The First Woman to Fly for the United States Military
Nancy Harkness Love at 28.
Nancy Harkness was the first woman to fly for the United States Military.
She was 13 years old when she watched Charles Lindbergh land after the first solo trans-Atlantic flight. Thus began Nancy’s love and fascination with flying.
She received her Private Pilot License (PPL) at age 16.
She organized a flying club at Vassar.
During the Great Depression, Nancy sold aircraft.
Nancy Harkness Love | U.S. Air Force
Nancy married Robert Love, an Army Air Corps Reserve major. They began Inter City Aviation, a successful company, for which Nancy was a pilot. During this same period, she worked as a pilot for the Bureau of Air Commerce and test pilot for Gwinn Air Car Company.
World War II
Nancy Love in a B-17. Love is known for becoming the first woman to be certified to fly the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Source: Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama
During the war, Nancy convinced leaders in the Army Air Corps that women could ferry military aircraft. Although women could not be involved in direct combat operations, they could ferry planes, which freed male pilots for combat missions.
She became the commander of the newly created Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). And in 1942, these women began ferrying missions for the United States Army Air Corps.
They were flying almost every type of military aircraft, including high performance fighters, such as the P-51 Mustang and heavy bombers like the B-17 Flying Fortress.
Nancy Love was certified in 19 military aircraft, and in 1948, the U.S. Air Force Reserve awarded her the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Later Recognition of Nancy Love
Inducted into the Airlift/Tanker Association in 1966..
The Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame inducted her in 1997.
The National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio inducted her in 2005.
There’s a statue dedicated to Nancy Harkness Love at the New Castle County Airport in Delaware.
