McKeesport native Helen Richey became the first woman to fly a commercial airliner to deliver mail and transport passengers.

She was part of what was known as the “air-minded movement.” Richey and Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean, appeared in an advertisement modeling luggage. Richey was a member of the U.S. Women’s Airforce Service Pilots and a transfer pilot during World War II.

Her story is one of many detailed in the book “Bettis: Where Pittsburgh Aviation Took Off,” by Brian Butko and Sue Morris, which uncovers tales of those who took flight during the “Golden Age” of aviation from 1924-38.

“These pilots flew with no radio and no navigation tools,” Butko said.

He recalled a pilot who smoked a cigar and when he saw the cigar was burned down to a certain point, he knew which town he was flying over.

Courtesy of the Heinz History Center Pilot Helen Richey, of McKeesport, became the first woman to fly a commercial airliner to deliver mail and transport passengers.  

Aviation in Pittsburgh dates back to the 1920s when Barr Peat purchased a farm field of more than 40 acres from Risher Land Co. in West Mifflin for $40,000. Peat sold a half-interest for $1 to Clifford Ball, who secured an airmail contract. The Pittsburgh-McKeesport Airport opened in June 1926, in what was then Mifflin Township.

In November 1926, the airport was renamed Bettis Field for Lt. Cyrus “Cy” Bettis of Michigan, who served in the Army Air Service in World War I, following his death from injuries in a crash in September of that year.

The airport was rededicated as Curtiss-Bettis Airport in 1930.

“I remember people talking about that airport and it was always in the back of my mind to find out more,” said Butko, of West Mifflin, director of publications at the Senator John Heinz History Center and author of books on Kennywood and Isaly’s.

Butko and Morris spent years researching people in images sourced from museums across the country, including the History Center, the Ball and Neel families and a collection donated by Kenneth Scholter, which includes pictures of iconic aviator Charles Lindbergh.

Scholter was a flight instructor who lived in Saxonburg, Butler County, and devoted his life to the aviation industry.

“We probably could not have done this book without his collection,” Butko said. “Some photographs were labeled but for the others, it was like a big puzzle trying to put all the pieces together.”

Those pieces included a diverse group, including Richey, Charles Wesley Peters — who flew a glider around Herron Hill Reservoir and piloted a custom-built gas-powered biplane for flights in the Hill District — and Irvin Lee McEnheimer, the first Black man to obtain a private license.

Among the 50 chapters are stories of crashes.

“That was a tough part to write,” said Morris, of McCandless. “This was a dangerous time. “

The authors added that the forgotten airport was the epicenter of aviation. There was a challenge of finding flat land and if you wanted to travel by plane, there had to be a double cockpit or passengers sat on airmail bags.

“It was a risky investment trying to convince people it would take off,” Butko said. “Because there was the railroad and there were cars.”

Courtesy of the Heinz History Center Cover of “Bettis: Where Pittsburgh Aviation Took Off.”  

In 1949 by Westinghouse Electric Corp. bought the airport for $382,500. The site became the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, named in honor of the airport’s legacy. (The famous Steelers running back Jerome Bettis, however beloved, has no role in this story.)

The Allegheny County Airport, about a mile away, launched in 1931. What is today called Pittsburgh International Airport opened in 1952. Its new terminal is scheduled to open later this year.

A plane from Bettis Field — “Miss Pittsburgh,” 1927 Waco-brand airplane, hangs in the Landside Terminal above TSA check-in at the Pittsburgh airport.

“We like to not just tell the familiar history but to tell the history that has been forgotten,” Butko said. “It has been interesting to follow breadcrumbs and see where they lead us. It is fun to have this old history of aviation in Pittsburgh being introduced as modern history is unfolding with the new airport.”

The book is $19.95 and available on the Senator John Heinz History Center website, select local bookstores and Amazon.

The next book talk is March 19 at South Park Library.

Details: brianbutko.com

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