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for a short ride. At the end of the flight, Capt. Van Deman expressed his gratitude: "I want to thank you, Mr. Wright. Now it will be possible for me to keep peace in our family." 1

The "Detroit Free Press" in June 1911 carried lengthy accounts of an air meet which was being held at the Detroit Country Club. Frank Coffyn, a wright Aviator, was performing in his Wright biplane, making exhibition flights and carrying passengers. A great deal of coverage was devoted to the many women who flew as passengers. Mrs. Russel A. Alger, wife of the President of the Michigan Aero Club, was the first woman to make an airplane flight in Michigan. Her fourteen-year-old daughter Josephine, who went up shortly after her mother, was the youngest person in the U.S. ever to fly in an airplane up to that time.

Since women were involved, the newspaper was unable to resist a short fashion commentary: "Miss (Elizabeth) Loomis was the fourth passenger. There was not a trace of fear in her walk to the machine, only an eagerness to take her turn at flying. She was dressed in white, with a small red hat pinned firmly on her head, and the right ear, which during the flight is within a few inches of the roaring motor, stuffed with cotton." Miss Loomis was extremely enthusiastic about her flight: "It's the greatest fun I ever had. I'm simply made about it. It's

1 Newspaper clipping, found in Mrs. Ralph Van Deman biographical file, National Air and Space Museum Library