Mary Riddle, also known as Kingfisher, was the early Native American woman pilot. She was born in 1912 in Portland and was a member of the Clatsop and Quinault Indian Nation in her home state of Washington.
She decided to prove that women could be as good as male pilots. She received her pilots license with very few lessons.
In 1930 Mary flew to Washington D.C. to present President Hoover with tribal gifts from her tribe in the Northwest. On May 19, 1930, Mary soloed and then she appeared in the Portland Rose Festival. She was dressed in her tribal costume and rode a horse up to her plane. She was asked to help form an all-women’s stunt team, but she decided to fly on her own.
She was a barnstormer and became well-known because she was American Indian, and she was a fabulous pilot. Mary wore traditional clothing and attracted huge crowds to her performances.
1937 was a special year for Mary when she earned her commercial pilots license.
This was a tremendous achievement for a woman Native-American. 1937 was a year that discrimination was very prevalent in the United States. She was able to overcome the negative language that was said about her. Mary proved that a women could excel at anything she attempted.
Mary was a member of the Seattle chapter of the 99s. She wanted to learn how to parachute and attended the Spartan School in Tulsa. The school president didn’t want her to take lessons because she was an Indian and a woman. She convinced them that she was serious and would be a superior student. She showed her intelligence when she graduated with honors.
In 1937 Mary’s parachute didn’t open correctly and it tangled around her legs, and she broke her back. After that accident she gave up her flying career.
Even though Mary wasn’t flying she couldn’t stay away from airplanes. During World War 11 she was aluminum sheet metal worker and helped maintain planes for the United States Air Force’s Civil Service. Her fellow workers found that she was pleasant and very knowledgeable. At first, they didn’t accept Mary, but they learned that she was a proficient pilot not just a women American Indian pilot.
Jessie Schultz Woods was born in 1909 in a small town in Kansas and didn’t like it all. She found it boring until her brother told her that a plane had landed nearby. She was enthralled with planes and longed to learn to fly. Jessie was smitten by this handsome young flyer named Jimmy Woods. Against her parents’ wishes she ran off with him to join his show. Soon they got married and entertained with their circus of stunts. They landed anywhere there was a grass field or a fairgrounds celebration. They soon got married and took their show on the road. Jimmy Woods was a well-known flyer, but he knew that he needed a special person to grab the public attention. That attention would be his beautiful wife. He taught her how to fly and do stunts outside of the plane. Jessie never drove a car but she could fly a plane and do incredible stunts outside her plane. She stood on her head on the wing of the plane. What a site that must have been. Jessie walked on the wing and then parachuted to the ground. People on the ground stared up at Jessie in amazement when she hung by her knees and started to swing back and forth. They charged $ 1.00 per car and made some money to move on to the next town. The Depression was going on and it was difficult for anyone to make a lot of money. The war was over, and pilots needed to work. The Jenny planes that were used in the war were available to start something new. Many men formed what they called flying air circuses. They did tricks and different stunts with their planes and sometimes even had a woman walk out onto the wing and do stunts there. It was very dangerous, but Jesse and her husband decided to form the Flying Aces Air Circus. They became the longest running air circus in the United States. In order to eat they had to have a spectacular show that people would come to see their show no other pilots shows. Jessie was an incredibly daring woman. She learned how to fly from her husband and aviation became her life. Soon she was able to jump from the wing of a plane with a parachute. One while walking on the wing she fell 3000 feet and she wasn’t wearing a parachute. She hung by her knees and on rope ladders and began to swing underneath the plane. She fell off the wing when the plane turned upside down. Then she opened her parachute and safely fell into a cow pasture. Because of lack of money, she learned how to fix her own plane. Jimmie taught her how and she even became a very good mechanic. Aces Flying Air Circus through the Depression and closed in 1938. It became the longest flying circus in the country. The war was over, and pilots needed to find work. The Jenny planes they flew were available and they developed a way to make money. In 1938 the government formed the civil aeronautics authority. Because of many accidents the barnstorming era ended. Air Circuses like Jimmie and Jessie’s weren’t able to perform. In 1938 Jessie and Jimmie became a pilot instructors and trained pilots during World War 1. Jessie then joined the civil air patrol. In 1967 she was honored to be named Pilot of the Year from the Washington state pilots Association. In 1994 Jessie was inducted into the women in aviation in the International Pioneer Hall of Fame. She was also a member of the 99s which is a woman’s aviation advocacy group founded in 1929 by Amelia Earhart. In 1967 Jessie was named the pilot of the year by Washington State. She supported our military and was able to receive government contracts to train men going off to war. Jessie flew till 1994. What an incredibly long career. She stopped flying in 1904. Her last flight was when she was over 80 years old.
Florence “Pancho” Barnes was born into a very wealthy family, but she wanted to live a different kind of life than expected from her family. She did give in to marrying the man picked out for her. He was a minister named C. Rankin Barnes. She had one son but rarely took care of him. When she became a pilot, she buzzed his church during his service. Her family couldn’t believe that their daughter was such a foul woman. She was a cigar smoking woman who used and used language a cultured woman would never use. We should never forget she was an outstanding pilot.
Pancho is in the middle of this picture
Her grandfather was a pioneer in ballooning sparked Poncho’s interest in aviation. She learned to fly even with the objections of her family. She took lessons and made her solo flight after six hours. This was incredible. Then she dressed as a man who spent months in Mexico and helped revolutionaries escape from the police. She was named Pancho by these men and the name stuck.
Achievements and Records:
Started the Stunt Pilots in Motion Picture Association
First Woman Stunt Pilot in the movie “Hell’s Angels”
Entered the Powder Puff Derby but didn’t place because she crashed
Organized the barnstorming troupe “Mystery Circus of the Air”
Test pilot for Lockheed’s Vega Flew at 196 m.p.h. She became the world’s fastest woman pilot
She bought a strip of land in the Mojave Desert and built The Happy Bottom Riding Club She entertained many test pilots from the nearby Air Force base. She became friends with Chuck Yeager, General Jimmy Doolittle, and Buzz Aldrin. Some say she ran a bordello, but it was not. She did have rip-roaring parties there and the ranch became The Place to Go for the weary servicemen.
In 1952 she had a conflict with the United States Air Force because they wanted to build a new runway that would run across her property. The money for her property didn’t satisfy Pancho and she wanted a new appraisal. It was then that the Air Force accused her of running a bordello and wouldn’t allow men to come to her ranch. This was the beginning of the end of her dude ranch. Pancho filed a lawsuit against the Air Force and then a suspicious fire burnt down the ranch. She won the case, and her name was cleared.
After this lawsuit she developed cancer and died in 1975.
It’s hard to describe Pancho because she was a the most incredible character. You will be fascinated as you read more about her. She was part of the Golden Age of Aviation the time that was perfect for the wild Pancho Barnes. I was intrigued by her, and I hope you will be too.
To learn more about Pancho Barnes Go to:
Movie: Pancho Barnes with Valerie Bertinelli
Biography: The Lady Who Tamed Pegasus: The Story of By Pancho Barnes by Grover Ted Tate
Pancho: The Biography of Florence Lowe Barnes by Barbara Schultz
PBS documentary Film: The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Club
Ellen felt that women could accomplish many different tasks that co-pilots would usually do. Men objected but women persevered. Ellen helped change the aviation field by letting women do jobs equal to men.
Her first flight was from Oakland to Chicago. Chicago helped the public know that it really was safe to fly. flight was long and tiring for passengers and stewardesses alike. It took 20 hours with 13 stops to accomplish this trip.
In the 30’s jobs as stewardesses had very strict rules for getting a job. Women had to be pretty and small. They had to be under 25 years old and single. They had to be graduate nurses and could only weigh no more than 115 pounds. They were not there to look pretty. They had to fuel planes, clean the cabins and sometimes even push the planes into hangers. Also, they had to be single. She was very bright when she saw a need she worked on it to make it come true. It was not an easy job for these small women. The women earned $125 a month but they sure had to earn it by hard work and be dedicated to the job.
