A helicopter class where every pilot is a woman

On the apron behind them sits the helicopter they will spend the next eighteen months learning to fly. In front of them is a line of cameras, because a class made up entirely of women is still unusual enough to be news.

The instructors would rather talk about the syllabus. It runs from basic handling through night flying to formation work, and the standards are the same as for every other intake. "The aircraft doesn't know who is flying it," one said, with the air of someone who has answered the question before.

What has changed is the pipeline. Recruiting campaigns aimed at secondary schools have doubled applications from girls in five years, and the flying scholarships that follow are now oversubscribed. The class photographed here is the visible result.