Eight of the BWPA’s most inspirational members
Many remarkable women have made the BWPA the wonderful organisation it is today. From our founding members in 1955 to the record-breakers of more recent years, the BWPA’s history is filled with inspiring role models whose trailblazing legacy continues to inspire our members today. Let’s throw the spotlight on just eight of them…
1. Lettice Curtis
Founding member Lettice Curtis (left) needs no introduction!
Lettice learned to fly in 1937 at Yapton Flying Club in West Sussex, and three years later she was one of the first women to enlist in the Air Transport Auxiliary, with whom she flew for the rest of the war. Initially delivering Tiger Moths – used as training aircraft – she went on to become the first female pilot to deliver a Lancaster Bomber. By 1942, she had already flown 90 types.
After the war she worked as a flight test observer and technician at Boscombe Down and then as a senior flight development engineer for Fairey Aviation, later working for the Civil Aviation Authority. Alongside this she was a prominent figure on the air racing scene, flying her own Wicko and a Spitfire, among others! She also qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1992.
A truly inspirational woman, Lettice continues to be a role model long after her death at the grand old age of 99 in 2014.
2. Freydis Sharland
The BWPA’s founding chairwoman Freydis Sharland learned to fly in 1937 after insisting on being given the same chance as her father and brother – they all learned to fly at the same time, at Marshall Flying School in Cambridge.
During the war Freydis joined the Air Transport Auxiliary, taking her total flying hours from 26 hours and 10 minutes to over 607 hours by the end of the war. During that time, she flew types as diverse as the Spitfire, Wellington Bomber and Mosquito.
After the war Freydis gained her commercial licence and flew a Hawker Tempest V on an epic 4,000-mile journey to Karachi. When she got there, the fact that she was a woman meant she was unable to use the Officers’ mess!
In 1949 Freydis joined the Women’s RAF Volunteer Reserve, going on to become one of the first women to gain RAF wings. She also became the British Air Racing Champion in 1954, and a year later founded the BWPA as our first Chairwoman!
Truly someone who broke barriers for women in aviation, Freydis’s legacy lives on in the work the BWPA continues to do to support women of all walks of life on their aviation journey. In May this year, we were proud to be present when the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board unveiled a plaque commemorating Freydis’s life at her cottage in Oxfordshire.
3. Yvonne Pope Sintes
The BWPA’s co-founder Yvonne Pope Sintes made history twice during her career – first as Gatwick’s first female air traffic controller, and then as Britain’s first female commercial airline captain.
Growing up a keen reader of the Biggles books, Yvonne was turned down by the RAF, who weren’t taking female pilots at the time. Instead, she initially pursued her interest in aviation by getting a job as cabin crew for BOAC, which had its own flying club teaching staff members to fly. She gained her Private Pilot Licence (PPL) in 1952, and went on to become a flight instructor a year later at Denham, as well as joining the RAF Volunteer Reserve.
In 1960, Yvonne was one of two BWPA members accepted by the Ministry of Aviation to train as air traffic controllers, going on to run the tower at Bournemouth and then moving to Gatwick.
However, her dream of becoming an airline pilot continued, and in 1965 she joined Morton Air Services as a pilot. Freight flights soon gave way to passenger flights, and by 1969 she had moved over to the De Havilland Comet with Dan-Air.
Yvonne became Britain’s first female commercial airline captain on the Avro 748 before moving to the BAC 1-11, making her the first female jet airliner captain. As if her achievements weren’t already impressive enough, in 1974, she also captained the first UK flight with an all-female crew.
4. Sheila Scott OBE
BWPA member Sheila Scott OBE was a true pioneer, not just for women in aviation, but for aviation full stop!
Sheila learned to fly at Thruxton in 1958, and after a few years flying her Thruxton Jackaroo she bought the Piper Comanche in which she’d go on to set an incredible 90 world records. Adding in her achievements in other aircraft brings her total world records to 104.
Sheila completed several solo round-the-world flights including a record-breaking 34,000-mile ‘world and a half’ flight in 1971, during which she also became the first person to fly over the North Pole in a light aircraft.
Among the many awards she received for her achievements, Sheila was appointed as an OBE in 1968. The previous year, she had won the Harmon Trophy for setting a new light aircraft speed record after flying 28,633 miles in 33 days and 3 minutes, solo.
