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Bill Adams
Box 99
Dresden, New York 14441

ROCHESTER'S REMARKABLE FLYING REDHEAD

It is a remarkable historical coincidence that supersonic flight and America's bicentennial arrived practically simultaneously.  A review of the female air greats over the years is not our purpose.  We deal with one one--America's FIRST Female professional pilot.  She was a petite, red-haired individualist from Rochester, New York--Blanche Stuart Scott.  This only child of a prominent family was born in 1889 (she said 1894).  Her indulgent parents permitted her a wide range of personal liberties with the qualifying proviso that she must accept the results of her decisions.  This philosophy engendered an intensive desire for individual excellence.

Before her teens Blanche set out to challenge the leaders of both sexes as a skater.  She succeed with an array of titles and medals.  She determined to master the art of trick bicycle riding.  [[strikethrough]] Three [[/strikethrough]]  Seven bicycles plus the lost of a few yards of skin she made it.  These two girlhood triumphs drew her to a man with the improbable name of Percy McGargle.  Percy was one of the first men ever to drive an auto across the United States.  She haunted his courting visits to a neighborhood belle until she had memorized all the details of this pioneering exploit.  She laid siege to her parents for an automobile.  Tears and tantrums triumphed.  The family acquired a one cylinder Cadillac.  At age 13 she was practically the only female auto pilot in Rochester, New York.  The City Council soon made [[strikethrough]] this [[/strikethrough]] an embarrassing discovering as it was inundated with yipps from horse owners and pedestrians demanding the removal of this juvenile juggernaut from their roads and lives.  The crimson faced City Council discovered no ordinance regarding automobiles.  Their problem driver got them off the hook by departing to finishing school.

Graduation found Blanche in New York City in search of quick fame and fortune.  There were few female career opportunities in the early 1900's.  Blanche shook her memory tree.  A golden apple dropped.