{"id":21283,"date":"2022-03-11T00:44:53","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T00:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=21283"},"modified":"2022-03-11T00:47:03","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T00:47:03","slug":"celebrating-irish-women-of-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/international-news\/celebrating-irish-women-of-the-sky\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Irish Women of the Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo above – Lady Heath color NYP Library cards – source is the New York Public Library. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\nBy Penny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many know of Irish American sky stars, Emily Hanrahan Warner, America\u2019s first female airline Captain, and Eileen Collins, first woman to pilot and, later, to command our U.S. space shuttle. Here are just a few women to celebrate this month, especially on March 17! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mayfly pilot Lilian Bland 1911. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 1910-11, Ireland\u2019s Lilian Bland, pioneer\naviator, became one of the first women to design, build, and fly an aircraft.\nFascinated by the flight of birds, Lilian studied them for hours. She even\nphotographed them to study their wings in the air. After much study of pioneer\nFrench aircraft designs by Louis Bl\u00e9riot and the Wright Brothers, she was ready\nto test her own aeroplane. Lilian named her invention Mayfly because of its\nlarge, delicate wings. First, it was a glider. Eventually, an engine was added.\nFinally, Mayfly became a successful motorized engine-powered aeroplane. Lilian\nbecame the first Irish woman to fly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the success of Mayfly, in just a short time, Lilian sold\nthe aeroplane engine and gave the glider to a local club because Lilian\nliterally moved to Canada when she married. Other interests filled her days. Her\naviation years were short but her contribution significant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dame Mary Westenra Bailey National Portrait Gallery, London. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Another early Irish aviator, Dame Mary Westenra Bailey,\nventured skyward. During World War I, Mary volunteered as an aviation mechanic.\nShe served with the Royal Flying Corps in Britain and France. By 1927, she became\na licensed pilot. Immediately, she became the first woman to fly across the\nIrish Sea. In 1928, Dame Mary flew alone in her de Havilland DH-60 Cirrus Moth\nfrom Croydon in London all the way to Cape Town, South Africa. Then, she flew\nback! This return flight included flying across the Congo, the Sahara, and the\nwest coast of Africa. She flew across Spain and France back home. Her solo\nflight was the longest accomplished by anyone. She won the 1927 and 1928 Harmon\ntrophy as the world\u2019s outstanding aviatrix. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next year, Dame Mary Bailey won the Britannia Trophy.\nPresented by the Royal Aero Club for aviators accomplishing the most\nmeritorious performance in aviation during the previous year. In 1930, Mary\nheld a leadership position on the Women\u2019s Engineering Society Council. The next\nyear, she because the first woman in the United Kingdom to earn a Certificate\nfor Blind Flying (Instrument flight). During World War II, Bailey joined the\nWomen\u2019s Auxiliary Air Force where she flew mission critical planes to RAF-Royal\nAir Force bases throughout the United Kingdom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A contemporary of Mary Bailey was Lady Mary Heath, another\nIrish Sky Star. Born as Sophie Mary Peirce. She successfully flew her Avro\nAvian from Johannesburg, South Africa to London. Her flying and athletic\nexploits elevated her reputation. When Amelia Earhart visited London, Lady Mary\nHeath impulsively sold her airplane to Amelia. Lady Mary continued to promote\nwomen and girls in aviation throughout her life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Aer Lingus Captain Grainne Cronin. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A more modern Irish Sky Star is\n<\/strong>Gr\u00c3\u00a1inne\nCronin. In 1977, she became the first woman pilot for Aer Lingus and Ireland\u2019s\nfirst female commercially-employed pilot. She hails from a large family of\naviators. Her father was a commercial airline Captain. Her sister is a\ncommercial pilot. Her husband is a pilot. Her daughters are pilots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cronin learned to fly in\nher father\u2019s Piper Cub. She continued earning ratings. In 1975, at age 22, she\njoined Aer Lingus as a flight attendant. She made it known she was continuing\nflight training. Aer Lingus noticed and invited her to join the flight deck.\nHer first Aer Lingus flight was in January 1978 as a co-pilot. By 1988, Gr\u00c3\u00a1inne Cronin became the first female\nairline Captain for Aer Lingus. Captain Cronin retired in 2010. In 2019, the\nairline reported about 10% of their pilots were female. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It is said on March 17, the whole world is Irish. Add these Irish Trailblazers to your list to celebrate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more stories like the ones above about amazing Trailblazing Women of Air and Space!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Pick up your copy of 101 Trailblazing Women of Air and Space
at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo above – Lady Heath color NYP Library cards – source is the New York Public Library. By Penny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D. Many know of Irish American sky stars, Emily Hanrahan Warner, America\u2019s first female airline Captain, and Eileen Collins, first woman to pilot and, later, to command our U.S. space shuttle. Here are just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Lady-Heath-color-NYPLibrary-card.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21283"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21292,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21283\/revisions\/21292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}