Amelia Earhart

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 07:26:21 -0500, Cub Driver
wrote in
::

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 18:35:22 -0500, "Martin X. Moleski, SJ"
wrote:

... their successes captured the world's attention and undeniably
demonstrated female equality with men at a time when it was needed to
publicly advance that movement.

It was also a way to earn a living. There's good money in
show business.

There was also that gorgeous gal in the tailor-made purple jumpsuit.
Alas, she didn't have a seatbelt, and she fell out of her aircraft
during a show over Boston.

Far from giving her the Darwin award, however, the world has seen her
face on a U.S. postal stamp. Oh, what was her name? She was so pretty
too in that purple jumpsuit. I want to call her Gloria but I don't
think that's right.


Her name was Harriet Quimby, the first US woman to hold an airman's
certificate in 1910, just two years after the Wrights sold their first
aircraft.

Actually, IIRC she was giving a ride to a gentleman in her Bleriot
monoplane, and they hit some turbulence, and as a result, he was
ejected from the aircraft. This caused the aircraft CG to change to
the extent that the aircraft was no longer controllable and she fell
tragically into knee deep water off the coast. Here's a cite:

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/quimby.htm
When Harriet arrived on July 1, 1912, William Willard, the event
organizer, and his son, Charles, tossed a coin to see who would
win the privilege of a flight with Harriet. Willard Senior won the
toss and climbed into the passenger seat, casually appointing
Earle Ovington as Manger of the meet in case he met with an
accident. After a routine flight out to the Boston Light, Harriet
circled over the Neponset River and Dorchester Bay as thousands of
spectators watched.

While at an altitude of approximately 1500 feet, the plane
suddenly pitched forward and Willard was thrown from his seat.
Harriet appeared to temporarily gain control of the monoplane, but
was thrown out seconds later. Both Harriet and Willard fell to
their deaths in the tidal mud flats of the Bay. Just why the plane
pitched forward continues to be analyzed and debated to this day.
The 1912 Boston Globe suggested lack of seat belts, while Earle
Ovington claimed cables from the aircraft tangled the steering
mechanisms. Others speculated that Willard, a heavy and excitable
man, suddenly leaned forward to speak with Harriet, and was tossed
out. Once he was ejected, the empty passenger seat made it
impossible for Harriet to regain balance of her machine. When
flying her two-seater aircraft alone, Harriet "balanced" the
weight with sand bags in the passenger's seat. Although her
Bleriot was now empty, it glided downward, until it was overturned
in the shallow muddy water. Reports that her plane landed unbroken
have been exaggerated through the years, and in fact it was badly
damaged.

From that account, I don't feel that she deserved a nomination for a
Darwin Award. Her last flight demonstrated the necessity for aircraft
to be equipped with seatbelts.

There's a photograph of Miss Quimby he
http://www.womeninaviation.com/harriet.html .

Another he http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1696.htm