Women of the Golden Age Their airplanes, and their spirits, still live!
G.W. Hyatt, EAA 522645
own Pandora’s box. It is a copy of the transient log from Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona, often referred to as “the Field.” In mid-2000 I purchased the log in Alexandria, Virginia. In flipping through its 218 Ipages, I’m overcome by 3,679 pilots and their airplanes, thousands of destinations, dates, passengers, and events, all meticulously handwritten between February 6, 1925, and November 26, 1936. Each entry is a window into the gold- en age of aviation in the American southwest. Half the entries are by sport pilots. The others are military, with a smattering of early commercial transport activity. Remarkably, among the signatures are 40 female pilots. At the time, they represented conservatively 10 percent of all certificated female pilots in the United States. Many of Pilot Eyes by Jo-Ann Lizio is on display in the EAA AirVenture Museum until June 2004. them have since passed away, but I was curious about the Left to right, top: Amelia Earhart, Gladys O’Donnell, fate of their aircraft. In cross-referencing the facts from the Bobbi Trout. golden age with the physical clues preserved by a few dedi- Bottom: Jean LaRene, Ruth Elder, Pancho Barnes. cated historians and crafters, I discovered that nine of their All these pilots signed the Davis-Monthan log. Courtesy of Jo-Ann Lizio. aircraft are still on the FAA registry. I visited five and acquired contemporary photos of another.
48 MARCH 2004 EAA Sport Aviation 49 Nines. Flying Monocoupes, Phoebe appealing history. Built in February 12:45 p.m. With passenger Bert Then and Now landed at the Field four times; 1928, Hollywood stunt pilot Frank White, a well-known parachutist, Monocoupe NR8917 besides NR8917, there was NC5877 Hawks bought it from the factory in she was heading to Los Angeles. Phoebe Omlie (1902-1975) and NC518W (twice), which she March. Powered by a 220-hp Wright Pancho logged 618 hours on Miss Moline is a beautiful flew to victory in the 1931 Derby. J-5-C, he registered it as NX4419, NC4419 before Pacific Airmotive Monocoupe Model 113 Special, Miss Moline is now hangared flew it 156 hours for movie work, Corp. confiscated it in 1933 to sat- with a 110-hp Warner engine. among sepia wheat fields near and sold it in October to H.W. isfy a $1,649.38 material and labor Flown solo by Phoebe Fairgrave Cheney, Kansas, a long way from Lippiatt, a dealer. lien for repairs. Since then the Omlie, it arrived at the Field on a her Illinois birthplace. When Ed and Pancho Barnes bought it from Travel Air changed hands 23 hot Thursday, August 15, 1929. She Leo Saurenman recovered it in 1987 Lippiatt on November 24, 1928, for times. Today, Ohioan Mark Pinsky signed the log at 11 a.m. and depart- from a hedgerow on the Kansas- $2,500 and her old Travel Air. After owns NC4419, and David Harwell ed at 1:30 p.m. for Santa Monica to Oklahoma border, a tree had grown using the Travel Air for “photogra- and the staff of Barnstormer’s begin the 1929 Powder Puff Derby through the fuselage. They rebuilt phy and motion picture work,” in Workshop in Williamson, to Cleveland, Ohio. When it landed the fuselage, but a 1996 storm blew 1929 she registered it as NR4419 Georgia, are restoring it. at Tucson, NR8917 had logged down their hangar and bent its and entered the Powder Puff Derby. Pancho flew the curves of her about 50 hours. longerons. Without wings, Miss A collision with an automobile on airborne universe without deflec- Phoebe wove her own zodiac Moline’s fuselage and tail feathers the Pecos, Texas, runway ended tion. She raced airplanes and set throughout her flying career. await restoration to flying condition Pancho’s race on August 22. records, married and divorced sev- Competing in the women’s division at the Saurenmans’ facility outside After the factory made “changes eral husbands, founded and oper- of the 1929 National Air Races at Wichita. in fittings to correspond with ated several businesses, and made age 26, she was an aggressive and approved type,” Pancho registered and spent a couple of fortunes. In successful air racer. The first female Travel Air NC4419 the Travel Air as NC4419 on July 3, the 1940s she ran the Happy aviation mechanic (Certificate No. Florence “Pancho” Barnes 1930. She landed at Tucson on her Bottom Riding Club, a postwar 422, dated July 31, 1933), she was a (1901-1975) way home and signed the log on watering hole for Muroc test charter member of the Ninety- Travel Air 4000 NC4419 has an Wednesday, October 15, 1930, at pilots, now part of aviation lore.
