FLYING FOR WOMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20988, 26 September 1931, Page 17

FLYING FOR WOMEN.

§ SMALL LOCAL .INTEREST.

> AIR-MINDEDNESS " LACKING. attractions of the sport. •fiie apparent lack of interest taken Auckland girls in flying was comrented npon by one of tjpe lady pilots trained by the -Auckland Aero Club, prior to taking 3 machine up on a recent mornOf the large number of pilots jpjjied by the club since its inception, gijjy three were women, she said.

"Many girls who give a great deal of tinje to sport, such as tennis and golf, I D <l vrho have the necessary leisure and money to learn to fly, might be expected to welcome the opportunity thus offered them, but somehow they seem to lack »air-mindedneas\" the pilot continued. "Girls make quiet good motor drivers, but many are strangely averse to knowing anything about its technical aspect. Similarly with aeroplanes girls can be qoito readily taught to fly a machine without necessarily having to delve very deeplv into the laws of aeronautics and mechanics. *'

There were several deterrents to girls learning to fly, .the pilot conceded, one of the foremost being disapproval on the part of parents. The element of danger which attended flying in its very early

stages had been eliminated to an amazing extent, but /many parents still retained the former impressions of flying, and vere reluctant to allow their daughters to take it up on that account. At the 'Auckland Aero Club the risks attendant upon flying were reduced to an almost infinitesimal degree, every machine being thoroughly tested before it was used by a pupil. Thus, the very slight risk involved should hardly damp the enthusiasm of the average girl. Admittedly, it was harder, however, to induce parents to take this view.

Again, flying in New Zealand could be j taken up by /girls only as a hobby, com- ' mercial openings for women pilots in the Dominion being absolutely non-existent, she continued. With the growing popularity of flying as a means of commercial transport, all over the world, however, it was inevitable that iu years to come Xew Zealand also would commence such services, and openings for girls as commercial pilots might then follow. Asked if piloting an aeroplane presented any particular difficulties to a girl, the pilot confidently replied that there was nothing in flying that the average girl could not do, any more than there was in motoring, provided she was equipped with the necessary keenness. Even "stunting" did not require the nerve which a person standing on terra firma and watching a machine perform intricate gyrations in the air might expect. Later, when the pilot herself had taken up a machine, completed a series of loops and stall-turns and returned to the clubhouse smiling serenely, her assertion seemed amply borne out. The fairly general impression among outsiders that a girl flier had to be equipped with vast quantities of elaborate living gear was corrected by the lady -piloi. whose flying kit consisted of a light _ costume and "a brown leather coat and wwt. It was only in cross-country firog, where a high altitude was maintamed tor any length of time, that warmer clothing was needed, and for this the pilot said she generally wore a flying suit of windproof gabardine lined with tweed, a leather coat and helmet and mackintosh boots. In the summer time, for short flights over the city, she mentoned that nothing more than ordinary light summer clothing was needed.