Teresa James

James was born on January 27, 1914, in Pittsburgh.[3] Initially afraid of flying, she went on to earn her pilot's license in order to attract the attention of a pilot named Bill, on whom she had a crush.[4] James had seen a plane wreck the year before she started flying and shortly after, her brother had also nearly died in a plane crash.[1] Bill invited her to fly and she went with him and later learned to fly to impress him.[1] Her first flight took place from the Wilkinsburg Airport on September 30, 1933.[5] James learned to fly with a friend, Harry Fogle, in an OX-5 powered Travel Air 2000 and began working as a stunt pilot with Fogle and his friends.[1] In her stunt debut, she made $50 and performed an aerial spin of 12 1/2 rotations as she dove.[1] She and Fogle were billed as the "Girl Stunt Pilot" and "The Flying Iceman."[1] Her signature stunt move was a 26-turn spin.[6] James also started ice skating after pilots she worked with "practically dared" her to skate.[7] James became a speed skater.[8] In 1939, she competed in the Pennsylvania Skating Association's championship meet.[7]

James went on to earn a commercial license in 1941 and became a flight instructor.[1][6] James was the first woman flight instructor to graduate from the Buffalo Aeronautical Institute.[9] She married one of her students, George "Dink" Martin in 1942.[1] Three months after she was married, she was invited to join the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS).[1] James received a telegram on September 9, 1942, requesting that she report to the New Castle Army Air Base.[8] James' husband was also called to the war effort and was sent overseas to work as a bomber pilot.[3] He would eventually be listed as missing in action and declared dead by the Army.[3] James wouldn't learn the full story of Martin's death until 1984, when she met the twin sons of the man who pulled his body out of the plane wreckage.[10] Martin was killed on June 22, 1944, during a mission flying near Paris.[10]

James passed her flying and physical tests for the WAFS and was sworn in on October 6, 1942.[8] James was one of the first women in the WAFS and was assigned the first long-distance solo mission.[1] The mission was to ferry a PT-19 from Maryland to California.[1] James stayed with the WAFS as they were merged to form the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and until the organization was disbanded on December 20, 1944.[8]

After WASP was discontinued, James returned to Pittsburgh and found that there were not very many opportunities for women pilots any longer.[8] James wrote to Congress, requesting veterans' status for the WASP.[8] She even wrote to the Chinese Air Force, requesting to fly for them, but was rejected.[8] James would continue to fight for the WASP to be recognized with veterans status.[11]

In 1950, she became a commissioned major in the United States Air Force Reserves.[3][6] Like other WASPs, she didn't get credit for her service as a pilot between 1942 and 1944.[12] Between 1961 and 1965, she was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base as part of the 5040th Air Base Group.[3] In 1976, she retired from the Air Force.[3] She moved to Lake Worth in 1979 to be closer to her parents.[8][10] James stayed active with flying groups during her retirement.[13] She was a member of the Ninety Nines,[14] and the P-47 Thunderbolt Pilots Association.[2] When the Grumman corporation heard her say in a CBS documentary about the Air Force, Top Flight, that the only thing she hadn't flown was a jet, the company arranged for her to fly an F-14.[15] She was still flying at age 86 in 1997.[5]

On July 26, 2008, James died in hospice.[6] Her remains were cremated and interred in Pittsburgh.[6] In 1992, a biography about James, called On Wings to War: Teresa James, Aviator and written by Jan Churchill was published.[16] The book gives a "personal 'view from the cockpit' account of James' time as a WASP.[16] James' WAFS uniform is in the collection of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.[8][3]