Carola Lorenzini facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carola Lorenzini
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Lorenzini on the cover of magazine El Gráfico (September 1938)
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Carolina (Carola) Elena Lorenzini (born August 15, 1889 – died November 23, 1941) was a brave and pioneering Argentine aviator. She was one of the first women to fly airplanes in Argentina and became famous for her amazing flying skills.
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Early Life and Flying Dreams
Carola Lorenzini was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was the seventh of eight children in her family. As a young woman, she worked as a typist at a telephone company. Carola loved sports and enjoyed many activities like rowing, javelin throwing, athletics, and hockey.
In 1933, Carola decided to follow her dream of flying. She started taking flying lessons at the Aeroclub de Morón. The lessons were very expensive. To pay for them, she used all her savings and even sold her bicycle and encyclopedia.
A Record-Breaking Pilot
In March 1935, Carola earned her pilot's license. This was a huge achievement! In the same year, she broke a South American record. She flew her plane to an amazing height of 5,700 meters (about 18,700 feet).
Carola also won several flying races. She became very interested in advanced aerobatics, which are tricky and exciting flying moves. She took a special course to learn these skills. Carola became famous for her incredible ability to perform "inverted loops." This is a difficult maneuver where the plane flies in a loop upside down. Only one other pilot, her instructor Santiago Germanó, could do it as well as she could.
Exploring Argentina from the Sky
From 1938 to 1940, Carola Lorenzini took part in an important mission. She flew across all 14 provinces of Argentina. Her goal was to create aerial maps for transport and mail flights. She visited every town and city in the country, carefully marking her maps as she flew.
Because of this amazing journey, Carola became famous all over Argentina. In 1939, a magazine called Vosotras named her one of Argentina's eight women of the year. In 1940, she was even featured on the cover of El Grafico magazine, a very popular publication.
A Tragic End
On November 23, 1941, Carola Lorenzini was performing at an airshow in Morón. She was flying for a group of visiting aviators from Uruguay. Sadly, during her famous inverted loop, she lost control of her aircraft, a Focke-Wulf plane. The plane crashed, and Carola died immediately.
Reports later suggested that Carola was flying a plane she was not used to. She was also reportedly upset that day due to some problems with the event organizers.
Legacy
In 2001, the Argentine post office honored Carola Lorenzini. They issued a special postage stamp with her picture and name on it. This stamp celebrates her as a true pioneer in aviation.
See also
