Free Before Amelia by Eileen F. Lebow Page B

brevets— became a licensed pilot, encouraged by her husband, Albert, to take to the air. She was issued No. 226 on August 29, 1910, after passing her tests on a Koechlin aeroplane. Jean Paul Koechlin was a successful builder of monoplanes and biplanes, but his name is not as well known as that of some of his contemporaries. He had flying schools at Mourmelon and Issy–les–Moulineaux, near Paris. We can’t be sure at which one Marthe was trained.
    She was born December 29, 1880, in Paimpont, Br ittany. Little is known about her early years, only that she was swept up in the excitement of flying and was trained at a Koechlin school in a matter of weeks. She apparently had a healthy amount of confidence and determination, for, reportedly, she once said that “flying for a woman is not a book with seven seals.”
    There are few references to Marthe. Probably she was content to fly for her own satisfaction and had little interest in competitions. This was not unusual. Women proved they could meet the requirements of the official licensing body, then flew for their own pleasure.
    The fourth woman to earn a pilot’s license before the end of 1910 was Jeanne Herveux (sometimes spelled “Herveu”). Her first name is anglicized to “Jane” in many references. Born in Paris, December 10, 1885, she had taken up the automobile like other modern young women before progressing to the aeroplane. Her daring exploits “looping the loop” with an automobile took her to the Crystal Palace in London, where, dressed in yellow silk, she was paid twenty pounds a show and performed four times a day. After she returned to France, her family begged her to give up the “loop.” Jeanne took up a Wernert eight-horsepower motorcycle for a while as a safer course, but soon she was back in an auto and racing the courses at Deauville, Château-Thierry, Gaillon, and Laffrey. Like Dutrieu, she had boundless energy. Doing seven–hour races did not faze her.
    One day, she received a message: Someone needed an auto to do some hauling. The someone was Louis Blériot, who needed to move his glider. Jeanne accepted delightedly; it was her first contact with an aviator. That chance meeting led her to turn her eyes skyward.
    In her twenty–fourth year, she enrolled in the Blériot school at Mourmelon, where she made swift progress with her training on the monoplane considered the best for speed. Blériot’s successful Channel flight in 1909 won him not only the plaudits of France and all of Europe, but numerous young enthusiasts eager to learn to fly and explore the skies. Jeanne succeeded better than some others. One student bought a Blériot aeroplane, as was required by the school, but his lack of skill and heavy handedness on the machine required regular, costly repairs by the company staff. Landing was this student’s bête noire. Repeatedly, he dropped too fast, at too sharp an angle; he walked away from the machine, but each time the undercarriage had to be rebuilt. This would–be pilot paid the cost happily—it was his ticket to association with the aviation world. Fortunately, he was never licensed.
    Jeanne, on the other hand, successfully passed her tests and was issued license No. 318 on December 7, three days before her twenty–fifth birthday. She was still too much a novice to think about the Coupe Fémina and its two thousand–franc prize, but the following year would see her actively flying in appearances around the country and competing for the Coupe.
    In the spring of 1911, Jeanne signed a contract with La Société de l’Ècole Nationale d’Aviation in Lyons for appearances there from May 28 to June 8. The contract was typical for that time—the main difference from pilot to pilot was that the amount paid reflected his or her stature in the aviation world. The pilot’s first–class train ticket between Paris and Lyons