Flew Spitfires And Hurricanes For The Transport Auxiliary During The War

During WWII, Great Britain established the Air Transport Auxiliary at White Waltham Airfield that ferried new, repaired or damaged aircraft between factories, assembly plants and delivery points. Many of the pilots who flew those planes were women.

On November 16, Joy Lofthouse, one of the last female pilots for the ATA passed away at her home in Cirencester at the age of 94.

According to the BBC, Lofthouse responded to an advertisement in a magazine encouraging for women to learn to fly in 1943. She joined the ATA, and became one of only 164 female pilots to fly for the service. They became known as the "Attagirls", according to the report.She trained at Thame in Oxfordshire, and learned to fly all types of single-place aircraft. But in an interview last year, Lofthouse said since she did not have a driving license, she found taxiing the airplanes more challenging than flying them.

Lofthouse said the initial training was nine days of map reading and 10 hours of flying before they were allowed to solo.

Lofthouse flew 18 different types of airplanes through her career with ATA, but said the Spitfire was her favorite. In 2015, she was giving one more opportunity to fly one of the iconic airplanes 70 years after the last flew one, according to the BBC.

She stopped flying after the war, and she said she missed it "dreadfully" at first. She was married twice, both times to pilots.

FMI: Original Report