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"All those who see me, and all who believe in me, share in the freedom I feel when I fly." Aviation Chronology: Always under construction Birthdates of pilots/groundcrew, etc. are not given individual entries, but listed in the first entry for each individual. Grey boxes indicate world events, not specific to pilots. See the bibliography for the books, identified by their numbers in the Bibliography column. Name Date(s) Notes Bibliography Therese Peltier July 8, 1908 France A sculptor and protege of French aviator Leon Delagrange. "Almost certainly flew an airplane alone, but never received a pilot's license." Apparently flew a Farman biplane. On this date, she is the passenger with Leon Delagrange when he breaks the record for duration in a flight: 30 minutes 27 seconds. www.earlyaviators.com/edelagra.htm Le-1 Orville Wright Aug- Sep 1908 Le Mans, France Orville Wright demonstrates the Wright biplane in front of French officials in several flights. Le-1 . September 1908 France The press reports that sculptor and pilot Leon Delagrange is head of a new commercial organization, Compagnie d'Aviation, to "encourage aviation technology and promote exhibition flights." He also presents 1,000 francs to the French National Aerial League as a prize for the first woman aviator to fly one kilometer, operating the machine on her own, with or without a passenger. Le-1 . July 25, 1909 France French pilot Louis Blériot flew across the Ebglish Channel from Calis to Dover, "a fight that fired imaginations everywhere and changed the way people viewed the world." Among others, German Melli Beese was inspired to learn to fly by this exploit. Le-1 Raymonde de Laroche October 22, 1909 Chalons, France born August 22, 1886 in Paris Laroche pilots a heavier-than-air machine into the air alone, and is "generally recognized as the first woman to do so." She pilots a Voisin. She will be issued her license five months from now. Le-1 Marie Marvingt October 26, 1909 Marvingt, who earned her balloonist's license around 1901 (#145) makes a balloon trip, in the L'Etoile Filante" (Shooting Star) from Nancy across the North Sea to England. Le-1 1910 1910 1910 1910 Therese Peltier January 4, 1910 French. Leon Delagrange is killed in an accident with his monoplane at Pau, while trying to win the Michelin cup. His protege Therese Peltier decides to give up flying. Le-1 Raymonde de Laroche January 4, 1910 French. Laroche crash-lands during training (as many student pilots did.) She receives a broken collarbone and bruises. Le-1 Raymonde de Laroche February 10, 1910 French. Laroche participates in the Heliopolis air meet in Egypt. 12 aviators compete, with five monoplanes and seven biplanes. On this day, Laroche flies 20 kilometers. Le-1 Raymonde de Laroche March 8, 1910 French. Laroche is the first woman to take the test and receive a pilot's license, #36. This is awarded by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. Le-1 Harriet Quimby April, 1911 American. Born May 11, 1875 in Coldwater, Michigan. Harriet Quimby enrolls in the Moisant Aviation School, newly opened at Hempstead, Long Island.. Le-1 Helene Dutrieu April 9, 1910 Belgian. Helene Dutrieu pilots a plane designed by Roger Sommer into the air, and flies for 20 minutes. Le-1 Hilda Hewlett July 1910 English. Born 1864 into a wealthy family, Hilda Herbert, marries Maurice Henry Hewlett in 1888. Givng birth to two children, meanwhile keeping up an avid sportslife - both she and her husband are bicycling enthusiasts, and when the motor car comes into fashion, she is the passenger and mechanic for Miss Hind, the only woman entered in the Land's End to John O'Groats Trial, in a Singer Tricar. Hewlett had financed the training for engineer Gustave Blondeau to learn to fly. They purchase a Farman, name it the Blue Bird, take it to England, and open up the first flying school in England, the Hewlett-Blondeau School. "From this unlikely location, three quarters of British aviation would emerge." Le-1 Mrs. Gavin July 1910 English. Mrs. Gavin attends the Charles Lane Gliding School at Brooklands. The biplane glider slides down a rail in order to get airborne. Le-1 Edith Maud Cook