Famous high-flying female Remember Amelia Earhart? Well, her fellow female pilot Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie (1902-1975) flew Velie Monocoupe planes in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Actually, "flew" is a rather tame word for Omlie’s activities. She raced and set records, performing stunts and gaining fame in the aviation industry. Born in 1902 in Des Moines, Iowa, Phoebe became fascinated with parachute jumping at an early age. In fact, she financed her early passion for flying by performing wing-walking feats and by stunt flying for the "Perils of Pauline" motion pictures. She married her instructor, Vernon Omlie, and together they set out to take aviation beyond entertainment to a higher level of respectability. They were the first to demonstrate the nonmilitary value of airplanes by flying mercy missions during forest fire or flood emergencies and serving as fire spotters. Based in Memphis, Tennessee, they also operated the first airport in the state and one of the nation’s first flying schools.
In addition to all the "firsts" she won in numerous flying competitions, Omlie was the first woman to earn a federal pilot’s license and the first to receive an aircraft mechanic’s license. She went on to win numerous races against male pilots and later joined other pioneering female pilots, including Amelia Earhart, in an organization called the "Ninety Nines." The group was formed following the Women’s Air Derby in 1929. Will Rogers noted that their female genes compelled each racer to take one last glance at her compact, along with a dab of powder on her nose and succinctly announced, "It looks like a powder puff derby to me!" Nineteen women pilots raced from Santa Monica, California to Cleveland, Ohio. Before the race, Phoebe Omlie had parked her airplane in a field near the Santa Monica airport but she was hauled off to jail by the sheriff who thought she must be a dope smuggler!
The female pilots’ arrival in Cleveland was met with a huge crowd of fans and media coverage. Upon landing, several top female pilots gathered under the grandstand and discussed the possibility of forming an organization for women pilots. On November 2, 1929, the group met to launch their organization. Naming it proved difficult until someone suggested they use the number of charter members. At first, that was 86 so it was called the "Eighty Sixes" but the group grew and was temporarily named the "Ninety-Sevens" before it settled on the "Ninety-Nines." By 1931, the Ninety Nines elected Earhart as the first president. Today the group contains more than 6,500 members from 35 countries! After her success in the 1929 Powder Puff Derby, Omlie was asked by Franklin Delano Roosevelt if she would fly him around the country in his campaign for president. She agreed and flew him from town to town on campaign stops.
And after her husband’s death, she successfully campaigned for taxation reform that would return aviation taxes for aviation use and for the establishment of state-sponsored schools to train civilian pilots. She also developed pilot training programs and was an advocate for aircraft safety. *NOTE: Some information in this article comes from Women’s History magazine, Spring-Summer 1996
TextÝ © 2001 Brenda Kruse. |
When he won the election, he invited her to Washington to
develop pilot programs, including her concept of "airmarking," which would help
pilots find their way. The plan involved painting the name of the town on the top of a
building. With 12-foot high letters, the town’s name could be seen by pilots from as
far up as 3,000 feet. So when you see an airport hangar or other large building with the
town’s name painted on the roof, you can thank Phoebe Omlie for that! 
