The Flying Feminist
A strange but beguiling picture-book biography of an early aviator – the first woman to both build and fly her own aircraft, back in the days when planes were made of wood and string and steered by bicycle handlebars.
Lilian Bland was born and raised in England and Scotland but had a family home in Northern Ireland – a very British heroine. Always an ambitious and unconventional child and woman, Lilian rode, hunted and fished and worked as a professional journalist and photographer before becoming captivated by the early art of aeroplane flying. Untrained, she studied planes and aero-mechanics, and set out to design and then build gliding prototypes and finally a fuel-driven machine. Never short of an idea, she tested the strength of her glider by having four men hold on to the wing-struts as it soared downhill. One by one they dropped off, but Lilian had proved her plane could bear the weight of an engine. What better way to show the superfluousness of men! Her plane flew low and briefly but opened up the field of flying to women: she should certainly be better known.
The story is told succinctly with large, naïve and colourful illustrations that beautifully establish the technological advance of the little plane within the wondering gaze of Edwardian society. Informative notes at the end tell more of her story and give potted accounts of other female aviation heroines. An odd omission is that of Amy Johnson, and the role of female Air Transport Auxiliary pilots in the Second World War, especially puzzling as the WASPs (the American Women Airforce Service Pilots) are mentioned.
However, a must-have story for any girl with an interest in engineering or technology. Recommended reading age 6 – 10, but could also be read aloud to an individual or class.
