Donatella Ricci

Ricci graduated from Sapienza University of Rome with a PhD in astrophysics, and completed internships research on black holes at Goddard Space Flight Center, California, USA. At young age Ricci developed interest for flight. Enchanted by hot-air balloons, she soon trains in the Italian Alps Mondovì, where international Hot air balloon festival is held every year. While her professional career unfolded in the aerospace industry, Ricci cultivated her passion for flight and became PR Chairlady of Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, and the first female president of the Italian Hot-Air Balloon Association, and in 2001 all the way towards space when she was one of the first Italian female candidates to reach the final selections for astronauts of the European Space Agency (ESA). One of her colleagues became an astronaut.

Nevertheless, her desire to make the dream of flying accessible to an ever-larger number of women, made Ricci the founder of FlyDonna, an international meeting for women working in aviation and aerospace industry, held in Italy. Flydonna joined the Federation of European Women Pilots, founded in Rome in 1995. She was also president of Associazione Donne dell' Aria (Assoc. Women of the Air).

Currently Ricci is Leonardo S.p.A. helicopter division program manager, near Venice; cultivates her passion for flight and promotes its benefits on occasion of public appearances and at the flight school where she is a flight trainer.

Ricci is a speaker and has written a book about her achievement World Record for a Gyroplane: 27,556 feet above the ground [1] Donatella Ricci (author), Samantha Cristoforetti (foreword).

With her book, Ricci wishes her experience and accomplishments to be of benefit for flight enthusiasts and pilots alike.[2] During the months-long preparation and testing, many were the questions she had to find answers to, as she was preparing for a journey with a standard gyroplane MagniGyro M16 at altitudes never attempted.

For remarkable flying achievements in General Aviation, obtaining engineering advancements and important insights on life support systems in exceptional conditions, Donatella Ricci has been awarded by prestigious institutions

• Royal Aeronautical Society[3] Specialist Award
• Honourable Company of Air Pilots[4] Myles Bickerton Trophy

Near Jesolo and Venice, from Caposile airfield flying a MagniGyro M16 gyroplane, Donatella Ricci sets a total of nine world records in one flight as per Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.[5]