[Powder Puff Problems and the Curse of the Ladybirds] Page: 5 of 46
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This article is the incomplete history of that error, which imposed
one more handicap on the pioneering female pilots of the 1930's- a curse they
had to suffer and combat in silence, and which hid behind the flag of cool,
scientific, objectivity. But to tell the story right, we must start at the
beginning.
The first, and sometimes the only woman flier in the average American's
memory is Amelia Earhart. But by June, 1928, three women-- Princess Lowenstein-
Wertheim, Frances Graysen, and Elsie McKay-- had already died in Atlantic
crossing attempts. Another, Ruth Elder, had ditched north of the AMores and
been rescued by a Dutch tanker. All this brought home the fact that Atlantic
flights weren't safe or routine just because Lindbergh did it alone in May, 1927.
The public imagination was ready for a heroine, and Amelia lived up to the role
very well, for the rest of her life.
She got the idea for an organisation of women fliers in September, 1927.
The National Aeronautics Association sent her a list of twenty-one female pilots
who held International Aeronautics Federation Licenses. Some were dead, and the
list was clearly incomplete. Until 1928 aviation wasn't federally regulated,
so nobody needed any license. The FAI certificate was needed only for racing
or record flights. Women were barred from racing, and women's records were not
official, but merely recorded as a courtesy by the NAA. But in 1928, everyone
who meant to keep flying had to pass a government test, be counted, listed, and
registered. By August of 1929 there were seventy female fliers, many of them
were hot news, and all were easy to find.
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Day, Leon. [Powder Puff Problems and the Curse of the Ladybirds], text, Date Unknown; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1029802/m1/5/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting National WASP WWII Museum.