Myrtle Cagle | |
|---|---|
 Myrtle Cagle in 1995 | |
| Born | Myrtle K. Thompson (1925-06-03)June 3, 1925 |
| Died | December 22, 2019(2019-12-22) (aged 94) Georgia, United States |
| Known for | Mercury 13, aviation |
Myrtle "Kay"Thompson Cagle (June 3, 1925 – December 22, 2019) was an American pilot and one of theMercury 13 femaleastronauts group. She worked as aflight instructor and wrote aboutaviation inNorth Carolina.
Cagle was born on June 3, 1925, in Selma, North Carolina.[1][2] Cagle had always wanted to fly from a young age.[2] When she was 12, her brothers taught her to fly using the plane they owned.[1][3] When she "earned her wings" at the age of 14, she was the youngest pilot inNorth Carolina,[2] and at the time, may have been the youngest in theUnited States.[1] She joined the high school's aeronautics class, when the school's instructor was drafted to fight inWorld War II, she finished out her year as the teacher.[1] As a flight instructor she was nicknamed, "Captain K".[1] Cagle earned her private pilot's license when she was nineteen.[1]
Cagle joined theCivil Air Patrol and theNinety-Nines, and wanted to become aWASP.[1][4] Cagle went on to run an airport nearRaleigh and her own charter plane service.[1] In 1950, she earned a trophy in thePowder Puff Derby.[5] She earned herCommercial Pilots license with Airplane Single and Multi-Engine Land ratings and Instrument ratings by 1951.[1] She was also a certified Flight Instructor, Flight Instrument Instructor and Ground Instructor.[1] Herflight school was located in Selma.[6]
Cagle began writing a column called "Air Currents" in 1946 for theJohnstonian Sun newspaper in Selma.[1] Later the column was moved to theRaleigh News and Observer from 1953 to 1960.[1] When she flew aT-33 jet trainer, she became one of only five women who had "ever piloted a jet."[2]
Cagle married former pupil, Walt Cagle, in 1960.[2][7] Herwedding dress was made fromparachutes.[8] She moved toMacon, Georgia, in 1961. Not long after she arrived, she was invited to participate in the new Women in Space Program.[9] Cagle had 4,300 hours of flying time by the time the program started.[8] Cagle and the twelve other women participants eventually became known as the "Mercury 13."[10] During the program, Cagle was warned by the administrators not to becomepregnant.[2] Among the multitude of tests she underwent as part of the program, she noted that one of the worst tests she faced was having hereardrums frozen.[2]
Cagle went back to teaching students how to fly and also enrolled inMercer University.[1][3] She continued to be involved in theCivil Air Patrol.[11] In 1964, she competed in theInternational Women's Air Race.[3] In 1986, she became a member of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Team.[1][8] In 1988, Cagle became the second woman to graduate with an airframe and powerplant mechanic's rating from the South Georgia Technical College.[1][8] She was still flying her single-engineCessna in 1998 at age 73, even though she had retired from teaching atRobins Air Force Base.[12][2] On April 26, 2003, Cagle was inducted into theGeorgia Aviation Hall of Fame.[13] In 2007, she and eight of the Mercury 13 graduates earned an honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.[14]
Cagle died on December 22, 2019.[15]