Aline Rhonie and Peter Brooks, Date & Location Unknown (Source: Hofheimer Family)

Aline and Peter Brooks were married May 25, 1933 . Rhonie was 25 years old and Brooks was 32. They divorced four years later on June 1, 1937. This page exhibits seven articles and images related to their marriage.

Below, a news article we can deduce is dated May 26, 1933. Peter Brooks states in the article, "We are both crazy about flying, we both own a Monocoupe and we both own a Ford .... so the logical thing was for us to go into partnership." The bride states, "I remembered having my horoscope read last year and its saying May 25 was my lucky day, so I thought it would be as good a time as any to say 'Yes'." Surely, marriages have been entered with fewer qualifications.

Brooks Marriage, Undated World Telegram Article (Source: Hofheimer Family)

Undated & Unsourced Society Article (Source: Hofheimer Family)

Undated & Unsourced News Article (Source: Hofheimer Family)

The article at right suggests they departed Immediately following their marriage on a "flying honeymoon", embarking on a grand tour of the United States and Mexico in their two Monocoupe aircraft. However, the New York Times of May 26, 1933 states, "Mr. and Mrs. Brooks are not planning a wedding trip. They expect to make their home at 360 East Fifty-Fifth Street [Peter Brooks' apartment]."

There is thus a conjecture regarding their "honeymoon" flight around the U.S.. Here is the data. The Brooks landed at Tucson together in two Monocoupes on Tuesday, March 20, 1934 at 3:00 PM. Based at New York, NY (probably Roosevelt Field), they arrived from Mexico City, Mexico on their way to Los Angeles, CA. The date is clearly written, and supported by the context of other landings on the same Register page (p. 202).

I have no record of just how long they spent on their honeymoon, but it was probably a good long time, given the distance they covered. A New York Times article from 1937 that summarized their divorce cited the duration as five months. If they averaged a hundred or so miles per day, they would have been traveling for six months or more. If they departed New York during the week of their wedding, they would have returned to New York in November, 1934 or so.

So we are left with the possibilities that, (1) they did not depart on their post-nuptial flight in May, 1933, but postponed it to the folowing winter and headed straight to the southern tier of the U.S. (Florida was one stop in the voyage), thence to Mexico. Or, (2) they did leave right after their wedding and their visit at Tucson was part of another voyage.

Regardless, several Web sources cite her flight to Mexico City from New York as being the first ever performed by a woman. She may have been the first woman to fly that particular route to Mexico City, but Register pilots Pancho Barnes and Mildred Morgan preceded her to Mexico City by different routes, both in 1930. One source states that Aline spent six-weeks in Mexico City studying with Diego Rivera. Her flight that brought her to Tucson may have been the time she did that.

From the look of Rhonie's overcoat in the photo below, the weather was, in fact, cool when they returned to New York. This supports possibility (2), above. In the absence of either pilots' flight logs (they cannot be found) we may never know.

Return from Flying Honeymoon, Date & Source Unknown (Source: Hofheimer Family)

Below, Aline and Peter sitting atop one of their Monocoupes. The wing struts and propeller are festooned with decorations. Compare this photo with the one two images above.

Newlyweds on Festooned Monocoupe, Ca. May 25, 1934 (Source: Hofheimer Family)

Below, a holiday card, ca. 1934-36. Each fuels their airplane from an underground fuel bowser.

Brooks' Holiday Card, Ca. 1934-36 (Source: Hofheimer Family)

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Of 42 female pilots who signed the Davis-Monthan Register, Aline "Pat" Rhonie combines the good traits of many of her sister signers. She ranks high among her sisters in hours and miles flown throughout her life in aviation. She stands out in her humanitarian activities on behalf of the French and British just before the outbreak of WWII. She was a member of the WAFS and the WASP.

Across two decades she received awards and certificates of appreciation from the French and United States governments. She held and mutually respected a wide network of friends, among them some of the movers and shakers of Golden Age aviation. She was a fine artist of considerable repute, who has a robost Web presence in that area to this day.

She signed the Register once in 1934 on Tuesday, March 20th. Please refer to her biographical link, above, for details on that landing, including the airplane she flew and the circumstances of her voyage.

Unless otherwise noted, these images were scanned at 300dpi. Please note also: other than cropping, sizing and optimizing the images for web display, they are unretouched in any way. Most of them are published nowhere else but here at www.dmairfield.org. The images are displayed without much technical commentary. Rather, the links will take you to further information, where available.

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