Airlines, Airmail, & Transcontinental Airway System
This system was used to identify mail routes for pilots.
What is a beacon system?
This allowed fighter pilots to shoot in the direction they were flying without damaging the propellor.
What is an interrupter Gear?
The first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean (as a passenger).
The first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
The first woman to attempt a flight around the world.
Who was Amelia Earhart?
This aircraft was produced from 1943 to 1946 and served in the Pacific Theater. It's famously known for dropping the atomic bombs to end WW2.
What is the Boeing B-29 Stratofortress?
This fictional character served as propaganda to encourage women to contribute to the War Effort in WW2.
Who was Rosie The Riveter?
This flight decision reduced transcontinental deliveries from more than 80 hours to about 30 hours.
What is the impact of night flying?
This design choice allowed aircraft to turn more quickly and become more maneuverable. Typically this allowed a reduction in their wingspan.
What is a bi-/tri-plane?
The first U.S. woman to earn a pilot's license (1911).
Started her career as a journalist and convinced her editor to pay for the lessons.
The first woman to cross the English Channel (1912)
Who was Harriet Quimby?
This development allowed pilots & crew members to breathe at higher altitudes and fly beyond the range of land-based artillery.
What is a pressurized cabin?
The squadron, known as the 99th and later the 332nd, was known for being the first squadron of African American pilots in the U.S. military.
Who were the Tuskegee Airmen?
This route was from St. Petersburg to Tampa, FL.
What was the first airline route?
In addition to guns/firearms, some aircraft began to carry these weapons to attack ground targets such as artillery.
What are bombs?
The first African-American woman to earn a pilot's license in 1921. She learned to fly in France since she was denied entry in American Flight Schools.
Who is Bessie Coleman?
This type of aircraft typically introduced technological developments that appeared on later airliners.
What is a transport aircraft?
Near the end of WW2, the majority of the U.S. Industrial workforce was composed of this group.
Who were women?
Unlike modern airliners, this aircraft was unable to travel very far, fast, or high and could only carry a single passenger.
What is the first airliner (Benoist Model XIV)?
Early airplane engines were water-cooled, heavy, and unreliable. This advancement simplified engine design and allowed for more powerful engines.
What is an air-cooled engine?
The first woman to perform a loop.
The first woman to fly airmail.
Who was Katherine Stinson?
This aircraft had "gull wings" to reduce drag and help keep the 13-foot propeller off the ground.
What is the F4U Corsair?
These women were known for delivering aircraft from factories and repair depots during WW2. After the war, they found it difficult to remain in the Aviation industry.
Who were WASPS?
The U.S. Army was responsible for handling this flight from New York and Washington D.C. in 1918. The plan was to use two aircraft that would meet in Philadelphia.
What is the first airmail delivery system?
Initially, aircraft were used for this role during the war.
What is scouting/surveillance?
The first woman in the world to earn a pilot's license (1909).
Inspired by the Wright Brothers in the 1908 exhibition in Paris.
Who was Raymonde De Laroche?
This device allowed bombers to accurately bomb targets. It accounted for the aircraft's speed and trajectory and was top secret!
What is the Norden Bombsight?
The Tuskegee Airmen faced much opposition from the War Department during WW2. Other non-colored squadrons typically did not want to work with them, and they often had second-hand equipment. Even the repair crews had to be men of color, highlighting this unfair practice.
What is segregation?