Brenda E. Robinson (born in 1956) is the first African American female pilot in US Navy history. She has been inducted into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame. The 59th woman to enter the Navy's training program, she became the 42nd to earn her wings, and the first black woman to earn Wings of Gold. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Elizabeth Coleman was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license, and is the earliest known Black person to earn an international pilot's license. She earned her license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921.
Nancy Harkness Love, born Hannah Lincoln Harkness, was an American pilot and airplane commander during World War II. She earned her pilot's license at age 16. She worked as a test pilot and air racer in the 1930s. During World War II she convinced Colonel William H. Tunner of the U.S. Army Air Forces to look to set up a group of female pilots to ferry aircraft from factories to air bases. This proposal was eventually approved as the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. Love commanded this unit and later all ferrying operations in the newly formed Women Airforce Service Pilots. She was awarded the Air Medal for her work during the war and was appointed lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force Reserve in 1948.
Nicole Margaret Ellingwood Malachowski is a retired United States Air Force (USAF) officer and the first female pilot selected to fly as part of the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Thunderbirds. She later became a speaker and advocate on behalf of patients with tick-borne illnesses.
A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting. A fighter pilot with at least five air-to-air kills becomes known as an ace.
Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Deal Burrow, United States Marine Corps, is the first female Marine who selected for Naval aviation training in 1993, and subsequently became the Marine Corps' first female aviator in 1995.
Captain Jane Skiles O'Dea was one of the first six women to earn their wings as U.S. Navy pilots in 1974, and was the first woman qualified in the C-130 Hercules. She was also the first woman in the U.S. Navy qualified as a flight instructor. She was the first female Navy aviator to achieve command and to be selected for the rank of captain.
Captain Rosemary Bryant Mariner was an American pilot and one of the first six women to earn their wings as a United States Naval Aviator in 1974. She was the first female military pilot to fly a tactical jet and the first to achieve command of an operational aviation squadron.
Betty Skelton Frankman Erde was a land speed record holder and aerobatics pilot who set 17 aviation and automobile records. She was known as "The First Lady of Firsts", and helped create opportunities for women in aviation, auto racing, astronautics, and advertising.
Willa Beatrice Brown was an American aviator, lobbyist, teacher, and civil rights activist. She was the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license in the United States, the first African American woman to run for the United States Congress, first African American officer in the Civil Air Patrol, and first woman in the U.S. to have both a pilot's license and an aircraft mechanic's license.
Emily Joyce Howell Warner was an American airline pilot and the first woman captain of a scheduled U.S. airline.
This article lists events involving Women in warfare and the military in the United States since 2011. For the previous decade, see Timeline of women in warfare and the military in the United States, 2000–2010.
Elaine D. Harmon was an American from Maryland who served in the U.S. Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. In 2009 she received a Congressional Gold Medal for her service as a pilot during World War II. As a WASP pilot, she has been accorded full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. In 2016, Ms. Harmon was posthumously inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.
Lieutenant colonel Kathy La Sauce is a former United States Air Force (USAF) pilot. She was the first woman to pilot a C-141 Starlifter, and the first woman aircraft commander at Norton Air Force Base.
This is a timeline of women in aviation which describes many of the firsts and achievements of women as pilots and other roles in aviation. Women who are part of this list have piloted vehicles, including hot-air balloons, gliders, airplanes, dirigibles and helicopters. Some women have been instrumental in support roles. Others have made a name for themselves as parachutists and other forms of flight-related activities. This list encompasses women's achievements from around the globe.
Tammie Jo Shults is an American retired commercial airline captain, author, and former naval aviator. She was one of the first female fighter pilots to serve in the United States Navy. Following active duty she became a pilot for Southwest Airlines. She retired from Southwest Airlines in 2020.
Penny Rafferty Hamilton is an American retired pilot, aviation educator, writer, and photographer. She is noted for her two-year study of women in aviation, the Teaching Women to Fly Research Project, which identified barriers to women training as pilots and presented 101 strategies to increase the participation of women in aviation. She also interests children in aviation, giving talks in schools and libraries as the character "Penny the Pilot". She and her husband jointly hold a World Aviation Speed Record set in 1991. In addition to writing for aviation magazines, she has published books on the history of Granby, Colorado, where she has resided since 1989. She was inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.
Evelyn Greenblatt Howren was an American woman aviator. She helped organize the first all-woman squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, was one of the first women air traffic controllers in the U.S., and was in the first class of Women Airforce Service Pilots in World War II. After the war she remained active in the aviation business in Georgia for many years. She was the third woman inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. She was born and died in Atlanta, Georgia.
Marion Stegeman Hodgson (1921-2016) was one of the first women to train as a military pilot in the United States. Her 1996 autobiography Winning My Wings: A Woman Airforce Service Pilot in World War II was praised for its unique insight into the Women Airforce Service Pilots program in World War II. Her post-war work writing for magazines and newspapers helped bring to attention the fact that Women Airforce Service Pilots were never considered veterans of the war. Hodgson has been inducted into aviation halls of fame in Texas and Georgia.
Theresa M. Claiborne is the first female African-American pilot in the United States Air Force (USAF).