Aline "Pat" Rhonie Hofheimer Brooks (August 16, 1909 – January 7, 1963) was an American

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

. Rhonie had several firsts as a pilot and was one of the pioneering women aviation pilots in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She became one of the first members of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). Rhonie also drove an ambulance in France. Rhonie is also known for her aviation history mural which is now located at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology.

Biography

Aline Rhonie was born as Aline Rhonie Hofheimer in

York, Pennsylvania York is a city in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, the city's population was 44,800 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in ...

, on August 16, 1909. She was born into the notable Hofheimer family of York township. She moved from York to

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

at the age of three. Rhonie attended

Dalton School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...

in New York. Rhonie married Richard Bamberger, a member of a wealthy New York family, when she was 17. She became interested in flying after helping two pilots who had crash-landed near her grandfather's golf course. She moved to

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, when she was 19. Aline Rhonie learned to fly at the age of 21. She started flying in a De Havilland Moth with a Gypsy engine. She received her transport license in 1931, and her English pilot's license in 1936. She was the first American to receive an Irish Commercial license in 1938. Rhonie divorced Bamberger in December 1930 in Reno. After the divorce, she took her middle name, Rhonie, as her last name. A year later, she met a nephew of Lady Astor, Reginal Langhorne Brooks. Brooks was a Marine Corps aviator and was learning

Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

, which he shared with Rhonie. When they got married in 1933, they flew 17,000 miles in separate planes to their honeymoon, flying through various locations including the West Indies and Mexico. Rhonie was the first woman to fly solo from New York to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Later, in 1937, Brooks divorced Rhonie. During

, she participated in the British war relief effort. She first applied to ferry planes from Britain to France, but since she wasn't British, was rejected. Instead, she started driving an ambulance in France. In 1940, she took leave to raise money to build canteens for Allied pilots working at the war's front lines. She had been made an American liaison officer for the Aero club in France. Rhonie was one of the nine original women who were part of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). After the war, Rhonie learned mural painting from the Mexican painter

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

. Rivera taught her how to paint in the

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

style. Her best known mural is a , fresco representing aviation history at a hangar in Roosevelt Field,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, which has since been relocated to the Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. Rhonie did the research for the mural herself and she worked on it between 1934 and 1938. When Rhonie found out that the hangar at Roosevelt Field was going to be destroyed in 1960, she obtained the rights to the mural and convinced Italian fresco expert, Leonetto Tintori, to come to the U.S. to help relocate the mural. After the mural was taken down, she helped restore the panels and then added 25 more portraits. She died on January 7, 1963, in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

, at the age of 54.

Awards and honors

Rhonie won several awards and recognitions, including membership of the French national association of the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

for her service in the French Red Cross, Médaille de la Reconnaissance française, and was made a Companion of the

Ordre de la Libération The Order of Liberation (, ) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a worn by recipients only before the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour). In the official portrait of G ...

. She was inducted into the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame in 2010. A collection of her papers was donated to the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

in 2014.

References

External links

* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhonie, Aline 1909 births 1963 deaths Air Transport Auxiliary pilots Aviators from Pennsylvania Companions of the Liberation People from York County, Pennsylvania American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) American muralists American women muralists Painters from Pennsylvania 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters Women Airforce Service Pilots personnel Military personnel from Pennsylvania Recipients of the Medal of French Gratitude