Nancy Hopkins (aviator)

Nancy Hopkins (1909-1997) at the 1930 National Air Tour

Nancy Hopkins (May 16, 1909 – January 15, 1997) was an aviator. She was the president of the International Women's Air and Space Museum and a member of United Flying Octogenarians.

Birth

She was born in 1909 in Washington, D.C.. Her father was Alfred Francis Hopkins I (1879-1955) who was born in Wayne, Pennsylvania and worked as an antique salesman. Alfred was said to be related to the Hopkins family that started Johns Hopkins University; Alfred's father was from Maryland, and his mother from Maine. Nancy's mother was Anne DeWolf Gibson (1877-1963). Nancy had a brother, Alfred Francis Hopkins II (1914-1988), an illustrator, and two sisters. She was a niece of Lady Nancy Astor and her uncle Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944) was the creator of the Gibson Girl.

First flight

In November 1927 she had her first flight from Hoover Field in Arlington, Virginia, and in 1929 she received limited commercial license #5889 at Roosevelt Field in New York. In 1930 she listed her occupation as "aviation air pilot". That same year her father was working as an "antique salesman" and her mother was not listed as living in the household.

1930 National Air Tour

In 1930 she entered the Women's Dixie Derby which was a 2,000 mile air race from Washington, District of Columbia to Chicago, Illinois. She flew her Viking Kitty Hawk B4 biplane, NC30V. That same year she was one of four women in the 5,000-mile Ford Reliability Air Race, and the only woman pilot.

George Vecsey writes:

"Ever since I was in high school, I had just one determination—to fly. I don't know why either." She says she didn't get much encouragement from the all-male staff at the flying fields, who may or may not have known she was a niece and namesake of Lady Astor. When she made her first flight, a perfect landing in the crosswinds across the Potomac, the social reporters and Ernie Pyle all wrote features about her. Later she moved to the Old Curtiss Field on Long Island, working in the same office as George C. Dade, and taking more lessons in her spare time. Tier became so good that she was invited to fly in the 1930 Ford Reliability Tour, one of the most famous air events of this decade of development. Edsel Ford of the automobile family was trying to prove that fixed-wing aircraft—particularly Ford-produced aircraft—were so dependable, they could keep a regular schedule. The tour was first held in 1924, and by 1930 it had been expanded to a five-thousand-mile marathon around the United States, with a daily itinerary that had to be maintained. "You started in Dearborn, Michigan", Tier recites, "flew on to Kalamazoo for lunch, then flew to Chicago and stayed overnight. Milwaukee, Eau Claire, Wasau, you kept going for sixteen days, regardless of weather. You were trying to show you could maintain your pace despite the weather. Down the Rockies, Great Falls, Sheridan, Colorado Springs, Cheyenne, Garden City, Kansas." "I had a forced landing in Arkansas", she continues. "She really blew at four thousand feet over the Mississippi, forty miles from Memphis. I just made a big circle—I was used to landing in small fields. I landed in the back of a little shack, tree stumps all around, hit an irrigation ditch and blew a tire. "But the main thing was to see what was wrong. I pulled the propeller, checked out the cylinders, found the problem, went to work with a screwdriver and some wire, and it started right up. All I could think about was the great shop course back in Central High, and how glad I was to take it." The twenty-two-year-old pilot kept her schedule that day, despite the breakdown, flying out of the stump-filled field, and finishing fourteenth out of nineteen pilots.

Another account from 1930 states:

She is back, her suit case covered with stickers from some of the far distant cities she visited on the 5,000-mile air tour, her ship spattered with oil and her face grimy. The paint is worn off her Kitty Hawk and her leather jacket is spotted and a button gone. "But it was a marvelous trip!" she said as she hopped out of her ship after she had listened with expert ear to the sound of the motor. "I'm not a bit tired! And I didn't mind having a slow ship either. I came piking in last every time, but I always got there, and that's what counts." "It wasn't so hard." she insisted as she tucked her helmet and goggles under her arm and shook hands with some of her many admirers. "And I'm so glad we finished", she said as she nodded back at the blue ship which stood on the runway beside her.

