JOHN GILLESPIE MAGEE JR., AVIATOR AND POET
John Gillespie Magee Jr. only lived for 19 years. But this Anglo-American pilot born in Shanghai, who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War, left us something extraordinary:
High Flight
"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the...
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...
HEINRICH KUBIS: THE FIRST FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Heinrich Kubis (1888-1979) was the first flight attendant in history. In this article we bring you an imaginary short, first-hand, partly romanticised tale celebrating the life of one of the pioneers of civil aviation professions.
My name is Heinrich Kubis and the story of my...
MARILYN AND THE AEROPLANES
How much do we really know about Marilyn Monroe? Who was Norma Jeane Mortenson Baker? How many of us know that her modelling and acting career related to aeroplanes? Platinum blonde hair. Angelic features. A profile able to turn the heads of sportsmen, intellectuals...
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...
THE HISTORY OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS’ UNIFORMS
There are many reasons why flight attendants wear uniforms.
The first reason is a psychological one: there’s evidence that people have more confidence in uniformed professionals. Passengers rely on flight attendants and pilots on an aeroplane no less than they do doctors and nurses in...
ELLEN CHURCH: THE FIRST FEMALE FLIGHT ATTENDANT
On 22 September, 1904, a woman was born in a small town in rural Iowa. She’d later make aviation history and change women’s role in the world of work.
Ellen Church was a child with a big personality and a head full of dreams who...
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...
BEFORE GPS
How many objects do we take for granted every day? The mobile phone that allows us to contact children, friends and relatives at any time, the internet that allows us to buy flights at just the click of a few buttons, the credit cards...
BESSIE COLEMAN
If during the 1920s becoming a pilot was quite an undertaking for any woman, imagine what would have been like for an African-American woman.
Bessie Coleman was born in 1892 in one of the worst places for a woman like her to pursue her ambitions:...