Raymonde de Laroche
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Raymonde de Laroche (22 August 1886 - 18 July 1919), born Elise Raymonde Deroche, was a French aviator and the first woman to receive a pilot's licence.
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[edit] Name
When Elise Deroche was a young woman she became an actress and used the stage name "Raymonde de Laroche". Later in her career the title "Baroness" was also sometimes added to her name.
[edit] Learning To Fly
De Laroche was already an experienced balloonist when, in October 1909, aviator Charles Voisin (1882-1912) suggested she could learn to fly an aeroplane.
In late October 1909, de Laroche met Voisin at the Chalons airfield where he and his brother, Gabriel, built and flew their own single-seater aeroplanes. De Laroche was given an initial briefing and then had to rely on Voisin shouting instructions to her from where he stood on the airfield. During de Laroche's first lesson, after she had familiarized herself with the aeroplane's controls, Voisin instructed her to taxi across the open field but he forbade her from attempting to take off. De Laroche taxied once around the field and then, ignoring Voisin's warning, opened the throttle. She achieved take-off on her first attempt and flew 15 feet up into the air for several hundred yards before making a gentle landing and taxiing the airplane back to its starting position.
[edit] Pilot's licence
On 8 March 1910 de Laroche became the first woman in the world to receive a pilot's licence when the Aero-Club of France issued her license #36 of the International Aeronautics Federation (F.A.I.).
[edit] Airshows and the crash at Reims
De Laroche participated in aviation meetings at Heliopolis in Egypt as well as Saint Petersburg, Budapest and Rouen.
In July 1910 de Laroche was the only female participant in the week long airshow at Reims in France. On 8 July her aeroplane crashed and she suffered such severe injuries that her recovery was in doubt but two years later she was fit again and had returned to flying.
[edit] Prizes and records
On 8 March 1910 de Laroche became the first woman in the world to receive a pilot's licence when the Aero-Club of France issued her license #36 of the International Aeronautics Federation (F.A.I.).
On 25 November 1913 de Laroche won the Aero-Club of France's Femina Cup for a non-stop long-distance flight of over 4 hours duration.
In June 1919 de Laroche also set the women's altitude record at 15,700 feet and the women's distance record at 200 miles.
[edit] Death and commemoration
In July 1919 de Laroche, who was also a talented engineer, reported to the airfield at Le Crotoy to copilot a new aircraft in hopes of becoming the first female test pilot. Unfortunately, the aircraft went into a dive on its landing approach and both the pilot and de Laroche were killed.
A statue of de Laroche stands at Le Bourget airport in France.
