Jim Inhofe: “many people may not be aware of Oklahoma's significant history in aviation, or that I am the only commercially licensed…”

“many people may not be aware of Oklahoma's significant history in aviation, or that I am the only commercially licensed pilot in the Senate and have a passion for flying. Since 1910, beginning with Charles F. Willard who only flew a few hundred yards in a south Oklahoma City field, Oklahomans have been flying. The following year, Clyde Cessna, an automobile dealer from Enid who later formed the Cessna Aircraft Company, flew his mono-wing airplane near Jet, OK. Such early flights in Oklahoma continued and in 1929 perhaps one of the most notable aviation events occurred in Waynoka, Oklahoma, where Charles Lindbergh stopped on the first transcontinental passenger air and rail service. By 1931, Wiley Post, from Maysville, OK, gained international recognition when he flew around the world in a little over eight days. In July 1991, I had the honor of recreating Post's trip on its 60th Anniversary. However, Oklahoma's aviation history does not stop there. On November 2, 1929, 26 licensed women pilots founded what was known as the Ninety-Nine Club, or the Ninety-Nines.”