A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
From the Navy caption of this 1944 photograph at Celestial Navigation:
Hilda Olson, Sp (T) 2c; Doris Propst, Sp (T) 2c and Joanna Bailey, SP (T) 2c, are given celestial theory instruction with the three-dimensial celestial sphere demonstrator by instructor Robert K. Rice AMM2c.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
During the 10-week Celestial Navigation course at NAS Seattle, WAVE instructors got a chance to practice “flights” in the navigator itself. Left to right are: Irena Aide (navigator), Linnea Peterson (instructor), Jane Hall (radio operator), and Elinor Johnson (pilot). The Navy began using Celestial Navigation in 1944.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
In the Link trainer, the instructor sits at a desk while the “pilot” goes into a flight simulator. In this photo from 1944, Hannah Barnes and Elizabeth Ripley practice the new desk techniques when using the new machine for celestial navigation during their 10-week training at NAS Seattle.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
WAVES learned all sorts of things during the 10-week course in celestial navigation, which began in 1944. Here, Waneta Miller learns how to handle a sextant, an arced device used to measure distances between objects and altitude in navigation.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
In 1944, the Navy began a new specialty: celestial navigation for Link trainer instructors. The 10-week course was held at the NAS Seattle, Washington.
In this photo, Ruthe Ingerslew, Patricia Baldwin, and Sally King study the earth’s rotation to, as the Navy put it, “the celestial sphere” (aka the stars).
It comes from the National Archives.
From the Navy caption of this July 1943 photograph:
Margaret Cherry, Sp(T) 3c is shown at one of the most important and helpful jobs the Waves are doing in aviation activities. She teaches aviation cadets and flight students instrument flying on the ground at NAAS Whiting Field, Pensacola, Fla.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
How about a stop in the soda shop for your summer Saturday? Here, WAVE Lillian Baker, a Link trainer instructor, shares a shod with Mike Yapp, a celestial Link instructor, at Ship’s Service NAS Seattle.
The 1944 photo comes from the National Archives.
WAVE Link instructor Emily Jump goes over with Ens. Charles Harrison the course he has just flown and points out his errors. Blind flying if difficult because students prefer to trust their instincts rather than instruments.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Two WAVES on duty in the Link trainer of the Navy Department, Washington DC, c. June 1943.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
In this photo from June of 1943, a U.S. Navy Commander “listens is” as a WAVE gives instruction to a pilot of a Link trainer flight simulator in the Navy Department, Washington DC.
The photo by Edward Burkes comes from the National Archives.
Hinges of History 