WASP Squadron

Don’t miss these two chances to see Nella the AT-6 up close — and even take a ride!

✈️ Vintage Flying Museum
Fort Worth, TX
October 10

✈️ Aviation Discovery Fest
Dallas, TX
November 6, 7 & 8

Learn more:
https://www.airpowersquadron.org/tour-schedule

✈ WASP Spotlight: Mildred "Mickey" Tuttle Axton 43-W-7 - The first woman to fly a B-29.

On May 4, 1944, according to Boeing Aircraft archives, she was one of the crew of nine aboard "Sweet Sixteen" the 16th of 1,644 B-29s rolled out from the Wichita plant.

Mickey's account of that day:

"I was back in the aft flight blister when Elton Rowley (chief of engineering flight test) called back over the intercom and said, 'Micky, how'd you like to come and fly this thing?' I was absolutely in hog heaven!" she recalled.

"So I put my parachute on my back and crawled through the tunnel which was over the bomb bay to the front. He gave me the left seat and I flew the plane." Axton said.

"The problem was, it was so top secret, I could only tell my husband."

📸 (Boeing Frontiers, May 2006, Volume 5, Issue 1)
Classbook photo courtesy Texas Woman's University.

Same plane, different generations. It's hard to tell which one is the modern day photo of Nella the AT-6 Texan.

Just a couple more chances to see Nella and the crew, plus FIFI the B-29 Superfortress, and other historic warbirds. Details at airpowersquadron.org/tour-schedule

Get the gear and help keep the story of the WASP alive ✈️ 🇺🇸

From anniversary t-shirts to ballcaps to coffee mugs, every piece honors the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots and Nella the AT-6 Texan.

Grab yours at cafwaspsquadron.org/merchandise-2

Summer tour may be winding down, but you still have two chances to see Nella the AT-6 up close — and even take a ride!

✈️ Vintage Flying Museum
Fort Worth, TX
October 10

✈️ Aviation Discovery Fest
Dallas, TX
November 6, 7 & 8

See the full tour schedule and learn more:
https://www.airpowersquadron.org/tour-schedule

📷 Photo by Dylan Dorvee

WASP Spotlight: Josephine “Dodi” Pitz Egan (43-W-5)

Born in 1913 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Josephine “Dodi” Pitz Egan graduated high school and went on to earn a degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin. She became the first licensed female pilot in Manitowoc.

After the start of World War II, Josephine joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). While stationed at New Castle Army Air Base in Wilmington, Delaware, she ferried aircraft including the PT-19, B-17 and C-47.

Years after the WASP were disbanded in 1944, Josephine continued working with WASP Headquarters to push for legislation that would grant WASP veteran status.

Josephine married U.S. Air Force Col. John “Bucky” Egan, who served in World War II as a 100th Bomb Group pilot and squadron commander of a B-17 Flying Fortress unit stationed at Thorpe Abbotts. He was also a prisoner of war for 18 months in a German prison camp.

John Egan is one of the main characters portrayed in the television series Masters of the Air. Historian and former Navy pilot Jenn Bennie visits John and Josephine’s gravesite and explores the real story behind Masters of the Air in her program, WalkWithHistory. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p905-fC9nMI

Josephine passed away April 13, 2006, at the age of 93. She joined John, who died in 1961, at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., where she was buried with military honors.

Photos courtesy of Wings Across America, 100th Bomb Group Foundation and the Egan family.

Nella the AT-6 will be at Aviation Discovery Fest in Dallas on November 6-7!

Rides will be available ✈️ There will also be tons of other historic aircraft, ground vehicles, reenactors, veterans, and more.

👉 Get the details and book a ride at https://aviationdiscoveryfest.org/

Happy 12th birthday to one of the WASP Squadron’s youngest supporters, Emberly!

We love seeing her honor the Women Airforce Service Pilots at WASP events and can’t wait to celebrate with her aboard Nella the AT-6 later this year.

🎉 Please join us in wishing Emberly a very happy birthday!