Raymonde de LaRoche
Encyclopedia
Raymonde de Laroche born Elise Raymonde Deroche, was a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 aviatrix and the first woman in the world to receive an aeroplane pilot's licence
Pilot licensing and certification
Pilot licensing or certification refers to permits to fly aircraft that are issued by the National Aviation Authority in each country, establishing that the holder has met a specific set of knowledge and experience requirements. This includes taking a flying test. The certified pilot can then...

.

Early life

Born on 22 August 1882 in Paris, Elise Raymonde Deroche was the daughter of a plumber
Plumber
A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable water, sewage, and drainage in plumbing systems. The term dates from ancient times, and is related to the Latin word for lead, "plumbum." A person engaged in fixing metaphorical "leaks" may also be...

. She had a fondness for sports as a child, as well as for motorcycles and automobiles when she was older. As a young woman she became an actress and used the stage name "Raymonde de Laroche". Inspired by Wilbur Wright's 1908 demonstrations of powered flight in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and being personally acquainted with several aviators, including artist-turned-aviator Léon Delagrange
Léon Delagrange
Léon Delagrange Léon Delagrange Léon Delagrange (Ferdinand Léon Delagrange; March 13, 1873 was a pioneer French aviator and also a sculptor .He was born at Orléans and studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris...

, who was reputed to be the father of her son André, de Laroche determined to take up flying for herself.

Achievements in aviation

In October 1909, de Laroche appealed to her friend, aviator and aeroplane builder Charles Voisin
Charles Voisin
Charles Voisin was an early aviation pioneer. He was the younger brother of Gabriel Voisin, also an aviation pionieer.-Biography:...

, to instruct her in how to fly. On 22 October 1909, de Laroche went to the Voisin brothers' base of operations at Chalons, 90 miles (144.8 km) east of Paris. Voisin's aircraft could only seat one person, so she operated the plane by herself while he stood on the ground and gave instructions. After she mastered taxiing around the airfield, she lifted off and flew 300 yards (274.3 m).. De Laroche's flight is often cited as the first by a woman in a powered heavier-than-air craft. However there is evidence to suggest two other women, P. Van Pottelsberghe and Thérèse Peltier
Thérèse Peltier
Thérèse Peltier was a French sculptress and aviator. Popularly believed to have been the first ever woman passenger in an airplane she should perhaps instead be recognised as the first woman to pilot a heavier-than-air craft...

 had flown the previous year with Henri Farman and Delagrange respectively.

Decades later, aviation journalist Harry Harper wrote that until de Laroche made her celebrated flight on the Voisin she had never flown except once, for a short hop, as a passenger; when she first took the controls Charles Voisin expressly forbade her to attempt a flight; and after taxiing twice across the airfield she took off, flying "ten or fifteen feet high" and handling the controls with "cool, quick precision".

Although Gabriel Voisin
Gabriel Voisin
Gabriel Voisin was an aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained , circular, controlled flight, including take-off and landing. It was flown by Henry Farman on January 13, 1908 near Paris, France...

 wrote "... my brother [was] entirely under her thumb", the story of de Laroche as a headstrong woman making the flight after scant preparation and against Charles Voisin's orders almost certainly romanticises what actually took place. Flight magazine, a week after the flight, reported: "For some time the Baroness has been taking lessons from M. Chateau, the Voisin instructor, at Chalons, and on Friday of last week she was able to take the wheel for the first time. This initial voyage into the air was only a very short one, and terra firma was regained after 300 yards (274.3 m)." Flight was also responsible for bestowing the title "Baroness" upon de Laroche, as she was not of noble
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

 birth. Flight added that on the following day she circled the flying field twice, "the turnings being made with consummate ease. During this flight of about four miles (6 km) there was a strong gusty wind blowing, but after the first two turnings the Baroness said that it did not bother her, as she had the machine completely under control."

On 8 March 1910, de Laroche became the first woman in the world to receive a pilot licence when the Aero-Club of France issued her licence #36 of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...

(International Aeronautics Federation or F.A.I.).
De Laroche participated in aviation meetings at Heliopolis
Heliopolis (Cairo Suburb)
Modern Heliopolis is a district in Cairo, Egypt. The city was established in 1905 by the Heliopolis Oasis Company, headed by the Belgian industrialist Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Empain, as well as Boghos Nubar, son of the Egyptian Prime Minister Nubar Pasha.-History:The Baron Empain, a well known...

 in Egypt as well as Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

 and Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

. During the show in St. Petersburg, she was personally congratulated by Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...

. There, she was presented once again as "Baroness" de Laroche. Thereafter, the title became commonly used.

In July 1910 de Laroche was participating in the week long airshow at Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....

 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. On 26 September 1912 she and Charles Voisin were involved in an automobile accident. Voisin was killed, and she was severely injured.

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.

During World War I, as flying was considered too dangerous for women, she served as a military driver, chauffeuring officers from the rear zones to the front under fire.

In June 1919 de Laroche set two women's altitude records, one at 15700 feet (4,785.4 m); and also the women's distance record, at 201 miles (323.5 km).

Death and legacy

On 18 July 1919 de Laroche, who was a talented engineer, went to the airfield at Le Crotoy as part of her plan to become the first professional woman test pilot. She co-piloted an experimental aircraft (whether she flew this plane or was simply a passenger at the time is not known) but on its landing approach the aeroplane went into a dive and crashed, killing both the pilot and de Laroche.

There is a statue of de Laroche at Le Bourget Airport
Le Bourget Airport
Paris – Le Bourget Airport is an airport located in Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, and Dugny, north-northeast of Paris, France. It is now used only for general aviation as well as air shows...

 in France.

From 6 March to 12 March 2010, to celebrate the Centennial of Licensed Women Pilots, women pilots from eight countries on three continents used 20 types of aircraft to establish a new world record: 225 girls and women introduced to piloting by a woman pilot in one week.

External links

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