July 10, 1910 English. A show-woman who appeared under several names - depending on which company she was working for - such as Elsa Spencer, Viola Fleet, Viola Spencer-Kavanagh, Viola Spencer and Viola Kavagnag, she died on this day of injuries received five days earlier in a failed parachute jump. Le-1 Lydia Zvereva August 8, 1910 Russian. Zvereva receives license #31. Le-1 Helene Dutrieu August 23, 1910 Belgian. Dutrieu takes her test for her pilot's license test, but because of red tape will not receive pilot's license, #27 on November 25. Le-1 Marthe Niel August 29, 1910 French. Born on December 29, 1880 in Pierpoint, Brittany. Niel receives a pilot's license, #226. she passed her tests while flying a Koechlin airplane (built by Jean Paul Koechlin.) Le-1 Blanche Stuart Scott September 2 or 6, 1910 American Born April 8, 1891 in Rochester, New York The daugfhter of a wealthy veterinarian, Scott grew up as a "fresh brat" as she termed herself. Scott "probably" makes her first flight on this day, at Hammondsport, New York. There are no observers for her to claim the record offically as the first American woman in the air. Le-1 Bessica Raiche September 16, 1910 American Bessica Raiche's new airplane is wheeled out, and she makes numerous short flights - only going straight, for short distances, before the plane crashes. Le-1 Bessica Raiche September 26, 1910 American Born 1896, Bessica Faith Medlar Bessica Raiche, nee Medlar, trains at Mineola, Long Island, a popular place, and there are many witnesses to her flight. Le-1 Bessica Raiche October 13, 1910 American Bessica Raiche is presented with a gold medal by Hudson Maxim of the Aeronautical Society of New York for being the first American woman to solo. Le-1 Marie Marvingt November 8, 1910 French. Marving receives a pilot's license, #281. Le-1 Helene Dutrieu November 25, 1910 Belgian. Dutrieu, who had taken her test for a pilot's license on August 23, is awarded pilot's license, #27 on this day. Le-1 Marie Marvingt November 27, 1910 French. Marvingt makes a flight of 42 kilometers in 53 minutes, at that time a record for women. Le-1 Lilian Bland December, 1910 Irish. Lilian Bland, "a member of one of Belfast's most prominent familiues," writes an article for the December issue of Flight, describing how she builds a glider, that will evolve into an airplane. When completed, she will call it the Mayfly. Le-1 Jeanne Herveaux December 7, 1910 French. Born December 10, 1885 Herveaux receives a pilot's license, #318. Le-1 Melli Beese December 10, 1910 German. Born Amélie Hedwig Beese, September 13, 1886. On this day, Melli and her instructor, Norwegian Robert Thelen, make a flight. Due to mechanical failure the plane crashes, Melli breaks her foot. Her sister, Hertha von Grienberger, witnesses the accident and begs her sister to give up her dream of flying. Her father dies shortly afterwards of a heart attack. Beese is filled with grief, but due to an inheritance, now has the money to learn how to fly. However, she will have difficulty finding a new instructor, as Thelen will no longer teach her. Le-1 Helene Dutrieu December 22, 1910 Belgian. Helene Dutrieu tries to win the "recently established" Coupe Femina. She takes off from Etampes in the mid-afternoon, and flies in circles for 60.8 kilometers, flown in one hour and nine minutes. Le-1 1911 1911 1911 1911 Helene Dutrieu 1911 Dutrieu competes against men and wins the King of Italy Cup. Le-1 Mrs. Gavin May 20, 1911 English. The New York Evening World publishes an article stating that Mrs. Gavin - an excellent golfer - was the first English woman to fly - but this claim has been disputed. Le-1 Jeanne Herveaux May 28 - June 8, 1911 French. Herveaux signs a contract with La Societe de l'Ecole Nationale d'Aviation in Lyons. She is to appear daily from May 28 - June 8, flying two exhibitions a day - one in the morning and one at night. Le-1 Blanche Stuart Scott June 11, 1910 American Scott at this point is flying with Thomas S. Baldwin at Mineola, Long Island. She had trained on a Curtiss pusher, now she was learning on a faster plane. Le-1 Marie-Louise Martin Driancourt June 15, 1911 French. Driancourt receives a pilot's license, #525. Le-1 Mathilde Moisant