Harriet Quimby

Front:
L.HATCHSP KIMOUTH PLY 27 1991 APR Harriet Quimby Pioneer Pilot USAirma 50 48170 MI

Back:
HARRIET QUIMBY First Day of Issue: April 27, 1991 First Issue Location: Plymouth, Michigan Reporters dubbed her the Dresden-China Aviatrix, fre- quently focusing more on her dusky beauty and flamboy- ant attire than her astounding accomplishments. In her brief, two-year aviation career, Harriet Quimby achieved two distinctive “firsts" — she became the first American woman to receive her pilot's license and the first American woman to fly across the English Channel. Her interest in aviation was ignited at the 1910 Belmont Park aviation meet in New York. Signing up for flying lessons at the Moisant Aviation School, Quimby graduated and joined the Moisant International Aviation team. Sporting the elegant plum-colored satin flight suit and hood which became her trademark, Quimby made her professional debut in 1911. A year later she made her triumphant Channel crossing in a borrowed monoplane. Less than three months later she was dead – victim of a freak accident at the Harvard-Boston aviation meet. Despite her tragically brief career, Harriet Quimby soared into avia- tion history and opened the skies to American women. No. 91-22 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Lois Hatcher