Page 26 - August 2015 Volume 9, Number 8

Travel Air had become rebellious. The ship stubbornly refused to climb another inch as it hung on the verge of a stall, quivering and shuddering in the frigid air. The engine was gasping for breath, its power spent. Worst of all, however, Louise had failed to detect that she was gradually losing consciousness. The loud ringing in her ears went unnoticed. She slowly slumped in the cockpit.
The next thing she knew the airplane was hurtling earthward in wide circles at high speed, its Hispano- Suiza powerplant screaming in protest. Fortunately, oxygen-rich air at the lower altitudes had succeeded in reviving her. She quickly regained control and continued a slow descent back to the airport, where she landed without incident. When the barograph was removed and the tracing analyzed by the FAI official, he declared that Thaden had set a record – the first official altitude record for women pilots, of 20,260 feet. It stood for five months before Marvel Crosson shattered that mark by reaching an official height of 24,000 feet.3
Although the wings had been shipped to Thaden for the specific purpose of setting a speed record, as preparations for the attempt began Walter wrote more letters to Louise, all of them continuing to “urge care and caution.” Soon the wings were installed and the ship rigged according to engineering directives. It was time to “take her up and see what she could do.” As Thaden recalled, “It was fast, the fastest commercial airplane on the West Coast. Pilots whom I had heretofore envied, now envied me. They stood in admiring groups about the sleek-looking ship, extolling her streamlined cleanness, all but drooling at the mouth to fly her. My popularity zoomed to a new high. It was very gratifying to my vanity.” 5
Louise chose the smooth air of the early evening to execute her attempt. Officials recording the flight reminded her that she was to fly a total of four passes, two in each direction, across a measured mile course that had been laid out on the Oakland airfield. A large crowd had gathered to witness the event, and Louise could only hope that she would not make a mistake.
The Travel Air’s Hispano-Suiza engine roared as Thaden put the biplane into a dive. She slowly leveled off at 300 feet as the ship flashed by the course marker at the west end of the field. Louise played the controls with as much precision as she could muster, trying hard to keep the airplane in level flight. In a matter of seconds the finish marker at the east end of the airport was behind her. She pulled up, rolled the Travel Air into a tight 180-degree turn and completed a second pass in the opposite direction. The buildings and people rushed by in a blur. “I was exalted with speed, with swift, powerful, unobstructed flight, cutting the air with knife-edge ease. Mastery, accomplishment, freedom, ego; verve, vitality; I was ready to burst with the joy of being so thoroughly alive – for the ability to fly.” 6
Thaden made two more passes over the course and landed, hoping she had set a record that would be difficult for her female contemporaries to beat. When Louise walked into the office where officials were busy calculating time and speed, they announced that she had set a record of 156 mph. Privately, Thaden was disappointed, but she consoled herself by realizing that she had flown faster than any woman in the world up to that time. In addition, she had held not only the speed record, but also the records for endurance and altitude.
Thaden achieved another goal in the summer of 1929 when she obtained her Transport License, which required a total flying time of 200 hours and specific cross-country experience. At that time she was one of only four female pilots that had achieved that high level of skill and knowledge. She would soon put that skill to work, but only if she could convince Walter Beech to build her an airplane for the upcoming Women’s Air Derby. The Derby was planned as a precursor to the 1929 National Air Races
Known on the West Coast as an up and coming aviatrix, Thaden set a women’s endurance record of 22 hours, three minutes, in March 1929, flying a Type 3000 equipped with additional fuel and oil tanks. The fuel tank mounted forward of the cockpit was crudely faired with sheet metal. The fuel line was routed into the cockpit where a wobble pump fed the gasoline to the fuselage tank. (EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION)
In addition to briefly holding the altitude record for women pilots, in 1929 Thaden set a speed record flying a Travel Air Type 3000. The biplane was equipped with the new “speed wings” developed by engineers at the factory in Wichita that not only featured a different airfoil section that reduced drag, but allowed a modest increase in maximum and cruise speeds. When the freight truck arrived at the Oakland office, the wings were carefully unloaded and slowly unpacked from their crates. Not long after the wings arrived, so did a letter from Walter H. Beech. It was addressed to Louise: “We believe the wings to be sufficiently strong, but since they are a new development, we do not want you to take any unnecessary risks or chances.” 4
24 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
AUGUST 2015