Viewing page 13 of 21

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

278

BLANCHE STUART SCOTT
Early American Aviatrix

Blache Stuart Scott was born at Rochester, New York, on April 8, 1889. She attended schools there, and her early interest in automobiles led to her becoming an expert driver.

In early 1910 Miss Scott contracted to drive an Overland car from New York to San Francisco without masculine assistance, as a publicity stunt, for the Willys-Overland Company, carrying a lady news reporter. This strenuous trip was completed in six weeks after many trials and tribulations, with the news reporter writing and turning in daily stories of their progress along the way. On this trip Miss Scott became interested in flying when she saw the activities at the Wright School in Dayton, Ohio. Also, she reportedly enjoyed a short flight as a passenger with Curtiss aviator Charles F. Willard in California at the completion of her journey. 

This trip had gained her national renown, and upon returning to New York Miss Scott was approached by Jerome Fanciulli, head of the Curtiss Exhibition Company, who asked if she would consider learning to fly and going on the road flying exhibitions. She jumped at the change and Fanciulli sent her to Hammondsport for instruction. There she encountered considerable opposition to the idea of a woman learning to fly, but since Fanciulli had sent her Curtiss proceeded to give her lessons. He started her on the usual grass cutting method, using a limited-power school machine so she would become accustomed to the controls. After a short practice on this she accidentally made her first straightaway hop on August 18, 1910, at the Keuka Lake front field but did not consider this a real flight. She did make a complete solo flight on September 2, 1910, to become the first woman in the United States to fly an airplane, and the first and only woman to be trained by Glenn Curtiss.