Readers Remember

Few inventions of this past century can equal the impact of aviation. Women were right alongside men in balloons, dirigibles and airplanes from the moment we took to the air. There were no stigmas separating the sexes, and it was often women, like the Stinson sisters (Stinson Aircraft), who made great advances in the new technology. Unfortunately, after World War I, the U.S. government refused to allow women to fly for their country in the military. From that point on, the great accomplishments of female pilots, navigators, designers and mechanics struggled to make themselves known.

One of the greatest achievements by an American woman in any century was Harriet Quimby’s flight across the English Channel on April 16, 1912, just one day after the Titanic sank. This New York journalist became America’s first licensed female pilot in 1911.

Quimby said goodbye to her friends on the shores of Dover knowing that she had a 50-50 chance of surviving her attempted channel-crossing flight. The overwhelming Titanic disaster dominated the newspaper headlines around the world and her record in the aviation books was overshadowed. However, during her time, it was certainly as important as any later flight made by Charles Lindbergh or Amelia Earhart.

Quimby died on July 1, 1912, at Squantum, Mass., when she fell from her Bleriot monoplane to her death.

GIACINTA BRADLEY KOONTZ

Woodland Hills

What do you recall most about the 20th century? In 200 words or less, send us your memories, comments or eyewitness accounts. Write to Century, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or e-mail century@latimes.com. We regret we cannot acknowledge individual submissions. Letters may be edited for space.