The daughter of a plumber, Elise was born on 22 August 1886. It might be fair to describe her as a bit of a dare devil as by 1909, aged 23 she had tried her hand at a variety of jobs and past times. Her taste varied from the artistic persuasion, including sculpture and treading the boards in the theatre to more thrilling endeavours such as ballooning and car racing!
The Wright Brothers
Already an experienced balloonist, it was while dining with aviator, Charles Voisin (1882 – 1912) that he suggested de Laroche learn to fly a fixed wing bi-plane. A brave and innovative idea as manned powered flight was still very new, the Wright brothers ( Orville, 1871-1948 and Wilbur 1867-1912) made their first powered 3 second flight in their plane Wright Flyer I at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on 14 December 1903, followed by two flights 3 days later on 17 December.
As the planes were single-seaters, the instructor would shout instructions from the ground and this was no exception for Elise. At Châlons, 90 miles east of Paris, Charles Voisin gave her strict instructions not to undertake any independent starting attempts. De Laroche taxied the single-seater Voisin plane for a while before announcing she was ready to fly! (Although it has since been reported that de Laroche may have been taking lessons from M. Chateau, the Voisin flight instructor before hand).
The 50-horsepower engine was brought up to speed and became airborne, attaining an altitude of 15 feet (4.6 metres) and flying a distance of 300 yards, (270 metres). The first solo flight made by a woman had taken place on 22 October 1909.
An English reporter witnessed the spectacle alongside Charles Voisin and commented, 'The airplane was gliding through the air completely level for several hundred metres before it came down gently and taxied back'. However within weeks of her maiden flight de Laroche was lucky enough to survive a crash on landing when her plane skimmed a tree severing the tail.
The First Licenced Female Pilot
On 8 March 1910 Elise de Laroche became the first woman to receive a pilot's licence when the aero-club of France issued her with licence #36 of the Federation Aeronautique International (International Aeronautic Federation).
Four months later, on 8 July 1910 while participating in an air show at Reims, Elise survived a near fatal air crash. Her injuries were so severe she was not expected to live. But against the odds she recovered so well she was able to resume flying. Yet danger was never far away. On 26 September 1912 she was injured in a car crash which killed her close friend and companion Charles Voisin.
Her skills as an aviator continued to amaze. On 25 November 1913 de Laroche won the aero-club of France Femina cup for a non stop flight lasting over 4 hours.
World War I
But war was looming. It was decided that it was too dangerous for women to fly military aircraft. So for the duration of the First World War, Elise served as a military driver chauffeuring officers to and from the Front.
After the war, Elise resumed flying, and in June 1919 she set two women's flight records, one for flying at an altitude of 15,700 feet (4,800 metres) the second for flying a distance of 201 miles (323 km).
As well as her prowess as an aviator, de Laroche was a creditable engineer and she had ambitions to become the first female test pilot. On 18 July she accepted an invitation to fly in an experimental plane, though there is some argument as to whether she was a passenger or, in fact, co-pilot. Unfortunately the plane went into a dive as it made its landing approach killing both occupants.
Elise de Laroche was survived by a son, André.
Sources:
- The History of Flight by David Curnock
- Early Aviation.com
- National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institute.
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- About the RAF.com
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