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The
Beginning
How much horsepower should a woman be allowed to have? This was a question
in 1929 when
20 female pilots made history
by entering a transcontinental air race from Sana Monica, California, to
Cleveland, Ohio. It was the first time women were allowed to compete with
each other in the air.
However, restrictions were placed upon them. Each contestant was required to
have 100 logged hours of flight time as a licensed pilot, and their
airplanes could not exceed horsepower believed to be "appropriate" for a
woman.
Nevertheless, they came, flew the race, and set a precedent. Many of the
women racers went on to become household names in aviation, including Amelia
Earhart, Bobbie Trout and Pancho Barnes.
Famous aviators Howard Hughes and Wiley Post, and humorist Will Rogers, were
in attendance at the start of the race. After noting that each woman took
time for a last check in her compact mirror to apply powder to her nose,
Rogers stated that it looked more like a "powder puff derby" to him. His
comment stuck and the race was thereafter dubbed the "Powder Puff Derby."
The last Powder Puff Derby, formally known as the All Woman Transcontinental
Air Race (AWTAR), was flown in 1977; however, the women who flew in these
events wanted to continue competitive air racing. The result was a new
event, the Air Race Classic, not always transcontinental in its route of
flight, but consistently more than 2,000 miles in length.
And so, we come to 2010, the
81st year of
Women's Transcontinental Air
Racing.
Catch
the excitement
as this prestigious aviation event for women pilots culminates in
Frederick, Maryland! |
