1937 was a big year for Willa Brown (1906-1992). She became the first African
American woman to receive a commercial pilot's license. She also co-founded the
National Airmen's Association of America, which worked to get black pilots into
the segregated military. Later, with her husband William Coffey, Brown founded
the Coffey School of Aeronautics to train African American pilots for World War
II. Brown also served in the Civil Aeronautics Administration, Civilian Pilot
Training Program, and Civil Air Patrol.
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At one time, fast-flying Jacqueline Cochran (1910?-1980) held more aviation
records than any other flier, male or female. She won the Bendix
Transcontinental Air Race in 1935 and led the Women's Air Force Service Pilots
(WASP) during World War II. In 1964, she set a women's speed record of 1,429
miles per hour. She also flew higher than any other woman (55,300 feet), and
was the first woman to fly a bomber and a jet across the Atlantic. After her
retirement from the Air Force Reserve, she served as a special consultant to
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
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Bessie Coleman (1893-1926) wouldn't let discrimination get in the way of her
flying career. Early American flight schools wouldn't admit blacks. So Coleman
enrolled in a French aviation school, and became the first African American to
earn a pilot's license. Returning to the United States, she discovered that no
airline would hire an African American (or a woman) as a commercial pilot.
That's when Coleman took up stunt flying, or barnstorming. She became a popular
barnstormer at air shows, as well as an advocate for black fliers. Coleman died
in a plane crash while rehearsing for a show.
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He started out building engines for bicycles, but Glenn Curtiss (1878-1930)
gained fame as the creator of a number of important airplanes. An accomplished
flyer himself, Curtiss won the Scientific American trophy for flying one
kilometer on July 4, 1908. He built the first seaplane in the U.S., and his
best-known plane, the JN-4 ("Jenny") was widely used in World War I. After the
war, the Jenny became popular among barnstormers and was used to carry mail
over the Canadian Rockies. Another of Curtiss's planes, the NC-4, was the first
plane to cross the Atlantic, in 1919.
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Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr., (born 1912) took a sledgehammer to the walls of
segregation in the military. In 1954, he became the first black general in Air
Force history, but perhaps his greatest achievement was organizing and
commanding the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American military flying
unit. The Tuskegee Airmen fought heroically in Europe during World War II,
flying thousands of missions, destroying 261 enemy aircraft, and winning 850
medals. After World War II ended, Davis helped plan the desegregation of the
Air Force.
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Amelia Earhart (1897- disappeared 1937) lived a life of firsts. Her streak
began in 1928, when, as a passenger, she became the first woman to fly across
the Atlantic. In 1932, she became the first woman pilot to cross the Atlantic
alone, doing so in a record-setting 13.5 hours. Three years later, she
completed the first solo flight from Hawaii to California. In 1937, Earhart and
navigator Fred Noonan climbed aboard a Lockheed Electra and began an attempt at
the first flight around the world. With two-thirds of the journey behind them,
the pair mysteriously disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.
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After Daniel "Chappie" James (1920-1978) flew in World War II with the
Tuskegee Airmen, his career skyrocketed. He fought in the Korean and Vietnam
wars, commanded an Air Force base in Libya, and rose to the rank of four-star
general. At the pinnacle of his career, James served as Commander in Chief of
the North American Air Defense. He was widely respected for helping end the
segregation of military personnel at facilities such as officers' clubs.
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In the race for flight, Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906) challenged the
Wright brothers. An astronomer, Langley served as Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution. He built the first heavier-than-air unmanned
flying machine to achieve sustained (though uncontrolled) flight. On
December 8, 1903, Langley attempted to launch his gasoline-powered "Great
Aerodrome," off a houseboat in the Potomac River. Unfortunately, the Great
Aerodrome crashed into the river and was destroyed. Just nine days later,
Orville and Wilbur Wright made history.
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Her aviation career lasted only 11 months, but Harriet Quimby (1875-1912)
certainly made a name for herself, as a pilot, a photographer, a journalist,
and a trend-setter. A true thrill-seeker, Quimby was the first licensed female
pilot in America. She was also the first woman--and only the third pilot--to
fly across the English Channel, a distance of 22 miles. Quimby died when she
and a passenger were flung from her Bleriot monoplane before a crowd of
hundreds of spectators.
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Called America's "Ace of Aces" during World War I, Edward Rickenbacker
(1890-1973) used the glare of the sun to conceal himself from enemy planes.
Before World War I, Rickenbacker gained fame as an automobile race driver. When
war came, he served as a pilot under Billy Mitchell, shooting down 26 enemy
planes, and winning the Congressional Medal of Honor. After the war,
Rickenbacker worked in the automobile industry before turning to a career in
commercial aviation. He led Eastern Air Lines for nearly thirty years before
stepping down from the company in 1963.
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