Frances Wilson Grayson

Frances Wilson Grayson (* 1890, † 1927) was American pilot. She died in the attempt, the first woman to cross the Atlantic in an airplane.

Birth and education

Frances Grayson was in Cherokee City ( Arkansas) as the daughter of AJ Wilson was born. After her family moved from Arkansas to Indiana, she graduated from the Muncie High School from Indiana. After she broke off to study music at the Chicago Musical College due to the sudden death of her brother, she studied at Swarthmore College.

Marriage

At Swarthmore College, she met 20 years earlier John Brady Grayson and married him on 15 September 1914. They had no children and were divorced after nine years of marriage. Frances moved then to New York City and worked as a writer for a newspaper. It was real estate agent and began to be interested in flying. She was thrilled by the Atlantic crossing of Charles Lindbergh in May 1927, decided to do the same as the first woman.

Career as an aviator

She got financial support from Mrs. Aage Ancker, a subsidiary of the Pittsburgh steel producer Charles H. Sang. On the night of December 23, 1927, she flew from Harbor Grace Harbor Grace in New York to Newfoundland. From there they planned their historic crossing of the Atlantic to London, best to start at Christmas. The aircraft, named Dawn, was flown by Lieutenant Oskar Omdal the Norwegian Navy. Moreover flew on Brice Goldsborough (navigation) and Frank Koehler, a technician with. However, no one came to Newfoundland in 48 hours, there was complete silence. Then in Sable Iceland a part of a message from the crew about 80 miles away was snapped, which is about the statement here is something wrong had not. The U.S. Navy sought with five destroyers for missing, but found absolutely nothing.