caption death_date birth_place nationality birth_date image article_title name occupation
pearl laska chamberlain , wasp trainee 22 november 2012 chestnut mountain , summers county , west virginia american 29 april 1909 pearl laska chamberlain wasp trainee.jpeg pearl laska chamberlain
 pearl l. chamberlain pilot
pearl laska chamberlain

pearl laska chamberlain -lrb- née bragg , april 29 , 1909 - november 22 , 2012 -rrb- learned to fly in a kinner fleet bi-plane in 1933 and held a pilot 's certificate until she was 97 .
prior to world war ii , the federal government established the civilian pilot training program , a back-door method to train pilots for military service .
she was a w.a.s.p -lrb- women airforce service pilots -rrb- trainee during the war and was honorably discharged .
in 1945 , following her dream to be a full-time pilot , pearl moved to nome , alaska and worked as a flight instructor and bush pilot .
the next year she became the first woman to solo a single-engine airplane -lrb- a 1939 piper j-4 -rrb- up the alaska highway .
the faa recognized her achievements as a pioneer alaska aviator in 2006 .
scorning the belief that alaska natives -lrb- inuit , etc. -rrb- were unable to learn flying , she taught many , including holger jorgensen , who became the first native hired as a pilot by a scheduled air line .
in 2007 she received the wright brothers master pilot award .
