Joy Lofthouse RIP

[TR4man]

Sad to hear this morning that ATA Pilot Joy Lofthouse has passed away.

Joy flew Hurricanes, Spitfires and Mosquitos amongst many others during World War Two as she delivered aircraft all around the country.

Edited by TR4man on Thursday 16th November 10:34

[Simpo Two]

Met her and five other ATA veterans signing 'Brief Glory' at the Mosquito Museum in 2011.

[Watchman]

I have only recently become aware of Joy L as she has been interviewed a couple of times on the radio over the past 2 or 3 years. Each time she left me smiling - such a wonderfully positive person to listen to with such an amazing history behind her.

She would have been one of my wish-list dinner guests. I'm genuinely sorry to read of her passing.

[kurt535]

Fabulous person. RIP

[Riley Blue]

I would have loved to have met her. Along with Wing Commander Ken Wallis (who I did meet) she was something special.

[Simpo Two]

Also there were Molly Rose (d.2016) and Mary Wilkins - who was 100 in February and I believe still going: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-388...

Quite a bit here: http://maidenheadheritage.org.uk/ata-news-events/

Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 17th November 15:10

[Watchman]

Simpo Two said:

Also there were Molly Rose (d.2016) and Mary Wilkins - who was 100 in February and I believe still going: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-388...

In the last interview with Joy Lofthouse that I heard, they talked about how she learned to fly before she learned to drive, and then she confirmed that she no longer drove or *could* no longer drive anyway. But then she said, "But Mary still drives...".

[TR4man]

I'm sure I have read somewhere that Mary Ellis was a bit of a car enthusiast, apparently owning an Allard in her younger days.

[Simpo Two]

TR4man said:

I'm sure I have read somewhere that Mary Ellis was a bit of a car enthusiast, apparently owning an Allard in her younger days.

Women who dabbled in aviation in the 1930s and flew Spitfires were not yer average women... Diana Barnato-Walker took a Lightning through the sound barrier! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Barnato_Walker

[grumpy52]

RIP .
They were made of the good stuff the ladies like Joy Lofthouse.

[Geneve]

What I find remarkable about this era, is that it was only some 30 odd years since the Wright brothers had made the first proven powered flight.

Subsequent progress was rapid, but for someone like Joy Lofthouse, they were still operating in the pioneering years of aviation

Some 70 years on, we now enjoy the benefit of a huge magnitude of knowledge, experience and improvements, that we take for granted.