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been no real research in this field. References to women in aviation in the United States were mostly limited to impressions, and notes of participation in races, contests, and the like, but these contained much speculative discourse regarding attributed of women pilots as physically and psychologically unsuited to fly Army aircraft. The results of the medical research in connection with the WASP should be valuable in the future utilization of women in flying, both in military and civilian capacities, and represents the most complete collection of information concerning this new phase of aviation medicine in the United States. The statements made herein are based on a review of the experience of AAF surgeons, commanding officers, flying safety officers, and other interested personnel at fields where WASPs were trained or stationed, and on a review of historical reports, medical records, and other pertinent data gathered together by the Air Surgeon's office. Because the training school was operated along military lines with close controls, the greatest opportunity for coordinated research was to be found there, where three medical corps officers and eight medical department enlisted men were stationed. Many preconceptions were proved wrong.
It was the generally held belief at the start of the program that women were handicapped due too the menses and would be off duty a few days each month, with the regularity of their services consequently undependable. The conclusion of the medical reports is that this belief found no support in the experience of the WASPs and that menstruation in properly selected women is not a handicap to flying or dependable performance of duty. The six women instructors at Sweetwater lost less time from flying than the male instructors at the same field. The loss of time from this cause at Avenger Field averaged only about half a day a month. 

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6-1262,AF