Pilots

Learning to fly has opened unexpected doors for many a pilot. Few, however, can lay claim to the one-of-a-kind life path traveled by Ann Wood-Kelly since earning her wings back in 1939.

As a young woman living in Maine, she was encouraged by her mother to become an aviator. Liking the idea, Wood-Kelly attended ground school through the federal government's Civilian Pilot Training program (CPT). She then applied for admission to Bowdoin College's flight training curriculum, also sponsored by the CPT at the time. The Brunswick, Maine, college had room for 12 student pilots that year. Unfortunately for Wood- Kelly, Bowdoin was then all-male (it has since gone co-ed), and officials at first refused her application. After filling only 11 of the slots, though, the college found itself in the odd position of having to advertise the free flight training in the local papers. Surprisingly, no eligible male came forward to accept the offer. Faced with the unfilled opening and Wood-Kelly's persistence, the college made an exception that year and offered the last slot to her.

Wood-Kelly quickly took to flying and soon became an instructor herself. With little more than 300 hours under her belt, fate came knocking, in the form of a three-foot-long telegram. The message was from Jackie Cochran, perhaps the most famous American aviatrix of her day. Cochran was recruiting women who could help the Allied war effort by serving as ferry pilots in the British Air Transport Auxiliary (BATA). Cochran's plan for a similar American organization employing women ferry pilots had been rebuffed by the U.S. military (although it would later take wing as the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs). The British organization was already in place, using men and women from various allied nations to deliver aircraft to operational bases in the British Isles. This freed Royal Air Force pilots for combat missions.

Following an interview with Cochran, Wood-Kelly was initially turned down for the job because she had not yet logged the requisite 350 hours of flight time. But fate intervened once again, when Cochran later rejected some of her own early choices, creating an opening for Wood- Kelly. She thus became one of just 24 American women to eventually fly for BATA.

During a four-year period from 1942 through 1945, Wood-Kelly's logbook recorded hundreds of flights in 75 different types of military aircraft. Today, the entries would be the envy of any pilot, male or female. They encompass every Allied fighter type, as well as assorted bombers and transports flown in Europe, including such notable designs as the Supermarine Spitfire, P-51 Mustang, Hawker Hurricane, and de Havilland Mosquito. She learned to be a quick study by necessity. BATA pilots received training on generic classes of aircraft, so a checkout in a given type applied to most other aircraft in that class. Her first experience flying an unfamiliar model was therefore often a solo one.

Despite such wartime shortcuts, she had just one serious mishap. It involved a crash landing in a Spitfire, her favorite aircraft. ("It was getting dark, I was low on fuel, and whatever other excuses I can think of as I tell this. The end result was I landed fast and flipped over trying to stop it. And that's all I'm going to say about that one.")

Emerging without serious injury from the accident, she went on to enjoy other notable experiences. There was the time, for instance, when delivery of three Spitfires turned into a formation joyride across the English countyside, complete with a game of follow-the-leader beneath a bridge. (She was the tail-end follower.) It was her first such attempt, and it worked out fine. When she tried it on her own some time later, though, she almost didn't make it. Only after committing to the maneuver did she realize the tide was much higher than it had been the first time, leaving barely enough room to squeeze through. ("I stopped such recreation after that.") She also recalls memorable flights to France at war's end, to bring back cases of victory celebration champagne.

Wood-Kelly's wartime flying experiences were heady stuff for the young pilot. Aviation, however, was to continue to exert a major influence on her life in the years to follow. After the decommissioning of BATA in 1945, she elected to stay in Great Britain for a time, becoming assistant to America's first civil air attache at the U.S. Embassy in London. After she returned to the States several years later, the combination of her flying and government experience led to management positions at several U.S. airlines. These included Northeast Airlines, Air New England, and Pan American Airways. She eventually earned the distinction of becoming Pan Am's first woman vice president. Over the years, she has been involved in a variety of aviation organizations, including the National Aeronautic Association, the Aero Club of New England, the FAA's Women's Advisory Committee, and AOPA.

Perhaps reflecting her beginnings as a flight instructor in rural Maine, Wood-Kelly has been a longtime supporter of general aviation. She owns a one-third share in a Piper Arrow which she flies about 100 hours a year from her home field of Beverly, Massachusetts. During her days with BATA, she navigated solely by pilotage in VFR-only conditions. Today she maintains instrument currency and files IFR when the need arises. She points out, however, that she did not add the instrument rating until 1971, more than three decades after first getting her pilot license.

Many of her flights now involve travel to speaking engagements. Besides maintaining an aviation consulting practice, she is a frequent lecturer on the role of BATA during WWII and on women in aviation. On that last subject, she notes that she was accepted unequivocally by her male counterparts in BATA, purely on the basis of her flying ability. She agrees that flying for BATA was a unique experience but points out that aviation today is rife with interesting opportunities for women. During her talks she urges women to consider aviation as a career or as an enhancement to their lives. She points out that some early women aviators such as Cochran had celebrity appeal, a factor which drew other women of the time to flying. Today, the attraction is not so much glamour or possible star potential as it is the chance to participate in a dynamic and fulfilling pastime or career.

Wood-Kelly has seen and done a lot in her 56 years of flying. She is living proof that there is no telling where aviation can lead someone. With a little persistence, luck, and talent, the possibilities are endless.