Captain Lucy Lúpia

1rst. Airline Transport Pilot
1rst. Senior Commercial Pilot




    She was born on September 07, 1932, in the neighborhood known as Grajaú, in Rio de Janeiro. Her parents Edmundo Pereira Balthazar and Martinha Pinel Balthazar had four children. She liked excursions and mountain climbing since her youth, but she changed to another passion: flying.

As a graduate in Pharmacy at Rio de Janeiro Federal University, she worked in the Servidores Hospital. In 1967, she visited Nova Iguaçú Air club, with her husband Sieghardt, now deceased, and decided to take the pilot training course. Initially, her intention was to fly only as a hobby. However, the passion grew up and her mind had so many ideas, like for example, work in a professional job and joining two interests: get money and use it for a career in the aviation area.

In only 3 months, she was approved as physically apt to fly, passing the practical and theoretical tests. She received then the private pilot license. She continued doing her training in the Air Club until completing the 200 hours required to take tests again in order to become a commercial pilot. The new step was achieved, totalling 250 hours of flight, being 40 of navigation (trips), to become a basic pilot instructor. She took theoretical and practical tests in two different airplanes. The flight maneuvers were in a Paulistinha P-56 and Fairchild PT-19, with some aerobatics. There was a contract promise with the Livre de Aviação School, but it did not happen because that school closed its activities.

Now she was qualified to work as a commercial pilot and flight instructor, and she started to look for a job. She did not imagine her search for achievements would be suffered to reach her objectives. It began a big battle caused by preconceptions and suffered personal persecutions. The aviation market was always competitive between men. A pilot woman would be a threat, besides the taboo, it would have a risk of new competitors in the future: the airwoman.

In 1973, there were theoretical and physical tests for helicopter pilot, being the first woman to be approved at the private and commercial categories. As she could not pay the flight hours required for the practical examination, because they were so expensive, she lost this option to look for a job. She had received the promise from a company to finance the flying hours and she would pay through flights later, but they did not honored the agreement.

She flew as a free lancer in many companies, such as Pluma Táxi Aéreo, located in Rio de Janeiro and others in São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Brasilia. In July 8th 1970, the Construtora Brasil (located in Belo Horizonte) had a Twin engine Bonanza, and she did her first commercial flight with Captain Dornelles. She was basic pilot instructor in Nova Iguaçú Air Club in 1973 before being contracted by Lider Táxi Aéreo, pending the approval, at that time, of NUISO. This important company had airplane and helicopters. She worked there for two years, getting a good experience due to the frequency of flights.

In 1975, she started work with Top Táxi Aéreo completing the requirements to get an ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) license. She did the tests at CEMAL (Medical Certificate) in 1973, the theoretical in the following year and the practical in 1976. She did not receive the right license card, but the senior commercial pilot, of inferior category, because the legislation changed during her training, with retroactivity, this fact hurt too much her career. Everything became difficult when she left TOP Táxi Aéreo, which changed for RIOSUL Transportes Aéreos Regionais, some months before her leaving. She flew as Captain at the Companhia da Usina do Outeiro (Sugar Mill Company) from Campos.

She took a ground course in Embraer, in São José dos Campos and became the first Bandeirante's Captain. The difficulties of this company were so big, because there were sympathizers and opponent people within the proper directory.

She married again in 1981, when she started the lawyer course, with the objective to know better the laws in order to get her license of airline (ATP) pilot.

Until 1994, she was updated with technical habilitation, at times she rented planes to revalidate it, but it became financially impractical.

In January 2000, she received the Airline Pilot License for which fought to 24 years. Such license is the first to be granted to a woman in Latin America.

***

She flew in 16 different single-engine and 18 twin-engine airplanes, and a helix-turbo "Bandeirante" (EMB-110). She ferried from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, and vice versa, many DAC's (Department of Civil Aviation) airplanes. One of them, the Ypiranga PP-TJR, made her final trip, because the destination was the Aero Space Museum, situated in Campo dos Afonsos (Rio de Janeiro), where she is exposed.

She flew also a 13-ton jet - the Sabreliner prefix N75-A assisted by captain James Bruce, test pilot for Rockwell International, Saint Louis, Missouri (U.S.A) in May 1976. The flight she commanded was between Rio de Janeiro-São José dos Campos and it had as passengers, the whole Top Táxi Aéreo directory.

She continues attending the aeronautic parties opened to the public, as Fairs, Expositions and maintains permanent contact with the aviation colleagues at the airports.

She wrote books telling her professional experiences and, also the biography of her French great-great-grandfather, Doctor Philippe Pinel, considered the "Modern Psychiatry Father". She exposed her literary works at BIENAL, in May 2001 and in 2003, in Riocentro (Rio de Janeiro).

