Women Aviators (18 page)

F
or many years, aviation didn't present many career opportunities for women. The lucky few had money or sponsors, but even sponsorships gradually dropped off as airplanes became more common. Eventually, it seemed as though everyone had seen airplanes flying overhead and had even experienced riding in airplanes. There were also more pilots, which meant fewer available jobs. And those jobs usually went to men.

For many women, this wouldn't do. They didn't have the time or money to make aviation a hobby. They enjoyed flying and using the specific skills that piloting a plane required. They wanted jobs doing what they did best: flying.

During the 1930s, commercial airlines developed as airplanes increased in size in order to take passengers. A nurse in Cresco, Iowa, believed that these passenger airlines should have someone on board whose job it was to take care of the passengers while the pilot flew. Ellen Church persuaded Boeing Air Transport to use a cabin crew. The first passenger planes to use them held only twelve passengers, and the first flight attendants were required to be single women younger than 25. They also had to help the ground crews push the airplanes into the
hangers. Flight attendants, or stewardesses as they were called then, became a successful addition to the flying experience.

Although Helen Richey piloted a commercial airline around the same time, commercial airlines took longer to accept women in the cockpit. Women such as Captain Beverly Burns and Captain Lynn Rippelmeyer persisted, but it wasn't until the 1970s and 1980s that women pilots began making inroads into the commercial airline industry. Slowly, determined women entered the male-dominated profession.

Rather than trying to obtain jobs in commercial aviation, other women pilots pursued the entertainment route. What mattered most about that type of flying wasn't gender, but how well they flew. Barnstorming faded with the introduction of aviation regulations, but stunt flying and performing in aerobatic shows became just as big. After sound became a part of movies, action adventure movies began using stunt flyers. Because pilots weren't receiving decent wages, in September 1931 Pancho Barnes and other flyers formed the Associated Motion Picture Pilots to negotiate pay, insurance, and safety standards. Today's movie stunt pilots are members of the Motion Picture Pilots Association (MPPA), a union that monitors entertainment aviation.

Other women found industries where their piloting skills could be useful. Mary Barr became the US Forest Service's first woman pilot in 1974. By 1983, Charlotte Larson had become the first woman to work as a smoke jumper aircraft captain. Smoke jumpers are an important part of firefighting teams in wilderness areas.

Today, only 5 percent of the 53,000 members of the Air Line Pilots Association are women, and only 450 are airline captains. A deterrent for both men and women is the cost of training, which can range up to $100,000. Starting pay for regional or
specialty airlines can be horrible. Although most female airline pilots today are based in the United States, women are making progress in other areas of the world, such as Asia.

Finding a job in aviation isn't impossible, but it does take dedication and a willingness to think creatively.

I
N 1930, AN EARLY
talking picture,
Hell's Angels,
featured two brothers with very different personalities who enlisted in Great Britain's Royal Air Force after World War I broke out. The film's producer, famed millionaire aviator Howard Hughes, considered the aerial battle scenes to be the most important. He wanted it to look authentic when the brothers destroyed a German munitions factory and then tried to escape the squadron of enemy fighters coming after them.

Hell's Angels
was the top-grossing movie that year and eighth-highest-grossing film during the 1930s.
Hell's Angels
didn't use the green screens or computerized special effects that we see in movies today. Back then, filmmakers used actual pilots, like 29-year-old Pancho Barnes. As Hollywood's first stunt pilot,
Pancho worked in many Hollywood films, several of which were with Howard Hughes, who shared her love of flying.

From her work in films, Pancho founded one of the first unions in Hollywood, the Associated Motion Picture Pilots (AMPP). She wanted to make certain that stunt pilots received decent wages. She was the only female member of the AMPP for a long time.

Florence Leontine Lowe was born in 1901. The most important person during her childhood was her grandfather, Thaddeus Lowe, who created surveillance balloons and was in charge of the Union Army's Aeronautic Corps during the Civil War. Thaddeus Lowe shared his love of flight with his granddaughter and took her to her first air show when she was ten years old.

Noticing the mesmerized look in Florence's eyes, Thaddeus said, “When you grow up, everyone will be flying airplanes.”

“Me too?”

“You too. You will be a great pilot someday.”

