Phoebe Omlie never achieved the worldwide fame accorded Amelia Earhart Neverthless, she belonged to an elite group of women fliers. These aviatrices promoted aviation and women pilots on a national level.
Phoebe and Vernon Omlie
Phoebe and her husband Vernon possessed unparalleled reputations as aviators. They operated an aero service and flying school in Memphis. In addition, they established the Memphis Aero Club. During the 1927 flood, they delivered mail and medicine for eight days. As a result. their dedicated efforts demonstrated the value of aviation. Without a doubt, this motivated Memphis to build a metropolitan airport.
Phoebe Omlie Records
Phoebe set an altitude record for parachute jumping. She launched at an altitude of almost three miles in 1921. In 1927, Phoebe became the first woman to earn a transport pilot license. She performed aerobatics and stunted for the movies. Phoebe also became the first woman to cross the Rocky Mountains in a lightplane. She entered the 1929 Women’s National Air Derby. Because it was a handicapped race, Phoebe took first place in her tiny Monocoupe. Clearly, this proved monumental to her piloting skills
Phoebe Omlie and Politics
In 1932 the Democratic National Committee asked Phoebe to fly a woman speaker around the country. She was stumping for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s bid for the presidency. As a result, she logged 5,000 air miles during the campaign. Of course, she provided her own personal endorsement for Roosevelt.
Following FDR’s win, Phoebe asked the new president-elect for a job. The request paid off. She became the first woman government aviation official. For this reason, Eleanor Roosevelt named her “one of the 11 women whose achievements made it safe to say the world is progressing.”
As a technical adviser, Phoebe served as a liaison between the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics and the Bureau of Air Commerce. Subsequently, she worked with Amelia Earhart to create an air grid for the nation. This, in turn, made make flying safer. Phoebe remained with the Roosevelt administration for three years before returning to Memphis. Despite her husband’s death in 1936, she continued operating their flight school.
Thanks to Phoebe’s efforts, the Tennessee Legislature enacted a significant law. It allocated an amount of State aviation taxes to directly support schools. In 1941, Phoebe Omlie sold her flight school and returned to Washington. During this time, she served as a coordinator between the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Works Progress Administration. The two groups worked with the Department of Education to prepare airport personnel. Subsequently, Phoebe started programs in 46 states.