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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Alverna Williams - first double-amputee pilot

In inputting a few Powder Puff Derby pilots into the Women Aviators Wiki today, I discovered the story of Alverna Williams.

At the age of 1, she was run over by a street car and had to have both her legs amputated above the knee. She learned to walk on her hands, and has had a pretty full life. In 1944, she earned her pilot's license, thanks to the Ercoupe which didn't need its pilot to have any legs. But had to sue the FAA for them to give her her license. It is believed she was the first double-amputee to earn her license.

Her profile is at a website called inMotion, and I used it for her AviatorsWiki entry:

http://womenaviators.org/wiki/index.php?title=Alverna_Williams

Another website of interest will be the International Wheelchair Aviators:
http://www.wheelchairaviators.org/about_us.html

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Cathy, Can you help me locate Alverna Williams? Do you know if she is still alive?