Femina Cup

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The Femina Cup or Coupe Femina was an award of 2000 francs established in 1910 by Pierre Lafitte, the publisher of French women's magazine Femina, to honour women pilots.{{Cite web|url=https://www.womeninaerospacehistory.com/tag/coupe-femina/|title=22 December 1910: Hélène Dutrieu|date=22 December 2015|website=Women in Aerospace History|publisher=Smithsonian|access-date=7 December 2016}} This French challenge was opened to women aviators only.

About

The Coupe Femina was awarded to the woman who, by sunset on 31 December each year, had made the longest flight, in time and distance, without landing.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7764896//|title=Woman Sets Aero Record|date=1 January 1912|work=The Indianapolis Star|access-date=7 December 2016}} In 1910, Belgian pilot Hélène Dutrieu, the first winner, was lifted out of her airplane and carried on the shoulders of the spectators after she landed.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7765383//|title=Snapshots at Social Leaders|date=13 March 1911|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=7 December 2016}}

It is often difficult to determine who the official winner was, since each temporary leader (e.g. Marie Marvingt in 1911{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/03/early-women-aviators|title=Trailblazers: The Early Women Aviators|last=Cochrane|first=Kira|date=2 October 2009|work=The Guardian|access-date=7 December 2016}}) was referred to in several contemporary records as having "won" the cup, only to be superseded by the next temporary record. Thus, in various documents, there are several "winners" recorded for each year, but the formal winners were announced in Femina Magazine. It was first formally awarded to Hélène Dutrieu on 31 December 1910 for her record-breaking non-stop flight. She won it again for the second time in 1911.

Note: There was also a "Coupe Femina" for women's golf, in this same period.

Winners

  • Hélène Dutrieu – 31 December 1910 for a non-stop flight of 167 kilometers in 2 hours 35 minutes{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_KWEMAAAAYAAJ|quote=femina cup.|title=New International Yearbook: A Compendium of the World's Progress for the Year 1910|last1=Colby|first1=Frank Moore|last2=Churchill|first2=Allen Leon|publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company|year=1911|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_KWEMAAAAYAAJ/page/n20 9]-10}}
  • Hélène Dutrieu won the second time in 1911.
  • There was no Coupe Femina competition in 1912.
  • Raymonde de Laroche – 25 November 1913 for a non-stop long-distance flight of over 4 hours duration

Events

class="wikitable"

! Year

! Aviators

! Place

! Distance

! Duration of flight

! Day

valign="top"

|1910

|Hélène Dutrieu

| Étampes

| 167.2 km

| 2 hours 41 min

| 22 December

|Marie Marvingt

|Mourmelon

| 45 km

| 53 m{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7764482//|title=Daring French 'Aviatresses': Women Whose Startling Exploits in the Sky are Winning Them Fame|date=1 January 1911|work=The St. Louis Star and Times|access-date=7 December 2016|via=Newspapers.com}}

|27 November{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7765305//|title=Aviatress Flies 56 Minutes|date=28 November 1910|work=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=7 December 2016|via=Newspapers.com}}

|Jane Hervue

|Pau

|

|2h 02

|

1911

| Hélène Dutrieu

| ÉtampesFemina 1 February 1912

| {{convert|143|mi|km}}{{Cite web | url = http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91325663?searchTerm=%22femina%20cup%22&searchLimits= | via = Trove | access-date =29 November 2017 | title = Lady Aviator | work = Kalgoorlie Miner | page = 5 | date = 14 September 1911}}

| 2 hours, 58 min

| 31 December

|Jane Herveu

|Compiegne

|248

|

|

|Marie Marvingt

|

|

|

|

1912

|Marie Marvingt

|

|

|

|

rowspan="3" |1913

|Elise Deroche

|

|

|

|

Jeanne Pallier

|Mourmelon

|290 km{{Cite book |last=Eileen F. Lebow |title=Before Amelia : Women Pilots in the Early Days of Aviation |publisher=Potomac Books Inc |year=2002 |isbn=1-57488-482-4}}

|

|November

Hélène Dutrieu

|

|254.13km

|

|

1914

|

|

|

|

|

See also

References