Flying The Beam

This 27 minute documentary recounts the experiences of Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP), Bernice 'Bee' Haydu. Out of the 25,000 women who applied to the WASP program headed by Jacqueline Cochran, only 1,830 were accepted and 1,074 graduated. As one of only 1074 women to serve in this position during WWII, Bee Haydu discusses the unique demands and prejudices placed upon trainees at a time when women in the military were confined to more traditionally 'female' jobs, such as secretarial work. She describes technical skills they were taught as pilots, and explains in detail the aspects of using four-way radio signals for flight navigation. Bee also recounts the political reasons for the disbanding of the WASP program and the historical events leading to the WASP’s finally earning official veteran status and the subsequent awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal.