Elizabeth L. Gardner (1921 – December 22, 2011) One of the first American female military pilots and member of the WASPS ( Women Airforce Service Pilots), having trained with Lieutenant Col. Paul Tibbets. She's seen here sitting in the pilot's seat of a Martin B-26 Marauder, which she flew expertly during WWII along with aircraft that towed aerial targets.
After the war, Miss Gardner worked as a test pilot and with General Textile Mills to design and implement aircraft parachutes. She participated in at least two test flights with the experimental chute in December 1945. During both tests, she was forced to bail out of the aircraft when the parachute became tangled in the test aircraft. During the second incident, the aircraft entered a dive when its elevators were jammed by the parachute; Miss Gardner managed to escape from the cockpit and was only 500 feet from the ground when her own parachute opened.
In 2009, WASP pilots were awarded a Congressional Gold Medal through a unit citation.
The heroic Miss Gardner passed away in December 2011 in Manhattan, New York at the age of 90.
