First U.S. woman to earn a pilot certificate from the France-based Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI)

Born in Coldwater, Michigan, in 1875, Quimbly attended an international aviation meet at Belmont Park, New York, in October 1910.

From then, Quimby quickly discovered a passion for flying, and on August 2, 1911, after four months and thirty-three lessons, she applied for and won her pilot’s license by performing two test flights. This made her the first American woman and the second female ever to receive a pilot’s license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in France, which had begun offering licenses through the Aero Club of America.

With license in hand, Quimby joined the Moisant International Aviators exhibition team, and made her professional debut, earning $1,500, in a night flight over Staten Island before a crowd of almost 20,000 spectators.

Then, in March 1912, she sailed for England to prepare for a flight from England to France. English pilot Gustav Hamel helped her plan the trip. In thickening fog on the morning of April 16, 1912, the adventuresome pilot began her flight from Dover, UK to Calais, France, in a Bleriot monoplane. As she later recounted, “in an instant, I was beyond the cliff and over the Channel.” As visibility decreased in the dense fog, Quimby recalled, “I could not see ahead of me at all, nor could I see the water below . . . there was only one thing for me to do, and that was to keep my eyes fixed on my compass” – a compass Hamel had recently taught her how to use. Quimby successfully crossed the channel, landing at Hardelot, approximately 25 miles south of her original destination.