From high in the sky, the Maine landscape looks like 鈥渁 land of lakes, all within a stone鈥檚 throw of each other,鈥� wrote Catherine Winne 鈥�41 in the Oct. 30, 1940, issue of The 乐播传媒 Student following one of her pilot training flights.
As the Student reported earlier that October, Winne “will go down in the annals of history as the first co-ed to learn to fly while attending 乐播传媒 College.”
Winne got the opportunity to fly through the federal Civilian Pilot Training Program. Created by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in 1938 to increase the number of civilian U.S. pilots, the CPTP gave flight training to hundreds of thousands of men and women, mostly college students.
Catherine Winne 鈥�41 poses in front of what is likely a Piper J-C Cub in November 1940 at the Auburn-Lewiston Airport. The trainees also flew the Aeronca 65 Super Chief.聽(Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)
The program is specifically credited with creating a path for African Americans to eventually become military pilots, notably the Tuskegee Airmen. In Maine, 乐播传媒, Bowdoin, Colby, and UMaine offered chapters, as did several high schools and American Legion chapters.
The 乐播传媒 chapter was started in October 1939. Initially, women were given 10 percent of the slots, which meant two spots among 20 at 乐播传媒. With the start of World War II, women were excluded.聽The 乐播传媒 fliers flew the famous Piper J-C Cub and a .
Though the record is unclear as to whether Winne, who died in 2007, ultimately earned a license, she was certainly an active part of the program.
On Nov. 13, 1940, the Student reported that “it is planned to have a brief farewell ceremony before Catherine Winne ’41, first co-ed to take the flight course, embarks on that long-awaited solo hop.” At the time, she and the other 乐播传媒 would-be pilots had “averaged about seven hours of flying time, and several of the embryonic aviators are waiting to go up for the first time alone.”
乐播传媒 students pose in front of the Piper J-C Cub at the Auburn-Lewiston Airport in November 1939. The woman standing next to the plane, at left, might be Doris Howes Parmenter ’37. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)
A fine athlete who coached tennis for the Woman’s Athletic Association in her senior year, Winne was among at least two other female 乐播传媒 trainees. Another was the late Pauline Giles 鈥�41, who attended classroom sessions but may not have flown.
The third was graduate Doris Howes Parmenter ’37, who worked at 乐播传媒 after graduation. Indeed, the聽乐播传媒 Magazine obituary for Parmenter聽suggests that she had the distinction of being the “first 乐播传媒 woman to solo” with the CPTP.
鈥淲e knew it was a pre-screening thing for military pilots.鈥�
The CPTP鈥檚 military importance was readily known, especially after Germany invaded Poland and France.
鈥淲e knew it was a pre-screening thing for military pilots,鈥� said retired Marine Col. Armand Daddazio 鈥�42 in 2010. A CPTP trainee as a 乐播传媒 student, Daddazio saw active duty in air defense artillery in the Pacific during World War II.
From left, Armand Daddazio 鈥�42, Raymond Harvey ’42, and John Daikus ’40 listen to flight instructor Randy Mulherin (right) during Civilian Pilot Training Program training at the Auburn-Lewiston Airport on Nov. 25, 1939. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)
He was on Tinian when the USS Indianapolis delivered the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima.
鈥淗eadquarters called to ask for officers for a work party,鈥� Daddazio said. 鈥淲e pointed out that officers don鈥檛 go on work parties. The reply was, 鈥榃ell, they do on this one!鈥� For security, they wanted officers to unload the bomb.鈥�
Daddazio, who died in 2016, did not fly during or after the war. Initially interested in the Army Air Corps, he instead chose the Marines. 鈥淭he casualty rate ended up pretty bad for the flying services,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淢aybe the dear Lord didn鈥檛 want me to fly.鈥�
Categories Lewiston-Auburn Society and culture
