Rippelmeyer was born and raised on a farm in Valmeyer, Illinois. She attended University of Illinois to earn a teaching degree in English and student taught in Chicago inner-city school. Rippelmeyer began her career in aviation as a TWA flight attendant in 1972. Her interest in flying took hold when friends who were flight instructors offered lessons in a Piper J-3 Cub seaplane in Vermont. She obtained the rest of her required certificates and training at Tamiami Airport in Miami where she worked as a flight instructor and charter pilot.
Career
While working for TWA as a flight attendant part time and as a flight instructor/charter pilot, she was hired by Air Illinois in 1977 as a Twin OtterDHC-6First Officer. After being told they could not fly together, due to inclement weather and the inability of the designated flight crew to make it to the airport on December 30, 1977, Lynn Rippelmeyer and Captain Emilie Jones were permitted to fly the scheduled turboprop commuter plane under the condition that the passengers were not made aware the pilots for their flight were both women. This was the first all-female crew of a scheduled flight in the United States. In 1984, Rippelmeyer became the first woman to captain a Boeing 747 across the Atlantic Ocean. Prior to this breakthrough, Rippelmeyer had been involved with transatlantic flights throughout her career as a TWA flight attendant and as a B-747 pilot for the cargo airline, Seaboard World Airlines in 1980-1981. The 1984 People Express flight was the first time a woman held the reins as Captain of this flight. Rippelmeyer acknowledges the departure from Newark, New Jersey was uneventful. However, upon arrival in England, she was welcomed by reporters, magazine writers, and photographers due to the rarity of female pilots. Photos from this event were shared among newspapers across the world. Rippelmeyer met Princess Anne while being recognized as England's Woman of the Year later that same year. Rippelmeyer is the first American to be receive this honor
Retirement
The non-profit organization ROSE was founded in September 2017. Bringing hope of a better life to the people of Roatan and Honduras, Rippelmeyer founded after flying daily commercial flights into Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Passengers often included missionaries and medical teams who volunteered their time and service to the country's poor. She made friends with the people of Roatan who were doing their part to help by creating and supporting health care clinics, schools, sports programs and an animal shelter. After witnessing the island's needs she began bringing supplies in on her flights, during her days off and while on vacation. ROSE helps to collect, transport and deliver donated supplies to qualifying local non-governmental organizations, groups and programs that bring medical, dental & vision health care, education and meals to those who most need them. Rippelmeyer lives in the Houston, Texas vicinity.
