Eileen Vollick was Canada’s first licensed woman pilot

You’d think Eileen Vollick would be better known and celebrated in Hamilton.

But somehow, the fearless flyer who made aviation history in 1928 as Canada’s first licensed woman pilot has flown largely under the radar when it comes to recognition in her hometown.

“There’s a little plaque for her at Hamilton airport, and her flying suit is in the museum at the Canadian Warplane Heritage. But that’s it, as far as I know,” says John Bullen, who is giving a presentation about Vollick at the Stoney Creek Historical Society on Nov. 5.

Conversely, in Wiarton — where she was born in 1908 and spent the first three years of her life before moving to Hamilton with her family — an airport terminal bears her name. There’s a street in Ottawa called Eileen Vollick Crescent, even though she never resided