Helen Richey (November 21, 1909 – January 7, 1947) was a pioneering female aviator and the first woman to be hired as a pilot by a commercial airline in the United States."Helen Richey, Famous Flier, Is Found Dead." New York, New York: Daily News, January 8, 1947, p. 114 (subscription required).
In 1933, she and her flying partner, Frances Harrell Marsalis, set a women's fueling endurance record of 237 hours and 42 minutes above the city of Miami in their airplane, the "Flying Boudoir.""Record Broken, 2 Women Fliers Remain Aloft" (article) and "Set Endurance Record" (photo with caption). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Evening News, December 29, 1933, p. 9 (subscription required)."McKeesport Girl Flier Off To Attempt Record Flight." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, December 17, 1933, front page (subscription required).
Three years later, Richey set a women's international light plane record of 100 kilometers traveled in 55 minutes. As a co-pilot in the Bendix race that same year with Amelia Earhart, she secured the women's light plane altitude record. During World War II, Richey became the first female pilot from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the war front in Europe."Helen Richey Dies in Rooming House; Famed Aviatrix." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, January 8, 1947, p. 16 (subscription required).
Formative years Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania on November 21, 1909, Helen Richey was a daughter of Joseph Burdette Richey (1865-1947), the superintendent of schools in McKeesport from 1902 to 1935, and Amy Seal (Winter) Richey (1872-1943). She and her siblings spent many of their formative years in McKeesport."Mrs. J. B. Richey" ituary). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 4, 1943, p. 7 (subscription required).
A 1927 graduate of McKeesport High School, Helen Richey was one of the few girls in McKeesport who wore pants during her teen years. She learned how to fly a plane at age 20. Her father subsequently bought her a Bird plane when she obtained her pilot's license.
Aviation career In December 1933 Richey partnered with another female pilot, Frances Marsalis, to set an endurance record by staying airborne for nearly 10 days over Miami, Florida, with midair refueling. Their aircraft was a Curtiss Thrush, named "Outdoor Girl" after its sponsor, a cosmetics brand. Marsalis had previously set an endurance record the previous year with Louise Thaden in another Thrush. The refuelling was achieved by opening the central hatch, grabbing a dangling hose out of a Curtiss Robin and shoving it into the gas tank, which Richey likened to "wrestling with a cobra in a hurricane". Marsalis was killed during the 1934 Women's Air Meet in Dayton.
In 1934 Richey won the premier air race at the first National Air Meet for women in Dayton, Ohio. Also in 1934, Central Airlines, a Greensburg, Pennsylvania–based carrier that eventually became part of United Airlines, hired Richey as a pilot; she made her first regular civil flight with them on December 31, taking a Ford Trimotor on the Washington to Detroit route. The airline had restrictions placed upon Richey on when she could fly, limiting her to fair weather. She resigned before completing a year with the airlines.
In May 1936, Helen Richey, flying a light plane, set an international altitude record for aircraft weighing under .Lynch, Adam, "Hometown Heroine," Aviation History, March 2012, p. 56. She reached during a flight from Congressional Airport to Endless Caverns Airport in New Market, Virginia. Richey flew the same plane that Benjamin King had flown to break the record previously. Helen was hired by the federal government's Bureau of Air Transport to assist with air marking, the act of making large signs on the ground or on rooftops to assist aviators in determining their location while airborne.
After leaving Central Airlines, Richey continued to perform at air shows. In 1936 she teamed with Amelia Earhart in a transcontinental air race, the Bendix Trophy Race. Richey and Earhart came in fifth, beating some all-male teams. Later, Richey flew with the British Air Transport Auxiliary during World War II.
After a year of ferrying British airplanes, Richey resigned from her Air Transport position on March 31, 1943, and returned home to McKeesport to be closer to her ailing mother, saying, "I felt mother needed me.""Helen Richey Returns Home." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, April 1, 1943, front page (subscription required)."Helen Richey Quits Ferry Plane Service: Mother's Illness Brings Tube City Woman Flier from England." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 2, 1943, p. 15 (subscription required).
