Father: Frank Hudson (he was a butcher), Mother: Margaret Her family moved to Alberta, Canada in March 1911 (when she was 2 years and 7 months old) Ed. Strathcona High School, Alberta; McTavish College, Edmonton, Canada City and provincial diving champion 1925, 27, 29 Naturalized American 25 Feb 1938 ('Declaration of Intention' 27 Dec 1934) 5ft 5in, brown hair, grey eyes prev. Flight Instructor prev. exp 1,000 hrs Learnt to fly in Hawaii in 1930 and then spent 3 years there as co-director of a flying school in Honolulu that "averaged 150 Japanese, Hawaian and American pupils a year",.Her elder sister Winifred, who went with her, became aviation editor of the Star-Bulletin, Honolulu. She "achieved international fame as a transcontinental flier and was the only Canadian girl to conduct her own flying school", then moved to Burbank to work (as a secretary) for Lockheed. She also continued as an instructor, for the Grand Central Flying School in Glendale. Here she is in 1937, getting ready for an attempt on the world solo endurance record for light planes in her Aeronca C-3:
"She will refuel by snatching 5-gallon cans of gasoline from a speeding motor car with a fishline-and-hook arrangement" - Los Angeles Times She stayed aloft for 19 hrs 57 min, breaking Laura Ingall's previous mark of 18 hrs 23 min, cutting the flight short because her refuelling equipment was damaged. However, she then repeated the exercise the following September after the record had been raised by Norman Doerr to 24hrs; this time she stayed up for 33hrs 9min, only coming down because of high winds.. From 1940, she taught flying to Pasadena junior college students (one of only 3 women instructors), under a C.A.A. scheme. "I just talked myself into it", she said. Address in 1942: 1334 W. 54th St, Glendale, CA Parents' address in 1942: 1848 Argyle Ave, W Vancouver, B.C. Canada Sailed from Nova Scotia to Belfast to join the ATA, arriving 28 Jun 1942 with fellow pilots Edith Stearns and Catharine van Doozer. Off sick from 17 Mar 1943 after a flying accident - she and Fay Bragg were both injured (Fay only slightly) when they were passengers in a Wellington II, piloted by Elisabeth May, which suffered port engine failure immediately after take-off and crash-landed straight ahead, at RAF Wickenby near Lincoln. She then sailed back to New York on the 21 Aug 1943, with Opal Anderson, Margaret Lennox, Roberta Sandoz Leveaux, and Catharine van Doozer. m. 1943 Mario W Richards see also her story at https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk
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1937
