Q&A · 1:21:14-1:21:42

Civilian ferry pilots and possible carrier deliveries

A tentative recollection places civilian ferry pilots, including a woman shown on a carrier, aboard Royal Navy carriers during wartime aircraft deliveries.

Question

Did civilian ferry pilots, including women, ever land delivery aircraft on Royal Navy carriers during the Second World War?

Short answer

Possibly; the recollection includes carrier deliveries and an image of a woman pilot aboard a carrier, but the example cannot be identified and may be wrong.

Notes

Civilian ferry pilots, many of them women, may have landed aircraft aboard Royal Navy carriers. Some new-aircraft deliveries to carriers off the British coast may have been made by civilian pilots. A remembered image also shows a woman in flying gear on a carrier. The date and ship cannot be identified, and the memory may be wrong, so this remains a research lead rather than a confirmed example.