Raymonde de Laroche
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| Raymonde de Laroche | |
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 Raymonde de Laroche in August 1909
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| Born | 22 August 1886 France |
| Died | 18 July 1919 Le Crotoy airfield, France |
| Occupation | Aviator |
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] Biography
[edit] Early life
Born 22 August 1886, Elise Raymonde Deroche was the daughter of a plumber.
As a young woman she became an actor and used the stage name "Raymonde de Laroche". Later in her career the title "Baroness" was also sometimes added to her name.
[edit] Achievements in aviation
De Laroche was already an experienced balloonist when, in October 1909, aviator Charles Voisin (1882-1912) suggested she could learn to fly a fixed-wing aircraft.
On 22 October 1909 de Laroche became the first woman to pilot and solo in a powered heavier-than-air craft. She 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 to familiarise her with the controls. She then had to rely on Voisin shouting instructions to her from where he stood on the airfield. He instructed her to taxi the across the open field but forbade her from attempting take off. De Laroche taxied 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 in the air for several hundred yards before making a gentle landing and taxiing the biplane back to its starting position.
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 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (International Aeronautics Federation or F.A.I.).
De Laroche participated in aviation meetings at Heliopolis in Egypt as well as Saint Petersburg, Budapest and Rouen.
In July 1910 de Laroche was participating 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.
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 de Laroche was reputedly a driver for the French armed forces.[citation needed]
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 afterward
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 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 in France.
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Laroche, Raymonde de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Deroche, Elise; Laroche, Elise de; Roche, Raymonde de la; Laroche, Raymonde de, Baroness |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Aviator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 22, 1886 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | France |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 18, 1919 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Le Crotoy, France |
