Air Zoo honors WASPs
September 21, 2012, 02:49 pm
The Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan, recently announced that they will be celebrating Women Airforce Service Pilots on September 22 at 1 p.m. with a reunion and presentation.
The WASP are the first female pilots to fly U.S. military aircraft, and event goers are invited to learn about them, their history and the roles they played in World War II.
"The Air Force comes out and says that they are going to admit women to their flying program," Katherine Sharp Landdeck, associate professor of history at Texas Woman's University, told National Public Radio. "It's the first time that the Air Force has allowed women to fly their aircraft."
After the information session Air Zoo will be hosting a question and answer session with members of the WASP, allowing anyone who attends to meet them.
Doris Nathan, a 95-year-old WASP, told Mlive that flying bombers in the 1940s was fun. She will be attending the Air Zoo event, honoring the 38 WASPs who had lost their lives under the program.
One of these women was 26-year-old Mabel rawlinson from Kalamazoo. When coming back from a night training exercise in Camp Davis North Carolina, Rawlinson's plane crashed. It is believed that the hatch malfunctioned and she could not eject from the plane. Since Rawlinson was a WASP, the military was not required to pay for her funeral. Her fellow WASP members chipped in and were able to get her body home where her family buried her.
Pilot life insurance is available for anyone in the aviation community, helping ease financial burdens for loved ones in the event of an emergency.
The National Association of Flight Instructors recently moved its headquarters into the Air Zoo. The partnership with the facility will introduce the association to more events, services and seminars within the aviation community
Jason Blair, NAFI executive director, said that NAFI are taking full advantage of the opportunity they've been given. Direct ramp access for visitors, FBO services on the field and large spaces within the facility allow for an expansion to seminars, events and further offers provided by NAFI.
“Over the past few years, the Air Zoo has undergone significant expansion, growth, and revitalization,” said Bob Ellis, president and CEO of Air Zoo. “We see partnerships with aviation organizations such as NAFI as ways our organization can promote aviation to visitors from around the country and continue our growth of participation in the overall aviation community.”
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