EloiseSouth Dakota Certificate of Birth #422572 or Eleanor "Nellie" Zabel Willhite (Born 22 November 1892 – 2 September 1991) was the first deaf woman to earn a pilot's license, as well as South Dakota's first female pilot.
Deafpeople.com. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.

Life

Willhite was born in Rapid City or Box Elder, South Dakota to Charley "Pard" Zabel and Lillian Madison Zabel. Willhite became deaf at age two due to measles. There have been sources that claim she was deafened at age four instead of two. She attended South Dakota School for the Deaf and worked as a typist in Pierre, South Dakota until she enrolled in an aviation school. Willhete started flying lessons in November 1927, with her dad paying for it. She earned her pilot's license in 1928 Willhite was the thirteenth to sign up in a class of eighteen and made her first solo flight on 13 January 1928 after getting thirteen hours of instruction. She was the first female pilot to earn a pilot's license in South Dakota. Willhete was a founding member of the

Ninety-Nines The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots, also known as The 99s, is an international organization that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots. Foun ...

, an organization which was founded in 1929 with 99 female pilots as founding members, and is dedicated to the advancement of aviation and support for women in aviation. Willhite started the first South Dakota chapter of the Ninety-Nines in 1941. She worked as a commercial pilot until 1944 (the first deaf person to do so), carrying airmail. She also worked as a barnstormer, specializing in flour bombing and balloon racing. Willhete was inducted into the

South Dakota Hall of Fame The South Dakota Hall of Fame is an American award for excellence among South Dakotans. Established in 1974, the South Dakota State Legislature named the organization the state's official hall of fame in 1996. The Hall is a museum detailing "acts ...

in 1978 and South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame shortly before her death in 1991, and her plane the ''Pard'' is now on display at the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Alabama.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willhite, Eleanor Zabel Aviators from South Dakota American deaf people 1892 births 1991 deaths Commercial aviators American women commercial aviators 20th-century American women People from Pennington County, South Dakota