Do you think female pilots are as competent as their male
counterparts? Do women aviators have the ability, knowledge, skill and strength to operate aircraft as well as
men? These questions have been debated ever since the Wright brothers flew but
it was a daring young American woman who opened the door to the male/female pilot
controversy.
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| Harriet Quimby and her Bleriot monoplane |
In August 1911 Harriet Quimby was the first
woman in the United States to be granted a pilot certificate and eight months
later she flew her Bleriot across the English Channel, another first for
female pilots. Apparently well aware of the public relations she would generate,
Harriet's flying garb included included knee-high leather boots and a hooded, full-length, purple
satin flight suit.
