Maxine Dunlap Bennett (January 26, 1908 – September 1977), was an American aviator. She was the first licensed woman

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

pilot and first woman glider club president in the United States."Bay Girl Licensed as First U. S. Woman Glider Pilot", ''The San Francisco Examiner'', April 29, 1929. Article quote: "Maxine Dunlap ... yesterday qualified as the first woman in the United States to hold a glider pilot's license." She flew her record-setting glider rating qualification flight over the sand dunes of

Ocean Beach, San Francisco Ocean Beach is a beach on the west coast of San Francisco, California, United States, bordering the Pacific Ocean. It is adjacent to Golden Gate Park, the Richmond District, and the Sunset District. The Great Highway runs alongside the beach, ...

, California, on April 28, 1929, for a distance of and a flight duration of 50 seconds, exceeding the then-required minimum of 30 seconds, to obtain her Glider flying certificate.

Life and career

Maxine Dunlap was born in 1908 in

Pleasanton, California Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the Amador Valley, it is a suburb in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 79,871 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. In 200 ...

, the daughter of Henry H. and Catherine M. Dunlap ( Langan). She grew up in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, and attended the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

. The February 1939 ''

Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

'' writes that Dunlap became "smitten with lindberghitis" in 1927; she earned her power flying certificate (number 5894) in 1928 as the first woman in San Francisco to earn a pilot's license. After accumulating over 60 hours of power flying time she began taking gliding lessons, and three weeks later attained her glider rating,

U.S. Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth ...

glider certificate number 8. The ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

'' of April 29, 1929 notes that Dunlap's glider qualification flight made her the first woman in the US to receive a glider pilot's license. Furthermore, her flight's duration of 50 seconds "far exceeded the record of 17 seconds flight formerly held by

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

, the Atlantic flyer. Miss Earhart was unable to remain aloft for the requisite 30 seconds to qualify for a license." In March 1930 she became the first woman glider club president in the U.S. after being appointed by the National Glider Association as president of the Bay Region California Gliding Club."Girl is Head of Glider Club", ''Oakland Tribune'', March 7, 1930 She joined the newly-founded Ninety Nines in 1930 and participated in many

air races The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

. In 1935 she set the women world speed record for light airplanes in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

."Wings Over Dixie - Ninety Niners", ''The Charlotte Observer'', February 26, 1939, Article quote: "She was smitten with lindberghitis in '27 and a year later became the proud owner of private license #5894"

Personal life

Dunlap married her original flight instructor, Donald A. Templeman (1902–1942), in 1929; they divorced in 1933. In October 1934 she married Joseph J. Bennett Jr. (1901–1975), a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

executive and former All American ('23, '24)

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

tackle, and moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia. According to the February 1939 ''Charlotte Observer'', she "did all the flying in the family" in a 260-horsepower Gull Wing Stinson, flying so well that "even her husband flys icwith her anywhere at any time." On October 23, 1975, Joseph Bennett died in Oakland, California, aged 74. The obituary notice in the ''

Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Con ...

'' mentions Maxine as his surviving widow, alongside his brother and sister.

Notes

References

External links

Maxine Dunlap gliding video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlap Bennett, Maxine 1908 births 1977 deaths American aviation record holders American women aviators American glider pilots Aviators from California American aviation pioneers People from Oakland, California University of California alumni

Life and career

Personal life

See also

Further reading

Notes

References

External links