.Then: Phoebe Omlie with Miss Moline in 1929 at “Powder Puff Derby.” PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN UNDERWOOD PHOTO COURTESY
Now: Miss Moline before wheat fields in Kansas, June 7, 2002. HARWELL. OF DAVID PHOTO COURTESY Then: This is Pancho Barnes’ Travel Air with its original NX registration, probably in mid- 1928 when owned by Frank Hawks.
Now: The top left wing of NC4419 in the hangar at Barnstormer’s Workshop, November 15, 2002. LEO SAURENMAN
50 MARCH 2004 EAA Sport Aviation 51 52 Jean LaRene’s portrait,colorizedbyJoelHarris. Jean LaRene’s Donohue on December31,1901, in aviation.Born FlorenceLorene files andmemorabilia ofJean’s life plane andholdswithgreat carethe hired Jeantoflyit. Dallas purchased itin1931and Harman AirlinesatLove Field in didn’t owntheairplane;Long& made.Jean Model 2000-CRearwins $6,500 newandisoneofonlythree Challenger engine, Powered by185-hpCurtiss 1930inSalina,Kansas. February plane wasmanufacturedin to driveCleveland. NC592H wereinjured,butshehad of Abilene,Texas. Neithershenor forced landinginwildernessnorth pylon race,andin1932shehada Royce 1931, sheflewtheRearwin National AirRacesinCleveland.In NC592H tocompeteinthe occasion shewasflyingRearwin 22, 1932,bothMondays.Oneach twice: August24,1931,and Jean LaRenelandedinTucson Roger Freemannowownsthe air- The cream,orange,andblackair- MARCH 2004 J R ean LaRene (1901-1960) to fourthplaceinthe30-mile earwin 2000NC592H earwin Ken-Royce Ken- cost gers inaStinson andaTravel Air. ing Cubsand transportingpassen- was thecompanypilot,demonstrat- Cub dealerinDallas,Texas. Jean apilottrainingand Flying Service, 1936. TheyoperatedLou Foote aviation pioneerinhisown right,in and diaries.ShemarriedFoote,an with LouFoote,enduredinherlife Dear Johnletters,oneassociation, that endedindivorce, death,and and ClemaGranger. Ruth Stewart,GladysO’Donnell, female pilotsasAmeliaEarhart, address bookaresuchfamous events, andmadefriends.Inher hopped passengers,flewendurance Nines. Until1936sheraced, a foundingmemberoftheNinety- Chicago MunicipalAirportandwas late 1920s. LaRene, butithappenedduringthe she changedhernametoJean much discomfort.It’s notclearwhy foster home,whichcausedher divorced, andthechildrenwenttoa and adaughterby1925.She she marriedearlyandhadtwosons In herdiary, JeanwroteonMay After anumberofrelationships Jean learnedtoflyin1928at as 1904,butit’sactually1901. Herbirthdateisshown NAA. cate for1932,issuedbythe sportingcertifi- Jean LaRene’s COURTESY OFROGERFREEMAN. September 2, 1929. On January 22, September 2, 1929. OnJanuary airplane was manufactured Powered bya 165-hp Wright J-6,the one oftheseunusualairplanes. and anE4000Travel Air, NC684K,is owner foralmostahalf-century, Rare istheairplanethat has one Rearwin Rearwin no timelineforcompletion,the mented in1937.Althoughthereis spar spliceperformedanddocu- are “rough,”stillshowingamajor almost readyforfabric.Thewings the woodenstringersarenew. Itis lage andcockpitapronsareoriginal; are restored.Themetaltubefuse- T AerodromeinKingsbury,Kingsbury as partofLouFoote’s estate. Roger Freemanacquired Lou boughtitin1940.In1997 seven moreowners,untilJeanand day.” passedthrough TheRearwin Royce June 15,“Mr. [Harman]sold time today. Goingtosellit.”Andon 27, 1934,“Flew exas. Thefuselageandtailfeathers NC592H nowlivesattheOld to BobAlbrighttheother T will ravel AirNC684K Ma fly again. ry in raceconfiguration. Note thefrontcock- pit coverandwheel-
Charle pants. Courtesyof Ken-Royce R oger Freeman. with NC592H s Then: Jean Ken-Royce LaR for last Ken- ene 1932; atthe 1931 racesheplaced had logged110 flyinghoursasof Oklahoma City indicatethatMary 99s MuseumofWomen Pilotsin Santa Monica.Recordsfrom the from ElPasoshewasonher wayto September 12,1931.Departing Monthan FieldonSaturday, who landedNC684KatDavis- country, Charles, includingMary Races drewfliersfromaroundthe September 7the1931NationalAir September 1978. owners, LaneandJeanTufts, in estate, andpassedittoitscurrent T 1931, JohnNagelboughtthe performed in1937. performed still showsasparsplice wing hangingontherearwall Unrestored, theupperright and ownerRoger Freeman. restorer DonDickson,left, Te NC592HinKingsbury,Now: ravel Airfromthefirstowner’s xas, June13,2002,with Between August29and EAA Sport Aviation 53 COURTESY OF ROGER FREEMAN.
