At the start of World War II it quickly became apparent that all the trained and in-training RAF and Royal Navy pilots would be needed for combat roles and the important task of ferrying freshly built aircraft from factory to Maintenance Units for armament and radio fitting or moving them between airfields would need to be given to non-RAF and RN pilots. As a result civilian pilots were recruited and the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was formed. The ATA web site explains the history in detail. Initially only male pilots were recruited but within a few months this was expanded to include women who were qualified civilian pilots. At the FlyToThePast 2011 airshow at Oxford airport were lucky enough to meet two of the former ATA female pilots and interview them. Joy Lofthouse joined the ATA in 1943 when they started recruiting people who would be trained to fly as all qualified civilian pilots had already been recruited and were in service! In the interview Joy talks about how the women ATA pilots progressed from being allowed to fly single engine training aircraft to single seat fighter aircraft (Hurricane and Spitfire), twin engine aircraft and in some cases even 4 engine heavy bombers (Lancaster). She also talks about how important the Ferry Pilot Notes were in helping explain handing characteristics. Very important when you cannot be trained to fly a single seat aircraft. Every flight will be solo – even the first one!

At the start of World War II it quickly became apparent that all the trained and in-training RAF and Royal Navy pilots would be needed for combat roles and the important task of ferrying freshly built aircraft from factory to Maintenance Units for armament and radio fitting or moving them between airfields would need to be given to non-RAF and RN pilots. As a result civilian pilots were recruited and the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was formed. The ATA web site explains the history in detail. Initially only male pilots were recruited but within a few months this was expanded to include women who were qualified civilian pilots. At the FlyToThePast 2011 airshow at Oxford airport were lucky enough to meet two of the former ATA female pilots and interview them them both. Molly Rose was an experienced pilot before the war having gained her civilian licence by learning to fly her brothers Tiger Moth. She joined the ATA in 1942. In the interview Molly talks about how the women ATA pilots progressed from being allowed to fly single engine training aircraft to single seat fighter aircraft (Hurricane and Spitfire), twin engine aircraft and in some cases even 4 engine heavy bombers (Lancaster). She also talks about how important the Ferry Pilot Notes were in helping explain handing characteristics. Very important when you cannot be trained to fly a single seat aircraft. Every flight will be solo – even the first one! The video interview was shot on location at the FlyToThePast airshow held at Oxford airport in 2011 and edited at our audio-video studios in Southampton.

Having spoken to Alex, pilot of the Bücker Jungmeister on the phone before the event we were also able to interview him at Oxford Airport before his flying display. In the interview Alex talked about the Jungmeister and how its’ wonderful performance and flying characteristics helped ensure it was the trainer of choice by the German Luftwaffe in the mid 1930’s. He talks about his aerobatic routine and the use of smoke to help the audience follow it.

In this video we talk to the Red Hawks two person formation aerobatic team of Mathew Hill and Bob Grimstead about the Fournier RF4. These planes are probably the lowest powered (and cheapest to run in terms of fuel use!) aerobatics aircraft flying today.

The combination of a quiet engine, smoke, music and formation aerobatics lends a graceful style to the display. Before each performance Mathew and Bob practice their routine on the ground which you can see in the video.

In this video we talk to Trevor Pegrum and Ted Lay about their Tiger Moth. Ted re-built and restored her following a crash and Trevor learned to fly in her and has been flying her, with Ted, for 50 years. Being at Oxford Airport for Fly To The Past, was almost like coming back home for the aircraft, as she was built at the old Morris Motor Company Cowley manufacturing facility (now owned by BMW and producing the Mini) which switched to aircraft production during World War II).

Before the airshow happened we managed to chat on the phone with Martin Willing about him, the aircrafts background and history. To listen to the phone call click on the audio podcast tab above. In this video we managed to catch up with Martin and his co-pilot Ray Corsten and hear more about the aircraft and its history and what she is like to fly. Although the T28 was originally designed as a trainer for early generation jet aircraft pilots, she saw active service in a number of conflicts in different parts of the world as a ground strike aircraft.

We managed to catch up with Hercule Poirot who claimed he was on his day off but we did wonder if he was actually on a case and about to exercise his ‘little grey cells’. He was being very tight lipped when we interviewed him! PS: Martin Gaisford is the actor who plays Poirot. He has been officially endorsed as a Hercule Poirot lookalike by Agatha Christie Ltd.

In this video we talk to Chris Thompson and James Black about the Antonov An-2 – the largest single engine bi-plane in the world. Chris and James talk about its ‘big baby’ flying characteristics due to its size and large 1000HP engine.

They need a crew of two – one to fly it and the other to manage the engine and aircraft. Its overall size and flexibility of its load area can be appreciated when on static display. Chris and James talk about all the varied uses this type of aircraft and been put to.

We have been interviewing speakers at the OxFocus business leaders networking meeting for a while now. The October OxFocus speaker is Rob Lindley, VP and MD of Harley-Davidson, European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). I got to meet Rob at their Oxford Science Park offices. The reception area, meeting rooms, hallways and walls either have images of motor bikes or the bikes themselves. To support the branding impact most employees I saw had a working ‘uniform’ of branded clothing.

The July speaker at OxFocus is Professor Colin Mayer who is Dean of the Said Business School, Oxford University. OxFocus is sponsored by The Learning Ladder, OTCN and Charles Russell. We interviewed Colin earlier this month about his presentation.