phoebe jane fairgrave ormlie (numerous firsts as a female pilot)
Phoebe Omlie
Full name Phoebe Jane Fairgrave Omlie
Born November 21, 1902
Des Moines, Iowa
Died July 17, 1975 (aged 72)
Indianapolis, Indiana
Cause of death lung cancer
Nationality American
Spouse Vernon Omlie
Relatives Andrew Fairgrave (father)
Madge Traister (mother)
Aviation career
Known for Numerous firsts as a female pilot
Phoebe Jane Fairgrave Omlie (November 21, 1902 – July 17, 1975) was an American aviation pioneer, particularly noted for her accomplishments as an early female aviator.[1] Omlie was the first female to receive an airplane mechanic's license, the first licensed female transport pilot, and the first female to be appointed to a federal position in the aviation field.[2]
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Omlie set several world records in aviation, including the highest altitude parachute jump by a female. She was also the first female to cross the Rocky Mountains in a light aircraft,[1] and was considered by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to be one of "eleven women whose achievements make it safe to say the world is progressing".
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Shortly after graduating high school, Fairgrave spent a few months at the Guy Durrell Dramatic School and worked briefly as a secretary.[1] Bored with the prospects, she began hanging around airfields near her home and attempted to convince the airport manager to allow one of his flight instructors to take her flying.[4] The manager finally agreed, thinking that he could scare Fairgrave's interest in aviation out of her by performing various aerobatic maneuvers in an attempt to make her sick.[5] Instead, Fairgrave demanded more flight time and used some of her inheritance to purchase a Curtiss JN-4 biplane after her fourth flight.[5]
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Omlie's success as a pilot was recognized by the Democratic National Committee, and she was enlisted to fly a female speaker around the country for Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential campaign.[4] After the successful campaign, Omlie was appointed by President Roosevelt as the "Special Adviser for Air Intelligence to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics".[4] This made her the first female to be appointed to a federal aviation position.[2] In this role, Omlie acted as a "liaison between the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics and the Bureau of Air Commerce" alongside Amelia Earhart to create what would become the National Airspace System.[5]
On August 5, 1936, Vernon Omlie and seven passengers were killed when a commercial flight they were aboard crashed in St. Louis, Missouri while attempting to land in foggy conditions.[4] Phoebe Omlie immediately resigned her position in Washington, D.C. and returned to Memphis.[4] Following her husband's death, Omlie did not return to Washington, D.C. until 1941, when she accepted a job as "Senior Private Flying Specialist of the Civil Aeronautics Authority".[4] In this position, and to meet the severe need for pilots for service in WWII, Omlie established 66 flight schools in 46 states, including a school in Tuskegee, Alabama that would later train the infamous Tuskegee Airmen.[4] With the Tennessee Bureau of Aeronautics, she established an "experimental" program to train women as instructors. The first class, ten women from various states, trained between September and February 1943, and was meant to establish her strong and, to some, controversial belief that " . . . if women can teach men to walk, they can teach them to fly." These women went on to instruct both men and women pilots both in military and civilian flight training programs, including the Navy V-5 and the USAAF Women Airforce Service Pilots.[7]
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Leading up to the final years before her death, Omlie made little money as a public speaker.[5] The last few years of Omlie's life were spent in seclusion, living in a flophouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, fighting lung cancer and alcoholism.[1][5] Omlie died on July 17, 1975, and was buried next to her husband in Forest Hill Cemetery.[1]
In June 1982, a new air traffic control tower was dedicated and named in honor of Phoebe and Vernon Omlie at the Memphis International Airport.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_Omlie
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