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Nov/Dec 2001 99NEWS Magazine |
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Dora Dougherty Strother, Fort Worth Chapter, learned to fly in 1940 with the Civilian Pilot Training Program at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, and joined The 99s the same year. When she heard about the WASP program, she left school to work at the airport, and accumulated enough flying hours to join the squadron. She served as a WASP from January 1943 to December 1944. She flew live-fire tow-target missions for anti-aircraft guns and drones for anti-aircraft. Besides the B-29, she flew first pilot on the B-17, B-34 and on most military cargo and training aircraft of the time. In 1949, Dora was a flight instructor of primary, advanced and instrument courses at University of Illinois, then transferred to the aviation psychology lab as chief pilot in 1950, flying for research projects in the development of aircraft controls, displays and simulator design. After earning an MS degree in 1953 at the University of Illinois, she took two years off to get a Ph.D. with emphasis in aviation psychology at New York University. Dora was employed for many years
by Bell Helicopter. In 1961 she earned a rotary wing rating and
set two world records in a Bell 47G-3. She retired from Bell
as manager of Human Factors Engineering and Cockpit Arrangement. |
Dora Dougherty Strother had been stationed at Wendover in 1944 during WWII. She was asked to speak at the reunion about her assignments at Wendover as a transport/utility pilot flying C-45s, C46s, C47s and B-34s. Dora and Dorothea "Didi" Moorman of Big Pine Key, Florida, were the only two members of the WASPs known to have checked out as pilot-in-command of Boeing's B-29 "Superfortress." General Paul W. Tibbets, who later piloted the Enola Gay to drop the first atomic bomb, was their flight instructor. Their assignment specified that they would fly the B-29 on demonstration tours to show the guys how to do it. General Tibbets named their ship Ladybird. Dora and Didi, friends for 58 years, relished the time to reminisce with pilots and flight crews of "The Greatest Generation" and revisit the cockpit of Fifi, a B-29 in the Confederate Air Force fleet. WASPs and
the B-29 In the summer of 1944, the 25-year-old U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Paul W. Tibbets had a problem. He was in charge of training pilots on the Army Air Forces' newest, biggest and most complicated bomber yet -- and the task was turning out to be much more onerous than he'd anticipated. Tibbets' men were putting up unprecedented resistance. In point of fact, the pilots had every reason to be wary. The B-29 was not only much larger and heavier than any bomber the U.S. had flown before, it also hadn't gone through the years of operational testing to which Boeing had subjected its predecessor, the B-17. Initially, engine fires were one of the major problems. The planes' Wright engines were often called the "Wrong" engines. Part of the trouble could be traced to the engine cowlings that were too tight and often caused fires even before the planes had taken off. Although engine improvements were made over time, fires remained a problem throughout World War II. Tibbets decided that the way
to convince the men to fly the plane was to show them that women
could do it. The young Colonel recruited Dora Dougherty and Dorothea
Moorman to be his demo pilots. Dougherty remembers that at that
Tibbets did not warn his new
recruits of the engine fire problem. Instead he trained them
to take off without the standard power checks. After three days,
the colonel decided his women pilots were ready for their demonstration. For several days, Dougherty and Johnson ferried pilots, crew chiefs and navigators from the very-heavy-bomber base at Alamogordo, New Mexico, across the state. Tibbets' plan was a terrific success: After watching the women fly the four-engine bomber, the men stopped complaining about the airplane. Air Staff Major General Barney Giles brought the demonstrations to an abrupt halt after just a few days, telling Tibbets that the women were "putting the big football players to shame." Giles was also worried that an accident would unleash tremendous adverse publicity. The two women were sent back to Eglin Field, Florida, and never flew a B-29 again. But the plane they had demonstrated went on to play a decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II. (From Dora Dougherty Strother/The American Experience) |
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I CERTIFY THAT DORA JEAN DOUGHERTY, WASP, has pursued a course of instruction in the B-29 airplane in accordance with the provisions of AAF Regulation 50-16, dated 26 October 1942, and other pertinent to fly this type airplane on all types of missions subject to the following limitations: none -Paul W. Tibbetts,
Jr. Lt. Col., A. C. FOLKS, THOSE WASPs that you see 'round about greased the "LADYBIRD" on No. 21 the other evening at 1730 -- and what a fine job -- mastering the mighty B-29 in just 8 hours transition with no previous time on four-engine aircraft. Is that good? Or are we a little backward? "The two luscious femmes go by the names of Dora Dougherty and Dorothea Moorman from the Proving Grounds at good old Sand Strip Eglin. Stop them and ask a few questions on how to handle the equipment. You will be surprised how much knowledge is stored behind all that beauty. -Harry Shilling BEFORE YOU THROW this letter into the trash-basket, let me introduce myself. In 1944 I met you with Col. Tibbets and Didi Morman when you brought a B-29 to Clovis AFB, Clovis, N.M. I was the Director of Maintenance & Supply and Base Test Pilot at the time. You came to show us that the B-29 plane was not one to be feared. You were the pilot that day and demonstrated your excellent flying skills and convinced us the B-29 was the plane that any pilot could be proud to fly. From that day on, we never had a pilot who didn't want to fly the B?29. -Harry McKeown, |
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Webmaster@ninety-nines.org |
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The WWII super-secret group that
dropped the atomic bombs invited two former WASPs to their August
2001 Reunion at Wendover, Utah. Wendover was the state-side training
base of this secret organization, the 509th Composite Group.
