Female aviator broke record on a wing and a dare

Campana paid for flying lessons using the meager salary she earned working at G.C. Murphy Co.
By MARALINE KUBIK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Amelia Earhart's daring solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932 fueled the imaginations of many young girls.
Mary Ann Campana, a teen-age dime-store clerk, didn't just dream of flying, she was determined to do it.
"I remember we used to watch planes that were flying and she'd say, 'I want to fly like that,'" said her younger sister, Alda Wilson. "We had a cousin who'd say, 'You can't fly. You're a girl.' And she'd say, 'I am too going to fly.' And she did."
A year after Earhart's phenomenal flight, Campana set the world's light airplane endurance record, focusing international attention on Youngstown.
Campana set the record June 4, 1933, flying an air-scarred Taylor Cub over Youngstown for 12 hours, 27 minutes without refueling. The 19-year-old aviator could have flown hours longer if she hadn't been forced down by an approaching thunderstorm. Her "flivver" monoplane had used only 24 of its 40 gallons of gasoline.
A standard parachute in the plane had been replaced with an extra fuel tank in preparation for the flight.
"I remember that day," her sister said. "It was so foggy she didn't fly very far -- she was afraid of getting lost. We could hear her plane, but we couldn't see her -- and there were so many people at the airport! When she landed the cops were trying to hold them back, because it takes awhile for the propeller to stop, but people were breaking loose and running."
Sunday lessons: Campana had learned to fly using the meager salary she earned working behind the counter in the infant's wear department at G.C. Murphy Co. "Flying lessons cost $15 an hour, and I could only afford to fly 15 minutes every Sunday," Campana told Vindicator feature writer Janie S. Jenkins in 1986.
Campana had logged only seven hours of flying time when she made her first solo flight at the Youngstown Municipal Airport on June 7, 1932. She'd started flying the winter before -- Campana's application for a student pilot permit had been approved Jan. 20, 1932.
Unable to drive an automobile, Campana hitchhiked to the airport for her flying lessons.
Her historic endurance flight was sponsored by Youngstown-area businesses including Taylor Aircraft Corp. of Bradford, Pa., which added the fuel tank to her plane; the State Theater, G.C. Murphy Co., Champion Spark Plug Co., Lyden Oil Co., Clark's Restaurant and Klivan's Jewelry Co.
After her historic flight, Campana continued to fly, earning her private pilot license Sept. 14, 1932. She applied for a solo pilot license June 21, 1933. On Sept. 18, 1941, she applied for a commercial certificate.
Retaining her position at G.C. Murphy Co. enabled Campana to continue flying. "It was so expensive to fly," her sister recalled. "And she didn't have much time because she was always working."
Wilson flew with her sister only once. "It was really something, with the wind blowing in your face," she said. "Planes were all open then. I sat in the front and she sat in the back and I screamed and hollered all the while I was up there but she couldn't hear me." Wilson was 13.
Campana also took her parents up, Wilson said. "My mother was terrified."
To honor her accomplishments, the government of Italy presented Campana with the Cavalier Award, the Italian equivalent of being knighted, Wilson said. Like most of her family, Campana had been born in Italy. She came to the United States when she was 8 years old.
Merchandising career: In 1936, Campana went to work for Strouss-Hirshberg, where she began to focus on a career in merchandising. She continued to fly, her sister said, but after about 10 years, eventually gave it up.
In 1945, she switched jobs again, moving to Akron to work as a buyer of children's wear for Polsky's Department Store. Thirteen years later she went to work for the May Co., Cleveland.
Campana left the May Co. in 1965 to start her own company. With partner Leonard C. Rosenberg, she founded a chain of Polly Anna stores. Polly Anna specialized in children's clothing and operated stores in Cleveland, Akron and Mentor. She will celebrate her 88th birthday in April.
kubik@vindy.com