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Mar 21, 2018 · The daughter of McKeesport School System superintendent J.B. Richey, Helen was the youngest of five children. After just one semester at Carnegie Tech, she abandoned college for the flight line. Her father, by then well aware of his daughter’s burning ambition to fly, financed her first aircraft, an open-cockpit biplane.
Richey flew in several races and race meets in the 1920's and 30's. When World War II started and the U.S. Army put into action the WASP's, Jackie Cochran sent Richey a letter to join the ATA. Richey was accepted into the ATA. After the ATA, Richey joined the WASP program and flew for them until their deactivation.
Feb 22, 2024 · Unable to live her dream of an employed aviator, Richey became a ghost, locked away in her apartment to alcohol and books. Her friends tried to help her find work after the war, but Richey stopped showing interest. Her sister Lucille recalled that she had become quiet, depressed, and disconnected from her life.
Helen Richey. 11/21/1909 - 1/07/1947. Primary Vocation: Military. Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: McKeesport, Allegheny County. Abstract: Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, on November 21, 1909, Helen Richey was a famous female aviator. During her career as a stunt pilot, she set several records and flew with other famous female aviators ...
Helen Richey (November 21, 1909 – January 7, 1947) was a pioneering female aviator and the first woman to be hired as a pilot by a commercial airline in the United States. [1] In 1933, she and her flying partner, Frances Harrell Marsalis, set a women's fueling endurance record of 237 hours and 42 minutes above the city of Miami in their ...
Richey, Helen (1910–1947) American aviator. Born in 1910 in Pennsylvania; died in 1947. Was the first woman to fly airmail transport (December 31, 1934); was the first woman to become a licensed instructor (1940); was a flight instructor with rank of major, U.S. Army; discharged (1944); established world record for continuous flight: 9 days, 21 hours, 42 minutes (1933); established world ...
The San Diego Air & Space Museum Library & Archives houses the personal papers of the first female commercial pilot, Helen Richey, born on November 12, 1909 in McKeesport, PA. Helen at home in Pennsylvania. Richey began her flying career as a teenager out of high school. In 1929 she became the first licensed female pilot in Allegheny County.
