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U ‘ p s < www.northumberlandtoday.com | m uk â€" i N _ Local News I | sive British badge of honour | t L $J ons © Bm 7 | The women pilots _ soon | . se / * ~1 j demonstrated their capabilities. _ RL P Ts : JR _ More women were welcomed into | sMM &t â€"""é"':ls o fls the ATA â€" and some were TA 4 t PBh «> e M w | promoted to flying the more | | s § oJ e 4 advanced aircraft such as the | es at ‘i,_;‘!' e . & WReZ * fourâ€"engine bombers., | i. ~*At% ~â€" & @vw is During the course of the war, i Jn \ s .~_ _ 2M over 1,300 pilots, including 166 k / M f . ; flls women, from 22 countries served . S | . b 8 ~~ Cl fi with the ATA, delivering over A k t P = : We 308,000 aircraft of 147 types. ATA , s ‘x,\ pools also included support s j ; \ se F W O WW personnel such as instructors, } y P e > 7 B aircraft engineers, medical and P e t C a* At “ ]|_administrative staff. Individuals , "’t: Py P Te MarAid serving in these capacities are f M tE < PssE s ERST WA â€" also to be honoured. ‘ Re~. _ile 4 dfgpcre i. is& According to recent articles in f %’ 1¢" ty 1 % ‘;;J‘.-â€"'.,;;‘-.,. the British press, the ATA z’ w ho db WR consisted of "old World War I | k We e *) pilots, injured airmen and wellâ€"toâ€" 7 | ‘ F e o do women who had private fly'?g _ 3 m â€"Â¥. * . ~Ay3 experience". Not soâ€" the ; froome., 3e3 Tye a â€" l | Canadians! Most worked long s j Proro ay Mahov Marzn hours to finance their fly'mg. Author and pilot Marilyn Dicksonâ€"nominated Vi Milstead Warren for the Vi Milstead worked in her f | Qrder‘of Canada. Ms. Dickson accompanied Ms. Warren to the Ottawa â€" mother‘s wool shop to pay for investiture Oct: 30, 2004. flying lessons. . After she industrial smog. and barrage airplanes were urgently required,. COmpleted PFrivate «_ and B balloons installed to deter enemy Alrlg’lw chit indicated thg pilot Commercial . licenses _ her . aircraft. There was also the _ was to wait with the aircraft from 1Dstructor, . Pat Patterson ‘possibility of enemy aircraft dawn until dusk so he or she ©NCouraged her to become an & * skulking above, looking for would be ready to take off without INStructor at his Barker Field targets. Navigating around delay as soon as the weather flying school. . Most male ... _ * Britain using its maze of railway improved and get the aircraft to !MStructors were leaving to join > tracks and roads, none straight, its destination as soon as was gtl:yA“ Force. He knew Vi would h bresented another challenge. Few humanly possible. Yet, by trying f s planes had radios and even if they o fly in very challenging weather hn aIWhen.f‘%el rationing brought a * did, pilots were required to conditions, they would risk NAlt to civil aviation in late 1942, I maintain radio silence and not completely losing the plane, and Vl;‘ad Io}%ged about 1,000 hours attract enemy attention, possibly a wellâ€"qualified pilot. ta‘lln taug .tlmfany young men to ;, Another potential danger There is a commonly held R(%A?vgia of whom jJoined the â€" involved pilots who belief that ATA pilots, ons ‘?‘.nam;lged to continue R overestimated their abilities in particularly women, . ferried tg fi,l?xo.ml‘?glt e ATA. She left poor conditions. They were planes across the Atlantic. Not so! 8 j in Ou y 1945 with the supposed to stay below clouds and Canadian and American built Iz;ank-o First dl?ff}fcet‘ and over 600 s â€" â€"_ were not to fly unless clouds were â€" aircraft were delivered to Britain ai(1)~ g;:fton 46 di crent types of at least 800 ft above ground andâ€" by a different organization, RAF es mal e visibility was at least 2,000 yards Ferry Command, On occasion, _ Foll_tovvlrtl_g the W;‘r . Vi returned £ _(slightly less than one nautical Canadian and American ATA C° mfi r,ucf.mtg an SOOfil\vbfiCf{me * mile). Current Canadian weather pilots who came home on leave :’.‘?};’ 1‘3.5 klr? }§V Ollzla[il' Ush pilot e minima are roughly double these . were able to hitch a ride back to g“ db 1cve_ oelt Altways in standards in â€" uncontrolledâ€" Britain via aircraft rather than . .ur%f. ;nfo(gvlllf retired and & airspace and even higher in spend several days on a ship. As gsjilj?sldeaq o C & gljne‘ 2 controlled airspace, civilians, they were designated as feas d(')n a mfile_ a_rgl fi‘n Wc}men, . ATA pilots authorized their â€" Coâ€"Pilot or Third Officer in order New? 4 dgl &)13 5 3u S ftom own flights. Particularly when to legitimize their presence in mgn _g!.m 3 ?él :G,IA is 8 Can“;vd“"lm given a chit to deliver a "High military aircraft. Some took the War! IlIne o. ‘1? e f _ugn_%i 0.1; d % Priority" aircraft, some pressured controls for part of the flight, but e draymeg Iosts nope Tivg s ILL f themselves to fly in. weather no ATA pilot served as Pilot in Cark a%ll;n tie OIWt lgéng 13 A conditions even below. these Command of a transâ€"Atlantic Sos mithe apfe %rra B sgln_ minimum requirements, though flight / E. netorscg benale egglwil 41,? I R most had no training in blind When_ the ATA officially Canadiéns whe serveq iath t ® (instrument) flying. started it consisted of 42 male ATA § NC e S Pilots given P1IW (Priority 1 pil(;lts. Within a vex("ly }slhort tirfie, E f ait) chits faced a difficult gight women joined t eir ranks, f s e g‘gcis)ion. They knew â€" the amidst considerable controversy. wr%‘fzé "l}l’.’]lw?l;‘;f;;,z li‘l?o?r‘g ; Z’y’fly M N y