In the 30’s flying was a dangerous and a new way to travel and passengers were leery to fly. Those that fly became thrilled that they could fly faster than taking a train.
Ellen and seven other women started working on May 15, 1930. Ellen was the first to be hired and she was in charge of hiring seven other stewardesses were hired. That flight went from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Chicago.She had a bachelor’s degree in nursing and in 1931 quit as a flight attendant due to a car accident. She only worked 18 months.
Ellen went back to college and worked as a nurse. During World War 11 she served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Air Evacuation Service. Ellen served as a Flight Nurse and helped to train other nurses for combat. She used her skills as a nurse and pilot to take wounded soldiers out of Africa. For her efforts she was awarded the Air Medal.
Ellen Church was strong, compassionate and led the way for our modern-day stewardesses. She was a pioneer and should be known today. Every time you fly and are greeted by a flight attendant as they are called today realize that Ellen Church led the way.
Patty Wagstaff is a United States National Acrobatic Team and has won the championship three times. Millions of people watched Patty do incredible acrobatic stunts in the air. She is the most famous acrobatic pilot in the United States. She flies so low that spectators feel the rush of the airplane. They are amazed at her abilities.
She trained with a passion and was able to receive her Commercial, and an Instrument Instructor. She flew many types of planes in World War 11 like military fighters and jets.
Her father was a Captain for Japan Airlines and at an early age she became enthralled with flight. She won many accolades like award as the First Lady of Acrobatics. Later she won a place in the National Aviation of Fame. She was excited about winning an award in the National Air and Space award for the Current Achievement. Patty even was the recipient of the honor of the Lifetime Achievement Award given to her by the Air Force.
If all those awards weren’t enough her plane the Goodrich Extra 260 was displayed in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.
Patty was an experienced member of the Screen Guild and the Motion Picture Pilots Association. Her experience as an aerobatic pilot fit into her expertise as a stunt pilot in films and television.
Patty flew for California Fire to attack wildfires in the state This was a very important job, and she was well qualified for the job.
She definitely was experienced to start her next venture. Patty would still fly in air shows but in 2013 she started her school. She made informational videos about acrobatic flying. One of the videos was “Introduction to Aerobatics” and “Basic aerobatics.” She was the most experienced person to teach this dangerous type of flying. When you go to an air show and see Patty and other aerobatic pilots you will be thrilled yet somewhat frightened for the participants and the spectators.
Patty mentored other women pilots and taught them the safest way to do acrobatic flying. She also was used in Microsoft’s Flight Simulator videos. She followed all the safe but exciting ways to entertain the public at her shows. She was always confident to use every safe measure, so she was safe and so were the other pilots in her show.
This unique lady is an inspiration to girls and women to make good choices in their lives. Women look up to Patty as their role model and try to be strong and make their dreams come true.
In my Aunt Vicky’s memorabilia I found two newspaper articles about Laura Ingalls, a pioneer pilot that is mostly forgotten today. The article is dated March 9, 1934 and Laura is dressed in her flying clothes to fly through Central and South America. It was titled “Flying Over Sea.” I wonder if Vicky and Laura were friends or maybe my aunt just admired her. This newspaper article said she was going on a trip across the Andes in South America. She is well-known for that flight, actress and dancer and later became a very powerful public speaker. Her family would never understand how she became a speaker in favor of the Nazi party.
Laura was born in 1893 in Brooklyn, New York. Her family was wealthy and she lived a privileged life attended private schools and studied language and music overseas.
She completed her first solo flight from Roosevelt Field in 1928 and my Aunt Vicky completed her solo from the same field in 1930. This is the flying field where Lindbergh and Amelia took off. In 1929 Laura earned her Limited Commercial license. Then in 1930 she earned her transport license but Vicky only had a private license. That meant she couldn’t carry passengers. She must have upgraded it to a transport license when she had her flying school.
