The WASPs: Taking Flight, the Nadine Ramsey Story

Most people think Kansas is just one big wheat field, but in the early 20^th Century, it was also known for its extensive oil fields. Due to its oil tycoons and infamously flat landscape, Kansas also became the center of American aviation. At a time when most average people never even considered air travel, a lot of average Kansans were able to take flying lesson, including women like Nadine Ramsey. When war ignited, Ramsey and her fellow women pilots had skills America needed, but their country wasn’t ready to fully accept them. Matthew Hausle profiles Ramsey and her achievements as one of the most prominent members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) in The WASPs: Taking Flight, The Nadine Ramsey Story, narrated by Jacqueline Bisset, which releases tomorrow on VOD.

For a film a few seconds shy of 70 minutes, The WASPS: Taking Flight manages to cover a whole lot of material that people really ought to know more about. In addition to chronicling Nadine Ramsey’s life, Hausle devotes nearly equal time to her brother Edwin, an Army officer, who became one of the guerrilla warriors most wanted by the Imperial Japanese in the occupied Philippines.

Given his uncertain status throughout most of the war, it is understandable why Nadine Ramsey might feel particularly motivated to assist the war effort. The Army Air Force needed both pilots and planes, but the factories were churning out the latter quicker than the Army could train the former. Although combat roles for women was a non-starter during that era, WASPs were reluctantly allowed to fly new planes from their factories, to rally points for overseas deployment. These were by and large solo flights, through all kinds of rough weather, over all sorts of terrain.

Frankly, the Japanese and Germans were lucky they never had to face a former stunt pilot like Ramsey. She originally learned barnstorming techniques, because she was inspired by Amelia Earhart’s example (admittedly, there is a bit of irony to that point, which was apparently lost on Hausle and his talking heads).

Recognition and veterans’ rights for the WASPs was a rare case where veterans’ and feminist organizations worked together. Fittingly, Hausle and company give Sen. Barry Goldwater credit for his advocacy and prime sponsorship. Yet, nobody can credibly dismiss the film as an exercise in gender politics, given how thoroughly it documents and celebrates Edwin Ramsey’s heroism.

Indeed, they were quite a remarkable sibling pair. They both deserve documentary treatments. Despite the wide range of topics, Hausle and writer-editor Jay Miracle distill it into a lucid, tightly focused film. Ultimately, it provides further, aviation-themed examples of why the “Greatest Generation” was so darned great. Very highly recommended, The WASPs: Taking Flight, The Nadine Ramsey Story releases tomorrow (3/24) on VOD.