I found this:

According to The Imperial Russian Air Service by Alan Durkota, et al,
Russia's second woman pilot, Princess Eugenie Shakhovskaya, was also the
world's first female combat pilot. She became interested in aviation on a
trip to Germany in 1911 and paid for her own flight lessons, learning to fly
the Wright Flyer at Johannisthal in Berlin. She received her pilot's
certificate on 16 August 1911.

In 1912, Princess Eugenie volunteered to serve as a recon pilot for the
Italians in the Tripolitan War but was refused. During the next two years,
she continued flying, narrowly escaping death in 1913 when a crash killed
her passenger and left her with a concussion.

When Russia declared war on Germany in 1914, the Princess wrote to the Czar
and requested assignment as a military pilot. Her request was granted and
she reported for duty in November 1914. As a Praporshik (Ensign), she was
posted to the Northwestern Front where she joined the 1st Field Air
Detachment as a recon pilot.

Unfortunately for the Princess, she was later charged with treason for
aiding the enemy and was scheduled to die in front of a firing squad.
Instead, she was sentenced to life in a convent thanks to the intervention
of the Czar. When she was freed during the revolution, she joined the Reds
and was later killed by them.

"Neil Hoskins" schreef in
bericht ...
Any idea what happened to her? Was she murdered by the Bolsheviks like
the rest of the royal family?

"Netko" wrote in message
x.com...
Specifically it's Russian Princess Evgenia Mikhailovna Shakhovskaya with
her
instructor Vsevolod Mikhailovich Abramovich. Abramovitch was killed in a
crash when he was instructing Shakhovskaya in 1913 (probably shortly
after
this picture was taken).

Princess Evgenia actually qualified in August 1911, making her Russia's
second female pilot. In November 1914 she became the first woman in the
world to fly as a military pilot (flying reconnaissance missions in the
Imperial Russian Air Service - one of several women to serve in that
role).

Abramovich worked for a German subsidiary of the Wright Brothers and then
designed the Abramovich Flyer shown in the picture.

To spice things up for those expecting a more racy picture, Shakhovskaya
was
reportedly a bit of a nymphomaniac.

The photograph is from the Library of Congress (hence it's snappy name).