To all WASP and Volunteer Pilots:

We are finishing up the WASP/aircraft assignments today. This information will be mailed to the WASP no later than Saturday.

We would like to thank Lana Kraeszig for spearheading the pilot recruitment efforts. She has done an incredible job and we give her a BIG THANKS for helping make Operation Fifinella “fly” … pun intended! 

A BIG THANKS to all the volunteer pilots who have come forward to make this ”historic flight” possible. Lana will be in touch with all the pilots regarding WASP/aircraft assignments and continued flight briefings. More information on this will be posted on the website next week.

Also, so important to making Operation Fifinella possible - our SPONSORS and DONORS! Although we continue to update our Sponsor and Donor list, I want to recognize these individuals, organizations and companies again.

OUR SPONSORS

- Lisa Renshaw, through her company Blu Dove Design, stepped forward at the beginning of our planning of Operation Fifinella to donate her services to design and host this beautiful website, design our advertising and become a committee member. She will be travelling to Texas to help us organize Operation Fifinella and attend the Reunion in Irving.

- Caroline Collings and the Collings Foundation (thanks Rob!) - The Collings Foundation has flown more than 50 WASP over the years in the “Wings of Freedom Tour” WWII bombers. Caroline, the only ”typed” female B-24 pilot in history, was the first to come forward with a very generous financial contribution from the Collings Foundation to help kick-start our efforts with Operation Fifinella. Due to scheduling conflicts (her best friend is getting married in Sweden), she is unable to participate in this flight, but she will be with us in spirit and sends her love to the WASP.

-Trade-a-Plane publisher, Carolyn Flick, - Carolyn donated 2 months of advertising in Trade-a-Plane, an internationally distributed aviation publication, to help us recruit pilots and raise awareness of WASP and Operation Fifinella. Much thanks also to Rachel C Hill, Display Advertising Manager, who has been our liaison and helped us with the advertising.
- Michael Potapow, Wings of Dreams Founding Director - Mike’s first “close encounter” with WASP was at the Wings of Freedom Tour that Wings of Dreams hosted at Keystone Heights Airport (Florida). He was one of the volunteer pilots who flew WASP Bee Haydu and Helen Snapp so they could attend our event. Through Mike’s contribution and fuel sponsorship we now have the 20-seat DC-3 to transport WASP, escorts and volunteers to Avenger Field. Thanks so much Mike!

-Pace Family - Mr. J. C. Pace Sr. has a close connection and historical link with the WASP and Avenger Field that dates back to 1940s, where he served as one of WASP instructors. Thanks to the entire Pace family for your support of the WASP and Operation Fifinella.

- National WASP WWII Museum and Museum Director Marianne Wood - Our host at Avenger Field! We are excited to have our luncheon, program and presentations at the museum. Thank you, Marianne and your board, for all your support and helping us bring our WASP “home” again.

Thank you Donors! Your financial assistance is helping us make this happen!

Parker Overton

Piper Aircraft (More to come on Piper Aircraft’s role in the “original Operation Fifinella” in the 1945)

Mary Jane & Raymond Finnegan

Helen Hall

Brian Bertke

Lindy Segall

We still need financial assistance through Sponsorships and Donations. Please click on our “Donate” link and help support Operation Fifinella!

Susan King, Co-organizer - Operation Fifinella

We’re at 30 WASP participating in this event.  We’ve heard from many others who will not be able to make, but will be flying with us in spirit.  Everyone is so excited about how the event is coming together and we’ve received such a positive response from WASP, Kids of WASP, Friends, sponsors, pilots….We’re still accepting WASP so don’t let a little thing like a printed deadline stop you from signing up!

We would love to have you share your stories with us and what is so neat about this web site is that you can sign up and make comments right on the site.  So if you see a story you want to comment on or if you are a WASP that has signed up and would like to add something to you page, go to your page and click “Please comment on this post” and it will prompt you to log in.  By commenting on the site to various things, it will really bring this event to life in a truly unique way.

OR if you’re not so sure about that - then just email us your comments and where you would like them to: webmaster@operationfifinella.org and we will be happy to put them up for you.

What an exciting time!

We now have 26 WASP, we’ve added 2 more since the last post and 1 had to back out due to health reasons…I’m she will be flying with us in spirit!

We’ve also added several more pilots and planes, including a DC3 and a B25!  We also have (unconfirmed) the possibility of several T-6 Texans - one of the favorites to fly by many of the WASP.  So (without the T-6’s) that gives us a total of 18 pilots and planes.  We’ll keep you posted as we confirm additional pilots and planes.

We still need sponsors and donors!  We invite anyone who loves these women like we do, to help us bring this event into being.  If you would like to donate, you can now do so online.  Just go to our donate page!  No matter what the size of your donation, every little bit helps!  And if you are business or organization and would like to sponsor the event, please contact us for more information!

Stay tuned for more updates coming weekly, if not daily!  And please take the time to register on this site to stay up to date on what’s happening.

The response has been overwhelming so we have extended the deadline! We have 25 WASP signed up and ready to fly on this exciting mission! We also have 10 pilots who have volunteered themselves and their planes to participate in this historic event - flying a WASP into Avenger field!

Each WASP who has signed up to participate has their very own personal page on this web site, complete with a brief biography and photos.

If you are a WASP and see your page with nothing posted, it means we don’t have information or have not found it yet. If there is information or photos you would like to include, please send it to us at webmaster@operationfifinella.org and we will do our best to get the information posted as fast as humanly possible. Biography information can simply be typed into a Word document or into an email. Images need to be digital (if you need help, let us know) - we would love both past and present photos if possible.

Thank you to all the WASP for your service to this country and to those joining us on this mission both physically and in spirit. Thank you to the pilots, the volunteers, the sponsors and all of our supporters for helping to put this together. May Operation Fifinella be the best mission yet!

Want to learn about the WASP - Here’s really great video, courtesy of WingsAcrossAmerica.org that tells some history. And if you’d like to learn more and see more videos, just visit YouTube and type in “WWII Women Pilots” into the search box.