Existing comment:
Bernetta Miller, 1912.
In September 1912, Bernetta Miller received FAI license #173, making her the fifth licensed woman pilot in America. Trained at the Moisant Flying School in New York, Bernetta was chosen to give a demonstration in the Bleriot to Army Aviation School officials.
She had no illusions as to why she had been chosen. The Bleriot was considered a dangerous and even tricky aeroplane and the Moisants, she surmised, probably felt that if a woman could fly one, it would show the Army that anyone could fly the plane!
Unfortunately, the Moisants' strategy did not work and the Army decided not to include the Bleriot in its fleet of aircraft for the school. |