Amelia Earhart's Daughters : The Wild and Glorious Story of American Women Aviators from World War II to the Dawn of the Space Age - Hardcover

Toomey, David M.

4.07

98 ratings by Goodreads

9780688152338: Amelia Earhart's Daughters : The Wild and Glorious Story of American Women Aviators from World War II to the Dawn of the Space Age

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688152333 ISBN 13: 9780688152338

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1998

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Tells the dramatic, uplifting story of two generations of female flyers who surpassed their male counterparts in courage and often in skill, the Women's Airforce Service Pilots of World War II and the aerospace test pilots of the early 1960s.

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Review:

The first American woman to fly a plane ignored the orders of her flight instructor and unblocked the throttle he had rigged to prevent her takeoff. She lifted above where he stood on the tarmac for a few moments before returning, triumphant, to the ground. From that moment, the history of America's airwomen has been one such high-flying rebellion after another. In chapters that intercut profiles of the most important (and forgotten) American women aviators with a more general history of aviation, Amelia Earhart's Daughters revives this fascinating and underdocumented slice of American women's history.

As Haynsworth and Toomey explain, female aviators in the U.S. earned their way as "barnstormers" in the first two decades of the 20th century, performing airborne stunts for the enthralled masses at county fairs and exhibitions. When America's role in World War II deepened after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, enterprising women pilots pushed for and finally found work as Women's Airforce Service Pilots, delivering military planes for combat around the country and overseas. Finally, women demanded and, after much disappointment, gained a role in the U.S. aerospace program. Although the authors' desire for completeness sometimes leads to digression, these terrific, adventurous women are well worth knowing. Read and be inspired! --Maria Dolan

From Kirkus Reviews:

An attempt at history penned by an advertising copywriter and an English teacher, who offer a paean to women pilots during and after WWII. Haynesworth (the copywriter) and Toomey (English/Virginia Tech) tell of the tumultuous early days following Pearl Harbor, when the US was frantically mobilizing the military, including the Army Air Corps. The Air Ferry Command was formed to transfer military planes from factories to assembly areas for shipment to training fields and overseas. The initiative to attract licensed and experienced women pilots to the Ferry Command was led by Jackie Cochran, a prominent she-pilot of the time, whose ideas were financed by her wealthy husband, Floyd Odlum. By 1943 these volunteer women pilots, drawn mainly from affluent families who could afford private planes during the Great Depression, overcame many obstacles within the highly pressured Army Air Corps, graduating from trainers to more complex planes like B-17s and B-25s. One problem: their civilian volunteer status lacked the military benefits of the Wacs and Waves. They had to pay their own expensesincluding burial costs. Alas, the book seems based on the advertising/public relations model that accentuates the positive and eliminates the negative, thus sabotaging the objectivity of the professional historian. Facts not dealt with include the death of 38 of the pilot pioneers, who lost their lives in service for their country (not to mention the unknown number who were ``washed out'' in military training). The authors do trace the gradual progress of female astronauts during the space age. Despite its shortcomings, the book is a well-deserved salute to the intrepid young women who answered the call of their country to risky duty in perilous times. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright �1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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