Her Epic Adventure

Her Epic Adventure — page 5 — I refused to take for an answer NO BESSIE COLEMAN 1892 1926 United States The world didn’t really want Bessie Coleman to succeed Born in Texas in 1892 she lived in a time and place where it was uncommon for Black and Native American women like her to hold positions of power In fact as the child of farm workers Bessie was often told that her only career option was to be a domestic worker But she had other ideas Bessie wanted to be a pilot TO THE SKIES After being rejected by every flight school in the country because she was both a person of color and a woman Bessie taught herself to speak French so she could earn her pilot’s license in France In 1921 two years before Amelia Earhart got her license she became the world’s first Black aviatrix Since commercial flights weren’t a thing yet Bessie became a trick pilot to make a living She performed aerial stunts for crowds at air shows loop-the-looping at state fairs to many cries of Holy cow and Would ya look at that to page the Turn about more read Earhart Amelia

Her Epic Adventure — page 6 — Bessie insisted that all her shows be desegregated meaning white and Black people would use the same entrance and sit together This was a big deal back then especially in the southern United States where there were many laws that treated Black people like second-class citizens But show organizers knew Bessie could pack in the crowds so they did what she asked Tricks of a Trick Pilot BARREL ROLL Rolling the plane sideways while flying forward to corkscrew through the air Don’t try it after lunch LOOP THE LOOP Pointing the nose of the plane up and back to make a giant circle in the sky Hold on to your sunglasses DIVE Nose-diving the plane toward the ground at an extreme angle and then pulling up at the last minute Only for those with nerves of steel SOARING IN SOLIDARITY Bessie was a brilliant self-promoter and believed that the way she lived her life set an example of the greatness Black people could achieve Sometimes she took other Black women up in her plane women who like her had been told they would never amount to much Bessie wanted them to experience something very few had at the time the glory and magic of human flight Her next dream was to open a flight school for Black people But tragically at 34 years old she was killed in a plane crash before she could make that happen A few years later the Bessie Coleman Aero Club was founded in Los Angeles to make aviation accessible to the Black community Every year on the anniversary of Bessie’s death Black pilots honor her by air-dropping flowers onto her grave

Her Epic Adventure — page 7 — NR 7952 AMELIA EARHART 1897 1937 United States ADVENTURE is worthwhile in itself The story of Amelia Earhart has become larger than life the fearless pilot who attempted to fly around the world but mysteriously disappeared after taking off from a Pacific island Some think she vanished into the infamous Bermuda Triangle Others say she assumed a new identity and lived out the rest of her days on a tropical island But there’s a lot more to Amelia than her famous legend MEANT FOR THE SKIES As a young woman Amelia saw a World War I fighter pilot performing aerial tricks at an exhibition The little red airplane nose-dived right toward her and Amelia was amazed In 1920 when she got a chance to ride in a plane for the first time she was sure that life was for her I knew I had to fly she said HOPPING OVER THE POND Amelia earned her pilot’s license in 1923 and was soon breaking records In 1928 she became the first woman passenger to fly across the Atlantic Ocean At that time few people had flown that far

Her Epic Adventure — page 8 — By 1932 she decided to attempt the flight alone She took off from Harbour Grace Newfoundland with the goal of landing in Paris France But she miscalculated flying too far north and after about 15 hours came to a bumpy landing on some farmland in Derry Northern Ireland When a farmer asked Have you flown far Amelia chuckled and said From America She had become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic THE FINAL FLIGHT A few years later Amelia wanted to be the first woman to fly around the world Her Lockheed Electra 10E was tricked out with an oversized fuel tank and an extra engine On June 1 1937 Amelia and her navigator took off from Oakland California After several fuel stops they had made it three quarters of the way around the world They took off from Papua New Guinea just north of Australia on July 2 and later that day sent out their last known transmission from somewhere over the Pacific Ocean Amelia and her navigator were never heard from again But to this day her name is synonymous with the idea of an intrepid adventurer Flying in Style In the 1930s pilots sure dressed differently than they do today The cockpits of those early planes were exposed to the open air and boy could it get chilly up there since the air high in the sky is way colder than at ground level So it was important to dress warmly while flying Here are some things those old-timey pilots might have worn GOGGLES SHEEPSKIN FLYING JACKET UNDER LAYER WOOL JUMPSUIT LIKE A ONESIE PARACHUTE FLYING CAP OXYGEN MASK BEAVER SKIN MITTENS LONG LEATHER OVERCOAT SOFT LEATHER KNEE BOOTS Did You Know Some people think Amelia disappeared while flying over the Bermuda Triangle but that’s in the Atlantic Ocean halfway around the world from her last transmitted signal So much for that theory

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