*FEMALE AVIATORS THREAD*

1. Did you know that Botswana's 1st female pilot is Zimbabwean-born Sakhile Nyoni? In 1988, Nyoni became the 1st female pilot in Botswana, working for Air Botswana. In 2011, she became the 1st woman to serve as general manager of Air Botswana. Zim ahead!

2. Lt. Col Phetogo Molawa - 1st black female helicopter pilot in the SA Air Force & the SA National Defence Force. Became the 1st woman & the 1st black person to take command of an SAAF installation in 2018 - she became the new commanding officer of the SA Air Force base in PE.

3. Refilwe Ledaba - SA’s 1st black female helicopter pilot & she is also the 1st black woman to fly for the South African Police Service (SAPS). She got her pilot's wings on 11 Jan 2006, aged 26 & flew over 2500 hours @ SAPS. She is a qualified fixed wing instructor.

4. Yolanda Kaunda - Malawi 's 1st female aircraft Captain & its 2nd female pilot after Fellie Mkandawire. She got her license in 2009. For International Women's Day in 2017, she captained the 1st all female flight for Malawian Airlines. They flew from Blantyre to Dar es Salaam.

5. Flora Ngwilinji - The 1st female pilot in the Malawi Defence Force. She 1st served as a presidential hostess for 9 years. Later changed trades and finally obtained a private & commercial pilots' license @ Flight Training Services in South Africa. #Malawi

6. Audrey Esi Swatson - Ghana's youngest female commercial pilot @ 21. She had her 1st solo flight on the 4th of April, 2016 at the age of 19 years & got her private pilot license the same year @ Mach1 Aviation Academy in South Africa.

7. Kimberly Anyadike - Youngest black female pilot to fly solo across U.S. aged 15. The Nigerian achieved this feat & set the record after just 2 years of pilot training through a special after-school program she enrolled in & run by the Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum in Compton.

8. Cornelia Hahn - Air Namibia’s 1st female long haul Captain, operating the Airbus A330-200 servicing the Windhoek – Frankfurt route. She became a Commercial Pilot at Namibia’s Westair Wings Charters in 1997. Was promoted to this new role on April 01, 2017.

9. Yichida Ndlovu - Zambia’s 1st female Commercial pilot. Her first employment as a pilot was in 1981 to 1991 when she worked for Roan Air, before joining the Government. #Zambia

10. Besa Mumba - Youngest commercial pilot in Zambia. Kicked off her flying career @ the SA Flight Training Academy in Heidelberg, Gauteng. She then went through a more complex training at SIMU flight in Pretoria to obtain her Commercial Pilots Licence, aged 18. #Zambia