Spitfire Girl: One of the World's Greatest Female ATA Ferry Pilots Tells Her Story

During World War II, Mary Wilkins flew 400 Spitfires and seventy-six different types of aircraft for the Air Transport Auxiliary. She was one of the first pilots to take the controls of the new Meteor fast jet after the war and became Europe's first female air commandant in 1950. She is still passionate for anything fast and furious and says she always knew she would fly.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 07 May 2019
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd

We often envision youthful and audacious individuals as the epitome of Second World War pilots, yet among that distinguished cohort was one remarkable individual who piloted no less than 400 Spitfires and seventy-six distinct types of aircraft. Her story stands as one of the most awe-inspiring and endearing narratives of the war, as this young woman, serving as a ferry pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary, transported aircraft for the RAF, encompassing swift fighter planes and colossal four-engine bombers. On a particular occasion, Mary delivered a Wellington bomber to an airfield, and as she exited the aircraft, the RAF ground crew approached her, demanding to know the whereabouts of the pilot. Mary responded with a resolute assertion: "I am the pilot!" Undeterred, the men conducted a thorough search of the aircraft before realizing that a young woman had accomplished the feat of flying the bomber entirely by herself. Following the war, Mary accepted a secondment to the RAF, being selected as one of the pioneering pilots and one of only three women to assume control of the new Meteor fast jet. By 1950, the farmer's daughter from Oxfordshire, with a innate inclination for flight, achieved the distinction of becoming Europe's inaugural female air commandant. In this authorized biography, the woman who claims to have maintained a low profile during her ATA years and delegated the allure of publicity to her colleagues, finally unveils the details of her remarkable career, spanning nearly a century of aviation, and her unwavering passion for the skies, which remains steadfast even in her nineties.

Weight: 440g
Dimension: 198 x 121 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526756619