IWM Lecture Day: Women In Aviation

Dr Sarah-Louise Miller is a historian of war and conflict, specialising in air and sea power, military intelligence and defence and security. She is a lecturer at the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London and teaches military education courses at the Defence Academy of the UK.

She is also a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford’s Faculty of History and is a member of Kellogg College, Oxford. Sarah received her PhD from the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, in July 2022. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and was elected as a Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society in January 2024. Sarah is the author of several books, and appears regularly on British television and radio,

Amanda Harrison is a commercial pilot and author with a tremendous sense of adventure. Eighteen months after being diagnosed with breast cancer, she started her journey in a Tiger Moth, Solo 2 Darwin following in the footsteps of Amy Johnson. 

Inspired by her father’s remote-controlled aircraft models, she experienced her first flight at age 14 and gained her private pilot licence after attending university. She then trained to be a commercial pilot and flight instructor specialising in vintage aircraft – an incredible feat for someone with severe dyslexia and with only five percent of commercial pilots being female. Amanda currently flies for Classic Wings at Duxford in the Tiger Moth.

Rachael Collier joined the RAF in 1995 as a Fighter Controller having gained a Sixth Form Scholarship. Following withdrawal from the Intercept Controller Course in 1996, she resigned her commission and became an Air Loadmaster on Chinooks. Gaining Combat Ready status on 27 Squadron, she completed tours in Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, and Bosnia and undertook the Aircrew Instructors Course to become an Air to Ground Gunnery Instructor.

In 2001, Collier recommissioned into the Flight Operations specialisation, serving in Afghanistan with 27 Squadron and the Gulf with 3 (Fighter) Squadron. In 2003, Collier moved to RAF Shawbury as an instructor before leaving the RAF in 2005

In 2010, Collier re-entered service with the RAF as a Weapons Systems Operator at RAF Valley where she undertook Search and Rescue training as a Winchman. Collier received a Queens Gallantry Medal and other awards following the rescue of a Portuguese fisherman off a fishing vessel in the Irish Sea. 

Lucy has an MEng (Hons) in Aeronautical Engineering from Loughborough University. Previously, she worked for Rolls-Royce and as an Aircraft Structural Repair Design Engineer. She has also been a British Gliding Association (BGA) Glider Inspector since 2014.

Lucy began gliding in 2010 and is now a Full Category Instructor and the Chief Flying Instructor of her local gliding club, as well as flying in competitions and organising events for young glider pilots as a member of the UK Junior Gliding Development Team. She is currently a BGA Board Member.

In 2016, Lucy started power flying with the help of a scholarship from the Air League. She has been the Chief Inspector for the Light Aircraft Association (LAA) since September 2022. This means she manages around 330 LAA Inspectors across the UK who look after the airworthiness of around 2700 LAA aircraft currently flying and around another 1600 that are being built.

Now into her seventh season as a professional wingwalker with the AeroSuperBatics Wingwalkers, Kirsten generally flies in the lead position during formation displays. 

Wingwalking is her one true love in life; nothing beats zooming across the globe performing handstands and climbing around flying aircraft with your best friends! A background in trapeze and aerial circus led to Kirsten's involvement on the team, with skills in strength and flexibility working to her advantage on the wing. When not climbing around biplanes, you can find Kirsten teaching aerial circus, cooking, riding motorbikes, practicing yoga, and focusing on her artwork.

An adrenaline junkie, Kirsten loves doing aerobatics standing on top of the aircraft, much preferring being on the wing as opposed to sitting in the cockpit. She feels privileged to have had so many wonderful adventures with the team, and considers herself a 'collector' of unique views; her most memorable being Loop-the-Loops over the Gobi Desert at sunset.

Katherine Moloney is the founder and CEO of Elevate(her) Aviation. She started flying at 18 after she had a trial lesson in a helicopter while working in the warehouse for Transair Flight Equipment. That flight changed the course of her career, and she has now obtained a private pilot licence for both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. 

As well as now being Marketing Director for Transair Flight Equipment and a former Department for Transport Aviation Ambassador, Katherine also runs an aviation social media account with over 230,000 Instagram followers aimed at supporting and encouraging people in the aviation industry.