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Effat Tejaratchi

Pioneering as the first female pilot in Iran
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Effat Tejaratchi was the first Iranian woman aviator. She was the first Iranian woman to fly an airplane.

Reza Shah Pahlavi ordered the founding of the Iranian Aero Club (Nowadays: Civil Aviation Technology College) in 1939. Effat Tejaratchi, who at the age of 22 had a burning desire to fly, was the first to join the club. She became the first Iranian woman to earn a pilot licence in 1940.

In 1939, a group of 9 women enrolled in pilot training program in Iran. In 1940, Tejaratchi became the first to be given a pilot license. She trained with Tiger Moth aircraft.

Tejaratchi joined the Iranian Aero Club and became the first woman volunteer.

On November 18, 1940, she took her first independent flight which lasted for 15 minutes. In September 1941, due to political turmoil the club was closed. At that time, she was training. During her later years, she wrote poems and published them in a book in 1958.

When World War II ended, she returned to flying. The Iranian Royal Air Force hired her as a flight officer and until a short time before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, she served as the director of Aero Club.

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