alling in love
with aviation as a child, Irene Leverton has been flying for over 50 years.
Her 25,220 flight hours were gained in such aircraft as the following:
Douglas DC-3, Curtis C-46, Fairchild PT-19 and PT-22, Stearman PT-13, Beech
Baron and Bonanza, Aero Commander 680-FL, Waco UPF7, Cessna 402, 411, Turbo
310, and UC78, and Piper Apache, Aztec, Navaho, and Seminole, to name a
few. Her experience has graced the professions of crop duster pilor,
glider pilot, corporate pilot, ferry pilot, phase check pilot, consultant,
FAA pilot examiner, U.S. Forest Service contract pilot, commuter airline
pilot, air ambulance pilot, and flight instructor.
Leverton was the 1964 Women's National Pylon
Racing Champion and one the 13 charter members of the Women's Airline Transport
Pilot's Association in 1969. She received the Women with Wings Award
by the International Air and Space Museum in Ohio in 1986. In 1997,
she was inducted into the International Forest of Friendship, the living
memorial to the history of aviation in Atchison, Kansas, the birthplace
of Amelia Earhart. Her flight certificates include single-engine
land and sea, commercial instrument, glider, air transport pilot, and flight
instructor.
In 1961, Irene Leverton and twelve other
women successfully passed the same physiological and psychological tests
that NASA's Mercury Seven (male) astronauts passed during qualification
trials. These women later became known as the "Mercury 13," but never
continued their training nor flew any space missions.