The Flying Seven, Canada's first women's flying club, was formed in 1936. Based in Vancouver, B.C., this group staged air shows to promote women's place in aviation. The members consisted of: Margaret Fane, Rolie Moore, Alma Gilbert, Jean Pike, Eliane Roberge, Tosca Trasolini, and Betsy Flaherty. The "Dawn to Dusk" rally is probably their best-remembered event; each woman flew for twenty-five minutes, maintaining someone in the air for the duration of the day. Tosca Trasolini took off, flew for about forty-five minutes, then landed just as Margaret Fane's aircraft was leaving the runway. This pattern continued until dusk with Margaret as the last pilot.
Shortly after Canada entered the Second World War the Flying Seven organized a "bomplet" raid of Vancouver. They dropped over 100,000 pamphlets that pleaded for "dimes or dollars to buy our boys more planes."
The Flying Seven disbanded just after the war. Six years later, the Ninety-Nines an organization for women's pilot's, was established in Canada. The Ninrty-Nines were originally an American-only group created by Amelia Earhart. Today the International Ninety-Nines is represented in almost every country in the world with nine chapters in Canada.
"Aviation is one field in which women have entered on the ground
floor and we intend to rise with it."
-The Flying Seven
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