"FLYING WITH THE TURTLE LADY" BY RENE TORRES

 

She was known in the Rio Grande Valley as the “Turtle Lady.” Her efforts in relieving the plight of the Ridley Turtle heightened public attention at a time when the sea creature was in desperate need of a friend before it passed into extinction.

Born in 1904, Loetscher passed away in 2000 at the age of 95, but what a legacy she left behind for both the turtles and those who love the natural world.

In her younger days she attracted attention with her escapades in the sky. In fact, she was the first licensed woman pilot in the states of Illinois and Iowa.

It was in 1927, when she created a lot of excitement as she made her way to the cockpit. The Davenport runway was lined with hundreds of people, so many, that it had be “fenced off,” she recalled. Signing autographs with every step she took—the eagerness matched today’s “shuttle blastoffs,”

Airport officials seized the moment—making her the center of attention by widely advertising her daredevil stunts, bringing instant publicity. She conducted her aerobatics directly over the airfield so that the curiosity seekers could be satiated. She snatched the crowd’s attention slicing through the clouds with awe-inspiring maneuvers.

Her parents didn’t know they had a pilot in the family, until the Des Moines Register published her accomplishments. This is when they, and the general public were informed about her hidden talent.

By 1929, the federal government required that every pilot be licensed. The stiff requirements were no challenge for IIa Fox Loetscher, it was then that she became an official aviator.

The most iconic pilot in the world, Emelia Earhart, also read the headlines about IIa. Shortly after, she wrote a letter inviting her to join her club. Which the only admission criteria was that each member should be a licensed aviatrix—the standard in itself was more exclusive as there were only 104 licensed women pilots in the world. Ninety-nine accepted to join the prestigious club, hence the name, the 99ers, took hold.

Although they had known each other through correspondence, Loetscher received her long-awaited opportunity to meet Amelia in the 1930s.

Ila, declared, “She was a striking woman—better looking than any picture and not at all overbearing, I loved her, we all did.”

In her 1985 interview with Eileen M. Sullivan, of the Brownsville Horizon, Ila went on to comment about modern day airplanes.

“Today, planes don’t hold the same allure—then, you flew according to the feel of the thing,” she said nostalgically. If your plane was tipping you could see it. Now, you need a whole instrument panel to tell you what your own plane is doing.”

In 1985, during the CAF airshow, Ila, and some of the charter members of the 99ers gathered again. One of those members was 83-year-old Edna Gardner White. She was featured in Look Magazine in 1937 when an article stated she had more flying hours, (2, 844) than any other woman aloft.