In 1928, 19 year-old Eileen Vollick became the first female pilot to be licenced in Canada. This was no mean feat: Not only did Vollick have to fight prejudice to earn her wings, but she even had to obtain permission from the Canadian federal government to take her test.

According to the website The Canadian 99s, which celebrates women pilots in Canada, Vollick shared her feelings in the June 1928 edition of the Canadian Air Review magazine; three months after winning her wings.

“Each day as I drove my car past the aerodrome a small, still voice whispered, ‘Go ahead, brave the lion in his den and make known your proposition to him’,” she wrote. “As I sat in the cockpit I felt quite at home; “fear never entered my head and when I saw the earth recede as the winged monster roared and soared skyward, and the familiar scenes below became a vast panorama of checkerboard fields, neatly arranged toy houses, and silvery threads of streams, the pure joy of it, gave me a thrill which is known only to the airman who wings his way among the fleecy clouds.”