Poised To Join Display Team That Flies The Antique Aircraft

Amanda Harrison of Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, U.K. has always loved airplanes, a love instilled by her father when she was just a young girl. Amanda took her first flying lesson at 14, left school at 15, and finally qualified for a pilot's license at 24.

Now, the Lancashire Evening Post reports that Harrison is the only female commercial pilot qualified to fly the Tiger Moth in the U.K.

The Tiger Moth is "easy to fly, but difficult to fly well," Harrison told the paper. After spending several years as an instructor, she was hired to fly the airplane for commercial bookings, an opportunity she accepted quickly.

Since then, she has taken part in the round-Britain Dawn to Dusk challenge, and hopes one day to recreate aviatrix Amy Johnson's 1930 flight from England to Australia in a Tiger Moth. And, she has been tapped to join the Tiger Moth air display team, a nine-person team Harrison describes as "the geriatric version of the Red Arrows", the RAF's jet demonstration team. Harrison will be the team's only female member.

She has also written a book called "Confessions of a Lady Pilot".

(Image from file)

FMI: http://tiger-9.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=featured&Itemid=435