Viola Gentry
Toronto Daily Star, September 25 1931
Viola Gentry (1894-1988) set a non-refueling endurance record for a woman pilot when she remained in the air continuously for eight hours, six minutes, and 37 seconds on December 20, 1928. In July 1929, she attempted to regain the record, which had risen to 13 hours; she crashed her plane, which killed her co-pilot and caused her to suffer a fractured skull and crushed shoulders. It took her more than six months to recover.
In 1931, as mentioned in the caption above, she had returned to a job as a cashier, but she tried again to set an endurance record in 1933. In 1934, she and her husband declared bankruptcy. She remained an aviation advocate for the rest of her life.
Created October 16, 2025.