Description:
Louise Thaden wrote High, Wide, and Frightened in the prime of her life, making this autobiography unique among books about the Golden Age of Aviation. Thaden, a contemporary of pioneering women pilots Amelia Earhart, Ruth Elder, Florence Klingensmith, and Ruth Nichols, was part of a small group of determined women who overcame discrimination and obstacles to become pilots in a time when air races and distance, altitude and endurance records were daily news in America. She became the first woman to win the Bendix Transcontinental Air Race, the premier air race of the day and, before her, a male-dominated one.
High, Wide, and Frightened is the story of Thaden's life, of her achievements in aviation, and also of her childhood in Arkansas. She writes about her everyday personal life and her day-today experiences in aviation.
Review Quotes: "Although other women pilots of her era--like Amelia Earhart and Jacqueline Cochran--are better known, it was Louise who, in her own quiet way, was blazing a trail for others to follow. I can think of no finer example for young women today than Louise." --Claudia Oakes, former curator, Aeronautics Department, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution and author of United States Women in Aviation Before World War I and United States Women in Aviation 1930-1939