Louise McPhetridge Thaden, a famous American female pilot of the golden age of aviation, was one of the first women to win major flying events and awards, and set world performance records. She took her first flight in 1919; a $5 ride with a barnstormer. Thaden started flying lessons in 1926, soloing in 1927 to earn her pilot's certificate. Signed by Orville Wright, Thaden received certificate No. 74. In 1929, Thaden became the fourth woman to hold a transport pilot rating. On December 7, 1928, Thaden set the world's altitude record for women, reaching an altitude of over 20,000 feet. In March 1929, she set a solo endurance record for women of over 22 hours, and in April set a women's speed record of 156 miles per hour, becoming the first and only woman to ever hold all three records of altitude, duration, and speed simultaneously. She also won the first All Women’s Air Derby, or “Powder Puff Derby,” a transcontinental race from Santa Monica, California, to the site of the 1929 National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1936, she and co-pilot Blanche Noyes captured the Bendix Cup race, winning the New York to Los Angeles event in the first year women were eligible to compete. As a result, Thaden received aviation's highest honor, the Harmon trophy. Thaden and Amelia Earhart co-founded the Ninety-Nines in 1930, an international organization for female pilots which continues to the present day. At that time, Earhart become president and Thaden served as the group's treasurer from 1930 to 1934, and vice president from 1934 to 1936. Thaden retired from racing in 1937, but stayed active in aviation for the rest of her life. She served on the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services from 1959 to 1961, and from 1949 to 1970 held numerous positions with the Civil Air Patrol.