Lyceum & Book Club - Week 34 - Jan.12, 1947 - Women Barred From Air Maneuvers Mad As Hornets

On January 12,1947, the Miami Herald published a whole page on the All American Air Maneuvers air show held in Miami that weekend. Included in the coverage was a picture of the “Navy’s newest ship” (plane), the jet-propelled Phantom, which made its first public flying debut before the Air Maneuvers on Saturday and returned for the Sunday races.

Two trophies were given on Saturday - Steven Wittman, from Oshkosh,Wisconsin in the light-plane handicap race and R.C. Granere, from Miami,FL in the Biscayne limited races.

There was a stunt performance by pilot Jess Bristol in his modified Boing Navy fighter.

On that same page, they included the following article about how WASPS were excluded from even flying in the show at all. Mind you, the women didn’t want to race against the men (even though the plane eliminates physical advantages of gender), they just wanted to have one women’s race included in the show.

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Photo caption: “Women Fliers with nothing to fly, Marge Hurlburt, from Cleveland, and Kaddy Landry, from Miami, were unhappy because the air maneuvers included no races for women.”

Headline: Women Barred From Air Maneuvers

Mad As Hornets Are Flying WASPS

A group of ex-WASPS were as angry as hornets Saturday because officials of the All-American Air Maneuvers apparently think a woman’s place is in the home.

They wanted to fly planes in the air show, but officials of the show did not schedule any events for women fliers.

“I came down here to break the women’s national and international speed records, but was told women were barred,” said Marge Hurlburt, winner of the Halle race trophy at the Cleveland air races.

Miss Hurlburt, a WASP during the war, said the present record of 292 miles per hour, set by Jacqueline Cochrane several years ago, “could be knocked sky high, with almost any plane of today.”

She planned to beat the record with a Corsair.

“If that’s going to be printed,” she said, “I’m going to have to hurry home to Cleveland and break the record before someone beats me to it.”

Miss Kaddy Landry, Miami flight instructor at Brown’s airport, said the decision of air show officials prompted a group of women pilots to arrange a women’s air show at Tampa on March 15 and 16.

“Women,” reported Miss Hurlburt, “don’t want to compete against men. We simply want to compete against other women.”