Bobbi Trout, born Evelyn Trout on January 7, 1906, in Greenup, Illinois, earned her nickname after cutting her hair into a fashionable 'bob.' Her passion for aviation ignited at the age of twelve when she saw her first airplane flying overhead. "Someday I'll be up there. Someday I'm going to fly an aeroplane," she vowed.

Her dream took flight on December 27, 1922, when she experienced her first airplane ride in a Curtiss Jenny at Rogers Field in Los Angeles—the same airfield where Amelia Earhart had her first flight. On New Year’s Day in 1928, Bobbi began her flight training at Burdett Air Lines, Inc., School of Aviation in Los Angeles under the instruction of Burdett Fuller. She soloed on April 30, 1928, and two weeks later, completed her training, earning pilot's license number 2613.

Bobbi became the fifth woman in the United States to obtain a transport license, signed by Orville Wright. This very license later accompanied Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins into space in 1994, along with a scarf once belonging to Bobbi's friend, Amelia Earhart, when Collins became the first female space shuttle commander.

On January 2, 1929, Bobbi took off from Van Nuys Airport on a twelve-hour-and-eleven-minute endurance flight, setting a new solo endurance record for women. However, her record was surpassed a month later by her friend and fellow Ninety-Nine, Elinor Smith, who extended the time by an hour. Undeterred, Bobbi attempted another endurance flight from Mines Field (now LAX) the following month, but fuel starvation caused her engine to fail, forcing her to land just minutes before she could reclaim her title.

Elinor Smith ultimately set the endurance record with a flight lasting over 26 and a half hours, a record that still stands. Despite the competition, Bobbi and Elinor remained friends, and in October 1929, they teamed up for an endurance flight, becoming the first women to refuel a plane in flight.

Bobbi continued to break barriers, setting records that included the first all-night flight by a woman and a seventeen-hour, twenty-four-minute solo endurance record for women. A local newspaper humorously headlined the feat: “Tomboy Stays in Air 17 Hours to Avoid Washing Dishes.” On June 16, 1929, she set another record by climbing to 15,200 feet in a ninety-horsepower Golden Eagle Chief, establishing a new altitude record for light-class aircraft.

Later that year, Bobbi joined other famous aviatrixes, including Amelia Earhart and "Pancho" Barnes, in the first All-Women's Transcontinental Air Race from Santa Monica to Cleveland. Dubbed the "Powder Puff Derby" by humorist Will Rogers, the race became legendary. Although engine trouble prevented Bobbi from placing, her resilience and pioneering spirit were evident.

With flying jobs scarce during the Great Depression, Bobbi transitioned to a career as a flight instructor and later as a commercial photographer in the late 1930s. She eventually sold real estate in the Palm Springs area and retired to Carlsbad in 1976. Long-time chapter members fondly remember Bobbi driving her little red Porsche sports car to gatherings at Betty Gillies' home in Rancho Santa Fe—proof that she still loved living in the fast lane.

Bobbi Trout passed away in 2003, leaving behind a legacy of determination, innovation, and a trailblazing spirit in the world of aviation.