NOTED AIRWOMAN

Evening Star, Issue 21881, 19 November 1934, Page 13

NOTED AIRWOMAN

A THRILLING EXPERIENCE .. ; Fraulein Thea Rasche, the only woman- passenger on the Royal Dutch air mail aeroplane, which competed in the centenary air race, does not expect ever to have such a thrilling experience again. When interviewed in Melbourne she said: “Even a stiff neck, from which I am still suffering, and the sense of. having hours of sleep to make up, are minor discomforts, and they in no way detract from my enthusiastic feelings about the flight.” Bouquets of beautiful flowers and many laurel wreaths still adorn her rooms at Menzies Hotel.

Franlein Rasche is competent to judge exactly what a remarkably great achievement that flight has been, for she herself is a noted "airwoman, and has flown all kinds of machines during the-past ten years. Not only was she the first woman in Germany to obtain her license—that was in 1924 —but she was also the only woman to'qualify for sea flying as well as for the land flying. Had it not been for the difficulty of obtaining the necessary financial support, Fraulciu Rasche would have been an entrant in the air race, but her own aeroplane is not designed for such a contest of endurance, and a suitable machine would have cost more money than it was possible to raise in such times of financial stringency 'in Germany. Franlein Rasche said that, despite the fact that German women are not eligible to receive a commercial pilot’s license, they are hot debarred from taking up flying as a sport._ She has won many races in America, as well as in .Germany, and has acquired an enviable reputation as a fearless and clever stun ter.

But her accomplishments are not confined to the air. She is, in addition, editor-in-chief of the aviation journal published in Berlin, and, as well as fulfilling her literary duties there, she has also consented to give a series of lectures about the flight in America, whither she will travel after a sliort glimpse of Sydney. She has also been an officer of the Women’s International Association of Aeronautics for the past three years, and at the present time holds the post of vice-president of that organisation.

Fraulein Rascho has, a charming personality, and has swiftly endeared herself to all who have met her. She is modest and unaffected, but one easily feels that she is an extremely competent and capable woman. Tall and •well-built, with brown eyes and soft wavy hair, she. makes a distinguished figure in her trim tailored day clothes, as well as in her smart evening gowns.