July 1, 1911 French-Canadian descent. Mathilde begins training to become a pilot. Le-1 Melli Beese July 27, 1911 German. Born Amélie Hedwig Beese, September 13, 1886. Melli Beese, taking lessons at Johannisthal, in Berlin, flies for the first time alone. Le-1 Harriet Quimby July 31, 1911 American. Born May 11, 1875 in Coldwater, Michigan. The New York Evening Mail reports that "Miss Quimby Outdoes Rival in Flying Dips." Le-1 Harriet Quimby August 2, 1911 American. Born May 11, 1875 in Coldwater, Michigan. Quimby receives pilot's license, #37, having tested in front of the Aero Club of America representatives George F. Campbell-Wood and Baron Ladilad D'Orcy. She is the first American woman to earn her pilot's license. Note, the text of Le-1 says she received her license on August 1, the index says August 2. Le-1 Jeanne Herveaux August 11, 1911 French. Herveaux flies her Bleriot, with a Gnome motor, for 1 hr 45 min, 101 kilometers at 600 meters altitude, in an attempt to win the Coupe Femina. However, Dutrieu wins the prize with her feats. Le-1 Mathilde Moisant August 14, 1911 French-Canadian descent. Moisant takes her pilot's license test in front of Baron Ladilas D'Orcy and William Bluet. Le-1 Mathilde Moisant August 17, 1911 French-Canadian descent. Born September 13, 1878, in either Manteno, IL or Earl Park, In Moisant receives pilot's license, #44, at the age of 33. She is the second American woman to earn a license, following her friend Harriet Quimby. (Her brother was John Moisant, who ran an aviation school before his death in a crash on December 31, 1910.) Le-1 Lydia Zvereva August 22, 1911 Russian. Born in 1890. Zvereva receives pilot's license, #31, from the Russian Aviation Flying School at Gatchina. The plane she flies is a Farman. Le-1 Hilda Hewlett August 18, 1911 English. On this day, Mrs. Hilda Hewlett takes the tests to earn her pilot's license. She will become the first Englishwoman to do so. She is 47 years old. She will teach flying at her school (founded in 1910) but when it is closed in 1912 for construction, she will not resume flying. However, she will run an airplane construction business called Omnia Works for many years (and many of their planes will fly during WWI), until retiring and moving to New Zealand. Le-1 Hilda Hewlett August 29, 1911 English. Hewlett receives pilot's license, #122. Le-1 Melli Beese September 13, 1911 German. Beese receives a pilot's license, #115. Le-1 Melli Beese September 26, 1911 German. Melli Beese competes with men at the Autumn Fly at Johannisthal. She is ostracized by the other, male pilots until her friend Charles Boutard flies with her, and then Alfred Pietschker. She sets a women's world record for endurance flying on this day - 2 hours and 9 minutes. Le-1 Melli Beese September 27, 1911 German. Melli Beese continues to compete in the Autumn Fly In. Le-1 Melli Beese September 28, 1911 German. Melli Beese continues to compete in the Autumn Fly In. However, the weather is bad this day, and Hellmuth Hirth announces that Beese will not fly, because "as chief pilot for Rumpler, he could not be responsible for the machine she had on loan." Beese believes this is just a ruse to prevent her from achieving first place in the endurance trials. [She would eventually end up in 5th place. Captain Paul Engelhard is killed in a crash during this meet.] Le-1 Eudocie V. Anatra October 3, 1911 Russian. Anatra receives license #54 from the Russia Aviation Flying School at Gatchina. She will open up a flying school in 1912, with the male flyer Naumov. One of their students will be Eugenie Shakhovskaya, who will complete her training in Germany. Le-1 Beatrice Deryck October 10, 1911 French. Deryck receives pilot's license, #652. Le-1 Bozena Láglerová October 10, 1911 Czech . Laglerova receives license #37 from the Austrian Aero Club. She was the first female student of Hans Grade, and had begun her training in the spring of 1911. Le-1 Bozena Láglerová October 19, 1911 Czech . Laglerova receives license #125 from the German Aero Club. Le-1 Bozena Láglerová October 22, 1911 Czech . Flying in Czechoslovakia, at Kladno-Krocehlavy, near Prague, she crashes, but the plane is repairable and she is only slightly injured. Le-1 