Is it possible that one person could face such resistance, yet still soar? Right here, affixed to this building, is the Melli Beese Plaque. It commemorates an extraordinary woman. Amelie Hedwig Boutard-Beese was better known as Melli Beese. She was born in Laubegast near Dresden on September 13, 1886. She became Germany’s first female pilot.
Melli Beese was the only daughter of an architect. Her parents were wealthy. They supported their talented daughter in everything. From 1906 to 1909, she studied sculpture at the Royal Academy of Free Arts in Stockholm. In Sweden, she discovered her great passion: offshore sailing. Beese was also fascinated by aviation reports. She collected reports about the Wright brothers’ flight attempts.
1910 proved a decisive year for aviation. Léon Delagrange died in a crash. Thérèse Peltier publicly announced she did not want to become a pilot. Raymonde de Laroche became the first European woman to get her pilot’s license. Hélène Dutrieu, a Belgian woman, was the third woman to acquire a pilot’s license from the Aéro-Club de France.
When Beese returned to Germany in November 1910, she attended lectures at the Technikum Dresden. She studied mathematics, mechanics, shipbuilding, and flight mechanics. That same year, she looked for a flight instructor at Johannisthal airfield. First, she approached the Albatros aircraft factory. They sent her to the Wright aircraft factory. The reason was their lack of experience with female students.
The balloonist Käthe Paulus had already taken flying lessons. Her flight instructor Paul Engelhard refused to teach another woman. He sent Beese to Ad Astra. It was an early airline based in Johannisthal. Their flight instructor Robert Thelen finally agreed to take Beese as a student.
In the 1910s, people only flew when a handkerchief held in the air did not move. Flight students sometimes sat for weeks waiting for an opportunity to take off. Beese faced significant problems because of the prevailing male chauvinism. Her comrades saw her as an unwelcome competitor. They tried to prevent her from flying. Only after Beese confronted Thelen was she allowed to fly.
Her first flights took place with Thelen in a Wright biplane. On the evening of December 12, 1910, a drive chain sprang off the engine shaft during a practice flight. Thelen and Beese crashed from 20 meters. Beese broke her ankle. She was treated with morphine. It triggered a lifelong addiction. A few days after the accident, her father died.
In January 1911, Beese returned to Johannisthal. Robert Thelen believed her crash proved that women brought bad luck in airplanes. He refused to teach her. They cancelled her training contract.
In early July 1911, Beese signed a training contract with the Rumpler-Werke. Hellmuth Hirth was not thrilled. But he yielded to pressure from the Rumpler management. They hoped a female factory pilot would bring publicity. Hirth’s negative attitude made things difficult. Whenever it was her turn, another student was already in the plane. Or technical problems prevented the flight. Once, someone sabotaged her plane. The loosened bracing of the wings would have caused a crash. Beese noticed it immediately after take-off. Hirth dismissed this as a prank. He said it was played by men on a woman. She had entered a territory reserved for men.
Without sufficient flight experience, Beese applied for the exam. The German Air Traffic Association (DLV) pilot’s license was necessary to participate in competitions. The exam included three closed circuit flights. Each had to be at least five kilometers long. After each flight, a proper landing had to be performed. The engine had to be switched off. The landing had to be accurate within 150 meters.
Beese’s first exam almost ended in an accident. The engine failed after take-off. She immediately initiated the landing. She discovered the fuel tank had been sabotaged. Fuel had leaked. She did not report the incident. It was only mentioned in her autobiography. She re-registered for the exam when lessons were cancelled. On September 13, 1911, her 25th birthday, she flew the required circuits and figures. Before the other students arrived, she held pilot’s license number 115. She was the first woman in Germany to do so.
Melli Beese showed incredible courage. She paved the way for future generations of female pilots. Remember her determination. It serves as an example. Never give up on your dreams, no matter the obstacles.