Summary

Chapter 18 is titled “That’s What I Think of Wives Flying.” As Henderson continued to plan the Cleveland races, the Ninety-Nines continued to make their protests, insisting that women be allowed to compete, and on the same terms as the men. Henderson maintained his position, with many in the press supporting him. There were also arguments in support of that position from women fliers and women in general, one of whom suggested that the only reason women were flying was because their husbands were doing it. “That’s what I think of wives flying,” she said (199).

In spite of the protests, a small group of female fliers participated in a small, independent race also in Cleveland, “the first-ever women’s national air meet” (195). One of the fliers was Frances Marsalis, Thaden’s co-pilot in her record-breaking endurance flight, desperate for money in...