Cheridah de Beauvoir Stocks November 7, 1911 English. Born in 1887 in Somerset Stocks receives pilot's license, #153, from the Royal Aro Club. She had trained at the Grahame-White school at Hendon. She learnned on a Farman biplane, and would later fly a Blériot monoplane. Le-1 Beatrice Deryck November 12, 1911 Indonesian national. Flew in a balloon on this day with Mme Gustave Goldschmidt.. Le-1 Lyubov Golanchikova December 29, 1911 Russian. Golanchikova receives license #56, flying a Farman biplane at Gatchina. Le-1 1912 1912 1912 1912 Bessica Raiche 1912 American Bessica and her husband have moved to Chicago. Bessica organizes the US's first pilot-instruction class exclusively for women. However, this class does not last very long, and later in the year the Raiches move to California, where Bessica takes up her medical practice (having a degree in medicine from Tufts Medical School). Le-1 Melli Beese January, 1912 German. Melli Beese opens a flying school, with Charles Boutard and Hermann Reichelt as partners. Financial support is provided by Melli's wealthy mother, among others. The school will last for a while, but hardly make much profit. Soon, with preparations for a possible war, private flying schools such as hers will be forced out of business. In addition, Beese will marry a Frenchman, Charles Boutard, and thus assumes his citizenship. During the war, she is regarded as "the enemy." [See December 22, 1925] Le-1 Lilly Steinschneider 1912 Hungarian. Steinschneider receives license #4. Le-1 Blanche Stuart Scott February 17 -18, 22, 23-25, 1912 American Blanche Scott flies in an air show, billed as the "tomboy of the air." At this point in her career she earns $5,000 a week. Le-1 Winnie Buller May 3, 1912 English. Born in Bacton, Norfolk Buller receives pilot's license, #848, from Breguet School at Douia, France. Le-1 Julia Clark June 11, 1912 American. Clark receives pilot's license, #133. Le-1 Harriet Quimby July 1 - 7, 1912 American. Harriet Quimby participates in the 1912 Harvard-Boston Aviation Meet at Squantum Airfield, which also features Lincoln Beachey, Charlie Hamilton, arnum T. Fish, Earle L. Ovington, Paul Peck and Blanche Scott. Le-1 Harriet Quimby July 7, 1912 American. Harriet Quimby dies when first her passenger and then she is thrown out of the newly designed Bleriot she is piloting on the last day of the 1912 Harvard-Boston Aviation Meet. (Seatbelts will not come into common usage until 1913, when pilots start doing loop the loops. Le-1 Katherine Stinson July 4, 1912 American. Stinson receives pilot's license, #148. Le-1 Jeanne Pallier August 2, 1912 French. 48 year old Pallier taes the test for her pilot's license. She "astonished the aviation world by flying over Paris at a height of 700 meters for her distance flight." She will be awarded her license on Sept 6, 1912. She trained on an Astra biplane, although she soloed in a smaller model. Le-1 Eugenie Shakhovskaya August 6, 1912 Russian. Born in 1889, a princess Shakhovskaya, who had trained at Gatchina, flew with Vladimir Lebedev in Russia. On this day, she and Karl Hackstetter, her navigator, arrive arrive in Berlin from St. Petersburg after a 24-hour flight. Le-1 Eugenie Shakhovskaya August 16, 1912 Russian. Shakhovskaya receives license #274, licensed by the German Aero Club, at Johannisthal airfirld near Berlin. She had begun her training in Russia, at the school run by Eudocie V. Anatra. Le-1 Jeanne Pallier September 6, 1912 French. 48 year old Pallier receives pilot's license, #1012. She had completed her test on August 2, 1912. Le-1 Charlotte Möhring September 7, 1912 German. Möhring, flying a Grade monoplane, receives pilot's license, #285. Le-1 Bernetta A. Miller September 25, 1912 American. Miller receives pilot's license, #173. Le-1 Raymonde de Laroche September 25, 1912 French Charles Voisin (pilot and aircraft designer) and Raymonde de Laroche are involved in a car accident, and Voisin dies. Le-1 Raymonde de Laroche November 19, 1912 French Raymonde writes a lettr to her friend Jacques Mortane, telling him she is learning to fly a Sommer biplane at Mourmelon, outside Paris, and that she intends to try for the Coupe Femina. The Sommer is a biplane. By the next