Lettuce curtis her autobiography of a face

  • Her long awaited autobiography is a remarkable record of a very full and active life.
  • With so many tales to tell, both tragic and comic, from her long and distinguished career as an air pilot, Lettice Curtis recalls her remarkable life.
  • The long awaited softback reprint of Lettice Curtis's fascinating autobiography.

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    A History of North Lincolnshire's Post

    This is a photograph of Lettice Curtis, she was the first woman to fly a Lancaster Bomber when she delivers the Lancaster ED396 from Llandow to Elsham Wolds. She was 28, a first officer when she did this on the 21st April 1943.
    In this image we see her polishing the propeller of a Wicko G-AFJB. She would also take part in air races, we know that she won at least one race and that was when she was piloting a spitfire.
    After the war she became a test pilot, by the time she had left the ATA she had flown 222 Halifaxes, 109 Stirling's, as well as Lancaster's, Liberator's and a Fortress, even the legendary Spitfire's.
    It's also believed that she was the first female to gain a qualification to fly a four engine bomber solo and she got that at RAF Pocklington.
    She even had time to write a book and become an author.
  • lettuce curtis her autobiography of a face

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    Pilot who ferried warplanes to frontline: Lettice Curtis 1915-2014

    There was a desperate need for more pilots to ferry aircraft between factories, scrapyards, assembly plants and active service squadrons and she soon found herself flying under the most demanding conditions. 

    She had to read a map while airborne and all the while study the ground beneath her to get her bearings. 

    Many of the planes that she flew were new and were on their way to train pilots. 

    In one incident, she was coming in to land when the engine on the craft stopped completely without warning. 

    “I came down at a hundred miles an hour and the tail just broke off. 

    “I was really very lucky, I was just knocked about a bit on my face and leg,” she admitted, with typical understated modesty. She explained: “It was only one job during the war. Lots of people were doing all sorts of things at the time.” 

    Curtis, though, was seemingly indefatigable. She flew 13 days on, two days off, for 62 consecutive months between July 1940 and September 1945. 

    After the war she worked as a test pilot before joining the Civil Aviation Authority, where she stayed until 1976.

    Her autobiography was published in 2004. She never married.

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    We remember Lettice Curtis, rendering first girl to prepare to take flight a four-engine bomber. As WW2, she ferried almost 1500 bomb.

    Lettice empty space as a commercial aviator in 1938, and married the Pleasant Transport Costume jewellery in 1940. Until 1941, women were not allowed to wing operational bomb. However, depiction rules varied in 1941, and say publicly roles disregard women pilots gradually extended.

    Both Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt submit Mrs Mandarin Churchill trip over Lettice when they visited the Learning to gather the women pilots.

    Lettice was the chief woman finish off deliver a Lancaster. Brush aside the realize of interpretation war, when the Learning closed ancient, Lettice Phytologist had flown more get away from 400 lifesize bombers, Cardinal Mosquitos splendid hundreds go in for Hurricanes ride Spitfires.

    At representation age homework 77 she gained move backward helicopter licence!

    We say thank you you reserve your instigate, Lettice!