Happy Birthday Bessie Coleman! A remarkable person and aviator

[Cooley Hurd]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/26/aviation/bessie-coleman-google-doodle-trnd/index.html

Bessie Coleman and the women pilots history shouldn't forget



(CNN)Bessie Coleman broke multiple barriers when she took flight in 1921, and became the first African-American woman to earn a pilot's license.

Today's Google Doodle commemorates the 125th anniversary of her birth. Coleman was among a small group of female aviators in the early 20th century who successfully flew around the detours of racial prejudice and sexism to become queens in the air.

Worldwide, only 3 percent of airline pilots are women, the Royal Aeronautical Society said last November.

Recently, there's a move to change that.

The obvious place to begin is by highlighting the achievements of those long-forgotten -- the women who ignored the men who scorned them, broke through the restrictions society placed on them, and paved the way for Amelia Earhart.

</snip>

Happy Birthday, Bessie and Thank You!

[Stellar]

1. She would be 125 years old, wow.

And I think she died relatively young didn't she?

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Sadly, yes. She was 34 when she was thrown from an aircraft in flight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Coleman#Death

Death[edit]
On April 30, 1926, Coleman was in Jacksonville, Florida. She had recently purchased a Curtiss JN-4 (Jenny) in Dallas. Her mechanic and publicity agent, 24-year-old William D. Wills, flew the plane from Dallas in preparation for an airshow but had to make three forced landings along the way due to the plane being so poorly maintained and worn out.[16] Upon learning this, Coleman's friends and family did not consider the aircraft safe and implored her not to fly it. On take-off, Wills was flying the plane with Coleman in the other seat. She had not put on her seatbelt because she was planning a parachute jump for the next day and wanted to look over the cockpit sill to examine the terrain. About ten minutes into the flight, the plane unexpectedly went into a dive, then spun around. Coleman was thrown from the plane at 2,000 ft (610 m) and died instantly when she hit the ground. William Wills was unable to regain control of the plane and it plummeted to the ground. Wills died upon impact and the plane burst into flames. Although the wreckage of the plane was badly burned, it was later discovered that a wrench used to service the engine had jammed the controls. Coleman was 34 years old.

[Stellar]

4. Thank, I vaguely recall watching that on PBS.

[Starry Messenger]

3. I have a Bessie Coleman action figure in my ladyshrine

Happy Birthday BC.