year she will absndon the Sommer for a Farman biplane. Le-1 Ruth Law November 20, 1912 American. Law receives pilot's license, #188. Le-1 Lyubov "Luba" Golanchikova November 21, 1912 Russian. Golanchikova, hired by C. MacKenzie Kennedy , friend of Anthony Herman Fokker, to fly a Fokker, sets a women's world record for altitude in a Fokker eindecker, with a flight of 2200 meters. Le-1 1913 1913 1913 1913 Rosina Ferrario January 3, 1913 Italian. Ferrario receives license #203, from the Italian Aero Club. She flew a monoplane. Ferrario was the only Italian woman awarded a license before the War. Le-1 Eugenie Shakhovskaya April ?, 1913 Russian. In Germany, Shakhovskaya, with Wssewolod as her passenger, takes off in a Wright biplane, "possibly a new model." The plane loses power and crashes. Wssewowold is killed, Eugenie is injured but recovers. Le-1 Helene de Plagino June 4, 1913 French. Plagino receives a pilot's license, #1349. She was the daughter of a diplomat stationed in Bucharest. Le-1 Marthe Betenfeld Richer June 4, 1913 French. Born on April 15, 1889 , at Blamont in Meurthe-et-Moselle Richer receives pilot's license, #1369. Betenfeld had married Henri Richer, a wealthy attorney, when she was 22. (Her husnand will be killed at Verdun.)She acted as a spy for the French during WWI, and during WWII. Le-1 Martha Behrbohm June 4, 1913 German. Behrbohm, who trained at Johannisthal with Paul Schwandt, as well as Hans Grade, receives pilot's license, #427. Le-1 Lyubov "Luba" Golanchikova July 23, 1913 Russian. French aviator Léon Letort and Luba attempt to win a 10,000 mark prize for making the first flight from Berlin to Paris in one day. They leave on this day from Berlin in Letort's plane - a Morane - at 4:30 am, but bad weather delays them and it takes them 4 days to reach Paris. Le-1 Florence Seidell August 20, 1913 American. Seidell receives pilot's license, #258. Le-1 Helena P. Samsonova August 25, 1913 Russian. Born in 1890. Samsonova receives license #167 from the Imperial Moscow Aviation Flying School. Le-1 Carmen Damedoz September 5, 1913 French. Damedoz receives pilot's license, #1449. She flew a Sommer biplane. Damedoz was also a member of the Stella society (balloonists.) Le-1 Florence Madera September 5, 1913 ?. Madera receives pilot's license, #1421. Le-1 Cheridah de Beauvoir Stocks September 20, 1913 English. Stocks, who has flown enthusiastically since gaining her pilot's license, is a passenger on this occasion, as Sydney Pickles takes her on a flight in a new model - a Champel biplane. Pickles crashes the plane and sustains a broken leg, Stocks is unconscious for several days, and has back injuries. She is forced to give up flying, due to a paralyzed right side. Le-1 1914 1914 1914 1914 Hèléne Caragiani February 6, 1914 Romanian. Caragiani receives pilot's license, #1591. Le-1 Winnie Buller May, 1914 English. Buller takes lessons at the Caudron School at Hendon, learning to fly a new airplane from France. Le-1 Lydia Zvereva May 19, 1914 Russian. Born in 1890. Zvereva, flying a Morane monoplane at an airshow in Riga, and is the first woman to perform a loop. (Male aviators to do this before her were Peter Nesteroff and Aldolphe Pégoud.) Le-1 Sophie A. Dolgorukaya June 5, 1914 Russian. Trained in France with Leon Delagrange. She received her pilot's license in Russia, No. 234. Le-1 Else Haugk June 6, 1914 Swiss. Haugk (last name also sometimes spelled Haugh), a Swiss, travelled to Gemany to train, and earned liscense #785. She had trained on a Rumpler Taube, at the Hansa Fllying Works. Le-1 Gaetane Picard July 2, 1914 French. Picard receives pilot's license, #72 for aeroplanes and hydro-aeroplanes - a separate category from civil pilots. She had trained at the Blériot scool in Buc. Le-1 Gaétane Picard July 10, 1914 French. Picard receives pilot's license, #1653. She had trained at the Blériot scool in Buc. Le-1 Sophie A. Dolgorukaya June 5, 1914 Russian. Dolgorukaya receives license #234. Le-1 Elsa Haugk June 6, 1914 Swiss. Haugk receives pilot's license, #785. Le-1 Mrs. Richberg Hornsby June 24, 1914 American. Hornsby receives pilot's license, #301. Le-1 Margaret Stinson August 12, 1914 American. Stinson receives pilot's license, #303. Le-1 