| Phoebe Omlie | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Phoebe Jane Fairgrave Omlie |
| Born | November 21, 1902 Des Moines, Iowa |
| Died | July 17, 1975 (aged 72) Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Cause of death | lung cancer |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Vernon Omlie |
| Relatives | Andrew Fairgrave (father) Madge Traister (mother) |
| Aviation career | |
| Known for | Numerous firsts as a female pilot |
Phoebe Jane Fairgrave Omlie (November 21, 1902 – July 17, 1975) was an American aviation pioneer, particularly noted for her accomplishments as an early female aviator.[1] Omlie was the first female to receive an airplane mechanic's license, the first licensed female transport pilot, and the first female to be appointed to a federal position in the aviation field.[2]
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Omlie set several world records in aviation, including the highest altitude parachute jump by a female. She was also the first female to cross the Rocky Mountains in a light aircraft,[1] and was considered by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to be one of "eleven women whose achievements make it safe to say the world is progressing".[3]
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Phoebe Jane Fairgrave was born in Des Moines, Iowa on November 21, 1902,[4] and was the only daughter of parents Harry J. Park and Madge Traister Park. After divorcing Harry Park Madge married Andrew Fairgrave who adopted her two children, Phoebe and Paul.[1] Phoebe and her brother, Paul, attended Oak Park School in Des Moines until she was 12, when she and her family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota.[1] There, Fairgrave attended Madison School and Mechanic Arts High School and graduated in 1920. Fairgrave's interest in aviation was sparked the day before she graduated, when President Woodrow Wilson visited Minneapolis.[5] President Wilson's visit was commemorated by a flyover and was the first airshow of any kind that Fairgrave had witnessed.[4]
Shortly after graduating high school, Fairgrave spent a few months at the Guy Durrell Dramatic School and worked briefly as a secretary.[1] Bored with the prospects, she began hanging around airfields near her home and attempted to convince the airport manager to allow one of his flight instructors to take her flying.[4] The manager finally agreed, thinking that he could scare Fairgrave's interest in aviation out of her by performing various aerobatic maneuvers in an attempt to make her sick.[5] Instead, Fairgrave demanded more flight time and used some of her inheritance to purchase a Curtiss JN-4 biplane after her fourth flight.[5]
Still in her teens, Fairgrave started performing stunts on the wing of her aircraft as another pilot remained at the controls.[4] Fairgrave began wing walking, learned to hang below the plane by her teeth, parachute, and "dance the Charleston on the top wing".[4] Using the stunts she had learned, Fairgrave claimed the record for the highest parachute jump for a female by jumping from her plane at 15,200 feet (MSL) and earned a movie deal, flying aerobatic stunts for the film serial, The Perils of Pauline.[1] This was her first flight with Vernon C. Omlie, who would become her husband.[4] Following the record setting jump, Fairgrave and Omlie flew around the country on a barnstorming tour and eventually married in 1922.[5]
In 1925, the Omlies moved to Memphis, Tennessee and began offering flying lessons and mechanical services to local residents.[5] A year later, in 1927, Phoebe became the first female to receive an airplane mechanic's license, as well as the first licensed female transport pilot.[1] While Vernon continued operating the business and working as a flight instructor, Phoebe began working for the Mono Aircraft Company. Flying the company's Monocoupe light aircraft in 1928, Omlie set a world altitude record for females when she reached 25,400 feet (MSL).[1][4][5] That same year, Omlie competed in the Edsel Ford Air Tour and became the first female to cross the Rocky Mountains in a light aircraft.[4] Omlie later joined the Ninety-Nines as a charter member after competing in a race with Amelia Earhart.[4][6]
Omlie's success as a pilot was recognized by the Democratic National Committee, and she was enlisted to fly a female speaker around the country for Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential campaign.[4] After the successful campaign, Omlie was appointed by President Roosevelt as the "Special Adviser for Air Intelligence to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics".[4] This made her the first female to be appointed to a federal aviation position.[2] In this role, Omlie acted as a "liaison between the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics and the Bureau of Air Commerce" alongside Amelia Earhart to create what would become the National Airspace System.[5]
On August 5, 1936, Vernon Omlie and seven passengers were killed when the plane he was flying crashed in St. Louis, Missouri while attempting to land in foggy conditions..[4] Phoebe Omlie immediately resigned her position in Washington, D.C. and returned to Memphis.[4] Following her husbands death, Omlie did not return to Washington, D.C. until 1941, when she accepted a job as "Senior Private Flying Specialist of the Civil Aeronautics Authority".[4] In this position, Omlie established 66 flight schools in 46 states, including a school in Tuskegee, Alabama that would later train the infamous Tuskegee Airmen.[4] Unhappy about the increasing regulation of the aviation industry by the United States Federal Government under President Harry S. Truman, Omlie resigned in 1952 and left aviation.[5]
After resigning from the Civil Aeronautics Authority, Omlie returned to Memphis and purchased a cattle farm in Como, Mississippi.[4] Omlie's inexperience with operating a cattle farm posed a problem in running the business, and she traded the farm a few years later for a small cafe and hotel in Lambert, Mississippi.[5] The hotel business proved to be just as unsuccessful for Omlie, who returned to Memphis in 1961.[5]
Leading up to the final years before her death, Omlie made little money as a public speaker.[5] The last few years of Omlie's life were spent in seclusion, living in a flophouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, fighting lung cancer and alcoholism.[1][5] Omlie died on July 17, 1975, and was buried next to her husband in Forest Hill Cemetery.[1]
In June 1982, a new air traffic control tower was dedicated and named in honor of Phoebe and Vernon Omlie at the Memphis International Airport.[1]