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Louise McPhetridge Thaden (1905-1979) distinguished herself as a pilot who set a number of speed and endurance records in the early years of aviation. In December 1928 she set a new altitude record of 20,260 feet. Three months later she set a new US women's endurance record, remaining aloft in a Travel Air 3000 for 22 hours, 3 minutes. In the 1929 National Women's Air Derby she flew a Travel Air B-4000 to a first-place victory, then set a refueling duration record (with Frances Marsalis) at 196 hours, a light plane speed record (100 km), and a new east-west speed record. In 1936 she became the first woman to win the Bendix Trophy, flying a Wright-powered Beech C17R Staggerwing. Thaden was a founder and charter member of the Ninety-Nines (VP, 1931-33), and later was closely associated with the Civil Air Patrol and Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service (DACOWITS; member, 1959-61).
NASM.1989.0132
Thaden, Louise (McPhetridge), 1905-1979
bulk 1928-1973
Patricia Thaden Webb, Gift, 1989
0.1 Cubic feet ((2 folders))
National Air and Space Museum Archives
EThis collection consists of 48 copy photographs with copy negatives, mostly from the 1930s, of Thaden. Subjects included in the prints are as follows: her fellow woman pilots, including Amelia Earhart, Blanche Noyes, Ruth Elder, and Florence Barnes; her Beech C17R Staggerwing, Beech Travel Air, and a Porterfield Model 35 aircraft; and a few photographs of her family. The collection also includes a citation and a copy of the portrait painted for Thaden's investiture into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame at the San Diego Aerospace Museum, as well as a video tape of her induction.
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Louise Thaden Photograph Collection, Accession 1989-0132, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Aeronautics
Women in aeronautics
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Video recordings