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Today in History

May 30, 1932,
Amelia Earhart is first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
See related resources in Amelia Earhart and women in aviation.

Engineering Education Today in History Blog: Amelia Earhart crosses the Atlantic

W E L C O M E !
ALL OF OUR LEARNING RESOURCES RELATED TO
G E N D E R   E Q U I T Y 
ARE RIGHT HERE!

ANSWER

Elizabeth Gregory "Elsie" MacGill
At Canadian Car and Foundry where she was Chief Aeronautical Engineer, she designed the very successful "Maple Leaf Trainer". Her career climbed, as did her responsibilities. During WWII, her job was to supervise as many as 4,500 people working on the Hawker Hurricane fighter planes. Hence she became "Queen of Hurricanes".

Over 2,000 Hawkers were built, but Elsie never flew a Hawker or a Maple Leaf. Polio kept her from piloting and she had to ride shotgun on every test flight. Gender nor disability deterred Elsie MacGill from designing, building, testing and soaring.
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