Tuesday, August 28, 2007&& competitive races
Competitive Races
Although i had gained alittle fame for my transtlantic flight, i wanted very much to set an "untarnished" record of my own. Shortly after my return, piloting Avian 7083, i set off on my first long solo flight which occurred just as my name was coming into the spotlight. By making the trip in August 1928, i became the first woman to fly solo across the North American continent and back. cool u may say. i subsequently made the first attempt at competitive air racing in 1929 during the first Santa Monica-to-Cleveland Women's Air Derby (later nicknamed the "Powder Puff Derby" by Will Rogers), placing third. In 1930, i became an official of the National Aeronautic Association where i actively promote the establishment of separate womens' records and was instrumental in the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)-the association i got my license from, accepting a similar international standard. In 1931, flying a Pitcairn PCA-2 autogiro, i set a world altitude record of 18,415 feet (5613 m) in a borrowed company machine.
During the period, i soon became involved with The Ninety-Nines, an organization of women pilots providing moral support and advancing the cause of women in aviation. i called a meeting of women pilots in 1929 following the Women's Air Derby. i suggested the name based on the number of the charter members; i later became the organization's first president in 1930. i was a vigorous advocate for women pilots and when the 1934 Bendix Trophy race banned women, i openly refused to fly screen actress Mary Pickford to Cleveland to open the races which of course stirred up alot of tention but that's one thing that comes when you are under the public eye,gossips are bound to follow.picture taken from:http://www.airventuremuseum.org/images/collection/aircraft/Pitcairn%20PCA-2%20Autogiro-7.jpg
making history.
5:58 AM