1915 1915 1915 1915 Nadeshda Degtereva 1915 Russian. According to Lebow in Before Amelia, Degtereva disguised herself as a man and flew combat missions during WWI, on the Galician front. She is "the first woman pilot injured in combat." Le-1 1916 1916 1916 1916 Lydia Zvereva May 1, 1916 Russian. Born in 1890. At the age of 26, Zvereva contracted typhoid fever in April, and dies on this day. She was buried in Alexander Nvetski Monastery, and an aerial formation flew overhead in her honor. Le-1 Dorothy Rice Peirce August 23, 1916 American. Peirce receives pilot's license, #561. Le-1 Helen Hodge Harris November 12, 1916 American. Harris receives pilot's license, #633. Le-1 1917 1917 1917 1917 . April 16, 1917 United States of America declares war on Germany. Pl-1 1918 1918 1918 1918 . May 15, 1918 President Woodrow Wilson witnesses the first airmail flight to take off from Washington, DC. (The pilot will fly off in the wrong direction and crash 20 miles a way.) Pl-1 . November 11, 1918 World War I comes to an end. African-American soldiers and pilots, who had been treated as equals in France, return to the United States to find themselves relegated back to second-class citizens. Pl-1 1919 1919 1919 1919 . January 29, 1919 Sunday The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, which institutes Prohibition. Pl-1 Ruth Law June 10, 1919 American Ruth Law sets a new altitude record for women at 4,270 meters. Le-1 Raymonde de Laroche June 12, 1919 French Laroche resets a new altitude record for women at 4,800 meters. Le-1 Raymonde de Laroche July 18, 1919 French visits Le Crotoy airport, and flies as a passenger with test pilot M. Barrault. The plane crashes while coming in for a landing, and both Laroche and the pilot are killed. Le-1 Bessie Coleman . July 27, 1919 Sunday The Chicago Race Riot begins on this day, and will last until August 3. Bessie Coleman's neighborhood is one of those affected by the Riot. (See complete details at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Race_Riot) Pl-1 1920 1920 1920 1920 . January 16, 1920 Sunday Prohibition goes into effect, catapulting gangsters like Al Capone into the limelight. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman November 9, 1920 American. Bessie Coleman, unable to find someone in the US to train a black woman pilot, receives her passport on this day, as she intends to take lessons in France. She has been studying French for some time in preparation. Black millionaire newspaper proprietor Robert Abbott and his The Chicago Defender are her sponsors. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman November 20, 1920 American. Bessie Coleman boards the SS Imperator, a 50,000 ton ocean liner headed for France. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman November 25, 1920 American. The SS Imperator, and passenger Bessie Coleman, arrive in France. Pl-1 1921 1921 1921 1921 Bessie Coleman June 15, 1921 American. Bessie Coleman receives a pilot's license fron the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). She had studied at the Ecole d'Aviation des Freres Caudron, at Le Crotoy in Somme, near Rouen. Her first lessons are in a 27-ft biplane, a Nieuport Type 82. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman September 16, 1921 American. Bessie Coleman boards a ship to return to the US. Pl-1 1922 1922 1922 1922 Bessie Coleman February 28, 1922 American. Bessie Coleman arrives in France aboard the SS Paris, for a three-month tour of Europe. She will visit France and Germany, flying planes and being filmed doing so. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman August 27, 1922 American. Bessie Coleman is to give a flying demonstration in the United States, at Glenn Curtiss Field in Garden City, Long Island. Due to bad weather, her performance is postponted to Labor Day. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman September 3, 1922 American. Coleman performs the first public flight by an African-American woman in the United States. Black stuntman Hubert Fauntleroy Julian will perform a parachute jump from her plane Pl-1 Bessie Coleman October 15, 1922 American. Coleman performs the first public flight by an African-American woman in Chicago. Adult tickets $1, children 25 cents. Pl-1 1923 1923 1923 1923 Bessie Coleman February 4, 1923 Sunday American. Coleman, who had recently purchases a Jenny, sets out to fly it to Santa Monica, and crashes, resulting in a fractured leg and three broken ribs. She will be in hospital for three months. