Famed Aviator Mary Feik To Highlight Women In Aviation Month

Aircraft and restoration specialist highlights "Women in Aviation" Month.

Mary Feik, recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal and a Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol, will speak at Evergreen Aviaition Museum in McMinnville on March 1st.

(MCMINNVILLE, Ore.) - Mary Feik, recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal and a Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol, will speak at Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville on March 1st.

After overhauling her first automobile engine at age 13 and later aircraft engines at 18 years of age, Mary taught aircraft maintenance to crew chiefs and mechanics for the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942.

During WWII, Feik became an expert on many military aircraft and is credited with becoming the first woman engineer in research and development in the Air Technical Service Command's Engineering Division at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio.

After flying more than 6,000 hours as pilot in fighter, attack, bomber, cargo, and training aircraft, Mary qualified as a B-29 Flight Engineer and was an engineering analyst in test aircraft for flight and maintenance requirements.

She participated in engineering "mock-up" evaluations for new aircraft proposed for production and authored pilot training and maintenance manuals for many of the military aircraft.

After retiring from the National Air and Space Museum's Paul E. Garber Restoration Facility as a Restoration Specialist, she now restores and teaches the restoration of antique and classic aircraft and has participated in the construction of reproduction WWI aircraft.

At the Garber Facility she was a member of the teams that restored a 1910 Wiseman-Cook aircraft, the WWI Spad XIII fighter, and the 1930 Northrop "Alpha" mail plane. Mary often serves as a judge and advisor for antique, classic, and warbird aircraft restorations and has received craftsmanship awards from many aviation organizations and conducts aircraft restoration workshops.

On Friday, February 29th at 9:00 AM, Mary will speak to the Volunteers and Staff in the I Max Theater, she will follow that with lunch with VIP's and Staff, and then there will be interviews in the afternoon with local Media and the Volunteer Newsletter.

On Saturday March 1st, which is Women in Aviation Day at Museum, there will be kids activities and Aviation organizational booths open from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Mary will be at the CAP table, visiting with cadets and the public,and then during Lunch at tehe Museum Cafe at 2:00 PM, she will speak in the Airlines Training Room in the I Max Theater.