Lilian Bland
Personal Information
Born: 1878
Died: 1971
Country of Birth: Great Britain
Nationality: Great Britain
Ethnicity: White
Education
unknown
Professional Life
Field of Study: Aviation; Journalist; Photographer
Institution/Corporation: none
Degrees & Memberships: none
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2011, a park in Newtonabbey was named after her; 2003, Ireland issued a stamp commemorating her
Achievements: 1910-11, designed, built & flew an aircraft, the Mayfly; her 1st plane was a flyable model biplane with a 6 foot wing span; early 1910, built a full-sized glider, 20-feet 7-inches and weighing 200 pounds; late-August 1910, her first flight was one-quarter mile in the air, making her the 1st female to fly an aircraft in Ireland; the Mayfly could glide over 90-feet & rise 30 feet; wrote a guide on how to safely fall off a horse while hunting; opened a car dealership in Belfast & sold Fords for a few years; took the 1st color plate photographs of birds
Was one of the 1st women to design, build, & fly an aircraft, the Bland Mayfly
She lived an unconventional lifestyle for ma woman of her time, working as a sports journalist & photographer, smoking, wearing trousers, hunting, shooting, & fishing
For her first attempt, she built a flyable model biplane with a wingspan of 6 feet
1910, built a full-scale glider from spruce, bamboo, & canvas with the help of friends; its wingspan was 20 feet 7 inches & it weighed 200 pounds; it was equipped with a 20 horsepower engine, used an empty whiskey bottle for a gas tank, & her deaf aunt's ear trumpet was the engine hose
Her first flight was August 1910 & she stayed in the air for 1/4 mile; her only controls were a bicycle handlebar
In 1911 she briefly ran a car dealership in Belfast but gave it up to get married
she wrote a guide on how to safely fall off a horse while hunting
She took the 1st recorded color photographs of birds