The SAAF Forum

Apologies - but I've always loved this one. Pilot is Diana Barnato Walker, a legend in ATA circles during WW2.

STORM IN A TEMPEST

Diana had taken off in her Tempest and was cruising along happily
at the desired speed of 300 mph. She sang as she went because she
had struck a patch of better visibility than she'd expected,, and it
was all very pleasant streaking along through the air in that light,
sensitive machine. Suddenly there was a bang that shook and rocked
the plane and when she had recovered she found herself covered with
a shower of metal. 'Engine blown up' registered in her mind. and
instantly, almost without knowing that she did it, she throttled back
and put her nose down to sustain her flying speed. 'Somewhere to
land' was the next flash and she began to look this way and that for
a large field. She knew she must land pretty quickly because an
engine that had seized could, because of the repercussion inside it,
explode and blaze at any moment. All this took in reality only a
second or two and as she saw a field that she thought she could get
down in, wheels up of course, she registered again that the engine
seemed to be ticking over quite happily, and then suddenly she was
conscious of a draught round her feet, and looking down saw that
the floor was no longer there and instead were the exposed wires of
the various instruments, and below that ajagged gap through which
she could just see the chequered, distant earth. Her map had been
torn from her hand with the blast and was now spread-eagled above
her head on the glass hood, kept there by the rush of air. She wasn't
at all sure that she was very much better pleased with the gaping
hole than she would have been with a seized engine, because she
knew it would alter the flying attributes of the aircraft considerably.

She decided to fly up to a safer height and try a stall or two and see
how the stalling speed differed from the normal. When she did she
found that she stalled at 180 mph instead of the normal 110 and she
realised that she'd never be able to land at that speed, nor put her
flaps down to aid her.

She was very near Kenley now and she did a dummy run low
over the aerodrome. They probably thought she was just beating it
up as she went over so fast and so they gave her a red light and she
went away again, up, up high into the air once more to practise and
see what she could do at this high speed. Eventually, after more
manoeuvres, she decided to try to land the thing. She did a few
circuits round the airfield, then flew over it again to give them an
indication that all might not be well and as she began her approach
she realised she had got their interest and that a group had collected
and the fire-tender was standing by. She still seemed to be coming
in at a roaring speed, and then as her wheels touched the earth she
began instantly to apply a touch of brake, not much or she'd whip
over on to her nose, then more, and eventually she knew she was
running smoothly across the airfield at a more or less normal speed.
She applied full brake and came to a sudden standstill and then
turned towards dispersal, as if nothing had happened. 'Coo, miss,'
said the airman on duty as she taxied up, 'what 'ave you done with
it, left 'alf at 'ome?'

Luv it One of those real shake, rattle & roll stories. Nice one.

The lady in question was also the first British woman to break the sound barrier, in an EE Lightning.

The first women to fly a jet aircraft though was a South African when she went for a spin in a Meteor.

Disputed - there is good evidence that an American WASP pilot, Anne Baumgartner Carl, flew a Bell YP-59A, on October 14, 1944. This would be a considerable time before the August 1945 date of Rosamund Everard-Steenkamp's Meteor flight.

Hanna Reitsch flew both the rocket propelled Me-163 and the turbojet propelled Me-262 years before either of those two. Cannot find date of Hanna's first Me-262 flight - but I have a report here somewhere of it.

Hanna Reitsch...now there is a distinct possibility of being the first woman to fly in a jet. I am going to horrify you all now and tell you that I once had a model (wood) glider that she once won in a gliding competition, but with all my relocations and moves around SA, it was destroyed/lost. I originally got it as a child in the UK from friends who knew her.

Interestingly the first entirely successful helicopter in the world was given a flying demonstration at the Berlin Deutschland-Halle during 1938 in the hands of Hanna Reitsch. FW61 twin rotor helicopter. Reg. D-EBVU

She undoubtedly routinely flew the Me-262 by 1943 and the Me-163 Komet in 1942. Several other German ferry pilot ladies probably flew jets before any on the Allied side did. IIRC Reitsch had a scheme to have an all female Me-262 squadron - but the war ended before it happened.
I am trying to determine if she flew any of the other German jets - she flew just about anything with wings including those huge monstrosities the Me-321 Gigants.

She flew it - indoors - every night of the motor show.