Katherine Stinson

In a plane she built herself, Stinson became the first woman, and only the fourth pilot, in the United States to master the dangerous “loop to loop” stunt. She was the first pilot ever to fly at night, and the first to undertake night skywriting when she flew over Los Angeles in 1915, using flares to spell “CAL.” Stinson was the first woman to fly in Asia, performing in her own show in China. She set a record of 610 mi when she flew from San Diego to San Francisco in 1917. She later broke the record when she flew 783 mi from Chicago to New York, delivering mail as the first female commissioned airmail pilot.

Area: Mission Valley / Shawver Park

Collection: Aultman Collection

Source: El Paso Public Library

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History