FIORENZA DE BERNARDI
Fiorenza De Bernardi was Italy’s first female aeroplane pilot (and the fourth in the world).
When she was just a little girl in the 1930s, Fiorenza was able to identify the different aircraft models simply by listening to the sound of their engines.
She had always...
HARRIET QUIMBY
It is with great pleasure that we dedicate today’s article to Harriet Quimby, an aviation pioneer who did not receive anywhere near as much attention as she should have.
It is a shame that aviation history has not dedicated a place of honour to this...
JACQUELINE “JACKIE” COCHRAN
Many women throughout history have broken down barriers. Barriers made of bias and obstacles to freedom, barriers between dreams and possibilities.
The American aviatrix Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ Cochran is a woman who broke down all these barriers, plus another one besides: the sound barrier.
She got married...
GABRIELLA “GABY” ANGELINI
As was the case for many young women born into middle-class families at the beginning of 1900s, Gabriella ‘Gaby’ Angelini had a piano teacher and attended a ballet school in Milan.
But she would dream of aeroplanes twirling in the clouds rather than a ballerina...
ROSINA FERRARIO
We’d like to dedicate today’s article to all those women who’ve ever been told:
‘Forget about it, that’s boy stuff’
Rosina Ferrario was born in 1888 into a wealthy family in Milan.
Those were the years of the Industrial Revolution and the Italian National Exhibition, where...
HÉLÈNE DUTRIEU
Pioneering women. Skilled women. Fearless women. Strong women. Or, more simply, women. Hélène Dutrieu was all this and much more.
In this column dedicated to some of the most fascinating stories from the past, we often write about the lives of women who, although they...
AMY JOHNSON
To fully understand how important Amy Johnson’s venture was considering that she was born back in 1903, we need to first think about the historical context. For the United Kingdom, the year 1918 represents the year of women’s suffrage, which was granted only to...
MARGOT DUHALDE SOTOMAYOR
“Women have always had to fight twice as much. They’ve always had to carry two loads, one of which is private and the other public. Women are the back bone of society.” Rita Levi-Montalcini.
Female aviators from the past are a recurring theme in our...
AMALIA ERCOLI-FINZI, “MOTHER” OF THE ROSETTA SPACE PROBE
Writing about Amalia Ercoli-Finzi on our blog is a huge honour. As an airline company, we look up to her brilliance in the field in which we operate. As human beings, we are grateful for her contribution to progress and innovation. As women, we...
MARY CHANCE VANSCYOC
When we talk about women who have represented milestones in aviation history, we typically imagine very different contexts to that of today’s society.
By that logic, we might think that when in 1938 the very young Mary Chance VanScyoc won the Women's State Rifle Championship...
