Jenny Skogen - Yes She Did!: Aerospace

In1903, the Wright brothers amazed the world by taking flight in the firstworking airplane. Suddenly, soaring with the birds was not only possible, itwas about to become available to the common man. Fliers were no longer limitedto slow, difficult-to-steer hot air balloons, or huge, expensive airships.

Airplaneswhichwere small, quick, and could be built for only a few passengerswere the futureof travel. The common man, however, was not alone in dreaming about flight.Many women, through their creativity and hard work, helped modern society taketo the sky.

ElizabethLillian Todd, or Lillian as she liked to be called, was one of thesegroundbreaking women. At the turn of the century, it seemed like the wholeworld was reinventing itself with science and machinery. Todd was fascinated bythe Wright brothers' achievement, and wanted to contribute to this brave newworld of flight.

Toddwas born in 1865 and grew up in Washington, D.C., where she inherited a love ofmechanics from her grandfather. Her first job as a typewriter at the patent officefed her curiosity about technology and invention. In 1903, Lillian began doingher own research into aerodynamics, or the science behind flight. Her goal wasto design and build her own airplane.

Overthe next few years, Todd went to fairs and watched great airships floating inthe sky. She went to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, where she studied thewing of a stuffed albatross, which is a kind of huge sea bird. She eventuallybased her own airplane's curved wings on the great bird. One of Todd's greatestconcerns was improving the airplane's balance. To this end, she designed andpatented a device, which had not been used in earlier models, to help with anairplane's balance.

Whenher airplane was finished, The New York Times was quick to point out that itwas a woman's plane. The covers, which were made from heavy duty material,were sewn "woman's fashion" rather than being fastened with tacks.The newspaper article clearly shows the mindset of many people in the early1900s.

Theystill viewed Todd's efforts as different than that of a man. However, they gavecredit where credit was due, and also described Todd's creation as "one ofthe handsomest aeroplanes in existence."

Notonly did Todd see flight as a fascinating wonder of human invention, shethought that airplanes could serve the country in a more practical way.

Afterbuilding her airplane, she donated it to the National Guard to help trainpilots. She also started the Junior Aero Club, an organization that encouragedyoung people to become future pilots. Todd held meetings in her house, wherethe club members were surrounded by models of airplanes.

InTodd's day, women were just starting to become pilots themselves. Indeed, theJunior Aero Club members were boys, and Todd didn't actually fly her ownairplane. The first U.S. womanpilot, Harriet Quimby, did not receive her license until 1911. However, Toddshowed the world that flight and innovation are not only for men. Women, too,can defy gravity.

Thoughmany people have followed in Lillian Todd's footsteps, there is one woman whosevery name makes people think of flying. Ever since she was a little girl,Amelia Earhart was a thrill-seeker. Amelia's mother, also named Amelia,encouraged her daughters to run around the neighborhood, where they climbedtrees and collected bugs. Amelia and her sister, Grace, even built a homemade"roller coaster" (a woodenbox that flew down a ramp) after seeing a real one at the 1904 World's Fair.After crashing down the ramp, Amelia told her sister that it felt like flying.

In1920, Earhart went to an air show with her father, and took her first ride inan airplane. She later said, "By the time I had got two or three hundredfeet off the ground, I knew I had to fly." By 1921, after a lot of hard work and hours in the cockpit, Earhart had earnedher aviator pilot certificate.

Earhartwasn't content with simply flyingshe wanted to be the best. In 1922, Earhartwas the first woman to fly to an altitude of 14,000 feet above sea level. In1928, Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as apassenger. This experience was not satisfying to Earhart, who felt no moreuseful than "a sack of potatoes" during the flight. So, in 1932,Earhart tried to cross the Atlantic by herself.

Theflight itself was very dangerous. Visibility was bad due to fog, her plane hada fuel leak, and her altitude gauge failed, which meant that Earhart could nottell how far above the ocean she was flying.

Whenshe finally landed in a sheep pasture in Ireland, Earhart became the first womanto fly across the Atlantic solo, and the first person to fly across theAtlantic twice. This flight wasn't just a grab for personal glory orattention. Earhart wanted to prove that in "jobs requiring intelligence,coordination, speed, coolness, and will-power," women were equal to men.

Indeed, while Earhart had many famous "firsts" during her career, she also changed theface of aviation with her tireless efforts in support of women pilots.

In1929, Earhart founded the Women's Air Derbya race from Santa Monica,California to Cleveland, Ohio, complete with a big cash prize. Earhart alsohelped start a professional organization for female pilots. This organizationwas called the Ninety-Nines because there were 99 founding members. TheNinety-Nines is still a great resource for women in aviation.