On August 29, 1911, Hilda Hewlett (1864 – 1943) became the first woman in the UK (10th in the world) to earn a pilot’s licence when she received certificate No.122 from the Royal Aero Club after completing the test in her biplane. Later that year, Hewlett also taught her son, making him the first pilot taught to fly by his mother.
She was also a successful early aviation entrepreneur. In 1910, she co-founded the first flying school in the United Kingdom with a Gustav Blondeau, a Frenchman who would be her flight instructor. Two years later, she co-founded a successful aircraft manufacturing business which produced more than 800 aircraft and employed up to 700 people.