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Willa Beatrice Brown CHAPTER NINE USAF WILLA BEATRICE BROWN OBJECTIVES pioneer who broke race/gender barriers 1906 –1992 n Describe Willa Brown’s early years. n Name her other professions and illa Beatrice Brown, the first interests besides flying. African American woman to n List the country in which Brown was the first African American Wearn a private pilot’s license woman to earn a private pilot’s in the United States, was a lifelong license. advocate for gender and racial equal- n Name the aviation school that she and her husband founded. ity in flight and in the military. She n Build the Curtiss Robin. ran for Congress and lobbied the U.S. government to integrate the U.S. Army Air Corps and include African Ameri- STANDARDS cans in the Civilian Pilot Training (NGSS) Program (CPTP). Science Through her efforts and the Cof- n MS-ETS1-1 n MS-ETS1-4 fey School of Aeronautics, established n n MS-ETS1-3 MS-PS3-1 by Brown and her husband, Cornelius ELA/Literacy Coffey, hundreds of pilots, several of n RST.6-8.3 n WHST.6-8.7 whom would go on to become Tuske- n RST.6-8.7 n WHST.6-8.8 n RST.6-8.9 gee Airmen, were trained. Her efforts were directly responsible for the (NCSS) creation of the Tuskegee Airmen’s n IV.f. squadron. This, in turn, led to the n V.d. n X.e. integration of the military in July 1948 under President Harry Truman’s execu- tive order number 9981. aviationheritagepark.com — PAGE 72 — HER STORY Willa Brown Chappell was born in Glasgow, Kentucky. She graduated from Indiana State Teachers College in 1927 with a degree in business. She received an M.B.A. from Northwestern University in 1937. As a young high school teacher in Gary, Indiana, and later as a social worker in Chicago, Brown felt that her talents were not being used to their greatest potential. She sought greater challenges and adventures in life, especially if they sdasmarchives.com could be found outside the limited career fields normally open to African helped form the National Airmen’s tor for the CPTP in Chicago. The Coffey Americans. Association of America (NAAA) in 1939 School of Aeronautics was selected She decided to learn to fly, study- with Coffey. The main goal of the NAAA by the U.S. Army to be a feeder school ing with Cornelius Coffey, a certified was to get black aviation cadets into for black trainees coming into the Air flight instructor and expert aviation the United States military. Corps pilot training program at Tuske- mechanic at one of Chicago’s racially She became a lobbyist for integra- gee Institute. segregated airports. In 1938, she tion of black pilots into a segregated Brown became the coordina- became the first African American Army Air Corps, as well as the federal tor of war-training service for the woman in the U.S. to earn a private Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP). CAA and later was a member of the pilot’s license. The CPTP system was established by Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Later, Brown and Coffey married the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) to Women’s Advisory Board. and established the Coffey School provide a backup pool of civilian pilots In 1941, Brown joined the Chicago of Aeronautics at the Harlem Airport to use during national emergencies. Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol and in Chicago, where they trained black The government, and especially the became the first African-American pilots and aviation mechanics. She military branches, knew war was on officer in CAP, as well as the federal the horizon. She became the coordina- coordinator of the CAP Chicago unit. Achievements include: n A founding female aviator of the n First African-American officer in Civil Ninety-Nines (1929) Air Patrol (1941) n First African American woman to earn n First woman in America to have both a her pilot’s license in the United States pilot’s license and mechanics license (1938) (1943) n Co-founder of the Cornelius Coffey n Over 200 Tuskegee Airmen were trained School of Aeronautics (CCSA), the first at her flight school (CCSA) (1948) flight training academy in America that n Named one of Women in Aviation’s 100 was owned and operated by African Most Influential Women in Aviation and Americans (1938) Aerospace (2002) n Joined the Chicago Squadron of Civil n Awarded a Congressional gold medal for Air Patrol and became the first African- World War II service in CAP (2014) American offier in CAP (1941) n Coordinator of war-training service for