Britain’s youngest-ever female pilot set to fly WW1 Sopwith 1½ Strutter

Britain’s youngest-ever female pilot set to fly WW1 Sopwith 1½ Strutter

Huzzah!  We've finally made it in to 2024 (just!) with this latest item of news, featuring a modern aviation pacesetter and someone who will certainly go on to do great things in the industry - 21-year-old female pilot Ellie Carter.

Sky's not the limit – Britain's youngest ever female pilot eyes new record

Miss Carter first made the headlines four years ago when, on her 17th birthday, she became Britain's youngest-ever licensed woman pilot.  Flying has obviously been in her blood for much longer, though, judging by the story related in the accompanying articles about her run-in with the USAF authorities at the age of nine(!) not to mention her subsequent aeronautical experiences that led to her record-breaking qualification.  

First World War plane to finally take to the sky this summer

Now another record is set to be broken by this committed aviatrix, as I am delighted to see that she has been chosen to be the first person - and the first-ever woman - to fly a newly-completed [replica] of a workhorse aircraft of the First World War, the Sopwith 1½-Strutter, built over the last 23 years by a team of enthusiasts in East Lothian.  Even better the B.B.C. have approached her with the intention of making a documentary about her life and this ground-breaking flight, which is due to be aired later this year.  Definitely something I will be looking out for in the schedules!  

source - Picryl
French-built Sopwith 1½-Strutter at Air Service Production Centre No. 2,
Romorantin Aerodrome, France, 1918

As ever with this type of young, dedicated individual it is wonderful to see the obvious, palpable enthusiasm for her chosen calling and her clear desire to make a life's career out of aviation.  At the same time her down-to-earth (if you'll pardon the expression!) attitude is equally admirable and, in conjunction with her degree in Aeronautics & Astronautics (which if she hasn't already achieved at the time of writing, I'm sure she will!) will keep her in good stead as a worthy ambassador for women and young girls in aviation and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in general.  She reminds me very much of another lady pilot (about whom I have also previously blogged), Tracey Curtis-Taylor; I am sure that Ellie Carter will follow a similar path and that this will not be the last time she appears on these pages, or in the annals of aviation history.  To borrow an expression familiar to those original 1½-Strutter pilots - "soft landings and no dud engines!"

Spanish film made by mystery female director discovered during lockdown

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Spanish film made by mystery female director discovered during lock-down

This article from last month once again serves as a reminder that there are still many lost or misattributed films from the early years of cinema just waiting to be discovered - and in this particular case not only examples from the usual English-speaking sources of Hollywood or British productions.

The film in this instance is an early example of a tourism documentary featuring as it does fascinating footage of the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca, still famous today as a holiday hot-spot.  Originally assumed to be a 1926 silent film directed by a man, this 8-minute "æsthetic documentary" - simply titled Mallorca - had been gathering dust on the shelves of the Filmoteca Española's archives for the best part of 40 years until lock-down gave archivists the opportunity to review and re-evaluate it.

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The result is one of those remarkable rediscoveries that often come with the fresh re-examining of a film that has been left in storage, often wrongly-labelled, for a prolonged period of time.  Far from being a minor piece of 1920s local tourism footage by a male director it has now more or less been identified as an early 1930s example complete with soundtrack and by female director Maria Forteza (although how they came to miss that on the credits is anyone's guess) - making it possibly the first sound picture directed by a woman in Spain.

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Although it sounds like there is still some work to be done to definitively date and ascribe this short film it is nevertheless a welcome find and I am pleased to see the specialists at the Filmoteca Española finally taking a proper interest in it - thanks in part to lock-down of all things!  It's importance to the history of Spanish cinema and women in film generally is obvious and I'm glad to see its rediscovery is prompting discussion about the importance of keeping - and more importantly regularly checking - a film archive.  Unfortunately the entire film is no longer available to view on their website but there are snippets on YouTube as part of Spanish news coverage (habla Español?) here and here.  Once again this find gives hope for the future of other early films presumed lost and with luck this won't be the last one to be rediscovered as a result of the coronavirus lock-down.

Britain's Greatest Pilot: The Story of Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown

 

I rarely do posts previewing upcoming interesting programmes or listing classic films on TV these days, partly because I no longer follow TV listings any more (without going into moaning mode, I haven't missed a TV mag because there's precious little of interest on).  Other bloggers cover well the occasional runs of old films (usually, in the UK, on B.B.C. Two at some ungodly hour of the morning); I'm also mindful of the fact that some international readers have limited or no access to British programming.

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Having said all that, here now is a worthy exception - a programme I had the good fortune to discover will be broadcast tomorrow (Sunday) evening at 9pm (BST) on B.B.C. Two.  It features a hero of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, the consummate test pilot and a man who has flown more types of of aircraft - a staggering 487 all told - than any other human being in aviation history.  He is Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown RN (Ret'd).

