Did one have to be a party member to fly?

[WTE_Galway]

No the LW did not have to join the NSDAP. Though many pilots of course did choose to be party members.

As a case in point, during the Battle of Britain, when the commandant of JG53 had problems with Goering over his marriage to a jewish girl, the entire squadron removed NSDAP party insignia (in particular the swastika on the tail) from all JG53 aircraft as a protest.