MOVING HISTORY FORWARD: 'She could fly anything with wings'
Sixteen-year-old Gladys Dawson had saved her money to buy an airplane ride, and after six seconds in the air she was hooked. A year later, 1932, the local newspaper reported that she made her first solo flight after only five hours of instruction. After a series of fights with her abusive father, Gladys packed a small suitcase and ran away from her home near Bellingham, Wash. The local airfield was Tulip Field and her instructor was Herb Buroker. Five years later, 1937, Gladys and Herb would marry.
Prior to her marriage to Herb, she would earn her living throughout the Pacific Northwest teaching others to fly, performing at air shows as a parachutist, wing walker and exhibition pilot “barnstorming.” Female pilots were an oddity. They were required to live up to a more rigid standard in order to be accepted into the small, tight, male-dominated world of pilots. She was always recognized as a talented pilot. After passing all the available certification exams, she was the only female certified flight instructor in the Pacific Northwest.
World War II erupted suddenly and unexpectedly Dec. 7, 1941. Gladys and Herb found themselves deeply involved with teaching young men to fly. The U.S. Army Air Force enlisted them to set up a training center and teach. They settled on a poorly equipped and poorly maintained grass field named Weeks Field, just outside the town of Coeur d’Alene, then with a population of 12,000. Its proximity to the recently established Farragut Navy Base allowed the Navy to use Weeks Field as a training site for its pilots. Gladys excelled at teaching highly motivated and bright recruits to fly as combat pilots. Her skill elevated her to legend status among the trainees.
The end of the war found many unable to move successfully into civilian life, but not Gladys and Herb. They tied their futures into the future of Coeur d’Alene by expanding their flying expertise into a thriving business — Aviation Industries, Inc. based at Weeks Field. They purchased a home at 1522 N. Fourth St., Coeur d'Alene. Their first child, a daughter, was born May 15, 1945. Life was good.
They scored lucrative contracts with the Forest Service and Veterans Administration. They hired five ex-combat fighter pilots as instructors to help teach the ever-increasing desire of the public to learn to fly, taught by these experienced fighter pilots.
In the spring of 1950, disaster stuck. Herb was welding in their hanger on Weeks Field when the fabric on the plane he was working on caught fire. Despite all they could do, the fire quickly destroyed the entire business. Shortly after, the city notified them that the lease would not be renewed when it expired that December. It was time for a change.
They purchased 140 acres at Wolf Lodge and worked it by growing hay. A horse was available for the two daughters. After two years, they moved back to Coeur d'Alene. Gladys re-entered school at North Idaho College and became a nurse. She nursed as an LPN at Kootenai Memorial Hospital.
The family was completed with the birth of a son, Kelly. He joined his two older sisters, Linda and Sally, in learning piloting, skydiving and ballooning. Herb and Gladys continued teaching these aeronautical skills.
Herb died May 22, 1973. Gladys died Nov. 8, 2002, in Coeur d'Alene and was buried in Riverview Cemetery next to Herb. It is impossible to list all the awards, TV presentations and acclamations both received.
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The information in this column was excerpted from Glady’s autobiography “Wind in My Face.” The Museum of North Idaho has copies for sale. May 20 is the date for the MONI gala to be held at the fairgrounds (formerly Weeks Field) in the old hanger dating back to WWII. The theme will be WWII USO featuring an Andrew Sisters retro group and more! See museumni.org for ticket information.
