Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)

The Women Airforce Service Pilots were WW2 era civilian pilots who were trained to fly military aircraft in order to free up men to fly combat missions overseas.

A total of about 1100 graduated from the training. They flew a myriad of missions-- delivery from factories, transport to airfields and posts, staging for deployment, cargo transport, etc.. By the end of the war WASP had flown over 60 million miles.

This particular pilot is Janice Norton Kaufman (1923- 2006) of WASP class 44-W-6. She is shown in flight gear alongside a plane in Sweetwater, Texas (now home of the National WASP Museum). The cushions in her hand were probably needed to help her sit safely and comfortably in a plane made for men.

Scott