"When women flew Spitfires" Topic

"A female reader of Aeroplane magazine labelled them "disgusting!". A "menace", declared the editor himself. They were writing, at the beginning of the Second World War, about women who wanted to fly combat aircraft – and the RAF's top brass shared their revulsion.

All were made to look out of touch soon enough. By January 1940 a select group of women pilots was being trained by civilian instructors to fly RAF Tiger Moths from factories to front line bases in order to release male pilots for combat. By 1941, women were taking to the skies in Spitfires.

These were the "ATA girls", the heroines of the Air Transport Auxiliary. They never flew in combat, but they ferried aircraft throughout Britain until VE Day and beyond. Their success in persuading the RAF that its aircraft were not the preserve of men was one of the more civilised upheavals of the war and it started, appropriately, over lunch…."
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Amicalement
Armand

There was a US equivalent. My mother nearly tried to join that as she was a pilot. She decided not to because her navigational skills were really awful :)

They never flew in combat,

True, although some were apparently attacked while ferrying unarmed aircraft….does it count as combat if one side is ferrying unarmed aircraft?

Definitely brave women at the cutting edge of breaking gender stereotypes.

Agree!.

Amicalement
Armand

if someone shoots at you, it's combat!

You do NOT have to be armed… And I'd really hope that someone would have 'politely suggested' that future ferry flights be armed.