WE TAKE TO THE AIR
THE event which started concerted activity among women fliers was the cross country air derby for women of 1929. This was a race which started on the West Coast and ended eight days later at Cleveland, Ohio.
Sunday afternoon August 18, nineteen planes with propellers turning, lined up at Clover Field, Santa Monica, California. Will Rogers was on the loud speaker to point out the humorous aspects of such an event. Taking their cue from him, news paper men coined descriptive names for the affair before contestants reached their first stop. It was generally called the “powder puff derby” and those who flew in it variously as “Ladybirds”, “Angels” or “Sweethearts of the Air”. (We are still trying to get ourselves called just “pilots”.)
Finishing a race, as in anything else, is as important as starting, and sixteen of the women crossed the white line at the end. This was the highest per cent of “finishers” in any cross country derby, up to that time, for men or women.
This first air derby was won by Louise Thaden of Pittsburgh, with Gladys O’Donnell of California, second and me third. It captured the public interest and proved invaluable in interesting other women in aviation. A large part of the crowds
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