Bland Mayfly

The Bland Mayfly was an early aircraft constructed in 1910 by Lilian E. Bland in Carnmoney in Northern Ireland. It is credited as the first aeroplane to be designed and constructed by a woman. BackgroundLillian E. Bland was a sports journalist and photographer. While taking a series of colour photographs of birds on an island off the west coast of Scotland in 1909, she received a postcard bearing an illustration of the Blériot XI aircraft. Already excited by the soaring flight of the gulls she was photographing, she was inspired by the postcard to attempt to construct her own aircraft.

The Bland Mayfly was an early aircraft constructed in 1910 by Lilian E. Bland in Carnmoney in Northern Ireland. It is credited as the first aeroplane to be designed and constructed by a woman. BackgroundLillian E. Bland was a sports journalist and photographer. While taking a series of colour photographs of birds on an island off the west coast of Scotland in 1909, she received a postcard bearing an illustration of the Blériot XI aircraft. Already excited by the soaring flight of the gulls she was photographing, she was inspired by the postcard to attempt to construct her own aircraft.