Béatrice Vialle (born 4 August 1961 at

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...

) is a French

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, one of the two operational female

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

pilots and the first French female pilot on a

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

Biography

Graduating from ''

École nationale de l'aviation civile École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

'' (the French civil aviation university; named as " airline transport pilot student" 1981), she started her career at

Air Littoral Air Littoral was an airline based in France that operated from 1972 to 2004. The airline operated domestic services as well as a small amount of regional routes. The airline also operated feeder services on behalf of Air France. History Air ...

, flying an

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max Ho ...

. She moved to

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...

in 1985, where she flew an

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

and a

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

before becoming qualified on

, on 24 July 2000.31 mai 2003 Dernière boucle Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle -> Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle
She made her first commercial flight on the 19 November 2001 and so became one of the two female Concorde pilots (with the

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mo ...

Barbara Harmer Barbara Harmer (14 September 1953 – 20 February 2011) was the first qualified female Concorde pilot. Early life Born in Staples Road, Loughton, Essex, the youngest of four daughters, she was raised in Bognor Regis, a seaside resort in W ...

) and the first French female pilot on a

. (Frenchwoman

Jacqueline Auriol Jacqueline Auriol (5 November 1917, Challans, Vendée – 11 February 2000) was a French aviator who set several world speed records. Biography Born in Challans, Vendée, the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder, Edmond Pierre Douet, she graduate ...

was the first woman who flew Concorde, but this was as a

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

.) In total Vialle made 45 supersonic flights

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and 3 trips above the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. After the end of her Concorde flights (31 May 2003), she became a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

flying

Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeting ...

Bibliography

* Académie nationale de l'air et de l'espace, ''Les français du ciel, dictionnaire historique'', 2005, Le Cherche midi éditeur, 782p., p. 518, ''VIALLE, Béatrice'', * Who's Who in France, 2012, 2307 p., notice « Vialle, Béatrice »,

References

1961 births French aviators École nationale de l'aviation civile alumni Concorde pilots Living people French women aviators Women commercial aviators {{aviation-bio-stub