the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) (1941) USAF/CAP — PAGE 73 — HANDS ON build the RYAN ST-A The primary objective is for students and cadets to build a highly detailed paper model of an important aircraft used by student pilots from the 1930s through the 1940s. The secondary objective is to excite the imagination of CAP cadets and students in aviation history and model building. Willa Brown flew and managed a flying school to train Tuskegee Airmen in the Ryan ST-A (PT-16). background he Ryan ST-A was one of a series of ST two-seat, low-wing monoplane aircraft Tbuilt by the Ryan Aeronautical Compa- ny. They were used as sport aircraft, as well as trainers by flying schools and the military of several countries. The Ryan Aeronautical Company was also the manufacturer of the Ryan NYP, more famously known as the Spirit of St. Louis. The company began the development of the ST (for “Sport Trainer,” and also known as S-T), the first design of the company, in USAF/USAAF 1933. Five STs were built before the follow- The ST-3 gave rise to another model de- on ST-A (A for Aerobatic) was developed with veloped in 1941 and early 1942, the ST-3KR ABOUT a more powerful engine. (for Kinner Radial). The ST-3KR had a more In 1937, the ST-A Special was developed powerful Kinner R-5 engine fitted and be- THE PLANE into a military version, the STM (also ST-M) came the definitive model; more than 1,000 series. Changes included wider cockpits to military versions were built during World War GENERAL enable military pilots to enter and exit while II as PT-22 Recruits. CHARACTERISTICS wearing parachutes, and provision for a Total production of civil and military air- machine gun on some examples. Variants in craft prior to the entry of the United States n Crew: 1 the series included the STM-2P single-seat into World War II amounted to 315. Another n Length: 21 ft 5 in (6.53 m) version armed with a machine gun delivered 1,253 military versions were produced in n Wingspan: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m) to Nationalist China; and the STM-S2, which 1942 and 1943, for a total of 1,568 aircraft n Height: 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) could be fitted with landing gear or with EDO of all models. n Wing area: 124 sq ft (11.5 m2) Model 1965 floats. n Empty weight: 1,023 lb (464 kg) n Gross weight: 1,575 lb (714 kg) n Powerplant: 1 × Menasco C4 inverted four-cylinder air-cooled inline-engine, 125 hp (93 kW) PERFORMANCE n Maximum speed: 150 mph (241 km/h; 130 kn) n Cruise Speed: 127 mph (204 km/h; 110 kn) n Range: 42 mph (68 km/h; 36 kn) (with flaps) n Service ceiling: 17,500 ft (5,300 m) n Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min warbirdobsession.com (6.1 m/s) — PAGE 74 — MATERIALS: notes 1. Flat, level, stable, and eas- toothpicks, etc. ily cleaned surface to work 8. “Elmer’s” glue or Tacky on Glue 2. Sharp-pointed (“X-acto”- 9. Eyebrow-type tweezers, type) hobby knife having a straight edge of 4. Sharp, precision sewing- comfortable angle or hemo- type scissors stats 5. A ruler or any other (truly) 10. Stylus of some kind, to straight edge make indented lines for 6. Toothpicks, round (and folds flat, if available) 11. A trash can nearby to keep 7. Rolling tools/surfaces, work area neat such as round pens, 12. 67 lb. paper for plane plans wooden doweling, nails, PROCEDURE: 10. Use round toothpicks for the airplane struts and landing 1. Print the Ryan ST-A plans found gear. Make small holes in the on the following pages. wings where the struts go. 2. Set up your work area with Apply white glue or Tacky Glue materials and tools. to the struts and glue them in 3. Read all the instructions on the place on the bottom wing only. plan. FiddlersGreen.net tells Wait 30 minutes. you where to glue, cut and fold/ 11. In the example below is a bend. 7. If you line up the sub-assemblies generic landing gear with the 4. Cut out the parts. See below. properly, it is not too hard to do cut toothpick glued in place. the previous step. If you hurry it, Following this example, all it will frustrate you. landing gears are easy to at- 8. With the engine fuselage sub- tach on any paper airplane. assemblies glued together, you 12. Attach landing gear and wing can add the vertical and hori- struts and complete the air- zontal stabilizers. Make them 90 plane. The wheel spats (wheel degrees (squared) to one another, covers) are just time consum- and let them sit for a while. ing to make, but they go to- 5.
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