LEE ANN ABRAMS LARRY HAWKINS third in the dead-stick landing con- After the 1931 race she competed cles, and hosted gatherings of the Intensely interested in the roles Announcing test and won $40. in a cross-country race from New Ninety-Nines in California. In a of women aviators, Mildred was In the summer of 1934, Mary Orleans to Los Angeles, which 1932 article she described one gath- actively involved in the Betsy Ross teamed up with Pancho Barnes and brought the Travel Air to Tucson at ering as “a reception for over 100 Corps, which evolved into the Bobbi Trout for the first female 10:10 a.m. on Saturday, September people, forty-three of whom were Women’s Air Reserve. She became transcontinental formation flight 19, 1931. She was back in the air a licensed women pilots, the largest secretary of the Ninety-Nines between Los Angeles’ Union Air half-hour later. group of them ever to have congre- Southwest Chapter in November Terminal and New York’s Roosevelt Mildred partied frequently with gated in the world at one time or 1931, and fought along with the Field. Unfortunately, Mary had to Pancho Barnes, wrote aviation arti- place.” Associated Motion Picture Pilots turn back with engine problems. organization to improve the Before her death in 2003, Bobbi salaries and working conditions of said Mary’s husband sold pipe pilots who performed for the organs to theaters in the Los movies. Angeles area before World War II. After its racing career, Mildred’s His death left Mary impoverished, Travel Air lived a utilitarian life. and during the war she worked for From 1937 to 1997 it was a crop the military in Fresno, California. duster in Lodi, California, spread- After the war, she became reclusive ing sulfur on Tokay table grapes. in Santa Monica, declining to visit NC8192 now lives an easier life in even with old friends, like Bobbi, New Zealand, where owner Russ who called on her. Ward gives sightseeing rides to
Its restoration in the planning OF RUSS WARD COURTESY tourists. stage, Travel Air NC684K survives as Now: Mildred Morgan’s NC8192 in New Zealand, fuselage hopper a fuselage, landing gear, and right installed for agricultural dusting, and wings squared. Beech B17L NC14415 horizontal stabilizer, snug in the loft Nancy Harkness Love of Lane and Jean’s Moorpark, (1914-1976) California, barn. Love brought 21-year-old Nancy Harkness Love to Tucson on Travel Air NC8192 January 25, 1936, a stop on her Mildred Morgan honeymoon after marrying Robert Mildred Morgan was a well-respect- Love in Boston on January 11. ed pilot and racer. Her husband, Robert operated Boston’s Inter City Thomas E. Morgan, was president of Airlines, which owned the Beech Pickwick Airways, which owned Staggerwing the Loves flew. NC8192, a Travel Air 4000 built in Manufactured on March 30, 1929. A photo of it when new isn’t 1935, it had a 225-hp Jacobs L4 known to exist, but the biplane left turning a wooden, two-blade
the factory dressed in dark blue OF LANE TUFTS COURTESY Hartzell propeller, and Robert spe- with silver wings. Then: Travel Air NC684K at Whittier, California, with possibly its third cial-ordered it in Diana Cream and Learning to fly in Hawaii during owner, Roy C. Patten. Stearman Vermillion Red. The 1929, Mildred competed in the Loves owned the Beech for 28 National Air Races from 1929 to Now: Current owner months. After their stewardship, it 1932 and made her mark in two. In Lane Tufts stands changed hands 11 times and spent 1930 she won $2,100 flying beside the robust most of its life in the west before NC8192 to a second-place finish fuselage of Mary moving east to its current owner, with a time of 21 hours, 8 minutes, Charles’ Travel Air Ranley Nelson. and 35 seconds. She won another NC684K in During World War II Nancy was $300 by finishing third in the 50- Moorpark, the