Beatrix grew up with a passion for speed and danger, and was an excellent horsewoman, taking her horses with her on her travels through what was then called the Dutch East Indies.

Her mother Henriëtte did not approve of her daughter's youthful impetuosity, so de Rijk left for Paris with her inheritance.

[4] She later described the Hanriot machine she flew in as no more than "some slats with a lot of tension wires, some aeroplane dust and a weak little engine", in which she sat "without any shelter with a threatening fuel tank above her head and no floor, but a fathomless depth under the flying seat".

[3] On 8 September 1911, she took and passed her flying tests, including an altitude flight of 100 metres and on 6 October 1911, she received Pilot Licence No.

"[4] De Rijk became a member of the Aéroclub féminin la Stella, a women's flying club set up by Marie Surcouf in 1909.

[3] When the First World War broke out in 1914, de Rijk offered her services as a pilot to the French government, but they turned her down and instructed her to leave the country as a foreign national.

Two years later, Johannes van Staveren managed to get a job as a planter in the Dutch East Indies and the couple settled in Alur Gading in Atjeh, Sumatra, with Jan, her son from her first marriage.

[3][4] Beatrix de Rijk tried to travel to Abyssinia at the end of 1935 to fight as a pilot against the Italian invaders but this plan came to naught.

[3][4] In 1948 de Rijk and other aviation pioneers were invited as guests of honour to attend the flying celebration to mark the 40th anniversary of the Royal Dutch Airline Association.

The Koninklijke Nederlandse Vereniging voor Luchtvaart (Royal Dutch Airline Association) were horrified to discover this and launched an aid campaign for he so that people could send belongings to the Avia, their official journal in The Hague in support of de Rijk or donate via a special giro account under the slogan "Help Beatrix de Rijk".

[3][7] Some of Beatrix de Rijk's documents, including her pilot's licence and some notes, were preserved when they ended up in the possession of Wilhelm Teuben (1928–1985), a First Lieutenant in the air force and a collector.