5. Diana Barnato Walker MBE
Diana Barnato Walker MBE is famous for being the first British woman to break the sound barrier. She learned to fly in 1938, aged 20, on Tiger Moths at Brooklands Flying Club in Surrey, going solo after just six hours of instruction.
Like many of her aviatrix contemporaries, she went on to serve in the Air Transport Auxiliary during the war. By the end of it, she’d delivered 260 Spitfires and flown 79 other types, ranging from fighter aircraft such as Hurricanes and Mustangs to twin-engined bombers such as Wellingtons and Blenheims. She usually flew these solo!
Diana gained her commercial licence after the war and spent many years volunteering with the Women’s Junior Air Corps, taking teenage girls on experience flights to encourage them into aviation.
Her most famous flight happened in 1963, when she flew an English Electric Lightning T4 to Mach 1.65, becoming the first British woman to break the sound barrier and setting a world air speed record for women.
Awarded the MBE two years later for services to aviation, Diana was also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
6. Polly Vacher MBE
BWPA friend and former member Polly Vacher MBE was the first pilot to fly around the world via both Poles.
Polly learned to fly aged 50, and in 2001 flew around the world in her Piper Cherokee Dakota, the smallest aircraft piloted solo by a woman around the world via Australia. The flight featured a 16-hour leg from Hawaii to California and raised money for Flying Scholarships for Disabled People, earning her an MBE for services to charity.
Two years later Polly set off on another solo circumnavigation, this time via the Poles, a record-breaking flight that raised money for the same charity. In 2007, she took to the skies for a final challenge, this time closer to home, landing at all 221 UK airfields listed in the Jeppesen VFR Manual and taking 96 disabled people flying along the way.
Sadly Polly can no longer fly following complications from an eye operation, but her contributions towards aviation continue to inspire BWPA members today, and her charity fundraising efforts continue with the help of the pair of donkeys who’ve helped her come to terms with being unable to fly.
7. Naomi Christy
Naomi Christy was the BWPA’s first president, a record-breaking glider pilot and all-round top female aviator.
Naomi took up gliding at the Phoenix Gliding Club at RAF Brüggen in Germany at the age of 50. She’d just been promoted in the Women’s Royal Army Corps to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel – the third highest rank available – which came with a posting to the British Army of the Rhine Headquarters.
It wasn’t long before Naomi was instructing, flying from scenic Zell am See in the Austrian Alps. She continued gliding on being posted to Northern Ireland, and in 1962 broke the Northern Ireland gliding altitude record by over 4,000 ft, reaching 9,500 ft. Three years later she joined the Army Gliding Team and became the first woman to compete in the Inter-Services Regional Gliding Competition at RAF Bicester.
As well as spending 20 years gliding instructing, Naomi also gained her PPL and spent most of her power flying hours aerotowing in Chipmunks, allegedly recording over 3,700 aerotows! On retiring from military service in 1968, she spent the next 15 years as Development Officer for the British Gliding Association, which also saw her travelling to the US and gaining her American gliding licence. Her dedication helped gliding clubs gain funding from the Sports Council for site development.
Naomi gives her name to our Naomi Christy Cup, awarded to a female British pilot for an achievement beyond her wildest dreams.
8. Jennifer Murray
Jennifer Murray holds a Guinness World Record for being the first woman to have circumnavigated the world in a helicopter, firstly with her instructor (Quentin Smith of HQ Aviation) in 1997 and then solo three years later. These achievements also made her the first person to fly around the world in a piston-engined helicopter, and to do so without an autopilot.
Jennifer undertook both trips in a Robinson R44, and in 2007 she and her co-pilot, Colin Bodill, then completed a polar circumnavigation in a Bell B407 helicopter after surviving a near-fatal crash in Antarctica during an earlier attempt.
Jennifer’s achievements are made all the more remarkable by the fact that she only started flying at the age of 54, her husband having bought a helicopter and told her that he didn’t have time to learn to fly it so she had better do so.
We don’t all have to be record-breakers, but in the inspirational women who’ve joined the ranks of the BWPA over the decades we’re certainly not short of wonderful role models!
Rachel Ramsay