The Department of commerce’s Aeronautics Branch awarded her a federal commercial license. Laura’s most important record happened in 1935 when she flew across the continent for 30 hours from east to west and West to east in 25 hours. She even beat Amelia Earhart’s record.
Stunt flying was very popular after World War 1. The Jenny was used in the war were now being used by stunt pilots. Many were officers during the war and now had to earn a living. Women also performed stunts by themselves and with their husbands. Laura was one of those women who became a stunt pilot. 1930 was her year for record breaking. She set a women’s record for 930 loops. She also broke the men and women’s record when she did 714 barrel rolls.
Laura is known for being the first woman to fly over the Andes. In 1934 she became known as the first woman who flew from North America to South America. In that same year she was honored as the most outstanding woman pilot and won the coveted Harmon Trophy. She entered the Bendix race and won second place.
Due to many crashes by stunt pilots the government outlawed this dangerous activity.
She had a long-time goal to start a flying school for women because she believed that they weren’t trained as well as men.
Soon her life changed drastically. She joined the Women’s National Committee to Keep the United States out of War. She also spoke at meetings of the America First Committee. Both of these organizations allowed her to speak against The United States joining the war. Her troubles started when she dropped leaflets on the White House. The papers asked Congress to take action to stop the United States from entering the war.
The Civil Aeronautics Authority required Laura to get permission before dropping anything over a city from her plane. Of course, Laura never had that permission. She also violated another law that prohibited flying over the White House.
The authorities took her license, but Laura fought back. She said that she dropped the messages to help her country. She was told that she couldn’t get her license back until she proved that she knew the rules of civil aviation.
A journalist said that Miss Ingalls was a member of the “Nazi fifth column” and that she wanted to aid the Nazis by speaking in favor of Hitler and his policies.
Next she tried to enter a closed Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. The senators could hear her screaming that the United States was a dictatorship because they held this closed meeting.
The next mess Laura got into was flying over restricted air space and dropping pamphlets over Philadelphia. She told the authorities that dropping papers from a plane wasn’t against the law. She insisted that she didn’t do anything wrong. The authorities took her license away and required her to take a test to prove that she understood the rules of civil air regulations.
A few years later the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States entered the war. Ingalls continued to speak for the American First Committee.
Laura Ingalls was arrested and charged with failing to register as a paid Nazi agent and went to trial in 1942. She violated the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act. The prosecution said that she received money from the secretary of the German Embassy. She praised Hitler and spoke against President Roosevelt. Laura tried to influence the American public not to support the president. She disliked him because he allied himself with England not Germany. Witnesses Testified that she said Hitler would bring order to America. They said she was an extreme supporter of the Third Reich.
The defense claimed that she was just an American patriot and was actually against the Nazi regime. According to the defense she acted by herself because the FBI would not hire her. They claimed that Ingalls was not trying to aid the Nazis regime, but she wanted to stop the spread of Hitler’s hate.
The prosecution produced two witnesses that helped the jury find Ingalls guilty. One was A plastic surgeon who operated on her and said she was wearing a bracelet with a swastika on it. He also said she spoke fluent German. Another witness an airport manager said that he feels that he felt Ingalls was a Nazi sympathizer and wanted the German new order to spread in The United States.
Miss Ingalls activity included going to the German Embassy and offering to help the Nazi cause. They didn’t want her help, so she decided to proceed on her own. She was angry that the Germans didn’t Laura became active in The America First Committee. This group advocated for America to stay out of the war in Europe. They were against President Roosevelt and tried to influence him not to go to war.
The prosecutor called a witness named Julia Kraus who was a former employee of the Treasury Department. She introduced Miss Ingalls to Baron Von Gienanth who was Second Secretary for the German Embassy and was thought to be a Gestapo agent and a SS reserve officer. The United State government alleged that the Baron gave Miss Ingalls money to allow her to proceed with her work for the Nazi cause.
