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Obituary

Helene Dutrieu,Pioneer Pilot;
Flew Patrol Over Paris in WWI

Paris (AP) - Helene Dutrieu, pioneer woman aviator, died Monday at the age of 84.
Mlle. Dutrieu was known as the "girl hawk" of aviation during the stone age of flight in the early part of the century. She was easily the most daring and accomplished woman pilot of her time.
Her first solo flight was made over her native France in 1909 in the open cockpit of a fragile Santos-Dumont monoplane. Within a year, she was setting altitude and distance records that left the world of that day breathless. In 1913, she received the Legion of Honor and during World War I she was the only woman pilot to fly patrol over Paris against German Zeppelins and aircraft.
In September of 1910, she thrilled the world by flying non-stop from Osterid to Bruges, Belgium, a distance of 28 miles, and later the same day stunned thousands of spectators in the streets of Ostend by circling a historic belfry spire and rising to an altitude of 1,300 feet. A correspondent of the day described the feats as "incredible."
Experienced male pilots attempted to dissuade Mlle. Dutrieu from making the 28-mile flight by warning her that no woman would ever be able to withstand the rigors and strain of the journey. But she not only brushed aside all such efforts but persuaded one of her male advisers to go with her as a passenger in the open front cockpit.
A few months later at Etampes, France,she further astonished the world by flying 158 miles nonstop in 2 hours, 58 minutes. Her achievements were all the more spectacular because of her petite and delicate appearance. When she first visited the United States in 1911, she was described as having beautiful brown eyes, a slender and trim figure and small delicate hands covered with diamonds, rubies and pearls.
During the visit, she competed in the Nassau Boulevard Aviation Meet on Long Island and easily won all the major prizes.
She often flew in competition against men and frequently defeated them. In Florence, Italy, for example, she was the only woman in a field of 14 vying for top honors in that country and conquered all of her male competitors to win the King's Cup.
She insisted that she was not a woman suffragist, but insisted with even stronger determination that a woman should not remain an inferior because of her sex.
Before becoming a flier, Mlle. Dutrieu was a trick bicycle rider and had become a youthful sensation in Europe for her daring and ability to turn somersaults in the air while her cycle was in motion.
During her second year as a flier, she narrowly escaped death twice. A monoplane that she was flying solo crashed at Issy des Molineaux, France, and later a hydroplane collapsed when it struck the water at Lausanne. She was not injured seriously in either accident.