We’ve all seen the act. The magician waves his wand over the prone body of his lovely assistant and suddenly she rises, suspended in mid-air. He sweeps a hoop across her. “See? No wires!”
And we believe. The woman is floating. The magician is MAGIC.
Rationally we know this cannot be true. There’s no such thing as magic. Women don’t float. But still…
That’s the power of fiction. The power to suspend disbelief. (more…)
Would you cross a black cat’s path to get to a wonderful book?
Tami Lewis Brown writes daring books for dangerous readers. SOAR, ELINOR! is the true story of pioneer pilot Elinor Smith, and THE MAP OF ME is a middle-grade novel about two sisters, one stolen car, and a whole flock of chickens.
There are loads of fun, daring, and dangerous things to do on this website. Explore 365 Fabulous Feats of Female Flying… one amazing achievement for every day of the year HERE. Download a free Women’s History Month Activity Kit for your class, troop or reading group. Watch trailers for Soar, Elinor! and The Map of Me. Plus find a whole lot more, on every page.
December 31, 1934 Helen Richey became the first woman to pilot a scheduled airmail flight, traveling from Washington, DC to Detroit, Michigan. Richey had set a women’s endurance record of over ten days with co-pilot Frances Marsalis and won the National Air Meet for Women.
December 30, 1936 Maryse Bastie flew from Dakar, Senegal to Natal, Brazil in 12 hours, 5 minutes. She was the first woman to fly solo across the south Atlantic. In 1931, she had won the Harmon Trophy as the world’s most distinguished aviatrix. She owned a flying school at Orly Airport. and served in the French Air Force reaching the rank of Captain, logging over 3000 hours of flight time.
December 29, 1932 Ruth Nichols became the first woman pilot of a commercial passenger airline, flying for New York and New England Airlines. Nichols broke many other records, including beating Charles Lindbergh’s record for a cross country flight. During the course of her career she flew every type of aircraft from glider to supersonic jet.
December 28, 1920 Twenty-three year old Amelia Earhart went on her first airplane flight as a passenger, paying pilot Frank Hawks $10 for a ride at the California State Fair. “By the time I had got two or three hundred feet off the ground I knew I had to fly,” she said. A year later she had earned her pilot’s license.
December 27, 1970 Astronaut Naoko Yamazaki was born in Matsudo, Japan. On April 5, 2010 Yamazaki flew into space as a member of the STS-131 crew, delivering the Leonardo large module to the International Space Station. She logged over 362 hours in space.
December 26, 1921 Aviation buff and journalist Louise Faure-Favier published the first in flight magazine, Guides des Voyages Aeriens, Paris-Londres. Faure-Favier wrote countless magazine articles and stories. Her most famous novel, Blanche et Noire, published in 1928, was a groundbreaking story about race relations.
December 25 The world’s premier all-female flight crew, commonly known as Santa’s Reindeer, have accomplished another global gift giving mission. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game confirms that Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen are, in fact, Rein-does. “Male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid December. Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa’s reindeer, every single one of them … has to be a female.” Since 1939, the all female crew has occasionally been accompanied by a juvenile male mascot, Rudolf.
December 24, 1893 Actress and aviatrix Ruth Chatterton was born. Chatterton was nominated for an Academy Award for her roles in Madam X and Sarah and Son. An avid pilot, she made several transcontinental solo flights and sponsored the Ruth Chatterton Air Derby, a test of precision flying.
We’ve all seen the act. The magician waves his wand over the prone body of his lovely assistant and suddenly she rises, suspended in mid-air. He sweeps a hoop across her. “See? No wires!”
