What an interesting book Keith O'Brien has written. Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History (#773) concentrates on the decade between 1927 and 1937 when barn stormers and air races caught the nation's attention, and a small but determined group of women struggled to join the men on equal terms. Only one of the woman profiled here was familiar to me: Amelia Earhart, and even at that, I learned quite a bit I didn't know about her before she literally dropped out of sight over the Pacific.
Equally remarkable are the stories of Louise Thaden, a wife and mother, Ruth Nichols, a wealthy socialite, Ruth Elder, pretty as a movie star, and Florence Klingensmith, a midwestern flier and mechanic who almost beat the boys at their own game. Since the field of female aviators was so small, the women knew and supported each other, even though they were fierce competitors. In fact, they had to be twice as skilled in the air to be deemed half as good in the court of public opinion. Women's place was in the home, not in the cockpit of an airplane, because of the risks involved and their delicate health, physical and emotional. This is the story of how these women managed to raise the ceiling for future female fliers.
The dangers these women encountered were real, and a number of them died doing what they loved, but all contributed their chosen field. Inspiring, and it will make you think twice next time you board an airplane with female pilots and first officers.
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