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman May 10, 1923 Sunday American. Coleman leaves the hospital. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman Labor Day, 1923 Sunday American. Bessie Coleman is to give a performancer at an air show in Columbus, Ohio, but bad weather postpones the show. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman September 9, 1923 Sunday American. Bessie Coleman performs in an airshow in Columbus, Ohio. (There are other, white performers there as well). 10,000 audience members watch. Pl-1 1925 1925 1925 1925 Bessie Coleman May, 1925 Sunday American. Bessie Coleman has spent a year on the ground. In this month she returns to Texas from Chicago to resume her flying career. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman June 18, 1925 American. The Houston Post-Dispatch states in an article that Bessie Coleman was "attracting attention all over the country for her efforts to interest African Americans in Aviation.". Pl-1 Bessie Coleman June 19, 1925 American. First black woman pilot Bessie Coleman flies in an airshow in Texas. (60 years earlier to the day, in Galveston, TX, Union troops announced the end of the Civil War. This was Juneteenth.) Pl-1 Bessie Coleman August 29, 1925 American. Bessie Coleman had promised that a parachustist would perform a jump from her plane, but Elizia Delworth backs out. The next Sunday, Coleman herself will parachute out of a plane piloted by another. Pl-1 Melli Beese December 22, 1925 German. Melli Beese commits suicide by shooting herself with a revolver. She is 39 years old. Unable to recovery financially after the war, aviation is closed to her, and she is too depressed to continue. Le-1 1926 1926 1926 1926 Bessie Coleman February 3, 1926 American. Bessie Coleman writes to the Norman Studios in Arlington, Florida, explaining that she's written a movie of her life and would like to see it produced. R.E. Norman white, was an independent director who made films featuring positive images of blacks on screen. [Due to lack of funds, the movie will not be made.] Pl-1 Bessie Coleman April 27, 1926 American. Bessie Coleman boards a train for Jacksonville, Florida, where she is to perform in an airshow. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman April 28, 1926 American. Bessie Coleman's plane, purchased just a few days earlier through funds provided by a supporter, is a Jenny biplane which could produce only 60 horsepower, rather than the 90 described in the specs. William Wills, 24-years-old, a white mechanic employed by the Curtiss company, flies it down. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman April 30, 1926 Friday American. Bessie Coleman, John Betsch (publicity manager for the Negro Welfare League), and William Wills go to Paxton Field for a practice flight. (The airshow itself will not be until May 1). Wills pilots the craft, Coleman is in the rear, seatbelt undone, as she wants to be able to look over the side to scope out sights to land via parachute - she intends to make a jump during her show. The old plane begins a nose dive from 3,000 feet. At 2,000 feet, Bessie Coleman falls out of the plane to her death. The plane itself crashes in a nearby farm field. Wills is trapped in the wreckage, and before he can be rescued, John Betsch lights a cigarette. A spark ignites gasoline fumes from the plane, and Wills is burned to death in the wreckage. Betsch is arrested, but it is later deemed that he did not deliberately set fire to the plane. Investigators find a wrench in the wreckage of Coleman's plane - jammed into the control gears. It is assumed that Wills had accidently left the wrench in a spot, such that when he tilted the plane, it slid into the gears and jammed them. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman May 2, 1926 American. Bessie Coleman's bdy is taken by train to Orlando, Florida. Jacksonville citizens pay the $360 cost. