In 1925, Thaden moved to Wichita, Kansas, where she soon got a sales job at Travel Air. As part of her salary, she earned her pilot’s certificate in 1928 (number 850, signed by Orville Wright). Thaden became the first and only pilot to hold the women’s altitude, solo endurance, and speed records simultaneously. She competed and won against fellow aviators Amelia Earhart, Blanche Noyes, and others in the National Women’s Air Derby, in 1929. Later that year, Thaden, Earhart, and others founded the Ninety-Nines, an international organization for female pilots. After a ban on women in air races was lifted, Thaden and co-pilot Blanche Noyes became the first women to win the Bendix Cup, in 1936. The two women set a new transcontinental record in the race from New York to Los Angeles. Thaden retired from competition in 1938 to spend more time with her two children, and write her memoirs titled, High, Wide and Frightened.