Born August 17, 1911 in Freeport, New York, Elinor Smith Sullivan died March 19, 2010 at a nursing home in Palo Alto, California. She was a record-setting aviatrix who was names by fellow fliers the 1930 female pilot of the year, over Amelia Earhart.Miss Smith, who was known in aviation circles by her maiden name, set multiple solo endurance, speed and altitude records. In answer to a male chauvinist challenge, she flew her plane under four bridges along New York's East River, a stunt that landed her in hot water with federal authorities but secured her fame.
She was featured on a Wheaties cereal box in 1934. Her father took her on her first airplane ride at age 6. Before she was 10 she flew with an instructor, propped up with a pillow and with blocks tied to the controls so she could reach them. Practicing her skills before school started in the mornings, she soloed at 15. She became the youngest licensed pilot in the world at 16, after appealing to Orville Wright, chairman of the National Aeronautic Association. Only 117 women were licensed pilots by 1929, and she was one of them.
A month after receiving her license, an obscure barnstormer bragged about his failed attempt to fly under a bridge, then spread rumors that she had chickened out of trying the same feat. She decided to beat him by clearing the Queensboro, Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges.
Charles Lindbergh offered her the words of encouragement, "Good luck, kid. Keep your nose down in the turns." Newspapers went wild for her, dubbing her a daredevil and plastering post-flight photos of her powdering her freckled nose.
Soon she was setting altitude, endurance and speed records. In 1931, trying to fly above 30,000 feet, her engine died. While restarting it, she accidentally cut off her oxygen and passed out, high over the Chrysler Building in Manhattan. She recovered at 2,000 feet, with her plane "in a power dive right into the Hempstead Reservoir," she said, before managing a landing.
At 18, she was hired as the first female executive pilot of the Irvin Air Chute Co., dropping parachutists. The next year she became the first female test pilot for the Fairchild Aviation Corp. and Bellanca Aircraft Corp. She endorsed goggles and motor oil. NBC radio hired her as a commentator.
In 1933 she retired from flying at 29 to focus on her family. After her husband died in 1956, she accepted an invitation to address the Air Force Association and soon resumed flying. In 2000, she became the oldest pilot to complete a stimulated shuttle landing. Her last flight was in April 2001, when she flew an experimental C33 Raytheon Agate, Beech Bonanza at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.
Biography: 'Aviatrix,' 1981.
