Jacqueline Auriol, 1956. (Association Amicale des Essais en Vol/CEV Brétigny)
14 June 1963: Jacqueline Marie-Thérèse Suzanne Douet Auriol flew an Avions Marcel Dassault Mirage III R (nº 307) over a 100 kilometer course near Istres, France, at an average of 2,038.70 kilometers per hour (1,266.79 miles per hour), setting a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world speed record.¹
Mme. Auriol broke the record set six weeks earlier by Jackie Cochran in a Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter. ²
Jacqueline Auriol (1917-2000), aviatrice française. Remise du Record international féminin (14 juin 1963) par Jacques Allez, directeur de l’Aéroclub de France. Paris, janvier 1964.
The Mirage III R is a single seat, single-engine, supersonic all-weather reconnaissance variant of the Mirage IIIE delta-winged fighter. The nose is modified to carry five cameras. Radar and weapons were deleted.
The Avions Marcel Dassault Mirage IIIE was 15,04 meters (49 feet, 4⅛ inches) long with a wingspan of 8,22 meters (26 feet, 11⅔ inches) and height of 4,45 meters (14 feet, 7⅕ inches). The interceptor’s empty weight was 7,050 kilograms (15,543 pounds), and maximum takeoff weight was 13,700 kilograms (30,203 pounds).
Dassault Mirage IIIE three-view illustration with dimensions. (Avions Marcel Dassault)
The aircraft flown by Jacqueline Auriol was powered by a Société nationale d’études et de construction de moteurs d’aviation (SNECMA) Atar 09C single shaft, axial-flow turbo-réacteur (turbojet engine) with afterburner. The engine used a 9-stage compressor section and 2-stage turbine. It was rated at 9,430 pounds of thrust (41.947 kilonewtons), and 13,669 pounds (60.803 kilonewtons) with afterburner. The Atar 09C was 5.900 meters (19 feet, 4.28 inches) long, 1.000 meters (3 feet, 3.37 inches) in diameter and weighed 1,456 kilograms (3,210 pounds).
The Dassault Mirage IIIE had a maximum speed of 2,350 kilometers per hour (1,460 miles per hour). Its service ceiling was 17,000 meters (55,774 feet), and its combat range was range 1,200 kilometers (746 miles).
Jacqueline Auriol flew this Dassault Mirage III R, nº 307, to an FAI world speed record of 2,038.70 km/h, 14 June 1963. (Archives Musée BA 102 – Collection particulière)
Amelia Earhart, Fred Noonan and a group of locals pose for photographs with the Electra at Assab, Eritrea, 14 June 1937. (Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections)
14 June 1937: Leg 17. From Massawa, Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan fly their Lockheed Electra 10E, NR16020, 246 nautical miles (283 statute miles/455 kilometers) down the coast of the Red Sea to Assab, Eritrea, to prepare for the next long flight to Karachi, India. They have the aircraft serviced and fueled then await the morning.
On Tuesday, June 14, we moved down the Red Sea from Masawa to Assab to prepare for the long flight along the Arabian coast to India. Assab was nearer our objective than Masawa, offered better take-off facilities, and as well we had a greater supply of 87 Octane gasoline spotted there. Eritrea stretches along the coast of the Red Sea for 670 miles. Our course took us about half that length. Soon we left behind the mountains that bordered the coast-line and bade farewell to everything that was green. Approaching Assab the coast became terribly barren beyond description. . . .
—Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E, NR16020, being serviced inside a hangar at Assab, Eritrea, 14 June 1937 (Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections)Great Circle route from Massawa to Assab, Eritrea, 246 Nautical miles (283 statute miles/455 kilometers). (Great Circle Mapper)
Adjutant Jean Pie Hyacinthe Paul Jérôme Casale, Aéronautique Militaire, circa 1917
14 June 1919: Sous Lieutenant Jean Pie Hyacinthe Paul Jérôme Casale took off from Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, to set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude. Flying a Nieuport-Delage chasseur (an aircraft type we now know as a fighter), he reached an altitude of 9,520 meters (31,234 feet). ¹ At that altitude, he was subjected to air temperatures of -50 °C. (-58 °F.). Casale landed at Villacoublay after a flight of approximately two hours.
Nieuport-Delâge Ni-D 29 C.1, s/n 12002, right front quarter view.
