Best Female Aviator

Valentina Tereshkova is a Soviet aviator and cosmonaut recognized for her pioneering role in space exploration. She achieved global significance as the first woman to undertake a solo spaceflight in June 1963. Her mission aboard Vostok 6 involved orbiting Earth 48 times, providing crucial data durin...

Sally Ride was an American physicist and NASA astronaut recognized for pioneering achievements. She flew aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger as part of mission STS-7 in 1983, making her the first American woman to travel into space. Her historic flight inspired countless individuals and advanced opp...

Eileen Collins is an American aviator and retired U.S. Air Force officer. She achieved significant milestones as the first female pilot and commander of a NASA Space Shuttle mission. Her leadership on STS-93 in 1999 marked a pivotal moment for women in space exploration, paving the way for future fe...

Hanna Reitsch was a pioneering German aviator recognized for her exceptional skill and contributions to early aircraft development. She achieved significant milestones including being the first woman to pilot a helicopter and establishing numerous glider record flights during World War II. Her work...

Jacqueline Cochran was a pioneering American aviator recognized for her exceptional skill and courage. She served as a pilot during World War II with the Women Airforce Service Pilots and achieved significant milestones, most notably becoming the first woman to surpass the sound barrier in 1953. Her...

Beryl Markham was a pioneering British-Kenyan aviator renowned for her extraordinary 1936 solo transatlantic flight from East to West. This marked a significant achievement as she became the first woman to complete such a record-breaking journey independently. Her accomplishment garnered internation...

Patty Wagstaff is a renowned American aerobatic pilot celebrated for her exceptional skill and competitive success. She achieved historic status by winning the U.S. National Aerobatic Championship three years running (1991-1993), establishing herself as the first woman to attain this title. Her perf...

Amy Johnson was a British aviator renowned for her extraordinary achievement: a solo flight from England to Australia in 1930. This record-breaking journey, covering approximately 11,000 miles, solidified her place as one of the earliest female pilots and a significant figure in aviation history. He...

Bessie Coleman was an American aviator who became the first African American woman and the first self-identified Native American woman to hold a pilot's license. Barred from flight schools in the United States, she trained in France and received an international pilot's license from the Federation A...

Lyudmila Litvyak was a Soviet fighter pilot in the all-female 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment during World War II. Flying Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters on the Eastern Front, she became the first female fighter ace in aviation history. Known as the "White Rose of Stalingrad," she was credited with at least...

Harriet Quimby (1875-1912) was an American aviator and journalist who became the first woman in the United States to earn a pilot's license in 1911. In 1912, she gained international fame by becoming the first woman to fly across the English Channel, piloting a Blériot monoplane from Dover to Calais...

Jean Batten was a New Zealand aviator who achieved international fame in the 1930s by setting multiple long-distance solo flight records. She flew a Percival Gull monoplane for her most famous flights, which included the first direct solo flight from England to New Zealand in 1936. Batten also compl...

Nadezhda Popova was a highly decorated Soviet military pilot who served during World War II as a member of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment. This regiment, famously nicknamed the "Night Witches" by German forces, consisted entirely of female pilots who flew slow, wooden Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes on ni...

Marina Raskova was a prominent Soviet pilot and navigator who played a crucial role in the establishment of female combat aviation during World War II. She first gained national fame in 1938 by setting a women's long-distance flight record flying a Tupolev ANT-37 bomber. Following the German invasio...

Nancy Harkness Love was an American aviator who played a pivotal role in integrating women into military aviation during World War II. In 1942, she was appointed as the director of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), a specialized unit of female civilian pilots. The WAFS was tasked with...

Jeana Yeager is an American aviator best known for co-piloting the experimental aircraft Voyager with Dick Rutan. In December 1986, they completed the first nonstop, unrefueled flight around the world, remaining airborne for more than nine days before landing at Edwards Air Force Base. Yeager also h...

Valentina Grizodubova was a Soviet aviator who established flight records and later served as a military commander. In 1938, she captained the all-female crew of the Rodina on a long-distance nonstop flight across the Soviet Union, setting a women's distance record. Grizodubova and her crewmates bec...

Yekaterina Budanova, commonly known as Katya Budanova, was a Soviet fighter pilot who served during World War II. Flying Yakovlev fighters, she participated in air combat on the Eastern Front and became one of the small number of women credited as fighter aces. Victory totals vary among sources, but...

Polina Osipenko was a Soviet military pilot who became one of the most famous female aviators of the 1930s. She set several international flight distance records for women, including a notable flight from Moscow to the Russian Far East in 1938. Tragically, she died later that year during a routine t...

Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock was an American aviator who made history in 1964 by becoming the first woman to complete a solo flight around the world. She accomplished this feat flying a single-engine Cessna 180 dubbed the "Spirit of Columbus," taking off from her hometown in Ohio and covering over 22,000...

Wally Funk is an American aviator who participated in the privately organized Woman in Space program later known as Mercury 13, although its participants were not selected as NASA astronauts. She worked as a flight instructor and aviation safety investigator and accumulated extensive flying experien...

Jerrie Cobb (1931-2019) was an American aviator who set multiple world altitude and speed records in the 1950s while flying military aircraft at Oklahoma City's Aviation Center. She became the first woman to complete astronaut testing as part of the Mercury 13 program in 1961, a privately funded eff...

Cornelia Fort was an American aviator who became a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots and was the first female pilot in American history to die on active duty.

Raymonde de Laroche was a French pilot who became the first woman in the world to receive an airplane pilot's license, issued by the Aéro-Club de France on March 8, 1910.

Blanche Stuart Scott was an American aviator who is often recognized as the first American woman to fly a powered airplane in 1910, embarking on a prominent career as a stunt pilot.

Ruth Law was an early American female aviator who set a non-stop flight distance record in 1916 by flying from Chicago to Hornell, New York, significantly advancing women in aviation.

Hélène Boucher was a prominent French female pilot in the early 1930s who set multiple international speed records for aviation before her tragic death in a plane crash in 1934.