Aviatrix

De: Elinor Smith

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Reading Aviatrix is a journey back in time that all who were there will find irresistible. For the later arrivals, it tells of the real beginning....Finally, we have a factual and detailed record of aviation's most romantic period, by the top woman pilot of the era." -H. A. Ottewill, Captain, U.S. Naval Reserve (Ret.) and Captain, TWA (Ret.). In 1917, six-year-old Elinor Smith went up for her first airplane ride. From then on, she spent every spare moment hanging around the planes and fliers at Long Island's Roosevelt Field - the site of many aviation firsts of that era - for her dream to make flying a career had begun. That was a revolutionary idea in those days. Flying was still in its infancy, and only a few women had managed to become licensed pilots, most of them supported by rich husbands. Even the top male pilots had to struggle to make a living in this newfangled industry. Determined to make her dream come true, Elinor soloed at the age of fifteen; a year later she became the youngest licensed pilot in the United States when Orville Wright signed her F.A.I. flying license. After attracting national attention by flying under the four New York City bridges, she went on to pilot 158 different models of aircraft, to set altitude, endurance and refueling records, and to be named "Best Woman Pilot" in 1930, the same year her idol and friend Lt. Jimmy Doolittle was named "Best Aviator." All of this was "seat of the pants" flying, since pilots were lucky to have a compass and an altimeter in the cockpit, and their lives depended on their intimate knowledge of each plane that they flew. Aviatrix is a warm and loving memoir of an exciting time in aviation. The author shares with us wonderful adventures, and some wonderful people. She knew all the great fliers: Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, Bert Acosta, and Casey Jones; and the women fliers: Amelia Earhart, Bobbie Trout, Lady Mary Heath, and Louise Thaden. She also recounts a few unpleasant experiences with a gentleman named G.P. Putnam, who happened to be Amelia's husband and manager. Along the way, we meet some of the top stage, screen, and radio stars of the day as Elinor's flying fame takes her in front of Hollywood cameras and NBC's microphones. This is an enthralling piece of history, especially about women's contribution to early aviation. Elinor Smith is a wonderful storyteller and a feisty lady who has never lost her touch at the controls, or her determination to fight for what she believes in. Elinor Smith retired from active flying in the early 1930's to marry Patrick Sullivan and raise four children. In 1960, an invitation to address the United States Air Force Association led her back into the aviation world, piloting a T-33 jet trainer. In March 2000 she visited the Ames Research Center at Moffatt Field in Mountain View, California, at the controls of the Space Shuttle simulator she became the oldest pilot to complete a simulated shuttle landing. In 2001 at the age of 89 she travelled to Langley Air Force Base where she flew a C33 Raytheon AGATE, Beech Bonanza. Up until her death on March 19, 2010 at the age of 98, she captivated audiences with her aviation knowledge and exciting adventures.