Marriage

She married Irving Vanderroest Tier (1902–1978) on February 24, 1931 in Connecticut. Her wedding announcement from February 25, 1931 is as follows:

Announcement was made today of the marriage yesterday of Miss Nancy Hopkins of this city, daughter of Dr. Alfred R. Hopkins of Washington, D.C., to Irving Vanderroest Tier, son of Mrs. Arthur J. Crawford, of Deepwood Drive of this city. The Reverend Franklin J. Kennedy of the First Methodist Episcopal Church performed the ceremony in the presence of a few intimate friends at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas North Tracy, 39 Goodrich Street. A reception followed at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Ellsworth Gross, 4 Prospect Court. Mrs. Tier, who is a niece of Charles Dana Gibson, is an aviatrix. Last year she flew in a Kitty Hawk plane in the Ford Reliability Tour. She received her education in the Central High School, Washington, DC Mr. Tier was graduated from Hamden Hall and Silver Bay School, Lake George, New York He is also an aviator. Following a short wedding trip, Mr. and Mrs. Tier will make their home in this city^[1]

Recover from spin

On a ride during the winter of 1931 her plane was in a flat spin and would have crashed. She climbed out of the cockpit preparing to parachute but her weight on the wing tilted the aircraft enough to take her out of the spin. She climbed back into the cockpit and regained control at 200 feet. This got her a job at Viking as a spokeswoman.^[2] In 1931 she also received her transport license.

Later years

She joined the Connecticut Civil Air Patrol in 1942 and rose to the rank of Colonel.

Death

She died in Sharon, Litchfield County, Connecticut in 1997.

Timeline

• 1909 Birth
• 1927 First flight from Hoover Field in Arlington, Virginia
• 1929 Limited commercial license #5889 at Roosevelt Field, New York
• 1929 Charter member of Ninety-Nines
• 1930 National Air Tour aka Ford Reliability Tour
• 1930 Women's Dixie Derby
• 1931 Transport license
• 1931 Marriage
• 1931 Plane in a spin
• 1931 Connecticut Speed Champion
• 1932 Meridien Aviation Pylon Race
• 1933 Flew coast to coast
• 1942 Civil Air Patrol
• 1963 Flew the first day covers for the Amelia Earhart stamp from Atchison to New York City
• 1971 New England Air Race
• 1976 C.W. Post University award
• 1983 Wings Club award
• 1986 President of the International Women's Air and Space Museum
• 1992 Pioneer Women in Aviation Hall of Fame
• 1992 (circa) Honorary member of US Air Force's 38th Strategic Missile Wing
• 1994 resigns as president of the International Women's Air and Space Museum
• 1997 Death

Air races

• 1930 Ford Reliability Tour
• 1930 Women's Dixie Derby
• 1932 Meridien Aviation Pylon Race
• 1971 New England Air Race

Aircraft

References

1. ^ "Nancy Hopkins wed to Irving V. Tier. Aviatrix Married to Aviator in Thomas N. Tracy's Home in New Haven. Bride Doctor's Daughter. She Is a Niece of Charles Dana Gibson. Couple Are to Live In New Haven.". New York Times. February 25, 1931. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40B17FD345413738DDDAC0A94DA405B818FF1D3. Retrieved 2007-07-21. "Announcement was made today of the marriage yesterday of Miss Nancy Hopkins of this city, daughter of Dr. Alfred R. Hopkins of Washington, D.C., to Irving Vanderroest Tier, son of Mrs. Arthur J. Crawford, of Deepwood Drive of this city." 
2. ^ "Woman pilot stops crash. Niece of Lady Astor Straightens Out Plane Diving Rapidly in Spin.". New York Times. December 9, 1931. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30C12F8355D1B7A93CBA91789D95F458385F9. Retrieved 2007-07-21. "... the former Miss Nancy Hopkins, 23-year-old niece of Lady Astor, ... As the plane descended to 1000 feet the nose dropped and the craft gathered speed in ..." 

Further reading

• George Vecsey and George C. Dade; Getting off the Ground
• New York Times; August 29, 1930, page 03; "Lindberghs hailed by air race crowd"

Other National Air Tour participants

• Eddie August Schneider

External links

• Early Aviators: Nancy Hopkins
• National Air Tour
• Findagrave: Nancy Hopkins

Persondata
Name	Hopkins, Nancy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 16, 1909
Place of birth
Date of death	January 15, 1997
Place of death