At nine she rode in an airplane with famous aviator Wiley Post. As a young woman, she broke new ground in a cockpit. Born in Noble, Oklahoma, Charlyne earned her pilot's license in July of 1943, and then joined the Women's Air Force Service Pilot (WASP) program. She trained first at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, then was sent to Waco Army Air Field for instrument training. Soon after, on December 29, 1944, she was released from flying duty. After the war, she trained as a nurse, then re-entered the Air Force in 1951 in medicine. She left the service as a lieutenant.