Hélène Dutrieu (July 10, 1877 - June 26, 1961), the Girl Hawk of Aviation, was an aviation pioneer and the first woman licensed to fly in Europe. Prior to being an aviator, she was an accomplished track bicycle racer, racing for the Simpson Lever Chain team. She was also an ambulance driver and directed a military hospital.
1911 - Traveled to the United States to compete for the Rodman-Wanamaker trophy at Nassau Boulevard Airfield in Garden City, New York. She may have been unable to participate due to mechanical difficulties with her Henry Farman biplane.
1914 - With the outbreak of World War I, most women pilots were grounded. Hélène volunteered to join France's Air Patrol and was accepted to fly reconnaissance missions over German troops from an airbase in Paris.
Général Février puts her in charge of the ambulances of l’Hopital Messimi. She goes on to become thedirector of l’hopital de campagne à Val-de Grâce.
1922 Becomes a journalist and marries Pierre Mortier.
Snippet from an interview in Streaming Audio. "I am asking a mechanician what needs to be done to fly and he replies I've been told that one needs to pull to climb and push to descend." (Tr. by Steve Osborne)
