It started in 1784, when only 8 months after the first manned balloon flight, Count Jean-Baptiste de Laurencin got cold feet and gave his spot for a balloon flight to Marie Élisabeth Thible, a French opera singer. She dressed as a Roman goddess and sang "La Belle Arsène", a celebrated opera of the time, as the balloon ascended to 1500 meters. She is was the first woman ever to fly.

A few years later, riding along was not good enough for women anymore. In 1798, Jeanne Labrosse was the first woman to fly solo in an aircraft and, in June 1903, Aida de Acosta was the first woman to fly a powered aircraft, a dirigible designed by her friend, Alberto Santos-Dumont. It is no surprise that just a few years after the airplane was invented, women were taking on the new challenge. Raymonde de Laroche, an experienced French balloonist became the first woman to earn a pilot license on March 8, 1910.

Over the last century, women have continued to actively take part in aviation regardless of the set backs they sometimes faced. Bessie Coleman, the first black woman to earn a pilot license, had to learn French and travel to what was at the time far away lands just to learn to fly airplanes. Elena Caragiani-Stoenescu, Roumania, was denied her application for a pilot license in her country and traveled to France to earn her pilot license. Upon her return, her country refused to let her participate to airshows. Many countries refused to let women use their piloting skills to defend their countries in wartime.

All the hard earned breakthroughs would not have been possible without their strong will power and the open mindedness of those men who supported their efforts. As we, today, stands in receipt of this legacy, let's gracefully pay it forward to the next generation of women pilots. Let's introduce a record number of women to aviation.