Warbird Information Exchange

Anyone know anything about pilots - female - flying planes in the RAF in WW2?

Ive read a book today about ferry pilots- flying Spitfires, Typhoons, Hurricances and Bombers around the UK and Europe in WW2.

I didnt know until today the RAF did this - same as the WASPs in the USAAF.

Have any women from WW2 flown warbirds in last 20-30years i wonder??

Some were still flying civil planes in their 80s in the 1990s it seems.

Yes, there were a total of 162 women pilots, plus 4 flight engineers flying for the RAF under Pauline Gower. There were 29 American women who went over to fly for the ATA under Jackie Cochran, who was under P. Gower. One American was KIS, and several British gals were KIS, one quite famous. They were affectionately called "ATTA GIRLS".
Regards,
Hugh

All where heros,and some where pretty hot stuff..GGrrrrrowlll.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/f ... ge_id=1879

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Those who think it,s impossible should leave the ones doing it alone..
http://www.spitfireprojecta58-27.com/

I worked for an old guy back in the mid 70's, his name was Doug Brown, he told me that he had worked on the television series 12 O'Clock high, and the movie It's a Mad Mad Mad World. He told me once that he had flown a P-47 into a field after a long flight, and climbed down from the plane. His back teeth were floating, so standing beside the plane, he proceeds to water the pavement, when another P-47 taxi's up beside him, the canopy rolled back, and he sees the pilot, which is wearing a leather cap and flying goggles, wave at him. He said he gave a quick wave, and continued pissing away. The engine shuts down, and he hears a female voice say, "Well, I never got this kind of welcome here before" laughing Doug. The WASP had taken him by surprise. After 30 years (then) it was still funny to him.

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

This month's Aeroplane (I think) has a feature on the subject.

August

An interesting "comparison" between the the women of the ATA and the WASP......
Sisters in Arms - British & American Women Pilots During World War II by Helena Page Schrader

It's the first book I've read that is a direct side-by-side comparison of the two programs. I'm not sure that it's 100% spot on (some of the sources seem a bit muddled to me, and many things appear to have been taken out of context), but it makes for good reading!

Warning: If you're a huge Jacqueline Cochran fan, you may not like this one!!!

As someone else has said (not me) a great title for a book - The first two words alone will cause most of us here want to stop and browse it when you see it on the shop bookshelf.


Spitfire Women of World War II by Giles Whittell (Author)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spitfire-Women- ... 0007235356

Stumbled across this...interesting reading and pics:

http://www.airtransportaux.org/index.html

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

For those interested in WASP history I suggest "On Final Approach" by Byrd Howell Granger a WASP. The book provides a very readable history of the WASP, lots of anecdotes, both the authors and others, along with over 100 pages of reference material in the appendices.

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Greg

I tried to buy these books through that site and it seems a scam, it was issuing me a new Amazon credit card, I could not get it to use my old card.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

I'm not sure even a huge Jcakie Cochran fan should be miffed. She was known to be tempermental and bit unhinged at times (even yeager said so). You take the good with the bad, and she was an interesting lady! When are you going to set a speed record or something, beachy?

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

There were no female RAF pilots in W.W.II.

The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a civilian organisation formed to ferry aircraft and take that job off the RAF. The members of the ATA were both men and women, who were normally qualified pilots unable to join the RAF, either because they were women, or in the case of the men, for age, health or other reasons. The women were hot news topics at the time, and started off being only allowed to fly lighter trainer types, but they managed to bust that glass ceiling and by the wars' end were flying anything.

The men of the ATA, also brave and competent flyers have been generally overlooked in favour of the women in accounts. (Only one in eight of the ATA were women.) Men or women, the generally flew solo (in bombers and other multi engined types) and their briefing was a single card with the critical factors of the type noted on it. Given the German interdictions to the UK, British weather and just the crowded skies, it is no surprise that some were killed and there were a number of accidents. They did a tough job, well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transport_Auxiliary

There's some film footage of Jacqueline Cochran a 'girl'(!) on the www.britishpathe.com site.

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

The Originals: The Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron of World War II by Sarah Byrn Rickman is another very good read -- the story of the first WAFS, headed up by Nancy Harkness Love -- pre-WASP -- while Jackie Cochran was still in England with the ATA --

For the record, IMHO, Nancy Harkness Love has always been tremendously under-rated!!!!