image from the website of Tami Lewis Brown |
(7-2-11), you will find about 47 links, most of them of very limited help. |
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BEFORE AMELIA Women Pilots in the Early Days of Aviation Eileen F. Lebow Product Details Cloth: 315 pages; 6x9 inches List Price: $17.95 Your Price: $12.21 Used Price: from 01 cents ISBN: 1574884824 |
Description: Before Amelia is the remarkable story of the world's women pioneer aviators who braved the skies during the early days of flight. While most books have only examined the women aviators of a single country, Eileen Lebow looks at an international spectrum of pilots and their influence on each other. The story begins with Raymonde de Laroche, a French woman, who became the first licensed female pilot in 1909. De Laroche, Lydia Zvereva, Melli Beese, Hilda Hewlitt, Harriet Quimby, and the other women pilots profiled here rose above contemporary gender stereotypes and proved their ability to fly the temperamental heavier-than-air contraptions of the day. Lebow provides excellent descriptions of the dangers and challenges of early flight. Crashes and broken bones were common, and many of the pioneers lost their lives. But these women were adventurers at heart. In an era when women's professional options were severely limited and the mere sight of ladies wearing pants caused a sensation, these women succeeded as pilots, flight instructors, airplane designers, stunt performers, and promoters. This book fills a large void in the history of the first two decades of flight About The Author: Eileen F. Lebow is an author and former teacher. Her previous books include Cal Rodgers and the Vin Fiz: The First Transcontinental Flight and A Grandstand Seat: The Army Balloon Corps in World War I. She lives in Washington, D.C. This book has almost six pages of information on Bernetta Miller and includes a nice photo of her with her plane. The coverage of the many other pioneer women aviators is excellent. It deserves to be in the library of anyone who is interested in these remarkable women. Today, 8-24-09, I found it listed on Amazon. Barnes and Noble also has an extensive listing of both new and used copies. |
Extract "Florencce Seidell, born on June 15, 1885, in Lebanon, Kansas, received license No. 258, having passed her tests on June 20, 1913, at Griffith Park, Los Angeles, flying a Curtiss pusher. Glenn L. Martin, who had taught here to drive her first automobile sixs years earlier, gave her lessons in the early months of 1913 at Newport Bay, California, on a hydro-aeroplane. (Martin had a second school for land aeroplanes at Griffith Park.) Florence made the cover of Aero and Hydro, March 8, 1911, carrying a passenger over Newport Bay. The daughter of a wealthy family, Florence flew solely for her own amusement." |
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