Eileen Bjorkman said there have been a lot of books written about female aviators known as Women Airforce Service Pilots in World War II, as well as books written by younger women who have flown in combat the last 25 years.

“But there are very few books about the women of my generation who were the ones who kicked open the door to flying in combat,” she said.

Add one more to the list. A retired Air Force colonel and a flight test engineer in the Air Force who has flown in 25 different aircraft, Bjorkman wrote The Fly Girls Revolt: The Story of the Women Who Kicked Open the Door to Fly in Combat, which came out in May.

She is signing copies this week, including a 9-9:45 a.m. session on Saturday at the Authors Corner in the EAA Wearhouse.

Bjorkman has published two other books, Unforgotten in the Gulf of Tonkin and The Propellor under the Bed, but The Fly Girls Revolt is a much more personal story, she said.

“It was time to tell this story. It was a recognition that my generation isn’t getting any younger, and we need to tell these stories now.”

The role of women in the 1970s and ’80s was changing quickly, and many women didn’t want to draw attention to themselves, she said.

“They wanted to stay out of the limelight, and I think a lot of people were not aware of what women were doing and their stories were forgotten,” Bjorkman said. “It’s a good time to bring those stories back to get their collective experiences and keep them for posterity.”

When Bjorkman went into the Air Force in 1980, women were not allowed to fly in combat. So instead she became a flight test engineer.

“I had a front-row seat and know what women went through to get there,” she said.

Her favorite part of the book is the chapter on Desert Storm and Desert Shield.

“It was a real turning point,” she said. “I think the door would have opened, but it was such a catalyst and women did so many amazing things during that war.”

Bjorkman knows her book is an important part of history, because women in the military have told her so. “The most touching one was from the first operational female F-22 pilot; she reached out to me and thanked me for writing the book.”

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