History of Women: Women's Contribution to Aviation
2011; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1938-9809
Autores Tópico(s)Air Traffic Management and Optimization
ResumoIntroduction Since the first manned flight on December 17, 1903, the arena of flight has almost exclusively consisted of men pilots and, consequently, men aviation educators. Even today, women constitute a very small percentage of the flying realm, including the educational field of aviation. There has been little written on contemporary American women aviation. Likewise, documentation of the pioneering efforts of male pilots is much easier to find than female contributions. As Holden discovered, the reasons why consist of attitude and economics. These factors still operate to a certain extent today (1). The history of women aviation epitomizes significant contributions too numerous to detail within the scope of this study. However, if women had been fully admitted into the field of aviation, the achievements they could have realized are especially apparent among the ranks of pilots and those who educate pilots. For women aviation throughout the world, the pioneer remains strong. The words of the famous aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran take on added significance since they were written almost forty years ago: Earthbound souls know only that underside of the atmosphere which they live...but go higher up--above the dust and water vapor--and the sky turns dark and, up high enough, one can see the stars at noon. I have (2). Background Literature Since the early days of aviation, women have been active participants aviation and aviation education. Opportunities for women aviation did not come easily. They were based on decades of struggle, determination, and perseverance. One of the most famous figures aviation history is Amelia Earhart. She won early acclaim by becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic 1928; however, her success was marred by the fact that two male pilots had actually been at the controls throughout the flight, even though she was a qualified pilot. Earhart compensated for this by achieving many record-breaking flights and she eventually flew solo across the Atlantic May, 1932. She was lost at sea while attempting to fly around the world 19373. A year later, another women pilot, Lores Bonney, flew solo from Brisbane, Australia, to London--about five times as far as Earhart's trip across the Atlantic. Because she was not trying for a speed record and she did not have as good a publicist as Earhart, her flight was unacclaimed and forgotten over time. There was little notice taken of her remarkable feat; this may have been because of the culture of the day and believed a woman's place was in the home (4). Women like Amelia Earhart and Jacqueline Cochran were highly visible and continually earned kudos and criticism, but most women early aviation posed an economic threat to the men. Any failure was used to prove they were physically and emotionally unfit for flying. Ironically, if they survived an accident, it was used to show that air travel was safe (5). Women have been active aviation and aviation education since the beginning of flight. Katherine Wright, sister of Orville and Wilbur, helped finance man's first flight. Katherine contributed to their scientific pool of knowledge and to their bank account through their struggle to conquer flight. Almost every historian credits her with using the money she earned teaching Latin and Greek to purchase the materials for their fragile airplanes (6). Ever since that infamous day, women have also been caught up the spirit of flight; unfortunately, few women had the economic means or society's approval of furthering their interest this area. Influential persons aviation were aware of women's efforts and accomplishments and could have helped to expand the roles of women aviation, but they were surprisingly restrictive their views. For example, Eddie Rickenbacker took the executives of Boeing to task 1930 for hiring the first female flight attendants. …
Referência(s)