Iris Louise McPhetridge Thaden was an American aviation pioneer, holder of numerous aviation records, and the first woman to win the Bendix trophy, alongside Blanche Noyes. She was inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Historical Society's Hall of Fame in 1980.
Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a previously estimated time.
Blanche Noyes was an American pioneering female aviator who was among the first ten women to receive a transport pilot's license. In 1929, she became Ohio's first licensed female pilot.
The Bendix Trophy is a U.S. aeronautical racing trophy. The transcontinental, point-to-point race, sponsored by industrialist Vincent Bendix founder of Bendix Corporation, began in 1931 as part of the National Air Races. Initial prize money for the winners was $15,000. The last Bendix Trophy Race was flown in 1962.
Ruth Rowland Nichols was an American aviation pioneer. She is the only woman yet to hold simultaneous world records for speed, altitude, and distance for a female pilot.
Tail Spin is a 1939 aviation film. The screenplay was written by Frank Wead and directed by Roy Del Ruth. It was based on the book, "Women with Wings: A novel of the modern day aviatrix", authored by Genevieve Haugen, who was also an advisor and stunt pilot in the film. Tail Spin starred Alice Faye, Constance Bennett, Nancy Kelly, Joan Davis, Charles Farrell and Jane Wyman.
Janet Christine Dietrich was an American pilot and one of the Mercury 13 who underwent the same NASA testing in the early 1960s as the Mercury 7 astronauts.
The Women's Air Derby was the first official women-only air race in the United States, taking place during the 1929 National Air Races. Humorist Will Rogers referred to it as the Powder Puff Derby, the name by which the race is most commonly known. Nineteen pilots took off from Clover Field, Santa Monica, California on August 18, 1929. Marvel Crosson died in a crash apparently caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, but fifteen completed the race in Cleveland, Ohio, nine days later.
Opal Kunz was an early American aviator, the chief organizer of the Betsy Ross Air Corps, and a charter member of the Ninety-Nines organization of women pilots. In 1930, she became the first woman pilot to race with men in an open competition. She made many public appearances to urge more women to take up flying.
Marion Dietrich (1926–1974) was an American pilot and one of the Mercury 13 who underwent the same NASA testing in the early 1960s as the Mercury 7 astronauts.
Mary Wallace Funk is an American aviator, commercial astronaut, and Goodwill Ambassador. She was the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, the first female civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and the first female Federal Aviation Agency inspector, as well as one of the Mercury 13.
Women in the Wind is a 1939 film directed by John Farrow and starring Kay Francis, William Gargan and Victor Jory. The plot concerns women pilots competing in the so-called "Powder Puff Derby", an annual transcontinental air race solely for women.
Mary Haizlip (1910-1997) was an American aviator who was the second woman in the United States to qualify for a commercial pilot's license.
Myrtle "Kay" Thompson Cagle was an American pilot and one of the Mercury 13 female astronauts group. She worked as a flight instructor and wrote about aviation in North Carolina.
Rhea Hurrle Woltman was an American pilot and one of the Mercury 13.
Mary Rawlinson Creason was an American aviator. She was the first woman pilot to work for the Government of Michigan. She was recognized by the federal government for her aviation curriculum for school and for her work as an aviator. Well into her 90s, she continued to fly, despite having a pacemaker.
Selma Kantor Cronan was an American aviator. She was part of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II, and after the war, she continued to fly. She was especially known for competing in air races such as the Powder Puff Derby.
Edith Magalis Foltz Stearns Grissom was the first female transport pilot in Oregon, the fifth female transport pilot in the United States, and the first female state governor of the National Aeronautic Association. For her work as a transport pilot in World War II, she received the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom. By the time she died, she had logged over 5,000 hours of flying time.
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen is an American aviator and a member of Mercury 13. Jessen worked throughout her career as a flight instructor, demonstration pilot, advisor to the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) and president of the Ninety-Nines. Jessen has also written about flying and the history of women in flight. Together with Wally Funk, Jessen is one of the last two surviving members of Mercury 13.
Martha Anne Woodrum Zillhardt (1916–2002) was an American aviator. She ran a successful flight school and served as the first woman president of the Virginia Aviation Trade Council.
