Who Wants to Ride with a Girl Pilot?
By ANN Correspondent Aleta Vinas
The 2008 WAI Hall of Fame has four
inductees this time out; Nancy Harkness Love, Major Nicole
Malachowski, Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock, Margaret Ringenberg and one
group - The Women's Section of the Air Transport Auxiliary.
This article will spotlight Margaret Ringenberg. Ringenberg was
introduced to the lure of aviation at an early age. At age seven,
she took a flight with a barnstormer, and by 1940, she had her
pilot license in hand. She went on to serve as a WASP (Women's
AirForce Service Pilots), flying BT-13's, AT-6's, PT-19's and
UC-78's.
She co-piloted B-24's and C-54's.
"There was a job to be done and they had asked me to do it,"
Ringenberg says. "What an honor to be able to serve my country and
to fly."
Looking back now, the realization hits ther hat the WASP's paved
the way for other female aviators to follow. Ringenberg, back then,
certainly had no idea how important the WASP contribution would
become to female aviators. She never thought beyond doing her job
for her country.
"I'm just absolutely overwhelmed by all this attention."
Ringenberg grew up on a farm, and had never dreamed of the life
she led with the WASP's. "I was devastated when we got the orders
as of Dec 20, 1944 that 'you're no longer needed.'" explains
Ringenberg. When many of the WASP's went back to being housewives,
Ringenberg continued with flying. She returned home and went down
to the field where she had originally learned to fly.
She received her Flight Instructor certificate in March 1945 and
promptly had no students.
"Who wants to ride with a girl pilot?" noted Ringenberg. While
she waited for students, she would mow the lawn, repair Cub fabric,
answer the phones, and even send letters. "I was at the airport and
I was happy to do it," says Ringenberg. "Eventually I started
picking up students, and pretty soon my schedule got full."
"It is a great honor," Ringenberg says about being elected into
the WAI Pioneer Hall of Fame. "My family is very, very happy about
it." Ringenberg was nominated by one of her local area 99's, which
thrilled her, since it was a friend.
Ringenberg has a chapter of her own in Tom Brokaw's book The
Greatest Generation. When a phone call came, saying Tom Brokaw
wanted to use her story in a book, she thought it was some local
friends playing a trick. Ringenberg decided to play along. Even
after an hour-long phone interview, she was still convinced it was
her friends. An in-person interview was planned and when the
interviewers didn't materialize at the appointed time, Ringenberg
was glad she hadn't told anyone. But, then a strange car drove up
with Brokaw's lead man.
Ringenberg was surprised.
Ringenberg spoke to Brokaw, even giving him a flight lesson,
which was taped and ended up as a news clip. Ringenberg remembers
the experience, by noting that, "I got three minutes on the Nightly
News - unbelievable!"
Still active in flying, including air racing and speaking,
Rinenberg advises her listeners to "Go for your dreams." Rinenberg
noted that most of her dreams that have come true, have started
with a simple phone call, so for her next adventure, she says "I'm
going to wait on the phone to ring"
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