18 Facts About Elinor Smith

Elinor Smith was a pioneering American aviator, once known as "The Flying Flapper of Freeport".

Elinor Smith was the first woman test pilot for both Fairchild and Bellanca.

Elinor Smith was the youngest licensed pilot in the world at age 16.

Elinor Smith's mother had been a professional singer before her marriage; her father was a comedian, singer and dancer.

Elinor Smith toured extensively in the role of the Scarecrow in a stage production of The Wizard of Oz and was a star of the Orpheum Circuit.

Elinor Smith wrote his own material for his vaudeville act, and in the 1920s wrote comedy bits for Broadway shows as well.

Elinor Smith immediately fell in love with flying, and took numerous rides that summer with the same French pilot, Louis Gaubert.

Elinor Smith received further lessons from Frederick Melvin Lund, who piloted her father around the country on the vaudeville circuit and was teaching him to fly as well, and from Bert Acosta.

Elinor Smith's father bought a Waco 9 and hired "Red" Devereaux as a pilot and flight instructor for both of them.

Elinor Smith began taking her father's Waco 9 up to higher altitudes than anyone had ever taken such a plane.

Until late 1928, there was no established women's flying endurance record; Elinor Smith decided to establish one, but was beaten to it.

Elinor Smith's plan was to fly through the night and land in daylight: unbeknownst to those around her, although she had often landed at dusk she had never done a true night landing before.

Elinor Smith did the contact flying while Trout handled the fueling hoses.

Elinor Smith regained consciousness and began a cautious pullout at about 6,000 feet, and managed to guide the plane to an open spot in a housing development, nosing it over during the landing.

Elinor Smith ascended to 34,800 feet indicated on her altimeter.

Elinor Smith kept flying for a while after their 1933 marriage, but once she had a child she retired from flying and spent over 20 years as a suburban housewife, ultimately bearing and raising four children.

Sullivan died in 1956, and Elinor Smith returned to the air.

Elinor Smith died on March 19,2010, in Palo Alto, California.