Baroness' Raymonde de Laroche, 1886-1919
Photos of Raymonde de Laroche have suggested an intensity that
seems unusual for a woman in the early 1900s. She sought a theatrical
career but became a balloonist and her sights never left the sky.
Encouraged to pilot a fixed-wing aircraft by renowned French aviation
industrialist Charles Voisin, Raymonde took off on her first attempt
and completed a successful flight with a pinpoint landing.
That trial run was only her first record. In 1910, Raymonde became the
first woman in the world to receive a pilot’s license, issued as Brevet
No. 36 by the International Aeronautics Federation. She survived a
crash in an air show and in 1913 won the Aero Club of France’s Femina
Cup for a non-stop long-distance flight of more than four hours. In
1919, she set women’s records for both altitude and distance. Aspiring
to become the world’s first professional woman test pilot, she was
aboard an experimental aircraft in 1919 when the plane crashed, killing
both Raymonde and her pilot. Yet, her influence in the world of aviation
is without question, and a statue of Raymonde stands today at Le
Bourget Airport in France, the landing site for Charles Lindbergh’s
famous solo transatlantic crossing in 1927.
Photos of Raymonde de Laroche have suggested an intensity that
seems unusual for a woman in the early 1900s. She sought a theatrical
career but became a balloonist and her sights never left the sky.
Encouraged to pilot a fixed-wing aircraft by renowned French aviation
industrialist Charles Voisin, Raymonde took off on her first attempt
and completed a successful flight with a pinpoint landing.
That trial run was only her first record. In 1910, Raymonde became the
first woman in the world to receive a pilot’s license, issued as Brevet
No. 36 by the International Aeronautics Federation. She survived a
crash in an air show and in 1913 won the Aero Club of France’s Femina
Cup for a non-stop long-distance flight of more than four hours. In
1919, she set women’s records for both altitude and distance. Aspiring
to become the world’s first professional woman test pilot, she was
aboard an experimental aircraft in 1919 when the plane crashed, killing
both Raymonde and her pilot. Yet, her influence in the world of aviation
is without question, and a statue of Raymonde stands today at Le
Bourget Airport in France, the landing site for Charles Lindbergh’s
famous solo transatlantic crossing in 1927.
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