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Born in Alabama, Katherine Stinson (1891–1977) could not initially find an instructor willing to train her, but ultimately persuaded Max Lillie (1881–1913) of the Wright School to give her lessons. In 1911, after just four hours of training, she was able to fly solo. In 1912, at the age of twenty-one, Stinson became the fourth woman in the United States to obtain a pilot’s certification. Often referred to as “the Flying School Girl,” Stinson quickly became a star aerobatic performer at air meets and exhibitions. The first woman to perform an aerial loop, she performed the stunt hundreds of times without a single mishap. She was also the first woman to fly the U.S. airmail and to perform flying exhibitions in China and Japan. “First Flights: Early Women Aviators and their Aircraft” is on display post-security in Terminal 3, and online at: https://bit.ly/3wzDwfL
This image was posted on July 20, 2022.