Neta Snook

Neta Snook
Neta Snook in 1921 at Kinner Field, California (This image courtesy Ames Historical Society).
Born	Nary Neta Snook (1896-02-14)February 14, 1896 Mount Carroll, Illinois, USA
Died	March 23, 1991(1991-03-23) (aged 95) California, USA.
Known for	Aviator, Amelia Earhart's first flying instructor.
Spouse(s)	Bill Southern

Neta Snook Southern (February 14, 1896 – March 23, 1991) was a pioneer aviator who achieved a long list of firsts. She was the first woman aviator in Iowa, first woman student accepted at the Curtiss Flying School in Virginia, first woman aviator to run her own aviation business and first woman to run a commercial airfield. Yet "Snooky", as her friends called her, was fated to be remembered for her relationship to Amelia Earhart. Her autobiography I Taught Amelia to Fly aptly captures the essence of her fame, she was forever linked to the Earhart mystique as her first instructor.

Mary Neta Snook was born on February 14, 1896 in Mount Carroll, Illinois. She was interested in machinery at an early age, spurred by a fascination with her father's automobiles. At the age of four, she would sit on her father's lap and help him steer his Stanley Steamer on the hills of their Illinois town. As she grew older, he taught her the inner workings of cars. Snook attended the Frances Shimer School, which later became Shimer College, graduating in 1912.

After the family moved to Ames, Iowa in 1915, Snook attended Iowa State College (now Iowa State University), taking courses in mechanical drawing, engines and farm machinery repair. She became fascinated with literature related to aviation and soon wanted to fly.

During her sophomore year at college, Snook applied to the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical Station, the Curtiss-Wright Aviation School, in Newport News, Virginia, and was denied admittance, as no women were allowed. The following year, an advertisement for the Davenport Flying School in Iowa brought her back home, where she became one of the first female student pilots. After a major crash in which the school's president was killed, the school closed and "Curly," as she had been dubbed by fellow students, began searching for another flight training school. In 1917, Snook eventually gained entry into the Curtiss-Wright Aviation School and put in many hours in the air until civilian flights in the United States were banned for the duration of World War I. Briefly, in 1918, she worked for the British Air Ministry in Elmira as an expeditor putting her mechanical skills to good use, inspecting and testing aircraft parts and engines on their way to combat in Europe.