On April 3, 1944, at the age of twenty-four, Evelyn Sharp was killed near Middleton, Pennsylvania, in the crash of a P-38 pursuit plane.
Ms. Evelyn Sharp of Ord, Neb., got her first flying lessons from a barnstormer who could not pay a bill owed by him to her father. Her first lesson was on Feb. 4, 1935, when she was 16 years old. She earned her amateur pilot’s license later that year, followed by her private pilot’s license at age 17. By age 18, she became the youngest person — male or female — in the country with a commercial pilot’s license. With tremendous perseverance she worked at various jobs in order to earn money for more lessons and finally became a barnstormer herself. She eventually taught flying in California, and when she joined the WAFS, she had 2,968 hours to her credit — the most of any WAFS pilot.
The National Museum of the USAF has a page about Evelyn Sharp.
There is a book about Evelyn Sharp called Sharpie: The Life Story of Evelyn Sharp – Nebraska’s Aviatrix
Recent Comments