Women Aloft (Epic of Flight S.)

184 Pages·1982·19.156 MB·English

by  Valerie Moolman

WOMEN
ALOFT
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ENDPAPER
AradiantAmelia Earhartwavestoacheeringthrongofadmirersat
Oakland MunicipalAirportin 1935, as she completesthe firstsolo
flight from Hawaii to the American mainland. Perhaps the most
accomplished of all early women pilots, she was feted frequently
with welcomes like this one, depicted in this specially commis-
sioned gouache rendering by distinguished artist Paul Lengelle.
WOMEN
ALOFT
OtherPublications:
THECIVILWAR
PLANETEARTH
COLLECTOR'SLIBRARYOFTHECIVILWAR
LIBRARYOFHEALTH
CLASSICSOFTHEOLDWEST
THEGOODCOOK
THESEAFARERS
THEENCYCLOPEDIAOFCOLLECTIBLES
THEGREATCITIES
WORLDWAR
II
HOMEREPAIRANDIMPROVEMENT
THEWORLD'SWILDPLACES
THETIME-LIFELIBRARYOFBOATING
HUMANBEHAVIOR
THEARTOFSEWING
THEOLDWEST
THEEMERGENCEOFMAN
THEAMERICANWILDERNESS
THETIME-LIFEENCYCLOPEDIAOFGARDENING
LIFELIBRARYOFPHOTOGRAPHY
THISFABULOUSCENTURY
FOODSOFTHEWORLD
TIME-LIFELIBRARYOFAMERICA
TIME-LIFELIBRARYOFART
GREATAGESOFMAN
LIFESCIENCELIBRARY
THELIFEHISTORYOFTHEUNITEDSTATES
TIMEREADINGPROGRAM
LIFENATURELIBRARY
LIFEWORLDLIBRARY
FAMILYLIBRARY:
HOWTHINGSWORKINYOURHOME
THETIME-UFEBOOKOFTHEFAMILYCAR
THETIME-UFEFAMILYLEGALGUIDE
THETIME-UFEBOOKOFFAMILYFINANCE
Thisvolumeisoneofaseriesthattracestheadventureand
scienceofaviation,fromtheearliestmannedballoonascension
throughtheeraofjetflight.
THE EPIC OF FLIGHT
WOMEN
ALOFT
by Valerie Moolman
AND THE EDITORS OF TIME-LIFE BOOKS
TIME-LIFE BOOKS, ALEXANDRIA. VIRGINIA
1 )
Time-LifeBooksInc. THEAUTHOR ForinformationaboutanyTime-Lifebook,pleasewrite:
isawhollyownedsubsidiaryof Valerie Moolman, a New York-based writer, ReaderInformation
TIMEINCORPORATED is the author of numerous Books and docu- T5i4m1e-NLoirftehBFoaoirkbsanksCourt
FOUNDER: HenryR. Luce1898-1967 mentary film scripts. A former text editor at Chicago,Illinois6061
Time-Life Books, shealsowroteTheRoadto
PEECrdxheieatscioiurdrt-emiinavnten-:CVJoh.iifceRtefih:PcerhHBeaeosrnaidrrdydeMn:uAtnnRaraCtolloipflhfeoPrG.drDJuanvGwiradlusdmon Kitty Hawk forthis series. Nas©tnooy1rp9aea8glree1tcaotTfrniodmtnheiri-cseLtobirriofeeomvekaBlcomhdoaaeknvysiiccbIeaenslc.romeAreplaslrynorssidtg,uehctmisesn,dcrleiwusnidetairhnvnogeyudit.fnopfrroimromroarwtribioytnten
EGdriotourpiaVliDcierePcrteosri:deRnatl.pBhoGorkas:veJsoanD Manley THECONSULTANTforWomenAloft permissionfromthepublisher,exceptthatbriefpassagesmay
Claudia M. Oakes was appointed Assistant bequotedforreviews.
TIME-LIFEBOOKSINC. Curator of Aeronautics at the National Air SPreicnotneddiPnriUn.tSi.nAg..Revised1983.
EDITOR:GeorgeConstable aSnhde iSsptahceeauMtuhsoeruomf,thWeasbhoionkgtUonni,teidn S1t9a7t5e.s SPcubhloioslhaedndsilmiubrlatrayndeiosutsrliybuitnioCnabnyadSai.lverBurdett
EDxireeccutroiruoefEDdeitsoirg:n:GeLooruigseKDlaeniinels Women in Aviation through World WarI. Company,Morristown,NewJersey.
BRoobaerrdtoGf.EdMiatsoorsn,DEallleenM.PhiBlrliopwsn,.GeMrarrytiSncMharnenm,p, TIME-LIFEisatrademarkofTimeIncorporatedU.S.A.
GeraldSimons,RosalindStubenberg,KitvanTulleken THECONSULTANTSforTheEpicofFlight LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationData
DirectorofAdministration:DavidL. Harrison Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith was Research Moolman,Valerie.
