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Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter Since 1995

Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

Since 1995

Timeline of women in aviation and space history.

  • 1784 – First woman to fly – Marie Élisabeth Thible, France
  • 1798 – First woman to pilot an aircraft solo – Jeanne Labrosse, France
  • 1799 – First woman to parachute jump – Jeanne Labrosse, France
  • 1903 – First woman to pilot a motorized aircraft solo – Aida de Acosta, U.S.A.
  • 1910 – First woman to earn a pilot license – Raymonde de Laroche, France
  • 1911 – First woman to win an air race – Hélène Dutrieu, Belgium / France
  • 1911 – First woman to teach her child to fly – Hilda Hewlett, England
  • 1912 – First woman to patent an aircraft design – Amelie Hedwig Beese, Germany
  • 1912 – First woman to pilot a seaplane – Hélène Dutrieu, Belgium / France
  • 1912 – First woman to fly over the English Channel – Harriet Quimby, U.S.A.
  • 1913 – First commissioned female airmail pilot – Katherine Stinson, U.S.A.
  • 1914 – First woman to fly an aerobatic maneuver (loop) – Lidia Zvereva, Russia
  • 1915 – First woman to fly in combat – Marie Marvingt, France
  • 1921 – First black female to obtain a pilot license – Bessie Coleman, U.S.A.
  • 1927 – First female airline pilot – Marga von Etzdorf, Germany
  • 1929 – First female movie stunt pilot – Florence Lowe Barnes, U.S.A.
  • 1930 – First female pilots to refuel a plane in flight – Elinor Smith & Evelyn Trout, U.S.A.
  • 1934 – First woman to flight instruct at a military flight academy – Marina Mikhailovna Raskova, Russia
  • 1935 – First certificated flight nurse – Marie Marvingt, France
  • 1937 – First woman to fly a fighter aircraft in combat – Sabiha Gökçen, Turkey
  • 1937 – First woman to pilot a helicopter – Hanna Reitsch, Germany
  • 1943 – First and only women to receive the Ace Pilot designation – Lidya Litvyak & Katya Budanova, Russia
  • 1944 – First woman to pilot a jet– Hanna Reitsch, Germany
  • 1948 – First female agricultural pilot – Ada Rogato, Brazil
  • 1953 – First woman to break the sound barrier – Jacqueline Cochran, U.S.A.
  • 1955 – First woman to hold a test pilot license – Jacqueline Auriol, France
  • 1963 – First woman to fly in space – Valentina Tereshkova, Russia
  • 1964 – First woman to fly solo around the world – Geraldine (Jerrie) Mock, U.S.A.
  • 1993 – First woman to fly a supersonic airline jet – Barbara Harmer, England
  • 2009 – First woman to lead a national demonstration aerobatic team – Virginie Guyot, France.


Source: womenofaviationweek.iwoaw.org

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