Girl Aviation

Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. Thousands of fans flocked to multi-day events, and cities vied with one another to host them. The pilots themselves were hailed as dashing heroes who cheerfully stared death in the face. Fly Girls recounts how a cadre of women banded together to break the original glass ceiling: the entrenched prejudice that conspired to keep them out of the sky.

Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama, has just married off the last of her daughters and is looking forward to relaxing and perhaps traveling with her husband, Earle. The only thing left to contend with is her mother, the formidable Lenore Simmons Krackenberry. Lenore may be a lot of fun for other people, but is, for the most part, an overbearing presence for her daughter. Then one day, quite by accident, Sookie discovers a secret about her mother's past that knocks her for a loop and suddenly calls into question everything she ever thought she knew about herself, her family, and her future.

Caroline Johnson was an unlikely aviator candidate. A tall blonde debutante from Colorado, she could have just as easily gone into fashion or filmmaking, and yet she went on to become an F/A-18 Super Hornet Weapons System Operator. She was one of the first women to fly a combat mission over Iraq since 2011, and she was the first woman to drop bombs on ISIS. Jet Girl tells the remarkable story of the women fighting at the forefront in a military system that allows them to reach the highest peaks and yet is in many respects still a fraternity.

The untold story of five women who fought to compete against men in the high-stakes national air races of the 1920s and 1930s - and won.

Eleven-year-old Amelia Ashford—Millie to her friends (if she had any, that is)—doesn't realize just how much adventure awaits her when she's given the opportunity of a lifetime: to spend the night in Amelia Earhart's childhood home with five other girls. Make that five strangers. Once at Amelia's house in Atchison, Kansas, Millie stumbles upon a display of Amelia's famous flight goggles. She can't believe her good luck, since they're about to be relocated to a fancy museum in DC. But her luck changes quickly when the goggles disappear, and Millie was the last to see them.

Amelia Earhart was a woman of many "firsts." In 1932, she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1935, she also became the first woman to fly across the Pacific. From her early years to her mysterious 1937 disappearance while attempting a flight around the world, listeners will find Amelia Earhart's life a fascinating story.

Just nine years after American women finally got the right to vote, a group of trailblazers soared to new heights in the 1929 Air Derby, the first women's air race across the U.S. Follow the incredible lives of legend Amelia Earhart, who has captivated generations; Marvel Crosson, who built a plane before she even learned how to fly; Louise Thaden, who shattered jaw-dropping altitude records; and Elinor Smith, who at age 17 made headlines when she flew under the Brooklyn Bridge. Born to Fly is the gripping story of the fearless women pilots who aimed for the skies - and beyond.

In 1993, U.S. women earned the right to fly in combat, but the full story of how it happened is largely unknown. The Fly Girls Revolt chronicles the actions of a band of women who overcame decades of discrimination and prevailed against bureaucrats, chauvinists, anti-feminists, and even other military women. Drawing on extensive research, interviews with women who served in the 1970s and 1980s, and her personal experiences in the Air Force, Eileen Bjorkman weaves together a tale of the women who fought for the right to enter combat and be treated as equal partners in the U.S. military.

Rosie may seem quiet during the day, but at night she's a brilliant inventor of gizmos and gadgets who dreams of becoming a great engineer. When her Great-Great-Aunt Rose (Rosie the Riveter) comes for a visit and mentions her one unfinished goal - to fly - Rosie sets to work building a contraption to make her aunt's dream come true.

Ever since she was 10 years old, Rosalie Wright's eyes have been on the skies. But at the age of 18, on the verge of earning her pilot's license, the English farmer's daughter watches her dreams of becoming an aviatrix fly away without her. Britain's entry into World War II brings civilian aviation to a standstill. Then, Rosalie's father dies, leaving her, her mother, and her brothers to run the farm. Everything changes when she learns that the Air Transport Authority is recruiting women pilots to ferry warplanes across Britain to RAF bases.

You lack control and just overshot your target… Nick ‘Caboose’ Evans would never admit in a million years that he’d screwed up letting Ivy out of his sights. She was a klutz, washing out of the Academy, nearly destroying government property in the process. He’d lost his temper and his girlfriend in one fell swoop… only to have her rear end his rental car the moment he got to Yonder. Swing around, flyboy, and prepare to take fire… Ivy Quinn saw red as her ex-boyfriend blew past her, driving much too fast. Now a police officer, it was almost enjoyable to pull Nick over… but ...

Lily Litvyak is no one's idea of a fighter pilot: a tiny, dimpled teenager with golden curls who lied about her age in order to fly. But in the crucible of the air war against the German invaders, she becomes that rare thing—a flying ace, glorified at home and around the world as the White Lily of Stalingrad.

After reading about Amelia Earhart in her friend’s scrapbook, 12-year-old Ginny Ross decides to become a pilot. It’s 1930, and luckily, the airstrip in her hometown of Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, is a popular launching point for intrepid aviators setting out on transatlantic flights. But how will Ginny’s dream take flight when her mother—and society in general—so fiercely believes a woman’s place is in the home?

Dorothy Lucas yearned to discover all that she was capable of. After the devastating news of Pearl Harbor, her brothers joined the World War II war effort, but Dorothy wanted to do her part, too. So, she enlisted to serve as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP). After hours of flight school and roaring engines, Dorothy and her fellow WASPs risked their lives towing targets in the air for the male fighter pilots in training. Through many mechanical scares and smoke-filled cockpits, Dorothy remained brave and committed to her job - defying gravity and defying the odds.

When Angela's father gets lost at the airport, she looks for him everywhere, even inside an airplane. But when Angela's love of button-pressing proves too great, she finds herself in charge of flying the plane. Can Angela make it back down to the runway?