Miss Ingalls was given the code name “Ellen” and the baron was known as “Mama.” The key to finding information about Miss Ingalls was Julia Kraus. She facilitated the transfer of messages and money to Miss Ingalls. The jury found the defense words inaccurate. They said she was a German agent and guilty of acting against the United States goals to assist our allies. They said she was guilty of the espionage charges made against her. In a strong and defiant voice Laura Ingalls pleaded not guilty. The jury found her guilty of being a paid agent of the German government.
In 1942 Miss Ingalls was sentenced two years and eight months in jail. She was beaten in prison because of her pro-Nazi beliefs. After this incident she was transferred to other facilities then she was released in 1943.
During her trial witnesses said that she had called Hitler a great man and then our country needed a man like that to lead us. Miss Ingalls didn’t believe in democracy and felt that the New World Order would make the United States stronger.
Laura Ingalls, the incredibly proficient women’s transcontinental speed champion who was a member of the Ninety-Nines had gone astray. They were angry and sad about their fellow pilot. She was denied repeated attempts for a pardon but continued to praise Hitler. She is noted for many records in the field of aviation but she is unfortunately remembered as a German agent in World War 11.
Nevita Bhasin is the pilot of the week. She is in the 99s India section. The 99s are divided up by sections and the India section is the area where Niveta Bhasin flies.
She started her commercial career in 1983 and flew 22,000 hours. She is a very active member of the 99s and has held many important positions. Scholarship & Membership Chairs, Vice-Governor and now Nevita is the International Director and Governor of the Indian Section.
Mentoring is extremely important to Nevita. She goes to grade schools and colleges to tell her story of being a pilot. She feels she needs to interest girls going into a man’s field. When she is interviewed on television she speaks with enthusiasm about her career in aviation. She hopes that she will bring that enthusiastic feeling to other girls and women. Maybe, someday they will join the aviation field.
Today India has more women pilots than any other country. Nevita has helped that happen.
Nellie Willhite was the first female deaf pilot in the country and the first in South Dakota to receive her license. It was so amazing that she made her first flight after only 13 hours of flight instruction.
Like many aviators she was a barnstormer and a stunt pilot, flew in air races and flew people who had never been in a plane before.
The government made laws to end the era of barnstorming because it was too dangerous. In 1945 Nellie flew as a commercial pilot that carried airmail. Nellie was the first pilot and last person deaf person to fly with a commercial license.
She was one of the founding members of the 99s and started a 99s chapter in South Dakota. This organization was started in 1929 by Amelia Earhart. She wanted women to be accepted as pilots, not just women pilots.
Many women and men were against women flying because they felt they belonged in the kitchen and raising children. They probably were jealous of the attention she received from her goodwill tours.
Nellie was so pleased when she was inducted in the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1978. Again in 1991 Nellie was inducted into the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame right before she died.
Nellie was a woman who never gave up her dream to be a pilot. She mentored many women and encouraged them to keep trying and never give up their goal.
Nellie Willhite was the first female deaf pilot in the country and the first in South Dakota to receive her license. It was so amazing that she made her first flight after only 13 hours of flight instruction.
Like many aviators she was a barnstormer and a stunt pilot, flew in air races and flew people who had never been in a plane before.
The government made laws to end the era of barnstorming because it was too dangerous. In 1945 Nellie flew as a commercial pilot that carried airmail. Nellie was the first pilot and last person deaf person to fly with a commercial license.
She was one of the founding members of the 99s and started a 99s chapter in South Dakota. This organization was started in 1929 by Amelia Earhart. She wanted women to be accepted as pilots, not just women pilots.
Many women and men were against women flying because they felt they belonged in the kitchen and raising children. They probably were jealous of the attention she received from her goodwill tours.
Nellie was so pleased when she was inducted in the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1978. Again in 1991 Nellie was inducted into the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame right before she died.
Nellie was a woman who never gave up her dream to be a pilot. She mentored many women and encouraged thel to keep trying and never give up their goal.
