Viewing page 4 of 15

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

December 28, 1929     Wings for War Birds-By Marjorie Stinson    27 

seat beside him. On this flight he could land anywhere he chose. He climbed steadily until we flagged him down and went on climbing afterward so there could be no question of his reaching the required height, cut off the motor, and glided down to one of those now famous gentle landings. Canada had offered another volunteer, the Royal Flying Corps was to acquire another subflight lieutenant, and the first girl to teach flying and had graduated a pupil.
     At times there were sixteen pupils in my class, and, in order to give all of them in the sufficient time in the air, it was necessary for me to stay up over six hours every day. This was, of course, divided into short hops. Constant flying every day was not in the least distasteful to me, nor uncomfortable, except on extremely cold days.
    I remember one cold day in particular. The plane was the wide-open type, the flyers sitting on the wing. As some of the men were not yet very good flyers i had plenty to occupy my mind and forgot that i was rather cold. A gentleman from Canada stepped up and announced that the flights would have to cease for the morning, since i was blue in the face and my teeth were chattering. I had to be assisted from the plane and accompanied to the nearest homestead, where i literally climbed in the oven and drank all the coffee that had been prepared for the family breakfast. My Canadian guardian promised to call back again for me later, but I thawed out sufficiently to walk back and resume flying. From then on there was a teacher's pet in my little school and I saw to it that my northern friends took his test as quickly as humanly possible, which in his case happened to be three hours and forty-five minutes' flying time.
   The record for the shortest flying time necessary before one of my students soloed and passed his test was made by Marcel Dubuc, French-Canadian, from Montreal. Dubuc received only three hours and forty minuets' flying instruction before he successfully flew alone.
   Another unusual record was made by Paul V. Morris of Paris,France. It seemed that he, also, was in a hurry to be off to war, which had started while he was visiting the United States, and he explained that his entrance into his air service could only be assured if he had his wings when he arrived overseas. I agreed to give him his time as fats was he could take it. He crowded four hours of flight training into five days, successfully soloing and passing his tests on the evening of the fifth day. His flights were officially observed by one of his classmates in flying,John Frost, vice president of the Frost National Bank of San Antonio, Texas. Morris was granted Aëro Club of America's pilot license No.494.
    [[strikethrough]] Frost, San Antonio's first sportsman flyer, soloed in exactly four hours.[[/strikethrough]] The other graduates were citizens of then belligerent countries, and had entered my flying school for the specific purpose of joining the air services of their respective armies. I was, therefore, accustomed to congratulating them and wishing them God speed at the same time. Mr.Frost was duly graduated and congratulated, but he had no notion of going anywhere just then. Next morning at gray dawn I was up in the Wright Model B, chasing coyotes around the field,when i recognized the lights of Frost's high-speed roadster down the road. They turned into the field, an I wondered what the trouble could be, and landed to inquire. He laughed and explained that he wanted to take some advanced flying lessons. So far I hadn't had a request for any kind of postgraduate work, but it sounded interesting, so i agreed.
   He took twelve hours' training from me, then went off and brought back a Curtiss J. N., quite the latest and raciest plane to be had in those days. He had a field laid out and a hanger built on his country estate. After our entrance into the war, Frost served overseas as a captain in the army.
   One of my most interesting flying students  came up from Mexico and was introduced by his interpreter as Señor Francisco Montes de Orca. He spoke Spanish fluently, while I spoke English with a southern accent. All of my instructions about flying were relayed to him through his interpreter. Had he not been an exceptionally apt pupil, the lessons might have proved hazardous for us both. 
   They were not all so bright, however. One young man, in particular, always flew wing low. On the ground he seemed sensible and on an even keel, but he just never did fly level. During one of his many sideslips in the air, I turned around to see whatever in the world he could be thinking about, and he wasn't thinking - he was just gazing at the day moon and chewing gum. On the next flight, the gum was stuck under the wing, and the plane flew level for his first time.
   Only two girls have taken flying lessons from me, and while neither of them soloed, both could have safely flown alone had they chosen.
   MUCH has been said about whether or not women should actually pilot their own planes. As I see it, there is no question about it. Women have been flying successfully for years. Miss Harriet Quimbly, first American woman to fly, learned in 1911, and shortly thereafter flew alone across the English Channel, which was quite an undertaking for any pilot, considering the planes available in those grand old pioneer days. Close on her heels came Miss Matilde Moisant, another skillful pilot.
   The third woman to qualify as a pilot was my sister, Katherine Stinson, who learned to fly in 1912, and who has held me spellbound by her night sky-writing, intricate, stunting, and long cross-country flights. the next woman to grace the sky was Miss Ruth Law, an expert pilot if there ever was one, and, so far, the only person who has ever flown out of and landed within the Ellipse in Washington, D. C.
   Of the modern pilots, the late Miss Marvel Crosson attained an altitude of 24,000 feet, thereby establishing a world record for women.
   The present world endurance record for women was mat at Le Bourget Field,Paris,France July 28 and 29,1929, by Mlle. Maryse Bastie, who succeeded in remaining along twenty-six hours and forty-six minuets. She remained up through a night in the fog and five hours of rain, truly an endurance test for any lone pilot.
   Piloting, contrary to popular opinion, does not require a great amount of physical strength. Just after Lindbergh completed his famous New York to Paris light, he was asked if he thought a girl could also make a solo transatlantic flight, and his answer was,"Why not?"
   The Department of Commerce now lists seven women pilots, and hundreds of women student pilots. With the ever increasing comfort and safety of the present-day planes, we may easily expect to see in the near future dainty butterfly brigades of pastel-tinted planes-manned by members of the weaker sex.
           THE END

[[3 images]]
The only equipment possessed by Miss Stinson when she started her school.

Marcel Dubuc, a Stinson pupil who learned to flt in 3 hours 40 minutes.

Paul V. Morris who crowded 4 hours' flying in 5 days and got his license

Transcription Notes:
[[image 1: photo of woman standing next to a plane]] [[image 2: side profile of a man]] [[image 3: profile of another man]]