Florence's parents, particularly her mother, spent much of their time attending society functions and parties. Florence didn't care about looking pretty or behaving as her mother wanted her to. Florence thought she was plain looking, and she preferred hunting or riding horses to dressing up. But her mischievous streak often got her into trouble. Trying to curb their daughter's wild tendencies, her parents sent her to Catholic school. Not only did Florence escape from the school, but she also escaped the country, riding to Tijuana, Mexico, on a horse.

The Lowes arranged for their daughter to marry an Episcopal minister, the Reverend Rankin Barnes. The marriage was unhappy from the start, even after the birth of a son. Once
again, Florence left her life behind; this time she escaped on a banana boat. However, this boat was filled with guns and Mexican revolutionaries instead of bananas. The ship's helmsman was an American, Roger Chute.

Taking their leave from the revolutionaries, Roger and Florence traveled through Mexico for several months. Roger jokingly called her Pancho because she was disguised as a man. She liked the name and decided to keep it.

When she returned to the United States and her husband seven months later, Pancho was ready for a new adventure. Her parents had died, leaving her with an inheritance to spend. She asked Ben Caitlin, a veteran World War I pilot, to teach her to fly. He didn't want to teach a woman to fly, so he tried to scare her off by taking her on a demonstration flight filled with loops, twirls, and dives. Little did he know that the flight would make Pancho want to learn to fly even more.

Pancho was fearless in the air—sometimes even reckless. And she was just as mischievous in the air as she was on the ground. During her first solo, she repeatedly buzzed by her husband's church to disrupt his sermon.

Signed by Orville Wright, Pancho's pilot's license was number 3522; she soon bought a Travel Air Speedwing. Her friend, Bobbi Trout, told her about a women-only air race from Santa Monica to Cleveland. There was a lot of publicity about it because air officials and newspapers were saying that women shouldn't be allowed to race, that it was too dangerous. Pancho Barnes only had one thing to say to that: “Where do I sign up?”

Leading up to the Women's Air Derby, Pancho did what she did best, which was to shock people or make them laugh. She might be found with a cigar between her teeth or saying a vulgar word of two. When a newspaper reporter asked her how she balanced flying with her other duties, Pancho replied that
flying was the perfect antidote to housework. She flew planes; she didn't do housework.

She took off with 19 other pilots, including Amelia Earhart. While she was trying to land in Pecos, Texas, a car dashed across the runway, causing her to crash. She was unable to complete the Powder Puff Derby, but she had a good time at the race, which was all that really mattered to her. Her motto was, “When you have a choice, choose happy.”

Pancho bought a low-wing monoplane, a Travel Air Model R “Mystery Ship,” for $13,000. It was only the second one ever made. With it, she began a barnstorming troupe called the Mystery Circus of the Air. On August 1, 1930, she took off in her Mystery Ship from the Van Nuys, California, airport. She pushed the speed to 196 miles per hour in sustained flight. She beat Earhart's speed record and assumed the title of the world's fastest woman. After that, she celebrated by flying to Mexico City, again a first for an American female pilot. She sold her circus in 1935.

In addition to her stunt pilot work, Pancho also worked for Lockheed as its first female test pilot. She performed maximum load tests on the Lockheed Vega, flying over the Mojave Desert.

Although Pancho liked to shock people, those who knew her realized that she had a big heart. She formed the Women's Air Reserve (WAR) to assist people in need of medical attention in times of disasters. The women who worked with WAR were trained in first aid and military maneuvers. Bobbi Trout helped Pancho, and they publicized WAR by flying around the Statue of Liberty with wingtip touching wingtip. Pancho and five of the women also promoted WAR in 1934 by flying cross-country.

Pancho's free spending, coupled with the Great Depression, drained her finances. With the last of her funds, she bought an 80-acre ranch in the Mojave Desert, north of Los Angeles. She
started an airport and flight school but was forced to close the flight school when World War II began. Close to Edwards Air Force Base, her ranch became a popular place for air force personnel, aviators, and celebrities.

In 1947, General Jimmy Doolittle visited Pancho and went riding on a horse named Happy. After the ride, Doolittle told Pancho he had a “Happy bottom.” Pancho loved it and renamed her ranch the Happy Bottom Riding Club. In addition to its own airport and horses for riding, the ranch had a bar, restaurant, hotel, swimming pool, dance hall, and rodeo.

Air force pilot Chuck Yeager was a regular at the Happy Bottom Riding Club. He explained that Pancho's popularity with the people from Edwards Air Force Base was because “she loved pilots and shared our code.”