircraft when she flew the Bell YP - 59A jet fighter at Wright Field as a test pilot during World War II . She was assigned to Wright Field as an assistant operations officer in the fighter test section as member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots program . Early life . Ann G . Baumgartner was born in the United States Army Hospital in Augusta , Georgia , on August 27 , 1918 . Her father was stationed in France , so her mother moved the family to New Jersey to live with her grandparents . After her father returned to the United States , her family relocated to Plainfield , New Jersey . Her father was an engineer and patent attorney . Her inspiration to fly came from a visit by Amelia Earhart to her grade school . She went to Newark Airport with her father to watch the mail plane s come in at night . Baumgartner graduated from Walnut Hill High School in Natick , Massachusetts , and then attended Smith College in Northampton , Massachusetts where she graduated in 1940 as a pre - med major . While working in the Eastern Airlines public relation s department , Baumgartner learned to fly at Somerset Hills Airport in Basking Ridge , New Jersey . Women Airforce Service Pilots program . Originally , Baumgartner reported to Houston , Texas in January 1943 to be in the Women Airforce Service Pilots Class of 43 - W - 3 , but she became ill with the measles and thus graduated on July 3 , 1943 , with the fifth WASP class ( 43 - W - 5 ) . After completing the training , Baumgartner was assigned to Camp Davis in North Carolina as a tow target pilot . Camp Davis was an artillery training base and the WASPs flew as visual and radar tracking targets . Baumgartner flew the Douglas A - 24 , Curtiss A - 25 , Lockheed B - 34 , Cessna UC - 78 and Stinson L - 5 while at Camp Davis . In February 1944 , Baumgartner transferred to Wright Field near Dayton , Ohio for a temporary assignment to test aeromedical equipment being designed for the WASP program . While in Ohio , Baumgartner applied for an assignment in the Flight Test Division at Wright Field as an assistant operations officer . In March 1944 she was transferred to Wright Field as an assistant operations officer in the fighter test section . Originally her duties were primarily clerical but over time she was permitted to fly as a test pilot . Additionally , Baumgartner was assigned to transport staff officers to other Army bases , and delivered planes as required . When Baumgartner worked in the bomber flight test division for a short time , she gained pilot and copilot experience in the B - 17 , B - 24 , B - 29 , the British de Havilland Mosquito , and the German Junkers Ju 88 . After her reassignment back to the fighter test division , she flew America ' s first jet aircraft , the Bell YP - 59A on October 14 , 1944 , becoming the first American woman to fly a jet . Her assignment as a fighter flight test pilot at Wright Field ended in December 1944 when the WASP program was disbanded . Marriage and family life . Baumgartner married Major William Carl on May 2 , 1945 . She met Carl , who designed the Twin Mustang P - 82 , while flight testing the plane . Carl continued his career as an engineer and later designed and built hydrofoil boats for the United States Navy and Grumman Aerospace . Together they had two children . With her husband she sailed the Atlantic twice and cruised the Mediterranean , the British Isles , and the French Canals . Career . While her children were young , she worked in flight instruction and for United Airlines and third pilots at Zahn ' s Airport on Long Island . Her flight ratings included private , commercial , instrument , multi - engine , flight instruction and instrument . Later she became a journalist who specialized in science . Later life and death . During the final years of her life , Baumgartner ( then Carl ) resided in Kilmarnock , Virginia , with her husband . She continued writing , and authored " A WASP among Eagles : a woman military test pilot in World War II " that discussed her experience as an experimental test pilot in World War II . She also wrote " The Small World of Long Distance Sailors " . Carl died at a nursing home in Kilmarnock on March 20 , 2008 . She was preceded in death by her husband on February 19 , 2008 .