The published history of aviation is virtually empty of women. Its well-known protagonists and most of its historians are male. There are celebrated exceptions in the form of pilots such as Amy Johnson, but they are often portrayed as succeeding in spite of their gender. In fact, women participated in every step of the story of British powered flight. They often did much of the work of making aircraft – 120,000 were putting aeroplanes together in the First World War. They set up businesses, made lecture tours, put on exhibitions. They wrote about flying and studied aerial reconnaissance. I’m working on a project to write them back into aviation history, which includes making a series of short films exploring their lives and reflecting on the process of research and recovery.
All the films are here. The first, Dear Ella, is on glider pioneer Ella Pilcher. I’ve written about making the film here. The second, Aerial Bodies, is on Dame Laura Knight’s painting of female barrage balloon operators. The third, Light Hands, is an initial look at the women factory workers making aeroplanes during the First World War. This was published in the journal Movie and nominated for best videoessay of 2024 in Sight and Sound magazine. I wrote about making it here.
