Betty Gillies - flight leader

Betty Gillies (January 7, 1908 – October 14, 1998) was a pioneering American aviatrix who worked to promote the role of women in aviation, and the first pilot to qualify for the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (which became the Women Airforce Service Pilots, WASPs) during World War II.

She began taking flying lessons in 1928, and earned her license in 1929. Later that year, she attended a meeting of other female pilots, where they formed The Ninety-Nines (so named because there were 99 charter members) led by flying pioneer Amelia Earhart. In 1930 she married Bud Gillies, vice president at Grumman Aircraft Corporation. And she continued flying, working to earn a commercial pilot's license.

In 1939, she served as president of the 99s and organized efforts to convince the Civil Aeronautics Authority to repeal its ban on women flying during pregnancy. This was a personal issue for Betty, as she was a young mother and anticipated having more children. If pregnant and postpartum women couldn't fly, they wouldn't be able to meet the required 10 hours of flight every six months to maintain their commercial license, forcing them to retake all their tests again after their child was born, at considerable expense.

When the US finally entered World War II, women pilots were ready to step in as needed. When Betty received a telegram from her friend and fellow pilot Nancy Love to join her new wartime program, the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, Betty left immediately. By this time she'd been flying for 14 years, with over 1400 flying hours and several aeronautical ratings, and she became the first pilot to qualify. When Nancy Love left to start another branch in Texas shortly thereafter, Betty was promoted to squadron leader assigned to the 2nd Ferrying Group, based out of Wilmington, Delaware, on the New Castle Army Air Base, where she served during the duration of the war.

Her job was to organize ferrying missions from the factories where the planes were assembled to air bases across North America where they would then be flown into service by male soldiers. This enabled more men to be sent overseas, while women would perform as many stateside duties as possible.

Ferrying was an often grueling job, requiring pilots to fly long distances in all kinds of weather, with only short breaks to refuel the planes and let the pilots rest. One mission required four legs between Maryland and Alberta, Canada. Betty's squadron ferried four fighters and were back on base two days later.

But there was adventure too. During this time she got to fly a variety of planes commissioned by the Navy. She was the first woman to fly the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter, and at the other end of the flying spectrum, she and Nancy Love were the first women to fly the Boeing B-17s Flying Fortress.

After the war, she and her family moved to California, where Betty operated a ham radio, connecting phone calls to ships in the Pacific, as well as communicating regularly with staff and Navy personnel in the Antarctic, and participating in the Navy MARS program (Military Auxiliary Radio System, where civilians assisted the military with communication efforts during times of emergency). She continued flying, and remained active in promoting the role of women in aviation. From 1953 to 1961, she served as the Chair of the All Woman Transcontinental Air Race, and in 1964 she served on the first Federal Aviation Administration Women's Advisory Committee.

I can't do the work of SRPS without your your support!
If you like what you found here, please share this post with your friends.