I am aware that women, like Sabiha Gokcen and the Night Witches, did play a major role in air warfare but what is the earliest we could see women being deployed in air combat on a regular basis, not just as specific individuals or in times of national desperation?
Earliest possible acceptence of woman fighter pilots post 1900
- Thread starter Landshark
- Start date
There was a womens regiment in the Imperial Russian Army circa 1917-18. Not impossible by that date. They appear in fiction in the 1930s, so there was some acceptance of the idea.
Of course female gunfighters/hunters existed in fact and fiction of the US frontier in the 19th Century, so the Amazon archtype was active there.
Of course female gunfighters/hunters existed in fact and fiction of the US frontier in the 19th Century, so the Amazon archtype was active there.
Cook
Banned
Catherine Stinson was an early female aviation pioneer, being only the 4th woman to earn her pilot’s licence in the United States (in 1912). By 1915 she was a flying instructor, aviation aerobatics performer and was flying a Curtis biplane on exhibitions to raise funds for the American Red Cross. By 1917 she was driving ambulances for the Red Cross on the Western Front.
She certainly had the finances, if she’d wanted, to get herself and an aircraft to France by 1915 and volunteer for the French Aviation Corps. Given France’s desperate straits at the time, she probably would not have been rejected, and with her prior experience she would have had a good chance of becoming an early Ace. With air combat in its infancy, still seen as novel and romantic, women pilots performing well in this new field may have resulted in it being accepted as the norm. Given that women withstand Gee forces better than men, and are generally of shorter stature, having them available to recruit from would have been a substantial advantage.
She certainly had the finances, if she’d wanted, to get herself and an aircraft to France by 1915 and volunteer for the French Aviation Corps. Given France’s desperate straits at the time, she probably would not have been rejected, and with her prior experience she would have had a good chance of becoming an early Ace. With air combat in its infancy, still seen as novel and romantic, women pilots performing well in this new field may have resulted in it being accepted as the norm. Given that women withstand Gee forces better than men, and are generally of shorter stature, having them available to recruit from would have been a substantial advantage.
Orville_third
Banned
Perhaps with women in the WAFS and CAP, women could push to fly more in the military.