Women in air racing

The  First Women’ Air Derby was a transcontinental race that began in Santa Monica, California, and culminated in Cleveland, Ohio, for the 1929 Cleveland National Air Races. Amelia Earhart, Pancho Barnes, Louise Thaden, Bobbi Trout and other women aviators of the era brought international attention to women in aviation.

Seventy women held U.S. Department of Commerce licenses in August 1929, but only 40 met the race requirements. Participants had to have 100 hours of solo flight including 25 hours of solo cross-country to points more than 40 miles from the starting airport. The pilot also had to hold a license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and an annual sporting license issued by the contest committee of the National Aeronautics Association (NAA). Each participant also had to carry a gallon of water and a three-day food supply.

Twenty women entered the Derby. The course took eight days to fly and navigate using only dead reckoning and road maps. Undaunted by route changes, sabotage, and death, 14 women completed the Derby with Louise Thaden finishing first.

Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes went on to win the prestigious Bendix Trophy Race on September 4, 1936, landing at Mines Field in Los Angeles in a bright blue Beechcraft Staggerwing C-17R. This was the first time that women had won the coveted Bendix Trophy. Laura Ingallas in her Lockheed Orion crossed the finish line 45 minutes later to win second place. This was the second year that women were allowed to participate in the race that was started in 1931.

Prior to the Bendix Trophy Race, air racing officials just would not believe that women were skilled enough to compete against men. Women were encouraged to hold their own competitions. Occasionally, women were allowed to compete with the men, such as the National Air Race and Transcontinental Handicap Air Derby, but the fatal crash of Florence Klingensmith in a Gee Bee during the 1933 Frank Philips Trophy Race in Chicago gave race officials one more excuse to exclude women in the 1934 Bendix Race.

Protesting the decision, Amelia Earhart refused to fly actress Mary Pickford to Cleveland to open that year’s races.

Many air races created separate divisions for the women. The women’s divisions were mirror images of the men’s divisions, and it was soon noted that the women’s times and speeds were very close to the men’s.

The Ruth Catterton Air Sportsman Pilot Trophy Race, started in 1935, was a test of precision flying. Winners were the pilots that could navigate and pilot their aircraft the most accurately.

Under the leadership of the new Ninety-Nines, president Jeanette Lempke, who was elected immediately after World War II, and became instrumental in the rejuvenation of women’s air races. In 1947 Mardo Crane, a former WASP, was Chairman of the first All Woman Air Race on behalf of the Ninety-Nines. The race ran 2,242 statute miles from Palm Springs, California to Tampa, Florida. The first year, the race had two contestants; and in 1948, had seven contestants.

The 1948 and 1949 All-Woman Transcontinental Air Races marked the formal beginning of the All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race (AWTAR). Members of The Ninety-Nines Los Angeles Chapter drafted the first real set of rules and regulations for air racing, and developed an official timekeeping system.

The AWTAR became affectionately known as the “Powder Puff Derby”, a reference to the 1929 Women’s Air Derby by Will Rogers.

In 1951 and 1952, in response to the Korean War, the AWTAR was called “Operation TAR” (Transcontinental Air Race) and was operated as a training mission to “provide stimulation as a refresher course in cross-country flying for women whose services as pilots might once again be needed by their country.”

The AWTAR became a major event, with its own office and permanent executive secretary. A nine-woman board of directors spent a full year preparing for each race. Safety was always a priority in the AWTAR, and gradually over the years, the message was clear to the public – women are good pilots.

During the 1960s, the prime interest and major commitment of The Ninety-Nines was air racing. In addition to the All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race, The Ninety-Nines embraced the All Woman’s International Air Race, or “Angel Derby.” The race was open to all women and The Ninety-Nines helped to organize and manage the race, and also made up the majority of enthusiastic contestants.

The last AWTAR was held in 1977. The end of the race was due to rising costs, diminished corporate sponsorship, and new levels of air traffic congestion.

Competition in the air is still important and continues with other races today. Many air races were organized throughout the U.S. over the years. The Air Race Classic is still active, but due to the problems mentioned above, many other races are no longer held.

Today many women are not only racing, but performing aerobatics for delighted crowds.