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman May 5, 1926 Wednesday American. Bessie Coleman's body arrives in Chicago via train. Pl-1 Bessie Coleman May 7, 1926 Wednesday American. The funeral for Bessie Coleman is held at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago. 3,500 mourners gather on the sidewalks outside the church. Pl-1 1927 1927 1927 1927 Lyubov "Luba" Golanchikova June 1927 Russian. Luba and her husband Boris Philipoff (at one point the "Bread King of Russia"), are living in New York City, under the name Philips. Luba flies a trimotor Fokker in an attempt to set an altitude record over New York. However, a male pilot, Lieutenant W. L. Stulzt, pilots the takeoff and landing. Le-1 Lyubov "Luba" Golanchikova August 1927 Russian. The New York Times reports that Luba is planning an Atlantic flight "for the glory of it." She had signed a 1-year contract with Oliver Morosco, a theatrical producer. However, she is not able to bring the flight to fruition. Le-1 1930 1930 1930 1930 Willa Brown 1930 American. African-American Willa Brown learns to fly at the Chicago Aeronautical University in 1930. She will then go on to train many black students in her South Side school. These men will go on to become Tuskegee Airmen, and serve during WWII. Pl-1 1932 1932 1932 1932 Bessica Raiche 1932 American Bessica Raiche, divorced for some years, dies at the age of 58 after "she inhaled too much chloroform to regulate pain following surgery." The surgery was for cancer. Le-1 Hilda Hewlett 1932 English. Hilda Hewlett flies to New Zealand from London on a KLM airline Oolevaar (Stork), a Fokker FVIIb/3M, becoming the first passenger - male or female - to fly as a through passenger on that route. It takes 11 days Le-1 1943 1943 1943 1943 Cornelia Fort March 21, 1943 American. Fort was killed in a mid-air collision near Abilene, Texas, while on a ferrying mission in a BT-13. She was the first casualty of an American woman pilot on active duty. Wings Across America Si-1 Jane Dolores Champlin June 7, 1943 American. WASP trainee and her instructor killed in a night fight training mission crash in a BT-15 Wings Across America Hilda Hewlett August 21, 1943 English. Hilda Hewlett dies, aged 79, in Tauranga, New Zealand. Le-1 Hilda Hewlett August 23, 1943 English. Per her request, "the old Bird" is buried at sea. Le-1 1944 1944 1944 1944 Majorie Doris Edwards ?, 1944 American. She died in the crash of an AT-6 near Childress, Texas, while on a cross-country training flight. Wings Across America Francis Fortune Grimes March 27, 1944 American. Grimes' active duty assignment was to the 5th FG/ATC at Love Field, Dallas, Texas. She was killed shortly after take-off from Otis Field, Massachusetts in an A-24 attack bomber. Wings Across America Jayne Elisabeth Erickson April 16, 1944 American. While flying an AT-6, she was killed in a mid-air collision in the traffic pattern at Avenger on April 16, 1944. Wings Across America Susan Parker Clark July 4, 1944 American. WASP, stationed with 334 Ferrying Group, Fairfax Field, Kansas City, MO. The BT-13 she was ferrying crashed near Columbia, South Carolina. Wings Across America Marjorie Laverne Davis October 16, 1944 American. Killed on a night flight while on a cross country training flight in an AT-6 near Walnut, Mississippi. Wings Across America Katherine ?Kay' Applegate Dussaq November 26, 1944 American. She was killed when the AT-6 she was flying on an administrative cross-country flight crashed on the night of November 26, 1944 near New Carlisle, Ohio. Wings Across America 1948 1948 1948 1948 Blanche Stuart Scott September 6, 1948 American Blanche Scott flies as a passenger with Charles E. Yeager in a TF-80C - thus becoming the first American woman to fly in a jet. Le-1 1961 1961 1961 1961 Hèléne Dutrieu June 27, 1967 French. Hèléne Dutrieu dies at her home in Paris. Le-1 1963 1963 1963 1963 Marie Marvingt ?, ? 1963 French. Marie Marvingt dies in a nursing home run by the ssters of Sainte Charles in Nancy. Le-1 1970 1970 1970 1970 Blanche Stuart Scott January 13, 1970 American Blanche Scott dies at Genesee Hospital in Rochester, NY. Le-1

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