World war 2 pilot biography of nancy
•
( – )
An angel of the airways, Nancy Harkness Love was responsible for women becoming ferry pilots during World War II. Born Nancy Harkness in Houghton, Michigan on February 14, , she was bitten by the flying bug at age twelve, when she took a ride in a barnstormer’s airplane. She earned her own pilot’s license at the age of sixteen. Nancy Harkness met her husband, Robert L. Love, in the early s, after taking a job with his fledgling airline company. Because of the poor depression-era economy, plane sales were slow and soon Love embarked on a second career as an air marker, painting directional flight markers on rooftops. In the late s she proved to the world that women pilots were capable of doing the more dangerous aspects of flying when she flew as a test pilot for Gwinn Air Company. She did extensive testing of landing gear, especially “tricycle” designed gear. Competition also beckoned her and in and she took part in National Air Races, one in Los Angeles and the other in
•
Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II
About Rickman's Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II
She flew the swift P and the capricious P, but the heavy, four-engine B bomber and C transport were her forte. This is the story of Nancy Harkness Love who, early in World War II, recruited and led the first group of twenty-eight women to fly military aircraft for the U.S. Army.
Love was hooked on flight at an early age. At sixteen, after just four hours of instruction, she flew solo “a rather broken down Fleet biplane that my barnstorming instructor imported from parts unknown.” The year was record-setting aviator Jacqueline Cochran (and Love’s future rival) had not yet learned to fly, and the most famous woman pilot of all time, Amelia Earhart, had yet to make her acclaimed solo Atlantic flight.
When the United States entered World War II, the Army needed pilots to transport or “ferry” its combat-bound aircraft across the
•
Nancy Harkness Love
American aviator
Nancy Harkness Love | |
|---|---|
Nancy H. Love, c. | |
| Born | ()February 14, Houghton, Michigan |
| Died | October 22, () (aged&#;62) Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts |
| Occupation(s) | Aviator Test Pilot Spokesperson Air Force Officer (Rank of Lieutenant Colonel) |
| Spouse | Robert Love |
Nancy Harkness Love (February 14, – October 22, ), born Hannah Lincoln Harkness, was an American pilot and airplane commander during World War II. She earned her pilot's license at age She worked as a test pilot and air racer in the s. During World War II she convinced Colonel William H. Tunner of the U.S. Army Air Forces to look to set up a group of hona pilots to ferry aircraft from factories to air bases. This proposal was eventually approved as the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying eskader. Love commanded this enhet and later all ferrying operations in the newly formed Women Airforce Service Pilots. She was awarded the Air Medal for her work during the war