Magnificent Women in their Flying Machines Quiz

Answer: Katharine

Katharine Wright (1874-1929) was a sister to the famous Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur. The Wright brothers became well known for pioneering aviation in the United States when they successfully flew their Wright Flyer aircraft (shown in the photo) at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903.

While Katharine was not involved in the first flight, she did become involved with the aviation company the brothers started in 1909. She also traveled abroad with the brothers sharing in their celebrity status.

Answer: Blanche Scott

Blanche Scott (1884-1970) was one of the first women pilots in the United States. Her first flight was recorded as having occurred on September 6, 1910. The flight was accidental as her training aircraft was inadvertently lifted airborne after a strong gust of wind, but Scott was able to successfully bring the aircraft back down without incident.

After that, Blanche Scott (shown in the photograph) became publicly involved with aviation, earning the nickname "Tomboy of the Air".

Answer: Jenny

Bessie Coleman (1892-1926) was the first African-American woman to obtain a pilot's license in 1921. She became well known for performing at air shows across the United States. Unfortunately, Bessie Coleman was killed when her Curtiss JN-4 (aka Jenny) aircraft (shown in the photograph) crashed while training for an air show in Jacksonville, Florida.

Her mechanic William Willis, who also died in the crash, had been in control of the aircraft. The crash was caused by a wrench that was left inside the aircraft during maintenance.

Answer: Lockheed 10E Electra

In 1932 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to successfully fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She became one of the founding members of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization geared towards women aviators. Amelia Earhart was attempting to circumnavigate the Earth when she mysteriously disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

Her Lockheed 10E Electra aircraft (depicted in the photo) is suspected to have gone down somewhere between New Guinea and Howland Island in the South Pacific.

Her disappearance remains a mystery to this day.

Answer: Night Witches

The "Night Witches" were a group of female Soviet bomber pilots who helped defend the Soviet Union against the Germans in World War II. They were active from 1942-1945. The group was officially known as the 588th Night Bomber Regiment. The Night Witches flew the Russian built Polikarpov Po-2 aircraft (shown in the photo), which had been originally designed as a training aircraft.

Its role was changed to a ground attack / reconnaissance aircraft due to World War II.

Answer: Canadair CL-13 Sabre

Chuck Yeager became the first pilot to break the sound barrier in 1947 using the Bell X-1 aircraft. Jacqueline Cochran (1906-1980) was a female pilot who was known for being a "Speed Queen". She had previously claimed the women's world record for airspeed in 1937. Jacqueline Cochran later expressed her desire to be the first woman to break the sound barrier.

She had originally requested to use an American F-86 Sabre from the U.S. Air Force, but was denied. She then contacted the Canadians who allowed her to use a modified Canadair CL-13 Sabre (shown in the photo) to achieve her record in 1953.

Answer: Vostok

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to be launched into space. Her mission was designated as Vostok 6, which was launched by the Soviet Union on June 16, 1963. Fellow cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space when he launched aboard Vostok 1 more than two years earlier.

The Vostok (shown in the photo) was a single person spacecraft which had limited maneuverability. In addition, once it returned to Earth, it would be required to touchdown on land. Since the spacecraft would be traveling at high speed after reentry, the cosmonaut was required to eject before touchdown to prevent injury.

Answer: Patty Wagstaff

Patty Wagstaff is an American pilot who is known for being an expert in aerobatics. She has won numerous medals in the sport and has performed at air shows across the United States. Patty Wagstaff was inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2004 and the International Air and Space Hall of Fame in 2007.

The aircraft in the photograph is an Extra 300, an aerobatics aircraft which Patty Wagstaff has used in her performances.

Answer: Eileen Collins

Sally Ride (1951-2012) became the first female American astronaut to travel into space, when she launched aboard STS-7 on June 22, 1983. More than a decade later, Eileen Collins became the first woman to both pilot and command the space shuttle. She first flew as the pilot aboard space shuttle Discovery during STS-63, which launched on February 11, 1995.

She later became the first female space shuttle commander during STS-93, which was launched on July 23, 1999, using the space shuttle Columbia (shown in the photo).

Answer: United Kingdom

The Breitling Wingwalkers are a group of aerobatic stunt women based out of the United Kingdom who compete in air shows across the world. The team was started in 1989 as AeroSuperBatics, which is their name when not associated with a sponsor. They use the Boeing-Stearman Model 75 aircraft (depicted in the photograph) during their performances. Breitling, a watch manufacturer based in Switzerland, became their sponsor in 2011.

At the end of 2018, the team was in the process of changing sponsors.