Marge Hurlburt (December 30, 1914 – July 4, 1947) was an American aviator who flew with the

Women Airforce Service Pilots The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...

(WASP) during World War II and set a women's international air speed record in 1947.

Biography

Margaret M. "Marge" Hurlburt was born and lived in

Painesville, Ohio Painesville is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Grand River (Ohio), Grand River, it is a northeast suburb of Cleveland. Its population was 20,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Pa ...

. She graduated from

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

in 1938 and went on to teach school in Ohio. In the early 1940s, she took up flying at the airport in

Willoughby, Ohio Willoughby is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, along the Chagrin River. The population was 23,959 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Greater Cleveland, Cleveland metropol ...

. The pioneering aviator

Jacqueline Cochran Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to br ...

recruited her into the Womens Air Service Pilots (WASP) in 1943. Between 1943 and 1945, she ferried aircraft around the country and towed targets for gunners, flying C-60s,

B-24s The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

, and B-17s. After the war, she obtained her rating as a flight instructor and worked at the Willoughby airfield, where she began learning aerobatics in the AT-6 aircraft. Not long afterwards, she won the top prize at the women's

Halle Trophy Race The Halle Trophy Race, later briefly renamed the Kendall Trophy Race, was an air race for women aviators that ran for a few years after World War II. History Inaugurated in 1946, the Halle Trophy Race took place in Cleveland, Ohio, and was named ...

at the Cleveland Air Races. In 1947, Hurlburt set a new international women's flight-speed record of 337 miles per hour, besting the previous women's record of 292.27 mph set by Cochran a decade earlier. She set the record in a loaned FG-1 Corsair. Following her record-setting flight, the media dubbed her "Queen of the Air". During this period, she served on the board of directors of the Professional Race Pilots Association, representing the interests of female pilots. That same year, she joined the Flying Tigers aerial circus to raise money for a midget racer she was designing known as the " Hurlburt Hurricane". Only a few days later, she was taking part in an air show at Decorah, Iowa, in a borrowed AT-6, when her aircraft crashed during a slow roll, killing her instantly. The International Women's Air & Space Museum holds some artifacts from her life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurlburt, Marge 1914 births 1947 deaths People from Painesville, Ohio Women Airforce Service Pilots personnel Aviators from Ohio Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States American air racers American aviation record holders American women aviation record holders Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1947