***

Licenses
Nr.
Year
Private Pilot
12.923
1968
Commercial Pilot
3.046
1970
Basic Pilot Instructor
11
1973
Senior Commercial Pilot
89
1976
Airline Transport Pilot
2086
1976


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

O Avião-Em Juiz de Fora e Acolá
By journalist and aviator Adail de Oliveira
Ed. 1996
Anjos ou Milagres
By Captain Alcides Pelacani
Ed. 2001
Diário de Bordo
By Captain Paulo Garcia de Paiva
Ed. 2004
The 100 greatest women in aviation
By Liz Moscrop and Sanjay Rampal
Ed. 2008
The Conquistadors of the Sky -
A History of Aviation in Latin America -
by Dan Hagedorn
Ed. 2008
Ada Rogato - by Lucita Briza Ed. 2011


***


Newspapers
A Notí­cia July 03, 1968
O Globo November 19, 1969
Jornal O Povo October 27, 1970
Jornal Gil Brandão


March 28, 1971

Jornal do Brasil


November 27, 1973

Jornal da Aviação


Jannuary, 1974

O Globo


March 10, 1974

Folha de São Paulo


July 21, 1975

Jornal do Comércio


May 29, 1976

O Globo


June 13, 1976

O Dia


November 14, 1977

A Bússola


January, 1978

Opinião Pública


January 05, 1979

O Globo


July 23, 1979

Tribuna da Imprensa


January 27, 1980

O Globo


March 28, 1982

O Globo


August 05, 1984

O Globo


August 09, 1985

Folha de São Paulo


March 26, 1987

Jornal do Brasil


August 29, 1992

Jornal do Pará ( M.G. )


February, 1998

O Globo


July 08, 2000

Jornal da ABORJ


December 12, 2006



***


Magazines
Fatos e Fotos July 23, 1970
O Cruzeiro March 03, 1971
Fatos e Fotos December 07, 1973
Nova


January 25, 1973

Aeronáutica Magazine


September, 1975

Manchete


June 19, 1976

Veja


November 23, 1977

Fatos e Fotos


January 16, 1978

Desfile


June, 1979

Você


Number 04, 1980

Mulher


March, 1981

Aviação em Revista


Nov./ Dec., 1983

Manchete


September 01, 1984

Revista Embraer

Number 43, 1977

Veja


August 21, 1985

Plano de Voo ( Líder Taxi Aéreo )

Number 12, 2003

Notícias GOODYEAR


October 2008

Notícias GOODYEAR


June, 2010



***


Radios
Rádio Globo
Programa Haroldo de Andrade
October 17, 1978
Rádio Nacional
Programa Cidinha Livre
March 08, 1979
Rádio Globo
Programa Paulo Giovanni
January 28, 1980
Rádio Naconal
Programa Dayse Lúcidi


November 11, 1983

Rádio Tupi
Programa Antonio Carlos


August 16, 1984

Rádio Ministerio da Educação e Cultura
Programa Espaço Aberto


April 17, 1985

Rádio Bandeirantes
Aviação em Revista


December 03, 1988

Rádio Globo
Programa Haroldo de Andrade


March 08, 1991



***


TVs
Globo Repórter - Tv Globo 1970
Buzina do Chacrinha - Tv Globo 1971
Bibi ao Vivo - Tv Tupi 1971
Clube dos Artistas - Tv Tupi


1974

Mauro Montalvão - Tv Tupi


1975

Fantástico - Tv Globo


June 27, 1976

Brasil 77 - Tv Educativa


1977

Edna Savaget - Tv Bandeirantes


1978

Jornal Hoje - Tv Globo


May 01, 1979

Aqui e Agora - Tv Tupi


January 29, 1980

Neila Tavares - Tv Manchete


May 31, 1984

Jornal Tv Rio - Tv Rio


May 25, 1988

Tv Educativa


August 21, 1992

Sem Censura - Tv Educativa


October 05, 1996

Aero Magazine - Rede Tv


December 11, 2005

Tv Senado


March 03, 2006

Tv Brasil - De Lá Pra Cá


Oct. 28, 2011

Tv Brasil - Caminhos da Reportagem


Dec. 22, 2011



Vídeos
Fantástico - TV Globo


June 27, 1976

Aeromagazine


December 11, 2005

TV Senado


March 03, 2006



***


Movies
Jornal da Tela - Atlântida Cinematográfica


1972 / 1973



***
Web
http://www.aviacaoexperimental.pro.br/
http://aviacaopaulista.com/entrevista/com_lucy/index.htm
http://www.mulher500.org.br/acervo/
http://www.webasas.com.br/
http://br.nget.com/Lazer/Aviacao/index.html
http://bandeirante40anos.blogspot.com/
http://www.aeroplanadores.com/indexuno.htm
http://fotolog.terra.com.br/iguacuantigo:54
http://worldtv.com/
http://www.velhosamigos.com.br/Foco/lucypinel.html
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Lupia
http://intl.feedfury.com
http://www.earlyaviators.com/emarzo.html
http://www.semlimites.com.br
http://www.overmundo.com.br
http://www.meioaereao.dihit.com.br
http://blog.ftc.br/cienciasaeronauticas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wiz_gYIueXo