User:Random Passer-by

I'm Random Passer-by. I sometimes read wikipages. If they need attention then I sometimes edit them. When I was anonymous I always signed and talkpaged, with references, my anonymous edits. Now, as you see, I've been persuaded to create an account.

At the moment I'm most likely to edit pages with information on early aviators or speculative fiction.

Or I might edit an apparently random page if I happen to be passing by and I see that it needs attention. :-)

For my reference:

Early milestones for women in heavier-than-air flight
(AFAIK, please leave a message on my talk page if you have better evidence.)

12:33, 3 March 2008 (UTC)~NOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_Peltier The above site credits Peltier with the first solo flight by a female. Below, you have her only as a passenger in 1908. Why? -- Delaware Dolores 12:33, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

1895, Ella Pilcher, according to her brother Percy Pilcher, became the first woman in recorded history to help build a heavier-than-air craft and the forerunner of all subsequent women in aviation engineering. (There's a photograph of Ella with one of the gliders she helped to build)

1897, 20 June, Dorothy Pilcher flew in her cousin Percy Pilcher's Hawk glider at a public exhibition and became the first woman in recorded history to fly in a heavier-than-air craft although, as the glider was attached to a tow line and Percy assisted with the steering, Dorothy wasn't the first woman to pilot a heavier-than-air craft. (There's an eyewitness newspaper report detailing Dorothy's flight.)

1902, Lela Cody piloted one of her common-law husband Samuel Cody's "manlifter" war-kites and became the first woman in recorded history to pilot a heavier-than-air craft. The kite was, like all kites, attached to the ground by a line but the pilot, in this case Lela Cody, controlled the winch. (There's a photograph of Lela in flight.) Lela Cody also became the first British woman in recorded history to ride in an aeroplane on 14 August 1909 (although Gertrude Bacon flying with Roger Sommer at Reims 22-29 August 1909 is also considered a candidate by some).

1908, 8 July, Thérèse Peltier became the first woman aeroplane passenger in recorded history when she flew 656 feet with Léon Delagrange in Milan, Italy. (Recognised by the Smithsonian here: | Thérèse Peltier. Although Mlle P. Van Pottelsberghe flew an unknown distance as a passenger with Henry Farman in Ghent, Belgium, on 31 May 1908 as reported on 7 June 1908 in Le Patriote Illustre).

1909, 22 October, Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman in recorded history to pilot and solo in a powered, heavier-than-air craft, when she flew a Voisin aeroplane. (There's at least one existing eyewitness account of this event in addition to Laroche and Voisin.)

1910, 8 March, Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman to receive a pilot's licence. (Documentation from the Aero-Club of France.)

1910, 19 April, Hélène Dutrieu reputedly became the first woman pilot to fly with a passenger. On 31 December 1910 she became the first winner of the Femina Cup for a record-breaking non-stop long distance flight.

1910, 6 September, Blanche Scott made the first solo airplane flight by a woman in the United States according to the Early Birds of Aviation.

1910, 16 September, Bessica Raiche made the first accredited solo airplane flight by a woman in the United States in her homemade Wright-style flyer (accredited by the Aeronautical Society of America i.e. the American division of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale).

1911, 29 August, Hilda Hewlett became the first British woman to receive a pilot's licence. (Documentation from the Royal Aero Club.)

1915, Marie Marvingt became the first woman to fly combat missions when she served as a volunteer pilot flying bombing missions over German-held Metz.