Joan Hughes

Joan Lily Amelia Hughes, MBE (27 April 1918 - 16 August 1993) was a World War II ferry pilot and one of Britain's first female test pilots. Hughes was born in the West Ham district of London in 1918. She started flying training when she was 15, before age restrictions were introduced, and by the time she was 17 she had become the youngest female flyer in Britain. As an experienced aviator she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary, and soon had more than 600 hours ferrying aircraft around the country. Although she was small in stature, she ferried all types of aircraft including heavy four-engined bombers such as the Short Stirling. She became both a senior pilot and the only woman qualified to instruct on all types of military aircraft...