Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is a private university focused on aviation and aerospace programs. Founded at Lunken Field in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1926, its main campuses are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona. It is the largest accredited university system specializing in aviation and aerospace. It has numerous online programs and academic programs offered at satellite locations.
Susan Kilrain is an American aerospace engineer, former United States Navy officer, and a former NASA astronaut. She is the youngest person to pilot a Space Shuttle. She has flown more than 3,000 hours and among her merits she was awarded with the Defense Superior Service Medal.
Geraldine "Jerrie" Fredritz Mock was an American pilot and the first woman to fly solo around the world. She flew a single engine Cessna 180 christened the Spirit of Columbus and nicknamed "Charlie." The trip began March 19, 1964, in Columbus, Ohio, and ended April 17, 1964, in Columbus, Ohio. It took 29 days, 11 hours and 59 minutes, with 21 stopovers and almost 22,860 miles (36,790 km). The flight was part of a "race" that developed between Jerrie Mock and Joan Merriam Smith who had flown from a field near San Francisco, CA on March 17, 1964; Smith's departure date and flight path was the same as the aviator Amelia Earhart's last flight. Although they were not in direct competition with each other, media coverage soon began tracking the progress of each pilot, fascinated with who would complete the journey first. Mock was the first to finish. The story of this race is told in a book written by Taylor Phillips entitled, Queen of the Clouds; Joan Merriam Smith and Jerrie Mock's Epic Quest to Become the First Woman to Fly Solo Around the World (2023). Jerrie Mock was subsequently awarded the Louis Blériot medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in 1965. In 1970 she published the story of her round-the-world flight in the book Three-Eight Charlie. While that book is now out of print, a 50th anniversary edition was later published including maps, weather charts and photos. Three-Eight Charlie is a reference to the call sign, N1538C, of the Cessna 180 Skywagon Mock used to fly around the world. Before her death, Mock, mother of three children, resided in Quincy, Florida; northwest of the state capital, Tallahassee.
Gayl Angela Masson is an American aviator and artist. She flew for American Airlines for over 30 years and was the first woman licensed to fly the Boeing 747 as captain. Masson earned a PhD from the University of Southern California in 1976, specializing in aerospace safety and writing her dissertation on the Air Force's response to women as pilots. She set several speed records for commercial air routes and was the first woman to serve as Chief Pilot for American Airlines.
Captain Barrington Irving Jr. CD is a Jamaican-born American pilot who previously held the record for the youngest person to pilot a plane around the world solo, a feat he accomplished in 2007. He is also the first black person and first Jamaican to accomplish this feat. His aircraft, a Columbia 400, is named the "Inspiration." It was manufactured and assembled by the Columbia Aircraft Mfg. Co. in 2005 using over $310,000 in donated parts, and is classified as a standard aircraft in the utility category.
Merryl Tengesdal is an American retired career military officer who is the first and only Black woman to fly the United States Air Force's U-2 spy plane used for specialized high-altitude reconnaissance missions. She is one of five women and only the fourth Black person to be in the U-2 program. She shares the plane's nickname, The Dragon Lady.
The Shark.Aero Shark is a conventionally laid out, single engine, low wing ultralight aircraft and light-sport aircraft which seats two in tandem. It was first flown on 19 August 2009 and is built in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic by Shark.Aero. It has optionally fixed or retractable landing gear.
Niloofar Rahmani is the first female fixed-wing Air Force aviator in Afghanistan's history and the first female pilot in the Afghan Air Force since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Though her family received death threats, she persevered to complete her training and won the U.S. State Department's International Women of Courage Award in 2015.
Wang Zheng, also known as Julie Wang, is an airline pilot and an FAA Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) in the United States, where she resides. She is the first Asian woman to circumnavigate Earth in an airplane. Wang is also the first Chinese pilot to fly solo around the world and the eighth woman to do so.
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.
Latifa Nabizada is an Afghan helicopter pilot in the Afghan Air Force. She is one of the first two women pilots to serve in Afghanistan that were qualified to fly a Mi-17 helicopter. By 2013, she was a colonel in the new Afghan Air Force. Nabizada's own career in the Afghan military has inspired other women to join.
Patrice Washington is a Bahamian airplane pilot, whose career was marked by a series of firsts. She was the first black woman graduate of Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida; first woman pilot of Bahamasair; first black woman captain of a major U.S. air service and first black female pilot hired by the United Parcel Service.
Beverley Drake is a Guyanese pilot and aviation expert who is an administrator and accident investigation analyst with the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). She was one of the first two woman pilots to work in the Guyana Defence Force, first woman commercial pilot of Guyana Airways, and was the first and only black woman to serve as a senior aviation accident investigator for the NTSB. She serves as the manager of the Federal Women's Program of the NTSB and program director of the Industry and Government Affairs division of the NTSB.
Zara Rutherford is a Belgian-British aviator. At age 19, she became the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world and the first person to complete a circumnavigation in a microlight aircraft after a five-month journey which began in Kortrijk, Belgium, on 18 August 2021, and ended on 20 January 2022.
Travis Ludlow is an English aviator. In 2021, he became the youngest person to fly solo around the world at age 18 years old, a record he held for 1 year.
Mack Rutherford is a British-Belgian aviator. On 24 August 2022, under the name Macksolo, he became the youngest person ever to fly solo around the world and the first minor to achieve this feat. He holds four Guinness World Records, including the record for the youngest person to fly solo around the world, previously held by Travis Ludlow, and the record for the youngest person to fly a microlight solo around the world, previously held by his sister Zara Rutherford. His successful record attempt received significant global exposure, highlighting his mission to demonstrate that young people can make a difference.
