Already in the flight folder, I couldn’t help skip ahead. And voila! Thirteen years after the airshow, she’s in Mississippi getting her pilot’s license (at the time she taught Physical Education at Gulfport College, a ‘Junior College for Girls’).

Her flight notes that accompany the log are at the same time meticulous, self-deprecating, silly, and vivid (all recurring themes in her writing I would find).

This is transcribed from pages that were included in her flight materials, from 1932-1933, as she is learning to fly:

• Oct 17 – 1st lesson – 1.2hr ER. Short flight in 2 cyl. Aeronca
• Oct 23 – 2nd lesson – 15 min. First wing-over
• Nov 7 – 3rd lesson – watched landings. Did 4. Badly. Taxied.
• Nov 13 – Moonlight – Jewels sparkling, Thin line of foam to mark the shoreline. A 90 degree turn and zoom toward the moon.
• Nov 14 – 4th lesson – (½) Gorgeous day. Bumpier than any lesson. Much yet to learn, but feel rather better about landings. Made 4 today.
• Nov 20 – 5th lesson – (½ hr) $7.50 Beautiful day. Big crowd, did turns and steep turns and a couple of stalls and 3 landings with sideslips.
• Dec – 6^th lesson – (½ hr) $7.50 5 landings. Do the same stupid things every time. Will I ever learn to move the stick smoothly to avoid climbing turns, to keep my nose on the horizon, to bring the RPM down to 1350 for straight flying, to cut off the motor soon enough when coming down. The Aeronca on hand again today.
• Dec 6 – 7th Lesson – (½ hr) WH has bot an ‘Aeronca’ – will guarantee a solo for $75. After my lesson he took me up in it. It practically flies itself. Cute as they come. The worst lesson yet – expect to get hung up in a pine tree yet. There’s so much to learn.
• Jan 9 – 8th lesson – (½ hr) $7.50. After a month’s vacation it was heavenly to be up again. Didn’t do as badly as I expected tho I’m still heavy-handed on the stick and rudders. Bumpy today. 3 landings.
• Feb 3, 1933 – 10th lesson – (½ hr) $7.50, googles, $4.50, helmet $1.75. Made six landings. The field was wet in spots and I did well at hitting them. Wore the new goggles and helmet.
• Feb 22, 1933 – The Eaglerock down for inspection, so as a great concession I was allowed to fly the Waco F. It flies beautifully. Did some good landings. Walter did some wingovers. The Waco climbs straight up! Real thrills!
• February 26 – 13th Lesson – (½ hr) $7.50. Back to the Eaglerock. Had a grand time. WH likes to play when there’s a big crowd at the field and zoomed down and up a couple of times to scare some children off the field. Tried on a parachute for the first time (remember Fritz Vinson). For the first time knew where I was ‘at’ when we came out of a wingover.
• Mar 1, 1933 – 14th Lesson – (½ hr) $7.50. Flew the Eaglerock. Lousy landings again once I didn’t even get down. 
• March 29 – 16th lesson – (½ hr) For the first time I really flew. Hope it wasn’t just accidental one landing on the wheels, but the others were good. If I can only do as well next time.
• April 1 – 17th lesson – (½ hr) $7.50. Doing some better WH said I’m most ready to go solo. Wish I could think so.
• Apr 3, 1933- 18th Lesson – $7.50. Got to the field before I realized the force of the wind. Went up anyway for the experience and it was different. There are so many variables in this game. Didn’t do so well.
• April 17 – 19th Lesson – In last five minutes got back to starting point. Made first good dead stick landing.
• May 17 – 20th lesson – HOT – but I’m not – it has been so long since last time. 
• May 18 – 21st lesson – $7.50. Ah me – 10 ½ hours and no solo yet. Bad business.
• May 22 – 23rd lesson – $7.50. 6am went around twice and Walter said, “how do you feel this morning? Take it around by yourself.” FIRST SOLO FLIGHT! Made 2 landings, both three pointers. 

As for the plane lingo she uses, wingovers look like a plane doing a flip, up and over, loop-de-loop. A sideslip is where the plane moves a little sideways while also moving forward to help with alignment. A dead stick landing is when a plane is forced to land because of mechanical issues.

The planes, the Aeronca, Eaglerock, and Waco are all aircraft of the era and also worth a Google search.

Here are some other items included with the flight information.

These letters, from the President of Gulfport College and his wife, are addressed to where Helen’s family lived. They had moved from Brooklyn to Arlington, New Jersey sometime after Helen had left for college. I don’t believe Helen lived at home again after going to Columbia. She spend her summers teaching athletics at camps or, once graduated, teaching at other colleges, well into her 30s.

When the letters were written, Helen was teaching a Purdue in Indiana, enjoying her time zipping around in the skies.