BREAKING THROUGH THE CLOUDS: The First Women’s National Air Derby

NOLA Code:

WNAD 0000 H1

Number of Episodes/Length:

1 / 90

Genre:

Documentary

Collections:

Women's History

Rights End:

2/27/2026

Producer

Archetypal Images, LLC

TV-G

CC

sIX

Stereo

Year Produced:

2011

Version:

Base

Breaking Through The Clouds: The First Women’s National Air Derby is the inspiring true story of the 20 women, including Amelia Earhart, who raced Across America in the Summer of 1929. Wearing breeches and goggles during the day and ball gowns at night, twenty brave pilots, including Amelia Earhart, defied convention by taking to the skies and racing across the country for nine days in August of 1929. It was the First Women’s National Air Derby. There was the media darling, the Hollywood starlet, the aviatrix record breakers and the unforgettable foul-mouthed wife of a preacher. Facing cultural stereotypes, mechanical failures, threats of sabotage, and endless chicken dinners, the women persevered and became ambassadors of flight in the Golden Age of Aviation. Breaking Through The Clouds is the documentary that tells their story.

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