Lilia Litvyak meets her childhood heroes, Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Lilia Litvyak, the heroine of my book, Call Sign, White Lily, became fascinated with the idea of flying at the age of 12. A rather bold thought for a young Russian girl living in a male dominated society during the 1930’s. But, for those of you that have read the book, you know that Lilia was no ordinary young lady. In fact, as a schoolgirl, her favorite book was the story of flight featuring the biographies of her heroes’ Orville and Wilbur Wright.

Recently, retired Navy pilot Peter Hartsock visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, N.C., where the brothers built their planes in a small wooden building and took to air at a modest nearby airstrip. He also brought with him a first edition copy of Call Sign, White Lily which he presented to the Memorial Curator.

While Pete was there, he also discovered a few interesting facts. The sewing machine the Wright Brothers used to make their canvas wing covers in 1903 was the same machine that Lila used to make clothes with her mom during the 1930’s. It was a Singer.

The visit created what I would term comparativeness sadness. The Wright Brothers’ achievements were memorialized appropriately, since they had accomplished something that had never been done before. At the end of what was once a modest airstrip sits a 50 foot high granite monument pointing skyward.

In ironic contrast, some 40 kilometres outside of Krasny Luch, down a poorly paved road, in the middle of a barren, open field, lays the simple gravestone of the greatest female pilot in the history of the world.

The moral of the story? Do something that’s never been done before to become a part of history, but don’t let your accomplishments get lost in time for 66 years.