Ursula Bühler Hedinger

Ursula Bühler Hedinger (born June 20, 1943 in Zurich ; † January 3, 2009 there ) was a Swiss aviation pioneer. She was the first woman from Switzerland to hold a license to fly a jet. She was also the first Swiss flight instructor. She flew for the Swiss Air Rescue Service (REGA) for over 25 years . She also earned a reputation as an acrobatic pilot.

Life

Ursula Bühler was born in Zurich in 1943. Her father was the entrepreneur Fritz Bühler . She grew up with her brother two years her senior. When she was five years old, her mother had a serious accident and became physically disabled. When she was 13 years old, her mother died. After her mother's death, Ursula Bühler ran away from home for the first time. She hitchhiked across Europe. At the age of 16, she hired a freighter as a cleaning assistant and drove to America. This journey shaped her and she decided to become a navigator . Back in Switzerland, she applied unsuccessfully to Swissair . She trained as a chemical laboratory technician until she was hired by the airline as a stewardess . During this time she started flying in Basel . Although she lacked the financial means, she took flying lessons and passed the private pilot examination, but she wanted to become a commercial pilot. Her father, who had meanwhile become a manager at REGA, first refused her request for financial support. Later he changed his mind and helped her to obtain a professional pilot's license.

In 1968 Ursula Bühler again applied unsuccessfully as a pilot at Swissair. She became an acrobatics pilot and flight instructor. She married one of her first flight students, Hans Hedinger, in 1970. In 1973, REGA bought its first jet-powered aircraft, a Learjet . Together with her father, she transported the machine from the USA to Switzerland. For more than 25 years, she transported people who had had an accident or were seriously ill from abroad to Switzerland. In her life she flew to over 2000 airfields all over the world without accidents.

With her husband Hans Hedinger she had two children, a son and a daughter. The son worked as a flight engineer at Swissair.

Ursula Bühler Hedinger died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 66.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Barbara Vonarburg, Beat Glogger : It rests on cloud nine . Knowledge magazine higgs , December 9, 2018; accessed May 31, 2020.
2. ↑ Patricia Andrighetto: Foreword to issue 2/2009 of AeroRevue ; accessed May 31, 2020.
3. ↑ Marina Villa, interview with Ursula Bühler: Ursula Bühler Hedinger - Switzerland's first female jet pilot , SRF , November 5, 2007; called May 31, 2020.