Forgotten aviatrix, record setter celebrated

A forgotten Painesville record setter will be honored on the 70th anniversary of the event.

A forgotten Painesville record setter is being celebrated at an April 30 event, hosted by the International Women’s Air & Space Museum in Cleveland.

“Come Fly With Marge!” will recognize, honor and commemorate aviatrix Margaret “Marge” Hurlburt on the 70th anniversary of her setting the international air speed record for women in 1947. The event runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Rider’s Inn, 792 Mentor Ave. in Painesville. Fittingly, Hurlburt once worked as a waitress at Rider’s.

The cost for the event is $45 for general admission and $75 for a patron ticket. Tickets also are available at the door. Those interested in attending can RSVP by calling 216-6231111 or online at www. iwasm.org. Seating will be limited.

The event will include a buffet dinner, cash bar, displays and presentations about Hurlburt, a live band and a silent auction.

Hurlburt, a 1932 graduate of Harvey High School in Painesville, later attended Bowling Green State University, graduating in 1936. She then began taking flying lessons at Willoughby Municipal Airport and taught high school English in Bettsville, Ohio, eventually substituting at Harvey also.

In 1943, Hurlburt joined the war efforts and became a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II in Sweetwater, Texas. After the disbandment of the WASP in 1944, Hurlburt returned home, where she continued to pursue her dream of flying by participating in air races.

In 1946, Herb Tanner, manager at Chagrin Harbor Airport, then in Willoughby, loaned Hurlburt an AT-6 aircraft. Hurlburt won the Halle Trophy Race in the Cleveland National Air Races and was presented with the trophy by businessman Samuel Halle.

In 1947 in Tampa, Florida, Hurlburt set a new international women’s flightspeed record of 337 mph, besting the previous women’s record of 292.27 mph set by Jackie Cochran 10 years earlier. Hurlburt, dubbed “Queen of the Air,” set the record in a loaned WWII FG-1 Corsair from pilot Cook Cleland, who operated Cleland Flying Service at Euclid Avenue Airport in Willoughby.

After she set the record, a three-day celebration called “Marge Hurlburt Days” was held.

Hurlburt later joined the Flying Tigers Air Troop. On July 4, 1947, during an air stunt show in Decorah, Iowa, Hurlburt crashed into a cornfield in a borrowed AT-6 and was instantly killed. Her death made national headlines, including the “Chicago Sun.”

A lifetime resident of Lake County, Hurlburt is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Painesville.

COURTESY OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S AIR & SPACE MUSEUM