Page 27 - August 2015 Volume 9, Number 8

“We are out to win!”
In September 1936, Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes became the first female pilots to capture the coveted Bendix Trophy, and they did it flying a stock Beechcraft
by Edward H. Phillips
“We think you’ve won the Bendix!” yelled a man as he ran along beside the biplane as it taxied across the grass at Mines Field near
Los Angeles. Pilots Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes were puzzled why more and more men came running up to their Beechcraft C17R. They were certain they had made some mistake and were about to be reprimanded.
Determined to learn what all the fuss was about, Louise ordered Blanche to “find out what they want.” Her co- pilot cranked down the window and heard a startling statement – “You’ve won the Bendix!” The two ladies thought he was joking, and besides, they were too tired after nearly 15 hours in the air to care what anybody had to say.1
After reaching a safe spot to stop, Louise shut down the Wright R-975 static, air-cooled radial engine that had faithfully propelled their ship from New York to California in a flying time of 14 hours, 55 minutes and one second. Amidst a raucous, noisy herd of reporters and officials that included race sponsor Vincent Bendix and Cliff Henderson, manager of the National Air Races, Louise and Blanche slowly exited the Beechcraft and were hurried off to the announcer’s stand to address a cheering crowd of thousands. To their surprise and initial disbelief, the two women had not only won the prestigious Bendix competition, but would pocket a handsome $9,250 for their efforts. That award was a significant amount of cash in the midst of the worst economic depression America had ever experienced up to that time.
As they stepped down from the stand they were greeted by Olive Ann Beech, who ran up to them with tears in her eyes, threw her arms around them and said with emotion in her voice, “So a woman could not win, eh?” Indeed, they had won, beating the likes of Amelia Earhart, Laura Ingalls, Helen Richey and above all, the best male pilots in the country. Among those men were the dapper “Colonel” Roscoe Turner, flying his 1,000-hp Wedell-Williams racer; Benny Howard, whose custom- built monoplane Mr. Mulligan shed a propeller blade high over New Mexico and crashed, seriously injuring Howard and his wife, Maxine; and Joe Jacobson, who had to bail out of his crippled Northrop Gamma all-metal monoplane above Kansas.
Louise McPhetridge von Thaden began her aviation career in 1927 and
soon became one of America’s best-known female pilots. Born and raised in Arkansas, she once simultaneously held the women’s altitude, endurance and speed records, and later earned an Air Transport Pilot license. Walter Beech played a pivotal role in helping Louise earn her initial pilot’s license and always encouraged her to fly higher, farther and faster than her contemporaries. (EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION)
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