Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame
Enshrined 1991
Ruth Reinhold was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was one of Arizona’s first Women pilots, gaining her pilot’s license in 1933 while flying out of a cow pasture that later became Sky Harbor Airport. Reinhold flew charters, sold airplanes and instructed students in the Civil Pilot Training Program prior to World War II. During the war, she taught B- 24 pilots instrument flying and flew countless courier missions for the Civil Air Patrol. Serving as Senator Barry Goldwater’s professional pilot for 20 years, Reinhold became, in 1968, the first woman appointed to the Department of Transportation. Arizona Aviation was Well served by Reinhold’s book “Sky Pioneering: Arizona in Aviation History.” Among her many awards were the coveted 0X5 Aviation Pioneer’s Amelia Earhart Award.
