Ingalls, Laura H. (c. 1900–c. 1988)
Ingalls, Laura H. (c. 1900–c. 1988)
American aviator and Nazi spy. Born, possibly 1900, in New York, NY; died possibly in 1988.
Learned to fly (1928), becoming a highly successful woman pilot by 1930s; set women's record for consecutive loops (1930) and record for most barrel rolls by a man or woman (1930); made numerous record-breaking flights, including flight from NY to CA (30 hrs, 27 mins) and return flight from CA to NY (25 hrs, 35 mins, 1930); made most well-known flights in 1934, becoming 1st American woman to fly over the Andes, 1st person to make solo flight around South America in a landplane, and 1st woman to fly from North America to South America; became 1st woman to fly nonstop east to west across North America (1935); broke Amelia Earhart's record by flying nonstop from LA to NY in 13 hrs, 34 mins (1935); dropped pamphlets over White House from air to support Women's National Committee to Keep the United States Out of the War (1939) and consequently had license suspended for violating 2 Civil Aeronautic Board regulations; was a member of America First; arrested by FBI (1941) for failure to register as a German agent; convicted as Nazi espionage agent (1942) and sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison; released (1943).