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SHERIDAN WOMAN REACHES MILESTONE
By Barbara Hiatt
SHERIDAN, IN - Life-long Sheridan resident,
Margaret
Ann Bailey, was Hamilton County's first female airplane pilot and celebrated
her 90th birthday on April 1st.
In the remote northwest corner of Hamilton County, one can barely make out the
remains of Blackhawk Airport. It’s hard to imagine now that this quiet and
serene farmland was once home to a busy "mom and pop" operation that gave rides,
lessons, and repairs.
 Margaret
Ann (Moredock) graduated from Sheridan High School in 1937 and shortly afterward
married Lloyd Bailey. It wasn’t long till Blackhawk Airport was born.
From an earlier newsletter, Margaret said, "Things began in 1940 when a friend
landed his Waco 10 biplane with an open cockpit on the field. I remember that to
start the plane someone had to stand in front of it and spin the propeller. I
even had enough guts to do it myself. Soon people came out just to watch the
planes take off and land. Besides instructing we also offered plane rides. We
even got my grandmother to take a ride."
Margaret became so interested that she too learned to fly. "When I soloed I took
off and there I was all by myself, which was a little scary but, after flying a
few times more, it felt really great. After completing a certain amount of
flying hours, I took a written test in the office. I got my Private Pilot’s
License, which also meant I could take up passengers. I was the first woman
pilot in Hamilton County to get my Private Pilots License."
One plane repair they performed at the airport was recovering the planes. "We
would push all the furniture back in the living room and dining room, and bring
the wings in one at a time and set them on carpenter horses. He would cover them
with cloth and I used the sewing machine to sew seams. We also got involved in
an organization called Flying Farmers. The pilots and their families in Hamilton
County would get together every month and have a pitch-in meal and discuss
business. Lloyd and I even flew to an airport in Davenport, Iowa for breakfast
one morning."
Margaret is a shy, unassuming lady with beautiful, smiling eyes. She is widowed
now but still recalls the excitement of flying and holding the title of Hamilton
County’s first lady Private Pilot. Our Home Town of Sheridan, Indiana salutes
Margaret Ann Moredock Bailey.
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