During Women’s History Month, Candy Adkins was invited to the rehearsals of Spitfire Girls stage play at the MAST theatre, Southampton. It was a busy few days for Candy, with three talks in …| solentaviatrix
A new stage play written by Katherine Senior will have its premier in Southampton. Katherine told Solent Aviatrix, “we are opening at MAST Mayflower Studios on 20th March 2025 and then touring all around the UK until the end of May. We have the Royal British Legion as our lead partner and have some Arts […]| solentaviatrix
All are welcome to attend a free event at Wight Aviation Museum, at Sandown Airport, on 21 September 2024, from 10.00am until 4.00pm. The Grand Open Day includes a double bill of talks by two authors, Sally Smith and Alison Hill, who have written books about women pilots. There will be free tours of the […]| solentaviatrix
A celebration of the achievements of Katherine Margaret Gill are long overdue. She stamped her mark on British history in 1935 when she became the first deaf pilot in Britain. Not only the first deaf female to reach for the skies and gain a pilot’s licence, but the first of either sex. To do this […]| solentaviatrix
On 8 July 1940 Joy Muntz Davison became the first female Air Transport Auxiliary pilot to die in service. She was a long time friend of Amy Johnson. Amy is sometimes mistakenly believed to have been the first woman pilot to die in the Second World War. Sadly, that fate fell to Joy. It is […]| solentaviatrix
There are artists and there are top flight artists. Isle of Wight artist Ivan Berryman is a master of detail who has executed this extraordinary painting of the Spartan bi-plane G-ABYN flying over Queen Victoria’s beloved home of Osborne House, East Cowes, Isle of Wight.The plane was built by Spartan Aircraft, a subsidiary of Saunders […]| solentaviatrix
The old saying is that behind every great man is a woman. Back in the pioneering days of aviation that was certainly true. Gladys Simmonds was the wife of Spartan Aircraft designer and engineer Oliver Simmonds. Oliver left the employment of Supermarine in Southampton in 1928 to start his own company, Simmonds Aircraft Ltd. He […]| solentaviatrix
On 5 January 1941 Amy Johnson died when she was ferrying an Airspeed Oxford from Blackpool. It was believed the aircraft had run out of fuel and she ditched into the sea off Herne Bay. Attempts were made to save her but, alas, those going to her rescue failed to reach her in time. Such […]| solentaviatrix
As Remembrance Day approaches, the annual Poppy Appeal has been launched to raise money to help Forces veterans. Fund raisers doing their bit apply their minds to it in many ways, from cake stalls to a Super Ted in uniform. Lee on the Solent folk are always creative in putting on a show for the […]| solentaviatrix
During the last two years of global pandemic many authors settled down to write the book they had always intended to write. A brand new biography of British aviatrix Pauline Gower is the outcome of months of ‘lockdown.’ With the backing of Pauline’s son Michael and Dorothy Spicer’s daughter, the author Alison Hill, has written […]| solentaviatrix
Special thanks to Pauline Gower’s son Michael Fahie, for permission to quote from his biography of his mother ‘Harvest of Memories’ and from ‘Women With Wings’ and for permission to use his p…| solentaviatrix