Elizabeth MacKethan Magid, 86, who flew planes for the U.S. military during World War II and whose poem "Celestial Flight" honors female pilots, died 23 March 2004 in Golden, Colorado of cancer.

Also known as "Kit," Magid was one of 1,074 women who became pilots in the Women Airforce Service Pilots, from 1942 to 1944. Her assignment was to ferry planes, including some that were damaged. She told of flying with another WASP in two planes designated for use as parts: "We were flying side-by-side, and nuts and bolts were literally popping off and flying by. All we did was hold our thumbs up and say, 'We're still here!' "

Magid wrote "Celestial Flight" in memory of her best friend, fellow pilot Marie Mitchell Robinson, who died in the crash of a B-25 bomber near Victorville in 1944.

The poem says in part, "She is not dead -- but only flying higher. Higher than she's flown before."

Magid read the poem for a 1993 PBS documentary about the WASP program, "Women of Courage," made by her son, Ken.

After the WASP program was disbanded in 1944, Magid worked as a White House aide. During her long marriage to an Air Force pilot, she was a freelance writer for such magazines as Family Circle and Boys' Life.

Elizabeth M Magid