Quimby passes the Aero Club of America's tests, earning FAI certificate No. 37 as the first American woman licensed to fly.
On August 1, 1911, Harriet Quimby made history by passing the rigorous examinations of the Aero Club of America and receiving Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) certificate No. 37, making her the first American woman to earn a pilot's license and only the second woman in the world to do so, after France's Raymonde de Laroche.
The licensing tests were demanding: candidates had to demonstrate figure-eight maneuvers, precise altitude control, and a landing within 50 meters of a designated spot, all performed solo before official examiners. Quimby completed these tests at the Moisant Aviation School on Long Island, having trained for less than two months. Notably, she took her test at dawn to avoid being observed by curious onlookers and skeptical press, who doubted a woman could master the controls of a monoplane.
This achievement was monumental given the social context of 1911: women in the United States did not yet have the right to vote, and aviation was considered an almost exclusively male domain associated with military and mechanical expertise. Quimby's license opened the door for other women to pursue aviation, and she quickly became a prominent public advocate for women's capabilities in this new frontier. Her license paved the way for her subsequent barrier-breaking flights, including her solo crossing of the English Channel in 1912, and cemented her legacy as a foundational figure in the history of women in aviation.