Casale’s chasseur was a Nieuport-Delâge Ni-D 29 C.1, a single-place, single-engine, two-bay biplane. The airplane was 6,50 meters (21.3255 feet) long with a wing span of 9,70 meters (31.8241 feet). The total wing area was 26,85 square meters (289.01099 square feet). The fighter had an empty weight of 740 kilograms (1,631.4 pounds) and gross weight of 1,100 kilograms (2425.085 pounds).
The airplane was powered by a water-cooled, turbosupercharged, 18.473 liter (1,127.29-cubic-inch displacement) right-hand tractor Hispano-Suiza 8Fb single overhead cam (SOHC) 90° V-8 engine. The engine was modified with the installation of a Rateau turbosupercharger to increase its output to more than 300 chaval vapeur. This was a direct-drive engine, and turned a two-bladed-fixed pitch propeller. The engine was 1.32 meters (4 feet, 4 inches) long, 0.89 meters (2 feet, 11 inches) wide, and 0.88 meters (2 feet, 10½ inches) high. It weighed 256 kilograms (564 pounds).
Engine cooling was provided by Lamblin cylindrical radiators mounted under the lower wing.
Nieuport-Delâge Ni-D 29 C.1, s/n 12002, right profile.
The standard airplane had a top speed of 230 kilometers per hour ( miles per hour), a range of 580 kilometers (360 miles) and a service ceiling of 8,500 meters (27,887 feet).
Nieuport-Delâge Ni-D 29 C.1, s/n 12002, right rear three-quarter view.
FLIGHT reported:
Pushing up World’s Height Record
Not satisfied with his height record of last week Lieut. Casole [sic] on June 14 took his Nieuport up to 10,100 metres (33,330 feet) during a flight from Villacoublay which lasted 1 hr. 55 mins. As in his previous flights, he used a Nieuport, fitted with a 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza motor. His previous highest was 9,500 metres (31,350 ft.) and not 51,350 ft., as a printer’s error made it appear in our last issue.
—FLIGHT & The AIRCRAFT ENGINEER, No. 547, Vol. XI, No. 25, 12 June 1919, Page 799, Column 1
Jean Pie Hyacinthe Paul Jérôme Casale was born 24 September 1893 at Olmeta-di-Tuta, Corsica. His mother died when he was 9 years old, and his father, also, when he was 15.
Casale attended Bastia high school. On 1 Oct 1913, he enlisted in French Army, assigned to 8th Regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval. He was wounded in combat, 19 Aug 1914. After recuperating, he volunteered for aviation, December 1914. On completion of flight training, on 20 April 1915, he was awarded military pilot certificate # 837.
Casale was then assigned to the 1st Aviation Group, 20 May, and was promoted to corporal 5 June 1915. He was again promoted to Sergeant, 21 August 1915. On 19 May 1916, Sergeant Casale was awarded the Médaille Militaire and promoted to Adjutant. He scored his fifth shootdown of an enemy aircraft on 10 December 1916. He was next promoted to Sous Lieutenant, 24 June 1917
During World War I, Sous Lieutenant Casale was credited with 13 victories in air combat. For his service, Casale was awarded the Croix de Guerre with 9 palms, and was appointed Chevalier de la légion d’honneur.
Sous Lieutenant Casale was killed 23 June 1923 when he crashed in the forest of Daméraucourt dans l’Oise.
14 June 1963: Jacqueline Marie-Thérèse Suzanne Douet Auriol flew an Avions Marcel Dassault Mirage III R (nº 307) over a 100 kilometer course near Istres, France, at an average of 2,038.70 kilometers per hour (1,266.79 miles per hour), setting a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world speed record.¹
The Mirage III R is a single seat, single-engine, supersonic all-weather reconnaissance variant of the Mirage IIIE delta-winged fighter. The nose is modified to carry five cameras. Radar and weapons were deleted.
The aircraft flown by Jacqueline Auriol was powered by a Société nationale d’études et de construction de moteurs d’aviation (SNECMA) Atar 09C single shaft, axial-flow turbo-réacteur (turbojet engine) with afterburner. The engine used a 9-stage compressor section and 2-stage turbine. It was rated at 9,430 pounds of thrust (41.947 kilonewtons), and 13,669 pounds (60.803 kilonewtons) with afterburner. The Atar 09C was 5.900 meters (19 feet, 4.28 inches) long, 1.000 meters (3 feet, 3.37 inches) in diameter and weighed 1,456 kilograms (3,210 pounds).
