Matilde Moisant

Matilde E. Moisant
Moisant in 1912 wearing a "good luck" swastika medallion.
Born	(1878-09-13)September 13, 1878 Earl Park, Indiana, U.S.
Died	February 5, 1964(1964-02-05) (aged 85) Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation	Aviator
Parent(s)	Medore Moisant Josephine Fortier

Matilde Josephine Moisant (September 13, 1878 – February 5, 1964) was an American pioneer aviator. She was the second woman in the United States to get a pilot's license.

Moisant was born on September 13, 1878 in either Manteno, Illinois or Earl Park, Indiana to Médore Moisant and Joséphine Fortier. Both places exist in records, but her license from the Aero Club of America shows Earl Park. Both parents were French Canadians. Her siblings include George, John, Annie M., Charles Alfred, Louise J. and Eunice Moisant. John and Alfred were also aviators. In 1880, the family was living in Manteno, Illinois and her father was working as a farmer.

Moisant learned to fly at Alfred's Moisant Aviation School on Long Island, New York. On 17 August 1911, a few weeks after her friend Harriet Quimby received her pilot's certificate, Matilde Moisant became the second woman pilot certified by the Aero Club of America. She pursued a career in exhibition flying. In September 1911, she flew in the air show at Nassau Boulevard airfield in Garden City, New York and, while competing against Hélène Dutrieu, Moisant broke the women's altitude world record and won the Rodman-Wanamaker trophy by flying to 1,200 feet (370 m).

Moisant stopped flying on April 14, 1912 in Wichita Falls, Texas when her plane crashed (the same day that the Titanic struck an iceberg). A few months later on 1 July 1912, her friend Harriet Quimby was killed when she fell from her plane. Although Moisant recovered from her injuries, she gave up flying. She spent several years dividing her time between the U.S. and the family plantation in El Salvador, before returning to the Los Angeles area.