Laura Ingalls (aviator)
This article is about aviator Laura Ingalls. There is an article on the author Laura Ingalls Wilder.Laura Houghtaling Ingalls (
1901 â€"
January 10,
1967) was a female pilot of the
1930s.
She was born in
Brooklyn to Francis Abbott Ingalls I; and Martha Houghtaling (1865-?). Martha was the daughter of David Harrison Houghtaling (1834-?) of
Kingston, New York who was a descendant of Jan Willemsen Hoogteling, who arrived in New York on May 9, 1661. Writing about her mother Laura wrote: "My mother, partly through ill health, was extremely emotional and without adequate self-discipline; spoiled by her parents who thought she was wonderful and could do anything. Brilliant along certain lines, she possessed the trait I find most exciting in the American character, viz. the ability to hurdle difficulties and achieve the reputedly impossible. I grew up under such influence."
Her brother was Francis Abbott Ingalls II (1895-?) who was also born in
Brooklyn. Francis registered for the draft while he was attending military school in
Tuxedo Park, New York as a private in the infantry. He was an officer in both
World War I and
World War II. Francis married Mabel Morgan Satterlee (1901-?) on September 19, 1926. Mabel was the daughter of Herbert Livingston Satterlee; and Louisa Pierpont Morgan. This made Mabel the granddaughter of
J.P. Morgan.
Her most well-known flights were made in
1934 and earned her a
Harmon Trophy. Ingalls flew in a
Lockheed Orion from
Mexico to
Chile, over the
Andes Mountains to
Rio de Janeiro, to
Cuba and then to
Floyd Bennett Field in
New York, marking the first flight over the Andes by an
American woman, the first solo flight around
South America in a landplane, the first flight by a woman from
North America to South America, and setting a woman's distance record of 17,000 miles.
She served time at the West Virginia Women's Reformatory in
Alderson, West Virginia for violation of the
Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, by not registering as a
German agent. She was sentenced on February 20, 1942, to between eight months and two years. She was transferred from the District of Columbia jail to the Alderson prison on July 14, 1943. She was released on October 5, 1943.
She died on January 10, 1967 in
Burbank, California at age 66.
*Longest solo flight ever made by a woman at 17,000 miles
*First solo flight by a woman from North to South America
*First solo flight around South America by man or woman
*First complete flight by a land plane around South America by a man or woman.
*First American woman to fly the Andes solo
*1928 Soloed on
Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long Island on December 23rd
*1929 Enrolled in Universal Flying School at Lambert-St. Louis Field in June
*1929 Obtained Limited Commercial license from Department of Commerce in September
*1930 Obtained Transport license from Department of Commerce on April 12th
*1930 Graduated from Universal Flying School Transport course with score of 98, was only girl in the School
*1930 Established Women's Loop record in D.H. Gipsy Moth over Lambert-St. Louis Field - 344 loops. Previous record 47 loops on May 4th
*1930 Bettered first loop record at
Muskogee, Oklahoma by making 980 consecutive continuous loops in 3:40 in her D.H. Gipsy Moth on May 26th
*1930 Established World barrel-roll record for men and women of 714 rolls over Lambert-St. Louis Field in her D.H. Gipsy Moth on August 13th
*1930 Won third place Women's Dixie Derby from
Washington, D.C. to
Chicago, Illinois winning $800 in August and September
*1930 Established first Women's Transcontinental round trip record between Roosevelt Field and Grand Central Air Terminal,
Glendale, California and return. Time 30:25 to California; 25:20 on return flight to Roosevelt Field. Airplane: D.H. Gipsy Moth in October
*1934 Granted 3rd Class Radio Telephone license with authority to use code. Call letters KHTJQ in January
*1934 Took off from North Beach Airport,
Jackson Heights, New York in Lockheed Air Express for flight to
South America on February 28th
*1934 Took off from
Miami for
Havana, Cuba. Crossed the Caribbean Sea to Merida, Yucatan. Continued down through Central America to France Field, Cristobal, Canal Zone on March 8th
*1934 Flew non-stop from France Field,
Cristobal, Canal Zone to
Talara, Peru, a distance of 1296 miles - 460 miles over water. Continued down the West coast of South America to
Santiago, Chile on March 13th
*1934 The
Andes were crossed at an altitude of 18,000 feet through the
Uspallata Pass between
Santiago, Chile and
Mendoza,
Argentina on March 21st
*1934 Arrived
Miami, Florida on April 22nd
*1934 Arrived
Floyd Bennett Field, New York completing 17,000 mile flight on April 25th
*
Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, August 14, 1930*
Hargrave: Laura Ingalls*
Ingalls family memorial
