In the early 1940s, the US Airforce faced a dilemma. Thousands of new airplanes were coming off assembly lines and needed to be delivered to military bases nationwide, yet most of America's pilots were overseas fighting the war. To deal with the backlog, the government launched an experimental program to train women pilots to fly military aircraft. They were known as the WASPs, the Women Airforce Service Pilots.Originally premiered on NPR's All Things Considered, December 18, 2002.