Falling For a Pilot

As Wallis approached her twenties with no party in sight, she resolved to shake up her surroundings. Venturing from her Baltimore home to the sun-soaked shores of Florida, she sought refuge with her cousin Corrine and her husband, a daring naval pilot. In the exhilarating realm of aviation, still in its infancy, Wallis found herself captivated by the promise of adventure.

Yet, amidst the thrill of flight, tragedy struck. Witnessing two harrowing crashes instilled in her a deep-seated fear of taking to the skies herself. But love knows no bounds, and even the specter of fear couldn’t deter her from falling head over heels for her own pilot, Earl Winfield “Win” Spencer Jr. Their whirlwind romance culminated in a summer engagement and a November wedding in 1916, marking the beginning of a new chapter in Wallis’ adventurous saga.