Without giving too much away - you'll have to watch the programme - Captain Brown, now 95 years old(!), joined the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm on the outbreak of World War II having actually been on a student exchange holiday in Germany at the start of the conflict in September 1939.  He had visited the country several times previously in the 1930s with his ex-RFC father, including a trip to the 1936 Berlin Olympics where the Browns met and befriended German ace Ernst Udet.  In September '39, in the first amazing incident of a long and action-packed career, the young Eric Brown was arrested by the SS.  After three days of interrogation the 20-year-old Brown, quite incredibly, was simply escorted to the Swiss border - MG Magnette sports car and all - and sent on his way (when he somewhat impetuously asked his would-be captors why they weren't commandeering his car they replied "because we have no spares").

Captain 'Winkle' Brown: Is he the greatest pilot ever?

For the next 30 years Eric Brown would fly with the Fleet Air Arm, fighting German maritime bombers from aircraft carriers, testing captured German aircraft at Farnborough, as well putting new and prototype British and American aeroplanes through their paces - bravely pushing the envelope of flight - both on land and at sea.  He still holds the record for most individual types flown, as well as being the first man to land a jet aeroplane on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Now aged 95 Captain Brown still comes across as a fantastically knowledgeable and - of course - experienced chap, with the attitude and deportment that so typifies his generation.  I can heartily recommend his autobiography Wings On My Sleeve and if it's even half as good as the book tomorrow's programme will be a real corker (looks like is is too!).

**Britain's Greatest Pilot: The Extraordinary Story of Captain Winkle Brown, B.B.C. Two, Sunday 1st June, 9pm**

(For readers outside the U.K., or without access to B.B.C. TV/iPlayer, here is a selection of extracts from a 100-minute interview with Eric Brown made 3 years ago).

Hindenburg mystery solved after 76 years

Hindenburg mystery solved after 76 years 

Last week various news wires were abuzz with the findings of a group of aeronautical scientists who, after a series of painstaking experiments and recreations, claim to have finally laid to rest any question of what exactly caused the airship Hindenburg to explode over Lakehurst, NJ, in May 1937.

I'd intended to post this link - probably the best of the bunch - at the time the story first broke, so as to tie in with the TV documentary that aired recently on Channel 4 (and previously on the Discovery Channel) explaining fully how the discovery was made and which precipitated the news.  My cold(s) put paid to that idea, though, so here I am a couple of weeks later hopefully still in time to spread the fascinating discovery further.

Thanks to the efforts of British scientist Jem Stansfield and his team of engineers one theory above all others has been shown to be the most likely - and it appears to have been accepted by most historians (and the wider world).  After nearly 80 years of theories and conspiracies and with that iconic image of the Hindenburg burning above its mooring mast never having gone away, one of aviation's enduring mysteries looks like having been put to bed.  One wonders what other historical events and unknowns are just waiting to be resolved with the aid of modern science.

The airship industry has taken as long to recover from the Hindenburg disaster but, as other articles about modern airships featured on this blog have shown, they certainly still have a future and the final solving of the 1937 riddle may go some way to cementing it.

Documentary showcases woman pilots of the 1920s

Documentary showcases woman pilots of the 1920s

Proving that anything men can do women can do equally as well, if not better, this second aviation story of the week focuses on the pioneer aviatrices of the United States.

Ruth Nicols

In an amazing story that risked being lost in the mists of time, this new documentary looks at the 20 women including Amelia Earhart who undertook a nine-day flight across continental America in 1929, in what was the first all-female cross-country air race.

The accompanying article gives us a delightful taste of what went on during those 9 days and seventeen stop-overs and the details of this new documentary certainly sounds fascinating - a pity then that it looks to be confined to the US/Region 1 for it covers what was indeed a pivotal moment in the aviation history not of America but also the wider world and so really deserves a wider audience.  If it wasn't for this film producer stumbling across the story it might have remained untold for another 80 years!

As it is the story of this event has been saved for another generation, and for us to marvel at the sheer guts and determination of these early aviatrices - particularly in the face of attitudes to women at that time.

Dambusters mission recreated in Peak District

Dambusters mission recreated in Peak District

An interesting little piece here to do with the famous Dambusters raid of 1943. Fascinating to see these Blades chaps recreate the run using modern GPS and whatnot, knowing that the original pilots of 617 Squadron had nothing more advanced than a compass and a ruler to work with! It just reinforces the amazing skill the crews of the Lancasters displayed that night; not forgetting they were flying in the dark, only feet above the water, under heavy fire in large, unwieldy bombers. Such feats will live in the hearts of men forever. I shall look forward to seeing the documentary mentioned as being shown in the autumn (I had no idea that actor Martin Shaw could fly as well - is there anything the fellow cannot turn his hand to?!). In the meantime I feel an urge to watch the 1955 film coming on - I highly recommend it, if you haven't seen it (or even if you have!).