Helen Wyatt Snapp in Her Own Words Page: 1 of 2
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Helen Wyatt Snapp
In her own words
I was born on May 1, 1918 in Washington, DC. I remember at age five or six, when we lived in
Colorado, that upon hearing a plane go over the house we would all run outside to view it so high
in the sky. After moving back to Washington, DC, I as an eight-year-old then, I sat on the curb on
Pennsylvania Avenue to watch the Lindbergh parade pass by. Later I followed the media attention
to Amelia Earhart and Jacqueline Cochran's accomplishments. I graduated from high school and
decided to be a teacher. During vacation my sister and I noticed an ad in the paper for flying
instruction. We decided, without our family's knowledge, to take some lessons. We soloed and
tried to build some flying time.I dropped out of college and
IW
:. Trr.worked for money for these lessons. Soon the CPT program started
and we enrolled. We worked and attended college and ground
school evening classes. We got our licenses and tried to build
up more time. War was upon us and we married our beaus.
They were sent overseas. I received a telegram from
Jacqueline Cochran to meet her for an interview at the
Mayflower Hotel in D.C.
I was accepted into the first class, 43-4, at Avenger Field,
Sweetwater, Texas. Upon graduation, I was assigned to
Liberty Field, Fort (Camp) Stewart, Georgia, after a training
period at Camp Davis, North Carolina. These were antiaircraft
bases. We were to tow targets, fly radar, searchlight,
camouflage, tracking and strafing missions. We flew the L-4,
L-5, A-24, A-25, UC-78, AT-11 and B-34. Six of us were also
assigned to R-Flight, which was top secret, and on an off-limits
part of the field.This flight purpose was to train pilots to control (from a console) in a mother or chase plane. AT-11
or UC-78 controlling - a PQ-8 or PQ-14. The women were trained in all phases but spent most of
their time as safety pilots. This was a scary experience and could be quite dangerous. We had an
option when things were out of control to flip a switch and take over again. This operation was
training for combat to be used with radio controller planes filled with explosives directed toward
targets behind enemy lines.
One famous person, Joseph Kennedy, lost his life in this experiment, flying a B-24 that exploded.
The family just found out in recent years; it was never publicized. Our dwindling group from Liberty
Field, Fort Stewart, keeps in touch with a round robin letter circulating now for 55 years.
After deactivation, my husband returned from overseas. We started our family and settled down
on the family farm near Staunton, Virginia. It was the end of my flying days. I have raised three
sons and had a fulfilling life with many other interests. I have raised and shown Pekingnese dogs.
I was an avid gardener both in vegetables and flowers for many years. Worked at various clerical
positions, mostly for fun and extra money. I have kept up with aviation functions, including the
WASP, Ninety-Nines, and local women pilots, The Valiant Air Command and am vitally interested
in our women astronauts. I live very close to the Kennedy Space Center and have met a number
of the astronauts and am able to see from my home the shuttle and rocket launches.
I am a widow and living a pleasant life of retirement. I see my old flying companions when I can.
Those years with the Air Force were fulfilling and of a time that I am most proud.
~ (from 99ers newsletter archive)
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Helen Wyatt Snapp in Her Own Words, text, Date Unknown; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth877418/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting National WASP WWII Museum.