Matilde moisant biography templates

But the beautiful and petite woman gained her goals by following the code of delicate femininity called for by the tenets of her time. She also chose to remain unmarried in an era when a single woman was regarded as pitiful. The sixth of seven children of French-Canadian immigrants Medore and Josephine Moisant , Matilde spent her childhood on various farms owned by her father in southern Illinois.

At his death, when Matilde was nine, her oldest brother Alfred moved the entire family to Alameda, California, where she attended elementary and high school. From Alameda, Alfred moved the family again, this time to a sugar plantation he had acquired in El Salvador. When her mother died there in , Matilde, at 14, with the aid of her younger sister, Louise Moisant , managed the Santa Emelia hacienda, known throughout the country for its hospitality during years of political unrest that at one time led to soldiers of the Salvadorian Army occupying the property.

Much of the turmoil involving the Moisants in Salvadorian politics was caused by Matilde's youngest brother John who had become a gunslinging aide of Juan Zelaya, the president of Nicaragua. Zelaya was determined to overthrow the government of El Salvador, and to this end John led two armed invasions of the country. Following his second failed attack in , John became a fugitive hunted by the U.

He escaped to New York City where Alfred, Matilde and Louise later joined him and where he convinced Alfred and Matilde that aviation held the key to their futures. Leaving his brother and sisters to settle in New York, John went to France to become an aviator. Never having flown before, he built an aluminum-bodied plane and crashed on his first flight.

While John was in France, Alfred, aided by Matilde, established an airfield, an aircraft factory and a flying school and, after John returned, an air circus, the Moisant International Aviators, Inc. Frisbie, and Joseph Seymour. When they took to the road, Matilde accompanied them and assisted Alfred in making arrangements for rooms and meals. John's brief career of five months ended in New Orleans on December 31, , when he crashed and died in an attempt to win the Michelin Cup for speed and endurance.

After seven months of mourning her brother's death, Matilde was ready to replace John as leader of the Moisant air circus. Matilde proved to be an apt pupil, setting an all-time record for the shortest composite training time to gain a pilot's license—32 minutes. Years later, at her request, the Aero Club of America verified this as the shortest training time in licensing history.

Matilde chose to become the second, rather than the first woman to be licensed so that her friend and fellow student Harriet Quimby could be first. Quimby, a New York journalist and sole support of her aging parents, intended to fly for a living and needed the publicity. Less than six weeks after Matilde received her license, she and Quimby were among the four women listed in the program as contestants in an air meet at Nassau field in Long Island.

The other two were Blanche Stuart Scott , the first U. All had planned to compete for the Rodman Wanamaker trophy on the third day of the meet, but finally only Moisant did. Moisant stopped flying on April 14, in Wichita Falls, Texas when her plane crashed the same day as the Titanic sank. Less than two months later her friend Harriet Quimby was killed when she fell from her plane.

Although Moisant recovered from her injuries, she gave up flying, and moved to the family plantation in San Salvador. The text of this web site is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Maintained by Sapere Software.

Member Login Register. Then bowing to the wishes of her family, still recovering from the fatal crash of her brother John in , Moisant scheduled her last flight for April 14, , in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was almost her last performance of any kind as her aircraft burst into flames upon landing, due to a leak in the fuel tank.

Matilde moisant biography templates

Moisant was pulled from the wreckage with her clothes afire but fortunately her heavy wool flying costume saved her from serious injury. Matilde Moisant, c. On Aug 1, , Harriet Quimby became the first woman to win a U. Harriet Quimby and Matilde Moisant, c. It is at once readable, comprehensive and fascinating. To read her story, which includes references to many other of her contemporary pioneers, just click on the title above.

While you are there, I heartily recommend that you take time to visit the main CollectAir site. To start your visit, just click on: CollectAir. You will find it to be a fine little biography, with several photos of Matilde, and may be accessed by clicking on the title above. You will surely enjoy a visit to their site, especially to the museum pages.

You can access the site by clicking on the title above. Be sure to visit the other pages while you are on the site. Moisant, recently made a flight at Hempstead, N.