November 18,1929 Ruth Blaney Alexander set a light plane altitude record of 15,718 feet less than 24 hours after she earned her pilots’ license. By 1930 she had flown as high as 26,600 feet but that March, Elinor Smith smashed the feat, flying her Bellanca six seater 32,576 feet. Alexander died in September 1930 when her plane struck a hillside shortly after takeoff. She was only 25 years old.
