Before
Ringenberg was raised on a farm and took interest in flying at the age of 7 when she took a ride with the barnstorming pilot who landed in a local cornfield. With a desire to fly, she pictured herself as a stewdess and prepared to study nursing in college since it was a requirement of the job. |
During
In 1943, she became a pilot with the United States Army's Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program, ferrying aircraft from factories to military bases in the continental United States. She was relieved of duty in 1944 after the WASP program disbanded. |
After
After the war ended in 1945, the two newspapers of her hometown, Fort Wayne, were on strike so a local radio station hired Ringenberg to drop leaflet's announcing the end of the war. Ringenberg continued flying as a commercial pilot and flight instructor. As well as competing in flight races. She won the Air Race Classic in 1988, and in 1994 entered the Round the World Air Race with two other co-pilots. Her daughter earned her license at age 17 and the two flew together often. Ringenberg was an auto-racing fan too, and in 2004 became the oldest woman to ride around the track at high speed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She died while attending the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture fly-in and convention where she was slated to give a presentation on the WASP program. |