Pearl Laska Chamberlain
| Pearl L. Chamberlain | |
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| File:Pearl Laska Chamberlain WASP trainee.jpeg
Pearl Laska Chamberlain, WASP trainee
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| Born | April 29, 1909 Chestnut Mountain, Summers County, West Virginia |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Pilot |
Pearl Laska Chamberlain (née Bragg, April 29, 1909 - November 22, 2012) learned to fly in a Kinner Fleet bi-plane in 1933 and held a pilot’s certificate until she was 97.[2] Prior to World War II, the federal government established the Civilian Pilot Training Program, a back-door method to train pilots for military service.
She was a W.A.S.P (Women Airforce Service Pilots) trainee during the war and was honorably discharged.[3] In 1945, following her dream to be a full-time pilot, Pearl moved to Nome, Alaska and worked as a flight instructor and bush pilot.[4] The next year she became the first woman to solo a single-engine airplane (a 1939 Piper J-4) up the Alaska Highway.[5] The FAA recognized her achievements as a pioneer Alaska aviator in 2006.[6] Scorning the belief that Alaska Natives (Inuit, etc.) were unable to learn flying, she taught many, including Holger Jorgensen, who became the first Native hired as a pilot by a scheduled air line.[7]
In 2007 she received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.[8]
References
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- ↑ Pilot Infonews biography
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