DirectorofResearch:CarolynL. Sackett Women
DirectorofPhotography:JohnConradWeiser FellowattheScienceMuseum, London, and aloft.
(Epicofflight)
PRESIDENT:ReginaldK. BrackJr. a Keeper-Emeritus ofthe Victoria andAlbert Bibliography:p.
ExecutiveVicePresident:JohnStevenMaxwell Museum, London. He wrote oredited some Includesindex.
VicePresidents:GeorgeArtandi,StephenL. Bair, 20booksand numerousarticleson aeronau- 1.Womeninaeronautics.2.Womenairpilots.
PBeeatterriGc.eTB.amDoebsi,e.NiCchhroilsatsopBheenrtoTn.,LJinoehnn,LJ.aCmaensoLv.a,Mercer, tical history. In 1978 he was the first Lind- TI.LT5im5e3-.LMif7e8Books.6II2.9Ti.t1le3.'I0II8.8S0e4ri2es. 80-29475
PaulR.Stewart bergh Professor of Aerospace History at the ISBN0-8094-3287-0
NationalAirand Space Museum, Smithsoni- ISBN0-8094-3288-9(lib. bdg.)
THEEPICOFFLIGHT an Institution, Washington. ISBN0-8094-3289-7(retailed.
EDITOR:JimHicks
Designer:DonaldS. Komai Dr. Hidemasa Kimura, honoraryprofessorat
ChiefResearcher:LoisGilman Nippon University, Tokyo, is the author of
EditorialStaffforWomenAloft numerous books on the history of aviation
PictureEditor:CarolF. Mickey andisawidely known authorityon aeronau-
TextEditors RichardW. Murphy,RussellB.AdamsJr., tical engineering and aircraft design. One
DavidS.Thomson plane that he designed established a world
StaffWriters:ThomasA. Lewis,GlennMartinMcNatt, distance record in 1938.
WilliamWorsley
Researchers:SaraMarkandCarolEnquistBeall(principals),
FerolineBurrage
ACsospisytaCnotoDredsiniagtnoerr:VEalinzaWb.etChaGmreayham Tinicmleu-dLiinfgeaBRoookcskIVnc.RooflflerEsraasweiridees.raFnogresuobfsfcirnieptrieocnoridnifnogrsm,a-
ArtAssistant AnneK. DuVivier tion, call 1-800-621-7026orwrite Time-Life Music, P.O. Box
PictureCoordinators RebeccaC.Christoffersen, C-32068, Richmond, Virginia 23261-2068.
BetsyDonahue
EditorialAssistant:StaffordL. Battle
SpecialContributors JimDelay(text); KarenKinney
(research)
EditorialOperations
Design:ArnoldC. Holeywell(assistantdirector);
AnneB.Landry(artcoordinator);JamesJ.Cox
(qualitycontrol)
Research JaneEdwin(assistantdirector).LouiseD. Forstall
CopyRoom:SusanGallowayGoldberg(director),
CeliaBeattie
Production:FelicianoMadrid(director),GordonE.Buck,
PeterInchauteguiz
Correspondents:ElisabethKraemer(Bonn);Margot
Hapgood,DorothyBacon,LesleyColeman (London);Susan
Jonas,LucyT.Voulgaris(NewYork);MariaVincenzaAloisi.
JosephineduBrusle(Paris);AnnNatanson(Rome). Valuable
assistancewasprovidedby: NakanoriTashiro,AsiaEditor,
Tokyo Theeditorsalsothank: MehmetAliKislali(Ankara);
HelgaKohl(Bonn);EnidFarmer(Boston);Beth
Coconougher(FortLauderdale):JudyAspinall,KarinB.
Pearce(London);CherylCrooks(LosAngeles);JohnDunn
(Melbourne);FelixRosenthal(Moscow);CarolynT.Chubet,
MiriamHsia,ChristinaLieberman,GretchenWessels
(NewYork);M.T Hirschkoff(Paris);MimiMurphy
(Rome);JanetZich (SanFrancisco);PeterAllen(Sydney);
DonShapiro(Taipei);AkioFujii,ShinkichiNatori,Kazuo
Ohyauchi(Tokyo).
CONTENTS
1 The first hurdle: proving
they were fit to fly 9
2 Challenging a deadly ocean 43
3 Farther, faster, higher! 75
4 The woman who wanted
"just one more good flight" 109
Women
5 at war 135
Acknowledgments 172
Bibliography 172
Picture credits 173
Index 174