On 7 November 1910, an aeroplane designed by Emma Lilian Todd performed a powered hop at the Garden City airfield in New York.
Emma Lilian (Lily) Todd was born in Washington, D.C. on 12 June 1865. Regrettably, little is known about her parents or childhood.
Todd’s first job was at the US Patent Office, but she was soon employed by the office of the Governor of Pennsylvania – most likely becoming the first woman to work in the executive department of the state. In later years, Emma Todd moved to New York and studied law at New York University.
The origin of her talent and passion for mechanics is, regrettably, unknown. However, from a young age, Todd began to take an interest in typewriters, sundials, and clocks. In 1896, she received her first patent for a typewriter copy-holder. In the early 1900s, the self-taught inventor discovered her fascination with aviation. She started with toys, moved on to balloons and dirigibles, before finally focusing her efforts on heavier-than-air aeroplanes.
In 1906, during an aviation exhibition at Madison Square Garden, Todd presented her first aircraft design. Her work attracted the attention of philanthropist Olivia Sage, who provided her with funding for further development.
Construction of Todd’s aircraft began at the Witteman Brothers aviation company at the end of 1908. That same year, she founded an institution for aspiring pilots, known as the Junior Aero Club.
Todd’s aeroplane was a biplane made of straight-grained spruce, covered with muslin and heavy-duty cotton canvas, and reinforced with piano wire. Measuring thirty-six feet (11 metres) in length, it was powered by an automotive engine producing about 50 hp. Regrettably, as Todd explained to the press, she could not find any domestically made aviation engine to meet her requirements. Therefore, she had no choice but to use a car engine, although it was much heavier than expected.
E.L. Todd wanted to test her first aircraft herself. Unfortunately, her request for a flying permit was rejected. As a result, during the first flight, her aeroplane was piloted by the French aviation pioneer Didier Masson. On 7 November 1910, at the Garden City aviation field in New York, Todd’s aircraft made a powered hop of twenty feet (6.1 metres) but was unable to stay airborne.
However, this first trial of the aeroplane also marked the end of Todd’s aviation career. In January 1910, she was hired by Olivia Sage as her personal assistant and immediately abandoned further aviation developments.
After Sage’s death, Todd moved to California. Nevertheless, little is known about her later life.
Emma Lilian Todd passed away on 26 September 1937, at the age of seventy-two.
In the contemporary press, Todd was described as the first woman in the world to design heavier-than-air aeroplanes, and that is how she is commonly regarded today.
Cover photo: Miss E.L. Todd in her aeroplane (Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-55806)
