Paulette Weber
{{short description|Belgian-French aviator and hot air balloonist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Paulette Bray-Bouquet Weber
| image = Paulette_Weber.jpg
| alt = Young woman sitting on the edge of a hot air balloon basket that is set on the ground. She's wearing pants, a double-breasted jacket and a beret. There is a part of a hot air balloon looming behind her.
| caption = Weber at the Gordon Bennett Cup race in Warsaw, 1934
| birth_date = 1901
| death_place = North Sea
| death_date = {{death date|df=yes|1954|10|}}
| occupation = Aviator
| citizenship = Belgium
France
}}
Paulette Bray-Bouquet Weber (1901 – October 1954) was a Belgian-French aviator who often piloted hot-air balloons.
Career
A student of Georges Suire, Weber made her first flight in a hot-air balloon in 1928. In 1930 she gained her license as pilot, second-class, having completed 14 balloon ascents, including four solo and two at night.{{cite book|title=Les Ailes: journal hebdomadaire de la locomotion aérienne/directeur, rédacteur en chef, Georges Houard|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553756h|accessdate=2017-10-06|date=1930-10-30|page=11}}
On 30 December 30, 1931, she left from Saint Cloud in the "Maison et Mallet" Trophy, competing for the distance, but because of the snow on her aircraft, weighing it down,{{cite book|title=Les Dimanches de la femme: supplément de la|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5547635r|accessdate=2017-10-06|date=1935-09-29}} she was forced to land in Châtillon-sur-Seine and abandon the race. She then returned to Paris by train.{{cite book|title=Figaro: journal non politique|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k296830q|accessdate=2017-10-06|date=1932-01-02|publisher=Figaro|page=8}}{{Cite book|title=L'Intransigeant|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k793519q|accessdate=2017-10-06|date=1932-01-01|pages=2, 5}} In 1931 she was documented in the magazine L'Aérophile, which classified her "among the pilots who 'really' carry out air travel". At that time she had made 28 ascents, including 22 solo and four at night, and had participated in the Juchmès and Mallet cups, but without victory.{{cite book|title=L'Aérophile|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65535703|accessdate=2017-10-06|date=1931-12-15}} In 1934 she copiloted with Suire a test hot-air balloon before the Gordon Bennett Cup race in Warsaw to show the contestants how the wind blows.{{Cite news|date=1934-09-24|title=Pierwsze wieści o zawodnikach przyniosą nam gołębie|page=3|work=Dzień Dobry|url=https://polona.pl/item/dzien-dobry-r-4-nr-265-24-wrzesnia-1934,MTUxNjY3MjQ/1/#info:search:weber|access-date=2022-01-29}} Two years later she came third at the Le Mans International Hot Air Balloon Cup, having travelled 250 km,{{Cite book|author=Parti social français|title=Le Petit journal|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6343334|accessdate=2017-10-06|date=1936-05-09}}{{Cite book|title=Journal des débats politiques et littéraires|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k508409v|accessdate=2017-10-06|date=1936-05-14}} and in November 1937 she won the "Aumont-Thiéville" cup with 242 km.{{cite book|author=France colonial moderne|title=Les Annales coloniales: organe de la|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6272059v|accessdate=2017-10-06|date=1937-11-15}} In September 1939, she and three other pilots, Maryse Bastié, Maryse Hilsz and Claire Roman were requisitioned to ferry planes to the front for the French Air Force.{{cite web |title=Elles ont des ailes - Engagées dans la Seconde Guerre mondiale |url=http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/01decouverte/expovirtuel/expoair/page4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505223056/http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/01decouverte/expovirtuel/expoair/page4.htm |archive-date=5 May 2009 |website=Ministry of Defence (France)) |language=fr |access-date=14 July 2023 |url-status=bot: unknown }}
On 1 May 1946, in Paris at Place de la Concorde, demonstration flights were carried out in a balloon, with various pilots, including Paulette Weber, who was returning to pilot the balloon for the first time since 1939. On this occasion, the journalist Suzy Mathis published an article on the Weber on the central page of Aviation française, where they repurposed passages from a previous interview that Mathis had done with Weber for Les dimanches de la femme. It also summarized some of her records:{{cite book|title=Aviation française|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9766239k|accessdate=2017-10-06|date=1946-05-01}}
- Distance record (750 km) Bailleul—Regensburg{{Cite book|title=Le Matin: derniers télégrammes de la nuit|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k586342n|accessdate=2017-10-06|date=1939-05-28}}
- Female distance record (440 km) Gennevilliers—Eifel
- Nord-Spherique Cup, with 2500 km in 4 ascents
- Planchon-Ramade Cup, 2nd place
- Alfred-Leblanc Cup, 2nd place
The interview ended with a Weber statement: "Balloon tourism is the king of tourism."
Death
Paulette Weber died in October 1954, whilst making her 235th balloon ascent. The accident was caused by the progressive loss of hydrogen via a defect in the porous coating of her balloon, a common issue at the time. Despite having thrown all the ballast overboard, the balloon sank into the waters of the North Sea.{{cite book |last=Duhem |first=Jules |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6yMMQtt8FqgC&q=Paulette+Weber+October+1954&pg=PA137 |title=Histoire de l'arme aérienne avant le moteur |date=1964 |publisher=New Latin Editions |isbn=9782723313964 |page=137 |language=French |accessdate=2017-10-06}}
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite news|title=L'Aérophile: technical and practical review of aerial locomotion|magazine=L'Aérophile|page=165|volume=46|year=1938}}
- {{cite news|title=Wings, aviation world and aviation world|magazine=Hebdomadaire|issue=1140|date=6 December 1947}}
- {{cite news|title=France illustration|volume=5|year=1949|page=214}}
- {{cite news|title=Icare: magazine of the broken wings of Belgium|year=1953}}
- {{cite news|title=La Conquéte de l'air|issue=48–49|year=1953|page=86}}
External links
- [http://museedelapresse.com/?s=Paulette+Weber Paulette Weber - Press review on Press Museum]
- [http://gallica.bnf.fr/services/engine/search/sru?operation=searchRetrieve&version=1.2&startRecord=0&maximumRecords=15&page=1&query=%28gallica%20all%20%22Paulette%20Weber%22%29%20and%20%28subgallica%20adj%20%22Paulette%20Weber%22%29%20sortby%20dc.date%2Fsort.ascending Paulette Weber - Search articles on Gallica/BNF]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Paulette, Bray Bouquet}}
Category:French aviation pioneers
Category:Women aviation pioneers
Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents
Category:Balloon flight record holders
Category:Belgian aviation record holders
Category:Belgian women aviators
Category:Flight distance record holders
Category:French women aviation record holders
Category:French aviation record holders
Category:Naturalized citizens of France
Category:People who died at sea
Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1954
Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters