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This Day in Women's Aviation
Today is Tuesday, March 16, 2010 9:56 PM
1892 - At 6:20 p.m., young American daredevil Jeanette Van Tassel, member of a family troupe of professional balloonists hired by the Dhaka royal family, made her ascent over present-day Bangladesh. Her balloon became stuck in a tree when a gust of wind carried her off to the gardens of Shahbag. Tragically, she fell to the ground, and would die several days later. She would be interned in the Christian graveyard at Narinda.
1929 - Louise Thaden departed Oakland Municipal Airport in a Travel Air in a bid for the women's endurance record. She would succeed after flying for 22 hours and 3 minutes, but the short-lived record would be broken just a month later by Elinor Smith with a 26 hour, 21 minute flight over Roosevelt Field, New York.
1932 - Ruth Harmon 18, earned her pilot's certificate. She would master aerobatics and become the "Girl Flyer," performing at air shows throughout her home state of Wisconsin during the 1930s. In 1940, she would become chief instructor in the Civilian Pilot Training program at Kenosha, training hundreds of Navy flight cadets during World War II. One of fifty female CPT instructors in the country and the only one in Wisconsin, she was also the first female airport manager in Wisconsin.
2004 - Chanda Budhabhatti, 60, became the first Indian woman to set a speed record for a single-engine plane. She and copilot Barbara Harper flew a Piper from Tucson, Arizona to Laughlin Bullhead International airport, on the border of Arizona and Nevada, covering 257 miles in 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 59 seconds. Two days later, Chanda would become the first Indian woman to receive a commercial seaplane rating.
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