Luise Hoffmann

Luise Hoffmann (8 July 1910 – 27 November 1935) was a German aviator. She was the first woman test pilot in Germany, and possibly in Europe.

Biography

Hoffmann was born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and began learning to fly at the age of 17. By the time she was 19, she was demonstrating aerobatics in her own biplane at air shows.

Hoffmann worked as a test pilot for the Bücker Flugzeugbau company. She carried out test flights of newly built Bücker 131 Jungmann aircraft and also demonstrated Bücker aircraft abroad. In 1935 she was the first pilot to fly the prototype of the Bücker 133 Jungmeister single-seat aerobatic and training aircraft.

On November 2, 1935 she was returning from demonstration flights in Turkey and Greece when she encountered bad weather near Vienna, crashed and was burned badly. She later died from her injuries.