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According to the book description of
The Fly Girls Revolt: The Story
of the Women Who Kicked Open the Door
to Fly in Combat, "In
1993, U.S. women earned the right to
fly in combat, but the full story of
how it happened is largely unknown.
From the first women in the military
in World War II to the final push in
the 1990s, 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 riveting
tale of the women who fought for the
right to enter combat and be treated
as equal partners in the U.S.
military.
Although the military had begun
training women as aviators in 1973, by
a law of Congress they could not fly
in harm’s way. Time and again when a
woman graduated at the top of her
pilot training class, a less-qualified
male pilot was sent to fly a combat
aircraft in her place.
Most of the women who fought for
change between World War II and today
would never fly in combat themselves,
but they earned their places in
history by strengthening the U.S.
military and ensuring future women
would not be denied opportunities
solely because of their sex. The Fly
Girls Revolt is their story."
According to the book description of
The Propeller under the Bed: A
Personal History of Homebuilt
Aircraft, "On July 25, 2010,
Arnold Ebneter flew across the country
in a plane he designed and built
himself, setting an aviation world
record for aircraft of its class. He
was eighty-two at the time and the
flight represented the culmination of
a dream he'd cultivated since his
childhood in the 1930s.
Eileen Bjorkman ― herself a pilot and
aeronautical engineer ― frames her
father's journey from teenage airplane
enthusiast to Air Force pilot and
Boeing engineer in the context of the
rise, near extermination, and ongoing
interest in homebuilt aircraft in the
United States. She gives us a glimpse
into life growing up in a "flying
family" with two pilots for parents, a
family plane named Charlie, and quite
literally, a propeller under her
parents' bed.
From early airplane designs serialized
in magazines to the annual Oshkosh
Fly-in where you can see experimental
aircraft on display, Bjorkman offers a
personal take on the history of
building something in your garage that
you can actually (and legally) fly as
well as how the homebuilt aircraft
movement has contributed to aviation
and innovation in America."
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