The first woman to take part in an aerial combat mission

Rayna Vasileva Kasabova (1 July 1897–25 May 1969) was a Bulgarian nurse, known as the first woman in the world to take part in a combat flight. Born in Karlovo, she completed a first-aid nursing course in 1912.
During the Balkan War, Rayna served as a volunteer nurse at the First Mobile Field Hospital near Adrianople. On 30 October 1912, she became the first woman in the world to participate in a combat flight, flying as a pilot-observer in a Voisin aircraft over Adrianople with commander Second Lieutenant Stefan Kalinov and mechanic Iliya Mladenov. The flight lasted 43 minutes, during which she dropped leaflets calling for an end to the bloodshed over enemy positions in Adrianople.
Rayna Kasabova died in Sofia on 25 May 1969. In 2009, a glacier in Antarctica was named after her in her honour.