93-year-old WASP flies WW2 trainer

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 24 (UPI) -- More than 60 years after she flew military planes during World War II, a 93-year-old Florida woman got a chance to fly an AT-6 Texan again.

Tex Meacham had a large cheering section Friday as she got into the cockpit of the training plane at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, The Miami Herald reported Saturday. She was serenaded by the men's choir of John Knox Village in Pompano Beach while about two dozen members of the village chapter of the Red Hat Society applauded the woman they call their "queen bee."

Meacham spent two years in the Women Air Force Service Pilots, ferrying planes across the country and training pilots in navigation, and met her husband, John Meachem, a navigator, when both were stationed in Hondo, Texas. The WASPs were only recognized as war veterans in 1977 and the 300 survivors each received a Congressional Gold Medal in March.

Friday's flight was arranged by History Flight of Marathon, Fla. Meachem was accompanied by pilot John Makinson, who gave her the controls while she executed two rolls and a climbing and banking maneuver.

"Super! He let me solo," she said after the 30-minute flight.