Ruth Nichols wasn’t afraid.
Not since her first ride in a biplane in 1919, when the pilot did loop-de-loops to terrify her. She conquered her fear and began a career as an aviatrix with the singular purpose of being the best.
In the years following Charles Lindbergh’s historic transatlantic flight in 1927, courageous female pilots were in a drive to out-fly one another in the race to be the first woman to repeat Lindbergh’s feat.
Aviation was still in its infancy. Pilots were daredevils, flying by the seat of their pants, to go faster, further, higher than ever before using shockingly unsophisticated machinery.