Seized by the Sun by Ure James W.; Ure James W.;

Author:Ure, James W.; Ure, James W.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2017-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

Class 43-W-7 forming up to march. They are wearing the oversized men’s “zoot suits” provided by an army air force unprepared for women pilot trainees. Gertrude Tompkins is in the middle of the group, looking slightly down. Courtesy WASP Archives, Texas Woman’s University Libraries

Her friend Mickey came to the rescue. Having flown since she was 11, Mickey excelled at instrument work. The pair spent hours practicing in the Link, with Mickey gently telling Gertrude to “let go of what you feel, and let the instruments think for you.” Gertrude passed her 15 hours of training in the Link. She was never comfortable with night flying, and she was grateful the WASPs were required to land their ships before sunset and remain overnight (RON) wherever they were.

As their skills improved, class 43-W-7 concentrated on cross-country flights, frequently to Harpersville, Texas, some 200 miles from Sweetwater. To rouse herself after long, boring stretches, Gertrude might turn the plane over and fly upside down for a while, amusing herself by keeping the compass on a perfect heading directed to her destination. If she’d been caught doing this, she might have been washed out. But a hundred miles from Sweetwater, who would ever know? At night, as they lay in bed after lights out, the women shared their secrets, and when Gertrude told them about flying upside down the place erupted in laughter.

She anticipated with excitement her longest cross-country flight in the AT-6. After she dressed, she plotted her course from Sweetwater. Her destination was Blythe, California. Setting the brakes, Gertrude revved up her engine and looked back at the billowing dust kicked up, enveloping the planes behind her. She released the brakes, and the plane practically leaped off the ground to become airborne. The flight took her across south-central Texas and into New Mexico. She crossed the Rocky Mountains, where peaks were dusted with November snow and the aspen fields stood out ghostly white while the pines looked almost black. To Gertrude’s left was the Rio Grande River and Mexico. Up high like this she could see the Rockies marching north toward Canada. She landed and returned uneventfully.

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