Kilmarnock, Virginia

Inducted in 2000, Ann Baumgartner Carl took her first flight in a J-3 Piper Cub in 1940. Her addiction to flying was immediate and she declared, “This is what I was made for.” During WWII she became a Womens Airforce Service Pilot and was the only WASP to serve as a military test pilot. She flew in-flight refueling test missions, tested new gun sites, and flew the RP-47E, the first fighter with a pressurized cockpit. In October 1944, she became the world’s first woman to fly a turbo jet powered aircraft, the Bell YP-59A, a distinction that would remain unchallenged for 10 years. Ann was honored to become a personal friend of Orville Wright and served as his escort to numerous aviation events for many years.