Years ago, I somehow came across a short article about Yolanda Spirito, a daredevil pilot in the 1930s.
I haven't been able to find a whole lot of information about her, but once you read this short bio below from the Texas A&M University-Commerce website, you'll see the story writes itself. A female pilot in the 1930s, her father forbidding her to fly, slipping away at night to pursue her dream anyway. The setting, the time, the clothes. Someone PLEASE make this movie. I mean, she instructed pilots who later went on to fight in World War 2! C'mon!
"Yolanda Spirito was born on January 19, 1909, probably in California. As a young woman, Spirito developed an interest in aeronautics and closely followed the lives and accomplishments of contemporary prominent pilots through newspapers and photographs. Spirito began to fly in 1927 at Glendale Airport, but when her father forbade her from future flying, she found work at a nearby bank. On nights when she was supposedly working late at the bank, she stole away to the airport and secretly continued her flight instruction. By 1929, she was receiving flight instruction at Mines Field in California from instructor Al Lary, to whom she became engaged that same year. On March 28, 1930, Spirito earned her private pilot's license.
Spirito participated in flying competitions and won her first air race during the dedication ceremonies of the Mines Field Airport. She may have been a member of and at the least participated in events hosted by the Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots. She became the twenty-fifth woman to receive a transport pilot's license. Spirito was also a flight instructor and taught actors Edgar Bergen and George Brent how to fly. Before World War II, she taught Civilian Pilot Training programs and continued as a flight instructor at Mira Loma Flight Academy after the war began. When the war ended, she was working in a control tower at the Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, California.
By approximately 1945, she became the traffic, sales, and publicity director for Hollywood stunt pilot Paul Mantz and worked for his private chartering service, Paul Mantz Air Services, which was also located at the Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank. Little is known of Spirito's later professional and personal life. In 1969, she rented a high-end home called Brisas Del Mar in Acapulco. There is nothing to indicate that she ever married Al Lary, nor is there any record of her marrying anyone else. Spirito died in August 1977 in Los Angeles at the age of 68."
