Madge Moore

Madge Leon Moore (January 22, 1922 – December 22, 2016) was an American aviator. She served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. Moore ferried planes during the war and after the dissolution of WASP, lived as a homemaker. She received the Congressional Gold Medal for her service in 2010.

Biography Moore was born in Rule, Texas and was raised in Haskell, Texas. Moore went to Haskell High School. Moore's early flight instruction included learning to trust the airplane itself. She recalled that her flight instructor told her "to take her hands and feet off the controls" so that she could see that the plane would stay in the air on its own.

She began training in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) on November 1, 1943, at Avenger Field. Her parents, who supported her desire to serve, drove her to training. She graduated from her WASP training on May 23, 1944. Moore was stationed at Perrin Field. As a WASP, she ferried planes, some of which no longer had functioning instruments, forcing her to use dead reckoning.