I have always taken a special interest in Lady Pilots.
Jean Lennox Bird was the former ATA pilot I alluded to in the unfortunate Diana Barnato Walker remembrance thread,she was the first female RAF pilot to be awarded full RAF pilots Wings (for the pedants she was WRAFVR).
Unfortunately she died in a Miles Aerovan accident (at Manchester ??) in 1957.
Anybody have any interesting info/photos of this lady.
edit …I think she was the only female to actually get her wings before the VR’s were chopped,is that correct ??I read somew
Some others had the ‘budgie badge’ (elementary flying badge) inc Jackie Sorour (Moggridge)
edit 2 .. I have checked in Jackie sorour (moggridge) ‘Woman Pilot’ and she actually did get her ‘proper’ wings but only just before the VR programme was chopped
thanks baz
By: avion ancien - 11th August 2022 at 15:40
What a shame that BarryF never did upload the photographs that he mentioned.
By: John Bunting - 8th January 2014 at 17:00
I found this site yesterday, after doing a search for ‘Jean Bird’.
I rmember her name from my gliding days at Lasham in the 1950s. Never actually saw her, but at one time there was a splendid old Armstrong-Siddeley tourer there, which was used to tow a trailer for a few cross-country retrieves. Don’t know what model or year it was: it looked sort of early 1930s. I used it on one occasion to retrieve the Slingsby Petrel belonging to a group of which I was a member. I remember someone saying that the car had previously belonged to Jean Bird, but who owned it when it was at Lasham, I don’t know. I don’t think it was there for long, so I hope it ended up with someone who looked after it and put it to a more dignified use than towing glider trailers. Has anyone here heard of Jean Bird owning such a car?
By: bazv - 24th May 2008 at 16:00
I have changed the thread title and edited the rest to see if anybody has any more info
cheers baz
By: bazv - 20th May 2008 at 20:22
Just done a bit of googling about jean and got one pic
She was awarded her ‘wings’ in 1952
cheers baz
By: T-21 - 19th May 2008 at 21:24
Sorry bazv no news on Jean Bird but the Miles Aerovan was G-AISF of Meridian Air Maps crashed on take off Ringway 29.4.57 due to fuel pump failure.
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May 19, 2008 at 9:12 pm