Nowadays, we expect every airplane seat pocket to come with an in-flight magazine. But before 1934 airplane seat pockets were empty. Rose Benas is responsible for bringing the first in-flight magazines to the world.
By 1936 her magazine, Airlanes, was in almost every airplane in the United States. Benas was editor and publisher for Airlanes magazine until 1965. In its later years, Airlanes evolved into a trade publication for airline executives.
After leaving Airlanes, Benas went on to work for NASA. She was a writer and editor of special projects. At NASA Benas wrote executive speeches, articles and Congressional testimony.
The Rose Benas papers at UW's American Heritage Center includes her various writings and publications. Many of her papers have been digitized and can be found online .