Bessie Coleman, the Chicago Manicurist Who Had to Cross an Ocean Just to Learn to Fly
Bessie Coleman became the world's first licensed Black pilot in 1921 - but only after every American flight school turned her away.
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Beryl Markham, the Percival Vega Gull, and the Solo Atlantic Crossing That Beat the Ocean Going the Hard Way
On September 4, 1936, Beryl Markham became the first person to fly solo non-stop from England to North America - east to west, against the prevailing winds, alone.
TaildraggerBessie Coleman, the Nieuport Biplane, and the French License No American School Would Give Her
Bessie Coleman earned her pilot's license in 1921 after every American flight school refused her - so she crossed an ocean and trained in France instead.
TaildraggerHarriet Quimby, the Bleriot Eleven, and the Channel Crossing the Titanic Stole from History
On April 16, 1912, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly the English Channel - a feat buried by the Titanic disaster that same week.
TaildraggerPhoebe Omlie, the Memphis Wing-Walker, and the Transport License No Woman in America Had Held Before Her
Phoebe Omlie became the first woman to hold a U.S. federal transport pilot's license in 1929, starting as a barnstorming wing-walker before shaping national aviation policy.
TaildraggerBessie Coleman, the Caudron Biplane in France, and the License No American School Would Give Her
Bessie Coleman became the world's first Black female licensed pilot in 1921 after sailing to France when every American flight school refused her application.
TaildraggerJacqueline Cochran, the Sound Barrier, and the Cotton Mill Girl from the Florida Panhandle Who Became the Most Decorated Pilot in American History
Jacqueline Cochran rose from a dirt-floor childhood in the Florida panhandle to become the first woman to break the sound barrier and the most decorated pilot in American history.
TaildraggerElinor Smith, the Four East River Bridges, and the Seventeen-Year-Old Who Flew Where Nobody Expected Her to Fly
On October 21, 1928, seventeen-year-old Elinor Smith flew a Waco biplane under all four East River bridges, launching one of American aviation's most celebrated careers.
TaildraggerHarriet Quimby, the Bleriot Eleven, and the English Channel Crossing the Titanic Erased From History
Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly the English Channel on April 16, 1912 - a milestone nearly erased by the Titanic sinking the night before.
TaildraggerBeryl Markham, West With the Night, and the First Solo East-to-West Atlantic Crossing That the World Nearly Forgot
Beryl Markham made the first solo east-to-west Atlantic crossing in 1936, flying 21 hours against the prevailing winds in a single-engine Percival Vega Gull.
TaildraggerBessie Coleman, Queen Bess, and the International Pilot License America Refused to Give Her
Bessie Coleman became the world's first Black woman to earn an internationally recognized pilot's license in 1921 after every American flight school refused to train her.
TaildraggerKatherine Stinson, the Flying Schoolgirl Who Looped at Night With Roman Candles and Was Turned Away When the War Needed Pilots
Katherine Stinson set cross-country distance records, performed night aerobatics with Roman candles, barnstormed Japan and China, and was still rejected by the Army in WWI.
TaildraggerPancho Barnes, the Fastest Woman in the World, and the Happy Bottom Riding Club at the Edge of the Sound Barrier
How Pancho Barnes became the fastest woman in the world and built the desert club at the heart of the supersonic age.
TaildraggerThe Night Witches, the Five Eighty-Eighth Night Bomber Regiment, and the Women Who Idled the Engine and Glided Down Out of the Dark to Bomb the German Line
The Night Witches flew 23,000+ night bombing sorties in plywood biplanes, gliding silently onto German lines on the WWII Eastern Front.
TaildraggerBeryl Markham, The Messenger, and the Night She Flew the Atlantic the Hard Way From East to West in Nineteen Thirty-Six
How Beryl Markham became the first person to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic east to west in 1936, into the wind.
TaildraggerQueen Bess, Bessie Coleman, and the Texas Sharecropper's Daughter Who Sailed to France to Earn a Pilot's License America Wouldn't Give Her
How Bessie Coleman, a Texas sharecropper's daughter, sailed to France in 1920 to earn the pilot's license America denied her.
TaildraggerThe Night Witches, the Polikarpov Po-2 Biplanes That Cut Their Engines to Glide Silent Over the German Lines, and the Women Who Flew Eighteen Bombing Runs a Night
The Night Witches flew plywood Po-2 biplanes on up to 18 silent night bombing runs, becoming WWII's most feared women aviators.
TaildraggerThe Night Witches, the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, and the Women Who Glided Wood-and-Canvas Biplanes Over the German Lines With the Engine Cut
The Night Witches flew wood-and-canvas biplanes over the German lines at night with their engines cut - here's their story.
TaildraggerBessie Coleman, Queen Bess, and the Farm Girl From Texas Who Sailed to France to Earn the License No One in America Would Give Her
How Bessie Coleman sailed to France in 1920 to become the first Black woman and first Native American woman to earn a pilot's license.
TaildraggerBessie Coleman, Queen Bess, and the Chicago Manicurist Who Sailed to France to Earn the Wings Nobody in America Would Give Her
How Bessie Coleman, a Chicago manicurist, sailed to France in 1920 to become the first Black woman in the world to earn a pilot's license.
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