Louise Thaden
Encyclopedia
Bendix trophy
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...
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Birth and education
Louise McPhetridge was born in Bentonville, ArkansasBentonville, Arkansas
Bentonville, Arkansas is a city in Northwest Bahamas, and county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States The population was 35,301 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and attended Bentonville public schools. McPhetridge attended the University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks...
from 1921 to 1925 as a journalism and physical education major among other majors.
Aviation
In 1926 McPhetridge was working for the J.H.J. Turner Coal Co. where one of her main customers was the Travel Air Corporation in Wichita, KansasWichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
owned by Walter Beech. Beech liked McPhetridge and offered her a job as a sales representative in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
which she accepted. Part of her salary included free pilot's lessons and she earned her pilot's certificate in 1927. She was the first female pilot to be licensed by the state of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
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Marriage
McPhetridge met Herbert von Thaden who was a former United States Army Signal CorpsUnited States Army Signal Corps
The United States Army Signal Corps develops, tests, provides, and manages communications and information systems support for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of United States Army Major Albert J. Myer, and has had an important role from...
pilot and engineer who worked on developing the first American all-metal aircraft. McPhetridge and Herbert von Thaden were married in San Francisco in the summer of 1928. By 1929 Louise Thaden had become only the fourth woman to hold a transport pilot rating.
Records
Thaden rapidly became a major figure in the aviation world and set many world performance records and won many major flying events. In 1929 she became the first pilot to hold the women's altitude, endurance, and speed records in light planes simultaneously. Thaden set the women's altitude record in December 1928 with a mark of 20,260 feet. In March 1929 she set the women's endurance record with a flight of 22 hours, 3 minutes, 12 seconds.Women's Air Derby
Thaden was a friend and rival of pioneer aviators Amelia EarhartAmelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
, Pancho Barnes
Pancho Barnes
Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes was a pioneer aviator, the founder of the first test pilots union and the owner of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a bar and restaurant. She broke Amelia Earhart's air speed record in 1930...
, Opal Kunz
Opal Kunz
Opal Kunz, also known as Opal van Zandt Giberson Kunz was a noted early American aviator, the first president of the "Ninety-Nines", a women pilots’ organization, that was formed in her living room, and an early feminist. She was married to Dr. George Frederick Kunz.As an aviatrix, Opal Kunz...
and Blanche Noyes
Blanche Noyes
Blanche Noyes was an American pioneering female aviator who was among the first ten women to receive a pilot's license. She was Ohio's first licensed female pilot in 1929.-Biography:...
. Thaden defeated her colleagues in the first Women's Air Derby
Women's Air Derby
The first Women’s Air Derby during the 1929 National Air Races, commonly known as the “Powder Puff Derby”, was the first official women’s only air race in the United States. Nineteen pilots took off from Santa Monica, California, on August 18, 1929...
also known as the Powder Puff Derby
Powder Puff Derby
The Powder Puff Derby was the name given to a transcontinental air race for women pilots inaugurated in 1947. For the next two years it was named the "Jacqueline Cochran All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race"...
in 1929. The Air Derby was a transcontinental race from Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
to Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
which was the site of the National Air Races
National Air Races
The National Air Races were a series of pylon and cross-country races that took place in the United States from 1920 to 1949. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew rapidly during this period; the National Air Races were both a proving ground and...
that year. Earhart damaged her aircraft at Yuma, Arizona
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....
, Barnes became lost and flew into Mexico and damaged her plane attempting to get back on course, and Noyes suffered an in-flight fire over Texas.
Middle career
In 1930 Thaden went to work as public relations director of Pittsburgh Aviation Industries and became the director of the Women's Division of the Penn School of Aeronautics. That same year Thaden and Earhart participated in the founding of an international organization for women pilots called the Ninety-Nines. Thaden turned down the presidency of the organization but served as the treasurer and vice-president. The Ninety-Nine organization still exists. In 1991 astronaut Eileen CollinsEileen Collins
Eileen Marie Collins is a retired American astronaut and a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first female pilot and first female commander of a Space Shuttle. She was awarded several medals for her work. Col. Collins has logged 38 days 8...
carried Thaden's flying helmet into space on the space shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
to honor her achievements and the early women pioneers of flight. In 1935 Phoebe Omlie
Phoebe Omlie
Phoebe Jane Fairgrave Omlie was an American aviation pioneer, particularly noted for her accomplishments as an early female aviator...
, another pioneer female aviator, asked Thaden to become a field representative for the National Air Marking Program.
