Or How Martha Almost Washed Out of WASP School…
In 1996, Martha Wagenseil Davis (43-W-2) visited Ruth Franckling Reynolds (43-W-2) at the Reynolds family farm in the Catskills. It would be their last visit together.
Photo Credit: Women in Pursuit (1993) by Kay Gott; page 205
by Margaret DiBenedetto
Martha: In 1942 I wanted to know how it felt to fly, so I bought a Piper Super Cruiser and took lessons.
Ruth: It was red, right?
Martha: Yes, bright red! I spent so much time at the airfield – washing and waxing it, and flying – that I nearly lost my job as an art director for Good Housekeeping magazine. And then I heard about the WASP program and that 200 flight hours were required. But I only had 100, so I quit my job for more air time. I just started flying west until I got to Phoenix and had to turn around.
Ruth: Because the West Coast was closed to civilian air traffic…
Martha: Right. So, I turned around and by the time I reached Fort Worth I had 199 hours. I talked my way into an interview at WASP headquarters, flew back to Pennsylvania, and waited for 3 weeks to hear if I’d gotten in. I reported for duty on Dec. 15, 1942 for our 6 month training.
Ruth: I remember I was outside our motel when you arrived – you drove up in a green convertible.
Martha: A 1940 Ford I called “Tony.”
Ruth: Oh God, that was a nice car!
Martha: Yeah, it was a great ride to Houston, but I was so excited I couldn’t wait to get there.
Ruth: And then we rode in the “cattle truck” back and forth from the motel to the airport.
Martha: And there weren’t any military planes to fly – just civilian planes, civilian instructors.
Ruth: Some of them had fewer flight hours than we did!
Martha: And some of them were pretty humiliated to be teaching “girls”. But we had a great time. In spite of them, we learned a lot.
Ruth: And you volunteered to be the bugler, but you didn’t know how to play.
Martha: Well, I wanted to learn! I didn’t know it would be so difficult.
Ruth: So, I took over for you because you were so bad at it – I didn’t know how to either.
Martha: But you ended up being very good at it, Ruthie! Reveille every morning and Taps at night.
Ruth: Thank you.
Martha: The Houston weather meant that most of us were low on hours so on the last day we had to catch up. I needed 4 hours and headed out in an AT-6.
Ruth: You headed for the beach.
Martha: Well, I didn’t plan on it. But it was a really hot day, and when I saw the Gulf, I thought that maybe I’d put the plane down and go for a swim. I didn’t realize the sand was so deep; when I started to land, I buried the wheels. So, I revved the engine and after a while the wheels caught and I was able to take off. I figured I’d wash out of the program if I couldn’t get it back in the air…
Ruth: Well, you nearly managed it anyway.
Martha: When I saw the other AT-6 on the way back to base… of course I assumed another WASP was flying it.
Ruth: Well, you didn’t have to get fancy – you had no idea what formation flying was.
Martha: Well, I thought I did; I thought it would be cool to fly in close so we could impress them at the airfield. So, I pulled up really close behind the right wing – I thought that’s how you did it – and when I looked over, it wasn’t a WASP.
Ruth: It was our Commanding Officer, Major Farmer.
Martha: And as soon as I landed, I was told to report to his office. I just knew I’d be dismissed from the program. He was so mad at me – he scolded me for 10 minutes about how dangerous it was to fly so close to another plane, about how foolish I was to jeopardize my military flying career. He said the only reason he didn’t dismiss me was because I had a very good record and he wanted me to graduate with my class. I was really glad he hadn’t seen me trying to land on the beach…
Ruth: He couldn’t have been too mad at you because after that you went on a date with him!
Martha (smiling): Well, I always did get along well with the brass…
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