1992 Pioneer Hall of Fame

Moya Olsen Lear

Moya Olsen Lear was born to Lillian and John Olsen of the famous Olsen and Johnson vaudeville team. After attending Ohio State University and Pace Institute of New York City, she worked as her father's assistant and secretary when Olsen and Johnson's Helzapoppin' was the longest running hit in Broadway history. Into that backstage hubbub came William Powell Lear, avionics genius and entrepreneur, who wooed her and, in 1942, wedded her. They raised four children while sharing in the staggering success of the Lear autopilot, the Learstar, and Learjet. As her husband's partner and confidante, she took over his last great project, the Lear Fan, upon his death in 1978. Serving as chairman of the board of Lear Avia, Inc., she brought the airplane to its successful first flight. Entertaining, informal, and witty, Mrs. Lear is a popular speaker, and has been awarded six honorary doctorates, as well as an impressive list of other honors.

Emily Howell Warner

Emily Howell Warner was the first permanent female pilot for a scheduled U.S. passenger airline. She took her first airplane ride when she was 17, and immediately decided on aviation as a career. She first sought a job at Frontier Airlines in 1968, and renewed her application frequently. After she turned 30, she lost all hope of being hired, especially after watching her own former students, who happened to be male, being hired. Finally, in January 1973, Frontier agreed to take the bold step of hiring a woman. She initially flew as a first officer on Convair 580s and de Havilland Twin Otters. In 1976, she became the first female U.S. airline captain, flying a Twin Otter. Warner then became captain of a Boeing 737 for United Parcel Service. In 1974, she became the first woman member of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). In 1990, she retired from UPS to become a Federal Aviation Administration examiner.

Fay Gillis Wells

Fay Gillis Wells abandoned college in 1929 for flying. Three days after making her first solo flight, she was invited to take a ride in an experimental aircraft while the pilot maneuvered through some aerobatics. While flying upside down, the plane fell apart, but Wells managed to survive with her parachute. This unplanned adventure resulted in Wells being hired by the Curtiss Flying Service as saleswoman and demonstrator. It also earned her the distinction of first woman member of the Caterpillar Club for aviators who parachute from disabled aircraft. Wells, along with Amelia Earhart, was a co-founder of the Ninety-Nines. In the early 1930s Wells was a freelance correspondent in the Soviet Union for the New York Herald Tribune, the Associated Press and aviation magazines. While there, she became the first American woman to pilot a Soviet civil aircraft, and was the first foreigner to own a glider in the Soviet Union.

Edna Gardner Whyte

Edna Gardner Whyte has been a pilot for over 60 years. She also developed and owned Aero Valley Airport near Dallas, Texas, after she was 70 years old. A native of Minnesota, Whyte started flying in 1926. She soloed in 1927 and was given a student license in 1928. As a Navy nurse stationed in Washington, DC in 1933, she was also a flight instructor in her free time. The Navy nurse corps also gave her the opportunity to build flying hours in aerobatic contests, air shows and cross-country racing. Upon leaving the Navy she started her own flight school in New Orleans, and had over 10 aircraft. With the outbreak of WW II, the Navy called her to Fort Worth to train pilots for the war. After four years, she applied for her commission, and served on active duty in the Philippines, before returning home to set up another flight training school for veterans. Whyte has taught more than 4,500 students and has earned hundreds of awards and honors for air racing and her contributions to the aviation industry.

Jeana Yeager

Jeana Yeager grew up in Texas, but moved to Santa Rosa, California, in 1977 where she studied energy, aerospace design and commercial engineering draftsmanship. In March of 1981, with partner Dick Rutan, Yeager founded Voyager Aircraft, Inc. where she devoted herself exclusively to the building, testing, developing and flying of the Voyager for its around the world, non-stop, non-refueled flight. On December 14, 1986, Yeager and Rutan began their history-making flight in the Voyager, flying the maximum circumference of the globe in nine days, three minutes and forty-four seconds.