An aviatrix in a zeppelin

[Newchurch]

A splendid photograph from the Guardian, to celebrate International Women's Day.

One of ten incredible women who defied convention to undertake awe-inspiring journeys.

Lady Grace Drummond Hay (1895-1946)

On 19 August 1929, wealthy aristocratic widow Lady Grace Drummond Hay boarded the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, the first airship to circumnavigate the world. When the airship landed 21 days later, the British journalist had become the first woman to travel around the world in a zeppelin. Her reportage of the pioneering flight was published in leading newspapers and helped cement her career as a writer and aviation specialist. The adventures didn’t stop there: Drummond Hay spent the next 10 years travelling the world and writing about her experiences.

More here:  link, including a paragraph about Bessie Coleman, the first black woman pilot in the world.

[Hurricane Annie]

 Thank you for sharing. I had been wondering recently if their had been any lady airship pilots.  Plucky lass , that Grace Drummond  Hay

 Bessie Coleman was a trail blazer.

[Newchurch]

 Thank you for sharing. I had been wondering recently if their had been any lady airship pilots.  Plucky lass , that Grace Drummond  Hay

 Bessie Coleman was a trail blazer.

What an interesting question.  I've done a bit of googling, and discovered the name of Elfriede Riotte.  Born 12 April 1879, she was an airship designer, and was the first woman to qualify as an airship pilot (passing her test on Parseval PL6) on 1 April 1914.  She was not allowed to fly during WW1 and afterwards moved to Berlin, where she died on 23 May 1960.

A couple of images of the PL 6 airship:





Sadly I have been unable to find a portrait of Elfriede Riotte herself,

[Newchurch]

But I have been able to find this, about America’s first female airship pilot, in 2011 (a bit behind the Germans, and rather less steampunk):  The link is on Forbes, and you will have to disable your adblocker, if you have one.

[Hurricane Annie]

 Thank you for sharing. I had been wondering recently if their had been any lady airship pilots.  Plucky lass , that Grace Drummond  Hay

 Bessie Coleman was a trail blazer.

What an interesting question.  I've done a bit of googling, and discovered the name of Elfriede Riotte.  Born 12 April 1879, she was an airship designer, and was the first woman to qualify as an airship pilot (passing her test on Parseval PL6) on 1 April 1914.  She was not allowed to fly during WW1 and afterwards moved to Berlin, where she died on 23 May 1960.

A couple of images of the PL 6 airship:





Sadly I have been unable to find a portrait of Elfriede Riotte herself,

 Very interesting .  The Mother of Airship design

[RJBowman]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aida_de_Acosta
Aida De Acosta, first woman to pilot a motorized aircraft.


She reportedly had one flight in 1903 on a single-passenger craft belonging to Alberto Santos-Dumont. She did not have a relationship with Alberto, but reportedly he kept a photo of her on his desk for the rest of his life, so she would have been his Irene Adler.

I am skeptical of the authenticity of the above photo; would there have been a been a photo opportunity using 1903 photographic equipment?

[MWBailey]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aida_de_Acosta
Aida De Acosta, first woman to pilot a motorized aircraft.


She reportedly had one flight in 1903 on a single-passenger craft belonging to Alberto Santos-Dumont. She did not have a relationship with Alberto, but reportedly he kept a photo of her on his desk for the rest of his life, so she would have been his Irene Adler.

I am skeptical of the authenticity of the above photo; would there have been a been a photo opportunity using 1903 photographic equipment?

Kodak box cameras were in production by 1888, so I'd say "yes, possibly."