Daredevil female pilot

Tomboy of the Air: Daredevil Pilot Blanche Stuart Scott
by Julie Cummins


A spoiled only child, Blanche Stuart Scott first terrorized the public in 1902, at age thirteen, by speeding around Rochester, New York in a single-cylinder Cadillac. She later made a name for herself by driving across the United States to promote a motor company. Shortly thereafter, she was asked to promote aircraft made by the Curtiss Flying Exhibition Company - by learning how to fly. 

Blanche Stuart Scott became the first woman to fly a plane in public in the United States. Her flying exploits inspired many women to take up aviation, despite the dangers involved. Stories of crashes and near-crashes, and even sabotage enliven Cummins' text, while photographs and quotes, many from Scott herself, illuminate the life and times of those daring men and women and their flying machines.