Wings of Gold:
The Story of the First
Women Naval Aviators
The Story
On Feb. 2, 2019, the skies over Maynardville, Tennessee, filled with the roar of four F/A-18F Super Hornets streaking overhead in close formation. In each aircraft were two young female fliers, executing the first all-woman Missing Man Formation flyover in Navy history in memory of Captain Rosemary Mariner — groundbreaking Navy jet pilot, inspiring commander, determined and dedicated leader — whose drive to ensure the United States military had its choice of the best America had to offer, both men and women, broke down barriers and opened doors for female aviators wanting to serve their country.
Selected for Navy flight training as an experiment in 1972, Mariner and her five fellow graduates from the inaugural group of female Naval Aviators racked up an impressive roster of achievements, and firsts: first woman to fly a tactical jet aircraft; first woman to command an aviation squadron; first female Hurricane Hunter; first pregnant Navy pilot; plaintiff in a federal lawsuit that overturned limits on women's ability to fulfill their military duty.
Leading by example, and by confrontation when necessary, they challenged deep skepticism within the fleet and blazed a trail for female aviators wanting to serve their country equally with their male counterparts.
This is the story of their struggles and triumphs as they earned their Wings of Gold, learned to fly increasingly sophisticated jet fighters and helicopters, mastered aircraft carrier landings, served at sea and reached heights of command that would have been unthinkable less than a generation before. And it is the story of the legacy they left behind, one for which the women performing the Navy’s first Missing Woman Flyover in Mariner’s memory owe a debt of gratitude.
Meet These
Pioneering Women
…and watch the first solo by a female naval aviator in this historic footage.
Praise for Wings of Gold
"[A] fine-grained look at a critical battle in the fight for gender equality." — Publishers Weekly
. . .
"'Wings of Gold' is an inspiring motivational read for all. It is especially motivational for those who, frustrated by a lack of equal opportunity, seek to change the system for the better, despite the long uphill fight they may face." — Lt. Col. James G. Zumwalt (USMC, Ret.) in Stars and Stripes
. . .
"Blending thorough research with first-hand accounts, Weintraub paints a fascinating tale of the first women pilots in the navy who eventually succeeded in overturning archaic laws and policies that stymied their careers and hurt the navy. Wings of Gold is an inspiring story about strong women who never gave up on their goal of making things better for future generations of women.” — Col. Eileen Bjorkman, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), author of Unforgotten in the Gulf of Tonkin: A Story of the U.S. Military's Commitment to Leave No One Behind
. . .
“Aviation history — frequently rendered in the words of those who made it — rises from every page in Weintraub’s meticulous account.” — Dan Namowitz, AOPA
. . .
“Wings of Gold is one of those books that serves as both a reference and history book while telling a compelling story of the women who paved the way in a sometimes unfriendly atmosphere.” — Jacque Boyd, The Ninety-Nines
The Path to Equality for Women Military Aviators
Beverly participated in a panel with Dr. Eileen Bjorkman at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum for the Aviation Adventures series.
Watch the full event in the video player.
More from Beverly Weintraub
Media
The Inquisitive Pilot (Barnard College Alumnae Stories)
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist to speak at Empire State Aerosciences Museum
Documenting Change: The Museum’s Military Women Aviators Oral History Initiative (Smithsonian)
Beverly’s interview on The Reading Circle with Marc Medley
Flygirls, Women Mechs, and Lady Pilots: The Multi-Generational, Multi-Service Effort to End Combat Exclusion in Aviation (Navy History and Heritage Command)
Forging Mettle Podcast: Earning Wings of Gold the Hard Way (Spotify, Apple)
From Balloons to Drones podcast (Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple)
Review: Wings of Gold: America’s First Female Aviators Fought Only the Navy (HistoryNet)
Flying Magazine: Good FLYING Reads: Pinning on Wings of Gold
New Books in Women’s History podcast (New Books Network, Spotify, Apple)
Q&A: The Story of the First Naval Aviators (Sea Technology)
Writing
How six pioneering Navy women pioneers broke barriers 50 years ago (The Washington Post, 2023)
Why aviation might finally ditch gendered language (The Washington Post, 2021)
When gender equality takes flight: On Veterans Day, celebrate female military pilots (New York Daily News, 2021)
A ‘missing man’ formation flown by women, for a woman. We pilots salute them all (The Washington Post, 2019)
My plane crashed, and a High Holidays prayer was suddenly meaningful (The Washington Post, 2018)
‘Sully’ was just a hero. Why label the Southwest captain a ‘female pilot’? (The Washington Post, 2018)
Pulitzer Prize-winning series: Compassionate and compelling editorials on behalf of Ground Zero workers whose health problems were neglected by the city and the nation (2007)
Follow @BevWeintraub1 on Twitter for updates
Beverly Weintraub
Beverly Weintraub is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and instrument-rated private pilot. As an editorial writer for the New York Daily News, she covered topics including education, social services and aviation, and she shared the 2007 Pulitzer for Editorial Writing for an in-depth investigation into the illnesses afflicting World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers after 9/11. Her op-eds about women and aviation have appeared in the Washington Post. Bev holds tailwheel, complex and high-performance airplane endorsements and has crisscrossed the country in single-engine propeller aircraft. She lives in New York City.
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