Diana Barnato Walker
Diana Barnato Walker Aviator | |
---|---|
Known for | first British woman to break the sound barrier |
Spouse |
Derek Ronald Walker
(m. 1944; died 1945) |
Partner | Whitney Straight |
Children | Barney Barnato Walker |
Parent(s) | Woolf Barnato Dorothy Maitland Falk |
Relatives | Barney Barnato (grandfather) |
Awards | MBE |
Diana Barnato Walker
Early life
Diana Barnato was born on 15 January 1918 in London, the younger daughter of
.From an early age, she became interested in aircraft and at age 20 she decided to become a pilot. Her initial training was in
Family
Her parents were Dorothy Maitland Falk (1893–1961), an American from
In 1935, her mother remarried to Lt. Richard Butler Wainwright. Her father remarried twice, first to Jacqueline Claridge Quealy from 1933 to 1947, and second, to Joan Jenkinson from 1947 until his death in 1948.
World War II
Red Cross
Soon after the outbreak of
Air Transport Auxiliary
In early 1941 she applied to become one of the first women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and successfully took her initial assessment flying test at their headquarters at White Waltham, Berkshire, on 9 March 1941 with the ATA's Chief Flying Instructor, A.R.O. Macmillan, in the Tiger Moth's rear seat.[5]
Barnato Walker was admitted to the ATA's Elementary Flying Training School at White Waltham on 2 November 1941. After a lengthy period of intensive flight instruction and tests in primary training aircraft, she joined her first ATA Ferry Pool (FP), No.15 FP at
Further advanced training permitted her to deliver several hundred
Post war
Women's Junior Air Corps
After the end of the War, Barnato Walker continued flying and gained her commercial flying licence. For many years she was a volunteer pilot with the Women's Junior Air Corps (WJAC), later the Girls' Venture Corps, giving flights to air-minded teenage girls to encourage them to enter the aviation industry. In July 1948, an aircraft that she was flying burst into flames near White Waltham. Rather than bail out and lose the WJAC's aircraft, she switched off the fuel and glided the aircraft back.
Air Speed record
On 26 August 1963 she flew an
Personal life
She was engaged to
Two years later, on 6 May 1944, she married
Barnato Walker vowed never to marry again. For 30 years she was in a relationship with Whitney Straight,[2] a married pilot and a pre-war champion racing driver, like her father. In 1947, the couple had a son: Barney Barnato Walker.[3]
Shortly after her record-breaking flight in 1963, Barnato Walker was diagnosed with cancer, and subsequently had three operations. She was awarded the
References
Notes
- required.)
- ^ a b c Glancey, Jonathan (7 May 2008). "Diana Barnato Walker She flew warplanes and was the first British woman to break the sound barrier". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f Burns, John F. (12 May 2008). "Diana Barnato Walker, Acclaimed Pilot, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ Staff (18 August 1931). "MRS. FLORENCE FALK DEAD". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ a b c "English Electric Lightning F1 Top Fifteen". nationalcoldwarexhibition.org. 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
Sources
- Diana Barnato Walker (1994) Spreading My Wings: one of Britain's top woman pilots tells her remarkable story. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens ISBN 1-85260-473-5
External links
- "Diana Barnato Walker". OCLC 49632006.
- Burns, John F. (12 May 2008). "Diana Barnato Walker, Acclaimed Pilot, Dies at 90". ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- Glancey, Jonathan (8 May 2008). "Obituary: Diana Barnato Walker". OCLC 60623878.
- Jarrett, Philip (9 May 2008). "Diana Barnato Walker: Aviator who was the first British woman to break the sound barrier". OCLC 185201487.