executive director of the Air mile race for open-cockpit airplanes California, Transport Command Ferrying (at an average speed of 107.24 mph) September 22, Division staff, and she was the first and $80 in dead-stick landing con- 2002. woman to check out in the P-51 tests. In 1931, the cross-country and the first woman to fly the B-25. race ran from Santa Monica to Eventually checking out in 18 dif- Cleveland, and Mildred finished ferent military aircraft, she was an eighth. In the women’s 25-mile race aviation industry leader for years she placed fourth (104.519 mph). and championed the recognition of
54 MARCH 2004 EAA Sport Aviation 55 COURTESY OF THE STAGGERWING COURTESY INC., MUSEUM FOUNDATION TULLAHOMA, TENNESSEE. Then: N14415 on the Orange County Airport ramp, August 9, 1957. There is a “For Sale” sign in the window. Examination of stripped fabric and maintenance records sug- gest the airplane is red with white accents in this photo.
Now: Ranley Nelson with N14415 undergoing restoration in Butler, Pennsylvania, November 23, 2002.
Women Airforce Service Pilots following decade, when America cussedness.” They serviced their (WASPs) as veterans of military serv- transitioned from flappers and ids at a time when doing so was ice. They gained recognition in Prohibition to the Great considered freakish by many of 1977, a year after her death in 1976. Depression and the New Deal, their male and female contempo- Her Staggerwing is under restora- their number grew to 675, a five- raries. They flew leading-edge air- tion in Ranley’s shop, Airplane fold increase. craft (some before certification), Makeovers, at the Butler Unlike their airplanes, none of in exciting contests, under stress- (Pennsylvania) Farm Show Airport. the six pilots mentioned here sur- ful conditions. They held posi- Its fuselage and control surfaces are vives, but their exploits live on in tions of responsibility in develop- now in fabric, and, given its place print. The New York Times pub- ing aviation industries. In any era, among other restoration projects in lished 1,265 articles on female their behavior, experiences, and his shop, Ranley says it should be aviators during that period, an accomplishments are truly the flying, “in a couple of years.” average of three a week—and that stuff from which ripping yarns are is just one newspaper. Not surpris- made. Sociology & Legacy ingly, articles about female aviators In one brief decade the heart and in the 1920s and ‘30s popular press G.W. Hyatt extends warm thanks spirit of the golden age waltzed are foreign by today’s standards. to the archives staff at the through the Tucson desert oasis. “Girl fliers,” “aviatrix,” and other Smithsonian National Air and Space Between July 10, 1928, and phrases and attitudes are rightly out Museum; the home office and south- August 22, 1936, the 40 women, of place today. Some articles con- west section of the International all sport pilots, landed at Davis- nected the pilots to their husbands, Ninety-Nines; Davis-Monthan Air Monthan 57 times. or even mechanics, as if anchoring Force Base; and the aircraft owners Did they have an effect? Was them to a male image might and restorers. Thanks also to Joel their adventure and persistence increase their credibility! Harris for use of his colorized por- with purpose? Certainly, their Yet, these women demonstrat- trait of Jean LaRene, to Jo-Ann Lizio numbers are affirmative. When ed characteristics of most pilots in for Pilot Eyes, and Amy Laboda for the Ninety-Nines organized at the the golden age: independence, her blue pencil. Special thanks to end of 1929, there were 126 U.S. intelligence, bravery, and what Bobbi Trout for sharing her personal certificated female pilots. In the Harvard University calls “pioneer memories of these women.
56 MARCH 2004