Piloting was once thought to be a male dominated profession, but these incredible female aviators proved that to be incorrect.
The Second World War had a profound impact on the advancement of women in aviation, enabling many of them to work on the production lines of aircraft, as mechanics, flight controllers, instructors, and other roles.
According to a BBC News article, only 3% of pilots are female, which equates to approximately 4,000 women out of a total of 130,000 pilots globally.
Here is a list of 10 incredible women who broke numerous aviation records, became pilots at a very young age, and were the first to fly space shuttles.
1. Emma Lilian Todd
Self taught inventor Emma Lilian Todd was born in Washington, DC, in the United States.
She started creating around 1903, influenced by the airships she saw while visiting London, United Kingdom.
Todd proceeded to design an aircraft, which test pilot Didier Masson (who was not granted a pilot’s license and could not pilot the aircraft herself) was able to fly successfully.
Philanthropist Olivia Sage became aware of Todd’s aviation endeavors when she displayed her initial design at a Madison Square Garden airshow in New York.
Sage became Todd’s supporter and gave her $7,000 (about Rs 5.11 lakh in current currency) to design and construct a biplane. Along with this accomplishment,
In 1908, Todd started the first Junior Aero Club in the United States to assist in the education of aspiring pilots.
2. Elinor Smith
Given that Elinor Smith’s mother is a singer and her father is an actor, it is understandable how ambition was ingrained in her from an early age.
After taking her first flight at the age of six, Elinor fell in love with aviation and quickly realized she had found her own passion in life.
She started taking regular flying lessons at the age of ten and eventually became the youngest person in history to hold a government pilot’s license in the US.
Elinor broke the light plane altitude record during her flight, reaching 11,889 feet.
She would go on to shatter records for endurance and speed, and it is believed that she is the only person to have flown beneath each of the four East River bridges in New York, something she did irrationally on a dare.
3. Patty Wagstaff
Patty Wagstaff is an American aviator with a family history in aviation; her sister flies for United Airlines, and her father piloted for Japan Airlines.
Upon relocating to Alaska in the late 1970s, she enrolled in flight lessons and became eligible for the U.S. National Aerobatic Team for the first time in 1985.
She made history in 1991 when she won the U.S. National Acrobatic Championship for the first time. Throughout her career, she has accomplished this feat three times.
In addition to being inducted into multiple aviation halls of fame, such as the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Aviation Hall of Fame, Wagstaff was named the Betty Skelton First Lady of Aerobatics for six years running, from 1988 to 1994.
She currently lives in Florida and works as a flight instructor, airshow pilot, and film stunt pilot in addition to operating a pilot training school.
4. Mariya Dolina
In 1941, the Soviet Union formed the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, an all-female air force regiment for World War II.
The pilots, who were volunteers and in their late teens and early twenties, flew night missions and earned the Nazi officers’ moniker “Nachthexen,” or “Night Witches,” for their actions.
Up until the conclusion of the war, they participated in 24,000 missions and dropped 23,000 tons of explosives while flying precision and harassment bombing missions.
With slow moving, outdated Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes made of wood and canvas that were originally intended to dust crops, the 588th pilots bravely exploited the maneuverability of their aircraft to evade the Germans’ far more sophisticated Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Focke-Wulf Fw 190s.
The Night Witches were highly decorated and experienced pilots who had flown over 800 missions between them by the end of the war. Twenty of the members lost their lives in battle, and twenty-three were named Heroes of the Soviet Union.
5. Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson was an enthusiastic aviation enthusiast who broke numerous records on a wide range of flights.
Although she occasionally flew with her husband Jim Mollison, she was originally from Kingston upon Hull, England, and she set multiple records for solo flights.
Amy was the first woman to travel nonstop across the globe, setting speed records on her way via Japan and Cape Town, South Africa, on her way from London, England to Australia.
Her life ended in controversy during a flight during World War II, with many speculating that she was in the midst of a covert mission.
She was an adventurous and fearless woman. This shows that female pilots served in World War II as well.
6. Yvonne Pope Sintes
Yvonne Pope Sintes, a British aviator who was born in South Africa, has worked as an air traffic controller, flight instructor, author, air stewardess, pilot, and member of the RAF Volunteer Reserve.
In the early 1960s, she became the first female air traffic controller at Gatwick Airport and co founded the British Women Pilots’ Association in 1955.
In 1967, Sintes applied to work for British European Airways, which subsequently changed its name to British Airways. However, she was denied employment in a letter stating that it was not BEA policy to employ female co pilots.
But she persisted, and in 1972, while working for Morton Air Services, she became the first pilot in British commercial aviation history.
7. Harriet Quimby
When Harriet Quimby obtained her license in August 1911, she opened the door for future generations of women at a time when there was not a single female licensed pilot in the entire US.
Despite the unsettling news that the RMS Titanic had sunk the day before, Harriet managed to become the first American woman to fly solo across the English Channel.
She passed away at an airshow in Massachusetts while doing what she loved, but her actions will always have an impact on the prospects for female pilots.
8. Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock
Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock, an Ohio native who was a tomboy as a child, became interested in aviation when she was seven years old and got to ride in the cockpit of a Ford Trimotor.
After completing an engineering course in high school, she went on to become the first woman to fly around the globe in 1964, using a single-engine Cessna 180 that was given the name Spirit of Columbus.
Mock completed her historic round-the-world flight in 29 days, traveling nearly 22,860 miles and passing through Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.
In addition, she was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic and Pacific, as well as the Pacific in both directions and in a single engine aircraft.
9. Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie
President Woodrow Wilson visited Omlie’s hometown in Iowa, and during a small airshow to commemorate his visit, the pioneer of American aviation fell in love with flying.
She managed to convince an airport manager to let her fly with one of his pilots, who performed a number of antics meant to make her feel unwell and discourage her from coming.
Rather, Omlie started doing her own aerial stunts, learning to parachutist and wing-walk before breaking the record for the highest female parachute jump at 15,200 feet.
10. Jacqueline Cochran
During her illustrious career, American racing pilot Cochran broke numerous flight records and won the 1938 Bendix Transcontinental Air Race.
In order to move new, repaired, and damaged military aircraft between factories, transatlantic delivery points, maintenance facilities, scrap yards, active service squadrons, and airfields during World War I, she recruited women for the British Air Transport Auxiliary.
It performed air ambulance duties and transported personnel on urgent missions.
In addition, Cochran oversaw the Women’s Flying Training Detachment. After the WFTD and the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron combined, she was appointed as the first director of the Women Airforce Service Pilots.
Conclusion
As you can see, women have significantly influenced aviation. The women featured in this article defied gender norms, broke through glass ceilings, and went against what was considered to be possible.
We sincerely anticipate the contributions that females in the future will make to the dynamic aviation sector.
