Did it take lots of physical strength to fly WWII war planes?

[raccoon]

Did it take a really strong man? (I know that sounds sexist but we are talking about World War II.)

[blm]

1. Yes. When they landed the pilots would rely on ground crew

to help pull them out of the planes. Their muscles would be so strained from controlling the bomber planes on the mission they’d lock.

George McGovern was a beast. Exemplary pilot and one of the strongest of men. Republicans smeared him as a liberal lightweight.

https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/george-mcgovern-flew-b-24-combat-missions/

[brush]

5. See post number 2.

[blm]

6. Different planes and missions.

McGvern was in the heaviest bombers on long-range missions. I am sure some women at that time could have done the same with the right training, but, not all pilots could handle the big bombers at the time - men or women.

[paleotn]

2. General Hap Arnold said it best.....

"Now in 1944, it is on the record that women can fly as well as men."

https://www.npr.org/2010/03/09/123773525/female-wwii-pilots-the-original-fly-girls

[RockRaven]

3. As with most things, I believe the correct answer is "it depends"

Depends on the aircraft, and the operating conditions.

Did women fly wwii aircraft at all? Yes. Certainly.

For the US, see the WASP.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_Airforce_Service_Pilots
But in combat? No. Wasn't allowed.

In the USSR, officially women were not allowed to be combat pilots. In reality, there were some and they were well known enough that they earned a nickname from the Germans, the Night Witches.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches

People's physical abilities vary a great deal within a gender, so there would have been capable women and incapable men -- just like there are today. The policies of excluding women categorically are social and political ones. Also, in wartime requirements tend to become variable when what is needed and what is available are out of sync, as demonstrated by the Night Witches.

[brush]

4. I was recently watching videos on WWll fighters like the...

P-38 Lightning, the P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang, and once the test pilots put the pre-production versions of the planes through rigorous tests, and subsequent design adjustments were made, great physical strength in flight wasn't required.

In fact, after the war, surviving P-51s were, and still are now, prized by women and men airshow and air race pilots.

About the bombers, I don't know.

[Staph]

7. Could women fly those planes in WWII?

They could and they did, though not in combat.

From The Air and Space Museum website:

In 1943, [Jacqueline] Cochran’s WFTD merged with Nancy Love's Women's Auxiliary Ferry Squadron (WAFS, a group of experienced pilots) to form the civilian Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) with Cochran as director; Love remained in charge of the WAFS unit, although under Cochran. From 1943 to 1944, over 1,000 women flew over 60 million miles ferrying aircraft and personnel, towing targets, and other transport duties. The WASP flew every military aircraft including Boeing B-17 and B-29 bombers. The WASP were disbanded in 1944, and Cochran was at the center of complications that prevented the group from being absorbed into the USAAF's Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). The WASP finally received retroactive military status in 1977.

https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/women-take-wing-wartime