The Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) are relatively well-known in the U.S. today (to hear more about their story, see our previous episode), but they weren't the only women who flew planes in World War II. A small group of Americans joined pilots from 25 other countries in England's Air Transport Auxiliary, where they ferried hundreds of thousands of planes across the British Isles. Among the pilots were women from all countries and men too old or otherwise unfit for active duty (including a WWI Ace with only one eye and arm). They braved poor weather, mechanically iffy planes, regular bombings, and dangerous conditions to keep the Allies in the air.

Thanks to our guests in this episode

• Becky Aikman, Author of Spitfires: The American Women who Flew in the Face of Danger During WWII
• Richard Poad, organizer, Air Transport Auxiliary Museum at the Maidenhead Heritage Centre

Oral histories in the episode came from the NASA Oral History Project and the TWU Libraries Women's Collection at Texas Women's University.

The transcript for this episode is at s.si.edu/homefront4

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AirSpace is made possible by generous support from Lockheed Martin

Just off the coast of the United States, a menace lurked in the water. German U-boats were a very real problem for merchant vessels and war ships during World War II. With all available military airplanes and pilots needed on the front lines, and the Coast Guard mostly lacking aviation assets, the U.S. needed to get creative. Enter: the brand new Civil Air Patrol. This entirely civilian effort put private planes and pilots to work spotting U-Boats and other threats in the water. They even carried bombs on coastal patrols. The CAP also did search and rescue, medical flights, border patrol and more--roles the organization still serves today.

Thanks to our guest in this episode

• Dr. Frank Blazich of the Civil Air Patrol and the Smithsonian's American History Museum

You can find the transcript for this episode at s.si.edu/homefront3

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AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Lockheed Martin

In 1940, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt broadcast a new goal in one of his famous Fireside Chats: he wanted to see 50,000 planes a year built in the United States. Up until that point, the U.S. had built just over 30,000 military planes . . . total. 50,000 seemed like an impossible goal. But with war looming, "Rosie" rolled up her sleeves and said "We can do it!" And she did. Millions of war workers flooded cities and factories to take jobs not open to them before the war, turning out plane after plane to support the war effort. Manufacturing, labor, and the aviation industry would never be the same.

Thanks to our guests in this episode

• "Rosie" Erlinda Avila who bucked rivets in Goodyear, Arizona
• Cory Graff, Curator and Restoration Manager- National World War II Museum
• Dr. Jeremy Kinney, Associate Director for Research, Collections and Curatorial Affairs- National Air and Space Museum

Transcript for this epside is at s.si.edu/homefront2

Sign up for our monthly newsletter at s.si.edu/airspacenewsletter

AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Lockheed Martin