Florence Gunderson Klingensmith was an American aviator of the Golden Age of Air Racing.
12 Facts About Florence Klingensmith
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Florence Klingensmith was a founding member of the Ninety-Nines, a women's pilot group.
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Florence Klingensmith was one of the first women to participate in air races with men.
4.
Florence Klingensmith died in an accident during the Frank Phillips Trophy Race at the 1933 International Air Races in Chicago, Illinois.
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Florence Klingensmith was baptized in the Oak Mound Congregational Church and attended the Oak Mound Consolidated School in Kragnes Township with her sister Myrtle and brothers George and Roy.
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In return, Florence Klingensmith would promote Fargo and carry advertisements at fairs, flying meets, and air races.
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On 22 June 1931, before more than 50,000 spectators, Florence Klingensmith took off from Wold Chamberlain Field at Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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In 1933 Florence Klingensmith was the first woman to enter the $10,000 Frank Phillips Trophy Race at the International Air Races in Chicago, Illinois.
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Florence Klingensmith flew a bright red Gee Bee Model Y Senior Sportster NR718Y, owned by Arthur Knapp of Jackson, Michigan.
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Florence Klingensmith immediately veered off the course and flew steady and level straight south to a plowed field a couple of miles away in Northfield Township.
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Florence Klingensmith's body was shipped back to Minnesota for the funeral.
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Florence Klingensmith was interred in the Gunderson family lot in Oak Mound Cemetery, Kragnes Township, a few miles from where she was born.