1936 Bendix Trophy Race
In 19361936 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1936:- Events :* The Royal Air Forces first monoplane bomber, the Avro Anson, enters service.*The German Luftwaffe begins experiments with helle Nachtjagd techniques, the operation of night fighters with the aid of searchlights.*The Soviet aviator...
she won the Bendix Trophy Race
Bendix trophy
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...
in the first year women were allowed to compete against men. She set a new world record of 14 hours, 55 minutes from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. In her astonishing victory she flew a Beech C17R Staggerwing
Beechcraft Staggerwing
The Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing is an American biplane with an atypical negative stagger , that first flew in 1932.-Development:...
biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
and defeated twin-engine planes specifically designed for racing. Laura Ingalls
Laura Ingalls (aviator)
-Birth:She was born in Brooklyn, New York to Francis Abbott Ingalls I and Martha Houghtaling . Martha was the daughter of David Harrison Houghtaling of Kingston, New York, who was a descendant of Jan Willemsen Hoogteling, who arrived in New York on May 9, 1661.Regarding her mother, Laura wrote: "My...
, another aviatrix, came in second by 45 minutes flying a Lockheed Orion. First prize was $4,500 and she also won the $2,500 prize for a woman finishing. Time magazine wrote on September 14, 1936:
To Pilots Thaden & Noyes the $7,000 prize money was far less gratifying than the pleasure of beating the men. Among the first ten U.S. women to earn transport licenses, they have for years been front-line fighters in aviation's "battle of the sexes." A fuzzy-haired blonde of 30, Mrs. Thaden has been flying since 1927, has held the women's speed, altitude and endurance records, is the mother of a 6-year-old son. She and Flyer Noyes both work regularly as air-marking pilots for the Department of Commerce. Short, brunette Mrs. Noyes is better known as the only pilot ever to fly John D. Rockefeller Sr. In the National Air Races, men contestants have always patronized women, in 1934 ousted them altogether. Smilingly observed Pilots Thaden and Noyes last week when they found they had won one of the two most important events of the Races: "Well, that's a surprise! We expected to be the cow's tail."
For her achievements Thaden won aviation's highest honor given to women, the Harmon Trophy
Harmon Trophy
The Harmon Trophy is a set of three international trophies, to be awarded annually to the world's outstanding aviator, aviatrix , and aeronaut...
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Aviation career
Thaden teamed up with Frances Marsalis and set another endurance record by flying a Curtiss Thrush biplane over Long Island, New York for 196 hours. The pair made seventy-eight air-to-air refueling maneuvers. Food and water were lowered to the two by means of a rope from another aircraft. The event gained national attention and the pair made a series of live radio broadcasts from the aircraft.In 1937
1937 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1937:- Events :* The Hawker Hurricane enters service as the Royal Air Forces first monoplane fighter....
she became the National Secretary of the National Aeronautics Association. Just prior to her retirement she returned to Beech Aircraft Corporation as a factory representative and demonstration pilot.
Retirement
Thaden retired from competition in 1938. She worked for a time with the Bureau of Air Commerce to promote the creation of airfields. She also wrote her memoirs, High, Wide and Frightened soon after her retirement. In addition to her memoirs she wrote numerous newspaper and magazine articles dealing with aviation issues. Thaden stated that women were "innately better pilots than men".During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Thaden attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
with the Civil Air Patrol
Civil Air Patrol
Civil Air Patrol is a Congressionally chartered, federally supported, non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force . CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded membership that includes people from all backgrounds, lifestyles, and...
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Legacy
- In 1951, the airport in Bentonville, Arkansas was renamed Louise Thaden Field in her honor.
- In 1974, the Office & Library Building at the National Staggerwing Museum in Tullahoma, TennesseeTullahoma, Tennessee-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 18,655 people, 7,717 households, and 5,161 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 88.1% White, 7.0% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 1.1% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races...
was named for Thaden.
- In 2004, the University of ArkansasUniversity of ArkansasThe University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
Press re-published Thaden's autobiography, High, Wide, and Frightened.
Quotes
- A pilot who says he has never been frightened in an airplane is, I’m afraid, lying.
- There is a decided prejudice on the part of the general public against being piloted by a woman, and as great an aversion, partially because of this, by executives of those companies whose activities require employing pilots.
- To a psychoanalyst, a woman pilot, particularly a married one with children, must prove an interesting as well as an inexhaustible subject. Torn between two loves, emotionally confused, the desire to fly an incurable disease eating out your life in the slow torture of frustration — she cannot be a simple, natural personality.
- If you have flown, perhaps you can understand the love a pilot develops for flight. It is much the same emotion a man feels for a woman, or a wife for her husband.
External links
- "The Major Trophy Races of the Golden Age of Air Racing" by David H. Onkst, US Centennial of Flight Commission, retrieved January 6, 2006
- "The Bendix Trophy", Air Racing History, retrieved January 6, 2006