Chinese American Pilot Who Aided Chinese Immigrants(Columbian.com)
I post this profile of a Chinese American pilot which is a very special honor for Chinese- American citizens. Throughout our countries history there has been so much discrimination of Chinese. In the 30s and 40s Leah Hing was the first Chinese American to obtain a pilot’s instrument and mechanic’s license. After a 15-minute lesson she was able to fly and land a plane. The instructor was amazed because no one he had ever taught was able to catch on so quickly.
Leah’s goal was to teach Chinese women how to fly. Like others I have profiled, she wanted to prove that women could fly as well as men. She became known because of the newspaper articles about her and was called the “Chinese Miss Lindy.”
China was in turmoil when the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931. She was living in Portland, and it became the center for a Chinese flight school. Leah told her father that she wanted to go to China and fight the Japanese. She said that we have family there and I want to help as a fighter pilot. He would not allow her to go but he bought her a plane and she flew in many air shows across the West Coast. She logged 200 hours of flying time but still wished she could have gone back to China.
Leah like many pilots had her share of accidents. In 1936 a plane taxied into her plane, and it caught on fire. She was lucky that no one was injured. She flew an open cockpit plane and crashed when she was landing in Seattle. The plane was damaged but again she was not hurt.
Leah was angry that her father wouldn’t let her go back to China to help fight the invading Japanese. So she remained in Portland and was became active in the West Coast Civil Air Patrol. She was also a member of the 99s which was an advocacy group for women pilots that became the 99s. Unfortunately, she was not allowed membership because she was Chinese. She was sad that her flying days were over and was glad to be a passenger.
She was a volunteer that helped Chinese immigrants attain United States citizenship. This was a very difficult time due to the Chinese exclusion act of 1882. This act only allowed 105 Chinese to enter the United States. It took until 1943 that Chinese people in the United States could become naturalized citizens.
She died in 2001 from heart failure. Those that knew Leah Hing believed that she loved her life and didn’t stop doing what she loved.
Bessie Coleman was a unique woman. She was born in 1902 in a small town in Texas. She started out as a poor Black woman who picked cotton so her family could survive. Bessie Coleman, “Queen Bess,” was the first black, Native American woman pilot. There were many hurdles that she had to overcome before she was able to get her license. In the 1920’s there were no pilots that would train a black person. Bessie was not only black but a woman. Men thought that women sure didn’t belong in a plane. In the 1920’s there were no pilots that would train a black person, especially a woman.
Bessie was fortunate to meet Robert Abbott, the founder of the Chicago Defender newspaper. Bessie told him that she wanted to be a pilot, but no one would teach her how to fly. Mr. Abbott suggested she go to France where race didn’t matter like it did in the U.S. Bessie even learned that there was an American black man named Eugene Bullard that learned to fly. She went to France and received her license.
Bessie never realized her dream to open flying school because In 1926 she was killed in a plane crash in Florida. Her memorial service was attended by 5,000 people. All over the world people were devastated by the news that their “Queen Bess” had died.
Today there are few women pilots and fewer black women that are pilots, but those numbers are increasing. This is due to Bessie Coleman blazing the path for future pilots.
Honors:
Public library in Chicago named after Bessie
Memorial plaque placed at Chicago Cultural Center
Flowers dropped during flyovers at her grave site in Lincoln Cemetery near Chicago
Bessie Coleman Drive near O’Hare Airport
Bessie scholarship awards to high school students that wanted to learn to fly
Stamp issued in her honor in 1995
2006 inducted in the Aviation Hall of Fame
Bessie never realized her dream to open flying school, but she did receive many honors. In 1926 she was killed in a plane crash in Florida. Her memorial service was attended by 5,000 people. All over the world people were devastated by the news that their “Queen Bess” had died.
In 1930 the Bessie Coleman Aero Club was formed to honor her. In the coming years Bessie inspired many black women to reach for the stars.
They Dared To Fly In a Man's World 