On September 11, 1943, Richey and professional golfer Helen Detweiler were awarded their Army Air Force wings at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas during a ceremony presided over by Jacqueline Cochran."Helen Richey Gets Wings in Air Force." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, September 12, 1943, p. 19 (subscription required). Three weeks later, her mother died at their McKeesport home on October 2."Mrs. J. B. Richey, McKeesport Woman, Mother of Aviatrix." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, October 4, 1943, p. 15 (subscription required).
In 1944, Richey was a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) and was stationed at the New Castle Army Air Base in Delaware, where she was responsible for ferrying military planes to and from Canada."Helen Richey 'Loves' Job Of Ferrying U.S. Planes." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, February 20, 1944, p. 17 (subscription required).
In addition to being the first female commercial airline pilot, Richey also was the first woman sworn in to pilot air mailHelen Richey (air mail mention). Warren, Pennsylvania: Warren Times Mirror, May 27, 1946, p. 6 (subscription required). and one of the first female flight instructors.
Accident and injury Sometime during late May or early June of 1945, Richey injured her spine during an airplane accident. She spent several weeks recuperating at a private hospital in New York."Helen Richey Injured in Crash." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, June 21, 1945, p. 5 (subscription required). Her sister, Amy, subsequently claimed that reports of Helen's accident and injury were untrue."Helen Richey's Injury Denied." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, June 22, 1945, front page (subscription required).
Death, funeral and interment Richey died in her apartment in New York City on January 7, 1947,"Mystery Shrouds N.Y. Death of Flier Helen Richey." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, pp. 1, 3 (subscription required)."Helen Richey, Noted Flier, Is Found Dead." New York, New York: Daily News, January 8, 1947, p. 296 (subscription required)."Aviatrix's Death Still a Mystery After Autopsy." Buffalo, New York: The Buffalo News, January 9, 1947, front page (subscription required)."Helen Richey, Aviatrix, Is Found Dead In Bed." Washington, D.C.: Evening Star, January 8, 1947, p. 4 (subscription required). apparently from a pill overdose."Helen Richey, Famed Flier, Found Dead; Believed Suicide." Connellsville, Pennsylvania: The Daily Courier, January 8, 1947, front page (subscription required)."Helen Richey, Ex-Ferry Pilot, Is Found Dead: Suicide Suspected in Death of Famed Wartime Woman Flier." Shamokin, Pennsylvania: Shamokin News-Dispatch, January 8, 1947, p. 2 (subscription required). Her death was ruled a suicide. The Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Montana Standard reported that she had been under the care of a physician for depression at the time of her death."Helen Richey, Aviatrix, Found Dead." Richmond, Virginia: Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 8, 1947, p. 11 (subscription required)."Helen Richey, Veteran Flyer Found Dead." Butte, Montana: The Montana Standard, January 8, 1947, p. 2 (subscription required).
Her funeral was held in her hometown of McKeesport, Pennsylvania on January 10, 1947, and she was then interred at that community's Versailles Cemetery."Helen Richey Funeral To Be Held Today." Washington, D.C.: Evening Star, January 10, 1947, p. 7 (subscription required)."Helen Richey Given Flier's Farewell." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, January 11, 1947, p. 16 (subscription required)."Helen Richey's Burial Tomorrow." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, January 9, 1947, p. 21 (subscription required).
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Bibliography
External links Belser, Ann. (2006, September 7). Historic McKeesport aviator to be profiled in documentary. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Helen Richey biography at San Diego Air & Space Museum "Helen Richey: First Female Airline Pilot" at Women In Aviation Resource Center Helen Richey Collection at San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives "Trilogy of Tales: Forgotten Pittsburghers". Pittsburgh Oddcast Helen Richey Pilot Log and Collection Suskalo – National Air and Space Museum