Cornelia Fort

Cornelia Fort

1940s

Cornelia Fort experienced many firsts during her years of flying. She was born in 1919 and, after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, began flying in the spring of 1940 (Smithsonian ). She quickly discovered had talent where she had passion. Within a year she became a certified flight instructor making her the first female pilot instructor in Nashville, Tennessee (Hill Air Force Base). It was during this time that she discovered her love of teaching students to fly. Once the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) was opened in Fort Collins, Colorado, Fort was hired as a flight instructor (Hill Air Force Base).  Fort found she enjoyed the satisfaction she got from teaching others the thing she loved most.

The only thing stronger than her love of flying though was her patriotism. Fort was the second woman to volunteer for the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (the WAFS, which later merged into the WASPs, or Women Air Force Service Pilots), whose members logged millions of miles ferrying aircraft to points of embarkation and towing targets for training exercises (Smithsonian ).  Her timing could not have been better.  The WAFS and WASPs helped fill the flying jobs while soldiers fought in WWII. Even though these women were serving their country, they did not receive military status until 1977 (Smithsonian ). The frustration these women felt was unparalleled.

Less than a year later, in the fall of 1941 she moved to Hawaii to teach flying out of John Rodgers Airport in Honolulu (Hill Air Force Base). Her journey west had just begun. It was here that she had one of the most amazing experiences of her life. While flying with a student on December 7, 1941 Fort nearly collided with a Japanese aircraft, fleeing the scene from the attacks on Pearl Harbor (Smithsonian ). Forts unbelievable timing when witnessing this historic event made her one of the very few people in the world to witness it from the air. She described her experience below:

“Just prior to the last landing I was going to have him make before soloing, I looked casually around and saw a military plan coming in from the sea. We were so used to military traffic and our respective safety zones that I merely noted his position subconsciously and nodded for my student to make his turn onto the base leg of the traffic pattern.

I then turned to look around to see if we were clear to make the last turn into the field and saw the other airplane coming directly toward me at my altitude. I jerked the controls away from my student and jammed the throttle wide open to pull above the oncoming plane.

I remember the distinct feeling of annoyance that the Army plane had disrupted our traffic pattern and violated our safety zone. He passed so close under us that our celluloid windows rattled violently, and I looked down to see what kind of plane it was.

The painted red balls on the tops of the wings shone brightly in the sun. I looked again with complete and utter disbelief. Honolulu… was familiar with the emblem of Rising Sun on passenger ships but not on airplanes.

I looked quickly at Pearl Harbor, and my spine tingled when I saw billowing black smoke. Still I thought hollowly it might be, it must be. For surely, dear God…

Then I looked way up and saw formations of silver bombers riding in. I saw something detach itself from a plane and come glistening down. My eyes followed it down, down and even with knowledge pounding in my mind, my heart turned over convulsively when the bomb exploded in the middle of the harbor” (Simbeck).

The experience was unreal. I could not imagine how she must have felt being a pilot and an American, seeing those events unravel before your eyes and feeling so helpless.

On March 21, 1943 Fort was ferrying BT-13 trainers in Texas when she was killed during active duty, making her the first American female to die during active military duty (Hill Air Force Base). Unfortunately this first experience was gloomy, however Cornelia did not look at her actions as dangerous. A marker at the Cornelia Fort Airport in Tennessee bears this quote from the pilot: "I am grateful that my one talent, flying, was useful to my country" (Smithsonian ).  She had such a positive outlook on her flying experiences and knew that she was lucky to have had those experiences. In my opinion, I don’t think she would have wanted to go out of this world any other way, than in the air.

 Works Cited

1.     Hill Air Force Base. Cornelia Fort. 16 May 2007. 15 September 2012 <http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5870>.

2.     Simbeck, Rob. Daughter of the Air : the short, soaring life of Cornelia Fort. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999.

3.     Smithsonian . Cornelia Fort -- Women in Aviation and Space History. 15 September 2012 <http://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/women/fort.cfm>.
4. Charm of the Carolines. Cornelia Fort, happiest in the sky. 6 December 2009. 11 October 2012 <http://www.charmofthecarolines.com/charm-of-the-carolines/2009/12/cornelia-fort-happiest-in-the-sky.html>.