Spitfire Women
Discussion
always thought the scariest bit was that they were flying a fighter plane hoping they didn't bump into the enemy ... given that not only weren't they trained it air-to-air combat, but they flew with the guns unloaded 
and they were sometimes delivering these planes directly to the front line in France!
and they were sometimes delivering these planes directly to the front line in France!
Gillet said:
I found the most amazing bit was that they didnt even get training on how to fly most of the planes, so they might jump from a Spitfire into a Lancaster Bomber and all they had for instructions was a little book, incredible stuff.
One of the ladies reading a log book, lists 4 different types of aircraft flown on one day, then 4 different types flown the next day. Sarcastic voice over "so it wasn't THAT busy then" Lady without batting an eyelid says "No a pretty quiet period" 
Meoricin said:
el stovey said:
tr7v8 said:
about the women delivery pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary. I didn't realise that 1 in 10 were lost,
They got lost? Flying was a dangerous game back then, and you have to remember those planes were not designed to be easy to handle for pilots without much type experience.
tr7v8 said:
Gillet said:
I found the most amazing bit was that they didnt even get training on how to fly most of the planes, so they might jump from a Spitfire into a Lancaster Bomber and all they had for instructions was a little book, incredible stuff.
One of the ladies reading a log book, lists 4 different types of aircraft flown on one day, then 4 different types flown the next day. Sarcastic voice over "so it wasn't THAT busy then" Lady without batting an eyelid says "No a pretty quiet period" My late uncle was based at Heston Airport during the war and was a spitfire mechanic.
I remember him telling me about a "wheels up" Spitfire landing of an aircraft that was being delivered, he said it was some of most amazing flying he had ever seen, there was apparently hardly any damage to the aircraft.
Not seen this yet, but looking forward to it.
I remember him telling me about a "wheels up" Spitfire landing of an aircraft that was being delivered, he said it was some of most amazing flying he had ever seen, there was apparently hardly any damage to the aircraft.
Not seen this yet, but looking forward to it.
Gillet said:
I found the most amazing bit was that they didnt even get training on how to fly most of the planes, so they might jump from a Spitfire into a Lancaster Bomber and all they had for instructions was a little book, incredible stuff.
That was the case for the men pilots too - especially those who flew single seat fighters. There were no two seat trainer Mustangs, Spitfires or Hurricanes in WW2.And don't forget that 90% of the ATA were male. They are beginning to be overlooked as the emphasis seems to be now on the female comntribution to the ATA.
Good documentary all the same - one of the best of the recent batch.
Riff Raff said:
One of the ladies said she had flown 80+ different types according to her log book. I wonder how many pilots today could say the same thing? Good programme, I thought.
Circumstances.There are delivery pilots around today who have impressive numbers of types in their log books.
Wacky Racer said:
Actually many Spitfire's were lost due to engine failure, due to the Merlin engines conking out, due to running over rich because the women pilots had a habit of hanging their handbags on the pull out choke lever.
This is one of the lesser known facts of WW2.
Watched a programme some time back about Charles Linbergh. During WWII, and despite never being in the air force, he was attached to a P38 squadron in the Far East, and from his experiences with long distant flight, he was able to produce a list of mixture settings that almost doubled the range of these escort fighters. In order to achieve this, he was allowed to fly combat missions even though he was a civilian.This is one of the lesser known facts of WW2.
Many "celebs" helped out during the war. Many were given honorary ranks in the military. I would guess that Lindberg was not given a rank (or declined to accept one) because of his pacifist and isolationist leanings.
He ended up being rescued from the Pacific when the B-17 he was a passenger in ditched.
He ended up being rescued from the Pacific when the B-17 he was a passenger in ditched.
Gassing Station | TV, Film, Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff