Lois E. Hailey - An Aviatrix From WWII

AN AVIATRIX FROM WWII

LOIS EMMA HAILEY
JANUARY 18, 1915 TO APRIL 24, 2010

(HER GRADUATION WINGS ARE SHOWN IN THE BACKGROUND)

Page available since 7/95. Page last updated 12/6/2023

On March 17, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, introduced a bill nominating the WASP for the Congressional Gold Medal. On March 17, Lois was interviewed by Allan Turner of the Houston Chronicle. He was accompanied by photojournalist Sharon Steinmann. Their article was published the next day.

On May 23, 2005, Lois was present at the El Paso Commissioners Court in El Paso, Texas, to accept the court's resolution recognizing all WASP for their contributions to WWII and Lois for her contributions to the El Paso community. The following day the El Paso times reported the story.

TIME: Early 1943
PLACE: Houston, Texas
OCCASION: Army Air Force flight training as part of the Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD), a training program initiated on September 15, 1942, by Jacqueline Cochran. This group was preceeded on September 10, 1942, by the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) led by Nancy Love. On June 28, 1943, these two groups were combined into the Women AirForce Service Pilots (WASP). Lois, along with 82 other women, had received a telegram from Nancy Love to join the WAFS but she declined at that time.

Fifinella , a female gremlin, was designed by Walt Disney in January 1943, and became the mascot for my mother and others.

SHE STARTED FLYING IN 1939 AFTER HER BROTHER CONVINCED HER TO PUT UP MOST OF THE MONEY TO BUY A SINGLE ENGINE TAYLORCRAFT. ONE DAY SHE SET OUT ON A WEEKEND TRIP TO MEET JACKIE COCHRAN , DIRECTOR, WOMEN'S FLYING TRAINING, AT A RECRUITMENT MEETING FOR THE WOMENS FLYING TRAINING DETACHMENT (WFTD). SHE TOLD THEM SHE WAS ONLY THERE TO MEET MISS COCHRAN BUT SHE AGREED TO TAKE THE PHYSICAL. BESIDES, NO NEED TO WORRY, SHE PROBABLY WOULDN'T PASS. THE NEXT THING SHE KNEW SHE WAS IN HOUSTON FOR FLIGHT TRAINING. THE "WOOFTEDDIES" FINISHED THEIR TRAINING IN SWEETWATER , TEXAS, at Avenger Field. While Lois was there, she received her banjo and played for her friends.

Upon graduation from basic flight training, Brooksie reported to Romulus Army Air Base in Romulus, Michigan where she was supposed to support the ferry command. She and several other were only there overnight and were sent to Camp Davis in North Carolina for five months of tow target training. Then she went to Liberty Field in Hinesville, Georgia, for radio control targeting training and then on to Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso, Texas, where she put her advanced training to work. After the WASPs, she became a certified flight instructor in El Paso. Later she went back to teaching which she was doing before the WASPs. She retired from teaching and now lives with her son in Friendswood, Texas.

THE BIGGS FIVE

1939 - her first airplane,
a Taylorcraft.

1944 - Member of the 3rd Airforce:
A picture similar to this
can be found on page 563
of Sisters in the Sky,
Volumn II-The WASP.

< < < <

FLYING MILESTONES FOR LOIS, Part 1 (+WAFS/WFTD/WASP Milestones)
EVENT	DATES	HOURS
First flight, age 24	June 7, 1939	0
Solo license	January 17, 1940	30
Private license	April 17, 1940	65
Commercial license (WAFS requirement)	July 11, 1941	314
WAFS minimum (WAFS requirement)	August 26, 1942	500
WAFS Created, Led by Nancy Love	September 10, 1942	---
WFTD Created, Directed by Jacquelin Cochran	September 14, 1942	---
Joined WFTD, primary training, Houston	January 15, 1943	530
Basic Training	March 29, 1943	577
Move to Sweetwater	May 20, 1943	620
Advance Training	June 3, 1943	645
WASP Graduation, on to Romulus, but detoured to Wash, D.C.	July 3, 1943	696
Meeting with J. Cochran and Gen. Hap Arnold for special assignment	~July 7, 1943	696
Report to Camp Davis for Tow Target Training	July 26, 1943	696
WAFS and WFTD merged into WASP	August 5, 1943	---
Report to Liberty Field for radio controlled flight training	October 8, 1943	801
Report to Biggs Field, El Paso	January 27, 1944	924
PQ-8 Accident	January 30, 1944	927
A-24 belly landing	May 19, 1944	1,114
Congress voted against military status for WASP	June 14, 1944	---
Trip to Las Vagas wih Emma C (busted flap)	8/26-9/4, 1944	1,204
Start Certified Flight Instructor training	September 30, 1944	1,261
Arnold ordered Cochran to deactivate the WASP by December 20	October 1, 1944	---
Trip to Reno with Lois, "Holly"	October 21-22, 1944	1,324
CFI Rating	November 30, 1944	1,385
Last flight as a WASP	December 6, 1944	1,396
Based on pilot logs.

When the landing gear would not lock down on her A-24, she was given permission to do a belly landing. The only damage was the bent prop. The maintenance crew had the plane flying the next day. She was given a Letter of Commendation.

During a test flight, she was riding as the backup pilot for a radio controlled PQ-8, shown below, when without warning, she had to take control of the plane. But it was too late and a ridge of dirt across the runway collapsed the nose gear and flipped the plane. Her two front teeth were knocked out and she had to wait for almost an hour before the other two WASPs could return with help to get her out. The writing on the picture says, "They chopped it up to get me out."

After the WASPs were disbanded on December 20, 1944, my Mother and her best friend, Lois Hollingsworth Ziler , became flight instructors. They both worked for Border Aviation Service in El Paso, Texas.

FLYING MILESTONES FOR LOIS, Part 2
EVENT	DATE
500 Hours As Civilian Instructor	9/19/1945
2,000 Total Hours	2/2/1946
1,000 Hours As Civilian Instructor	7/21/1946
1,500 Hours As Civilian Instructor	2/15/1947
Soloed Sam Hailey, future husband	3/3/1947
3,000 Total Hours	5/19/1947
Soloed father, Charles Brooks	6/19/1947
2,000 Hours As Civilian Instructor	8/25/1951
Last logged entry, over 3,600 hors	5/20/1978
Based on pilot logs.

In June of 1947, a special moment was captured by the local paper, the El Paso Herald Post. Lois is shown with her oldest, 65, and youngest, 16, students. Gardner Bride on the right, had just completed his first solo. What was really special this day was that her oldest student was her father, Charles W. Brooks.

1994, Sweetwater Texas, 50th Anniversary and Reunion. She's pointing to her name on the Walk of Fame.

Lois is one of many WOMEN IN AVIATION . She and 1073 other women graduated from WASP flight school and went on to serve stateside during WWII. They made it possible for more male pilots to serve overseas. My mother was also lucky to live through it - 38 other WASPs lost their lives during the war. One of them was Bonnie Jean Welz..

On March 10, 2010, the WASP were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal

Obverse side of Congressional Gold Medal

Reverse side of Congressional Gold Medal

You can e-mail comments or questions.

This picture of me was taken just before a half hour flight as co-pilot in a North American AT-6 Trainer on November 6, 1994. My most memorable moment was looking 'up' through the canopy at the sailboats on Galveston Bay as the pilot took us through some dive bombing maneuvers.

For more about Lois.

(Study of Accidents During WASP training.)