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.

Life
Hughes was born in the West Ham district of London in 1918. She started flying training at the age of 15, before age restrictions were introduced, and by 17 had become the youngest female pilot in Britain.

As an experienced aviator she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary, and soon had more than 600 hours' experience ferrying aircraft around the country. Though 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 then in service.

Hughes continued to fly after the war, using her talents as an instructor. She was featured in "The Eagle Special Investigator Meets Joan Mills in 'Special Investigator Flies Solo'", an article on page 61 of the 1953 book Eagle Special Investigator by Macdonald Hastings, published by Michael Joseph.

In the 1960s, Hughes served as a flying instructor with the Airways Aero Association, first at White Waltham Airfield, and then at Booker Airfield. In early 1964, due to her low weight and considerable experience, Hughes was recruited for testing a near-replica of the 1909 Santos-Dumont Demoiselle monoplane, ultimately flying it for the shooting of the 1965 film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. She also flew replica World War I aircraft for the film The Blue Max (1966) and a Tiger Moth bi-plane for the live-action flying shots in Thunderbird 6 (1968).

She retired at Booker Airfield in 1985, with 11,800 hours' flight in her logbook. Hughes died in Somerset on 16 August 1993, aged 75.

Honours
Hughes was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1946 for her war work.