Women with Wings: Women Pilots of World War II

Women with Wings: Women Pilots of World War II — page 7
engineer Wyatt Dusenberry The training was intense The cockpit of the B 29 bomber was scorching hot under the Alabama sun It got so hot the pilots needed gloves so they wouldn't burn their hands on the controls The B 29 had no hydraulic controls so it took a great deal of physical strength to control it It was hard hot work and Dougherty was drenched in sweat as she maneuvered the plane For three days straight seven hours a day Dougherty practiced maneuvering the plane Tibbets taught her what to do if an engine stopped running and how to take off with only two engines Tibbets also made sure Dougherty knew how to pull the B 29 out of a stall This dangerous situation happens when an aircraft's wings don't have enough lift to keep it in the air often leading to a crash With an aircraft as large as the B 29 pulling out of a stall was difficult but Dougherty mastered it She was an excellent student and according to Tibbets he could show her something one time and she could repeat it Dougherty even got to experience how to handle an onboard fire On the first day of training the cockpit filled with smoke Her number three engine was on fire The flight engineer looked to Tibbets through the smoke thinking he would take command of the aircraft Tibbets told the engineer to wait and see what Dougherty would