The WAFS and How They Came to Be (Part 2)

Nancy Love Takes Command of the WAFS  By Sarah Byrn Rickman, WASP Author and Historian Part 2 (Continued from last week) Summer 1942, Colonel Tunner hires Nancy Love to recruit women ferry pilots, write their training syllabus and establish requirements to qualify for this new squadron. From left: WAFS Evelyn Sharp, Nancy Love, Barbara Towne,…

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Betty Gillies, A Trailblazer in Women’s Aviation

Hometown Pilot Betty Gillies’ Impressive Legacy BY KAREN BILLING, STAFF WRITER Rancho Santa Fe News, Rancho Santa Fe, California (Reprinted with permission) NOV. 10, 2020 4:56 AM PT The late Betty Gillies, a trailblazer in women’s aviation, is featured in the new young adult novel “Betty Gillies: WAFS Pilot”, a true story written by Sarah Byrn Rickman drawing on the…

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CAL Awards Finalist: Betty Gillies WASP Pilot

A great week, folks. I’m celebrating! Betty Gillies WAFS Pilot: The Days and Flights of a World War II Squadron Leader has earned two Finalist Awards in the Colorado Authors League (CAL) competition for books published in 2020. The two categories are: “Non-Fiction: Biography, Memoir” and “Fiction/Non-Fiction: Young Adult. Final award winners will be announced…

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A  Poem Dedicated to Betty Gillies

On Wings of Gold Fog shrouds the wings; dawn, but a shard of light. Twin engines labor, eager to unbridle the horses. Toes, hard on brakes, check the trembling aircraft. From the tower, “Cleared for takeoff.” Brakes off. Throttle to the firewall. Spine thrust back against the seat. Rolling, rumbling, reaching, Wheels eat up runway….

Betty Gillies WAFS Pilot — Coming October 15

Betty Gillies WAFS Pilot The Days and Flights of a World War II Squadron Leader By Sarah Byrn Rickman, from Flight to Destiny Press Release date: October 15, 2020 The sun creased the horizon. Suspended in the bubble-enclosed cockpit of the twin-engine, twin-tailed P-38 Lightning, the pilot pressed her toes hard against the brakes. The…

The Originals — An Excerpt from Chapter 17

Nancy Batson — The PT-26 Trip to Calgary Colonel Tunner had four PT-26s — PT-19s with canopies — that needed to be delivered to the Canadian RAF near Calgary, Alberta, before Easter. It was now the Friday afternoon before Palm Sunday. Knowing the importance of the assignment, Colonel Baker chose his WASP squadron commander, Betty…

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