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Emily Chapin
Emily Chapin was born on November 22, 1912, in Twin Falls, Idaho, to Dorothy Traill, age 18, and Charles Hall Chapin, age 27. She had two siblings Charles and Richard Trail and the family lived at 291 Rye Beach Avenue, Rye, NY. Her father was a sales manager and her mother was a homemaker. She attended Danna Hall and Wellesley College.
Emily served as an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. She served in the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), a member of the Jacquelin Cochran Squadron in England.
In September 1942, after several times rejecting proposals to use qualified women pilots for flying duties, Army Air Forces Commanding General Henry H. Arnold agreed to form two groups designed to help meet the need for pilots to ferry aircraft. The Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), led by Nancy Harkness Love, enlisted already-qualified women pilots to transport training aircraft from factories to training bases.
Meanwhile, the Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD), led by Jackie Cochran, oversaw an intensive training program to increase the number of women who could fly for the Ferrying Division. On 5 July 1943, Arnold put Cochran in charge of all women pilots, with Nancy Love as the Executive for women pilots in the Ferrying Command.
A month later, on 5 August 1943, the WAFS and WFTD merged into a single unit for all women pilots, who were rapidly extending their qualifications to every type of aircraft in service. The new unified group called itself the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), with its pilots known as WASPs.
Emily Chapin Wins Wings In WASP
Miss Emily Chapin, veteran of
nearly 700 hours' flying time, has been
awarded her wings in the Women
Airforce Service Pilots at Sweetwater,
Texas. She is the daughter of Mrs.
Dorothy T. Chapin, 291 Rye Beach
Avenue.
Miss Chapin has been a pilot over
four years. In 1942, she went overseas as a ferry pilot for the British
Air Transport Auxiliary, serving there
as a Spitfire pilot for almost two
years. She returned to the United
States last spring to enter WASP
training.
RYE, NEW YORK FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1944 The WASP pilot training program graduated 1,074 graduates, who, combined with Nancy Love's "Originals," ferried over 50% of the combat aircraft within the United States during the war years. WASPs flew at 126 bases across the US, where they also towed targets for gunnery training and served as instrument instructors for the Eastern Flying Training Command. Thirty-eight of these women died in their service, 11 in training and 27 during missions.
Emily's brother Richard Trail Chapin served in the Merchant Marines and was killed when a German U-Boat sunk his ship in the north Atlantic.
Emily Chapin died on July 23, 1978, in Briarcliff Manor, New York, at the age of 65, and was buried in Dallas, Texas.
At the time of her death, she was survived by brother, Charles H. Chapin; two nieces, Knoxie Heap, Shelley Moncrief; one grand-niece, Jenna Heap, all of Dallas. Graveside services were held at Hillcrest Memorial Park. Father James Prensley officiating.
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