Constance Ruth Leathart (7 December 1903 – 4 November 1993) was a British female pilot who flew

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

aircraft on transit flights in World War Two in the

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between fac ...

Early life

Constance Ruth Leathart was born on 7 December 1903 in

Low Fell Low Fell is a suburb of Gateshead situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. Built predominantly on sandstone, grindstone and clay, it is bordered by Sheriff Hill/ Deckham to the east, Saltwell/Bensham to the ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

into a wealthy family. She was the only child of Janet Ruth Grant (née Tennant) and Thomas Headley Leathart. Known as Connie, she was educated at Cheltenham Ladies College, and Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate until 1921. She made a lifelong friend with Susan Slade who she met at the later school, both later becoming pilots.

Flying career

Leathart started flying lessons in 1925 at Newcastle Aero Club. She wrote her name as "C. R. Leathart" on the application form, and was accepted before the club realised her gender. Her first flight was in September 1925 in the club

de Havilland DH.60 Moth The de Havilland DH.60 Moth is a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Development The DH.60 was developed from the larger DH.51 biplane. T ...

named "Novocastria", which she crashed in her first solo landing in 1926. When she received her flying licence in 1927, Leathart became the first British female pilot outside London, and one of the first 20 overall. She started an aircraft repair business, Cramlington Aircraft, with Walter Runciman, later Viscount Runciman, participated successfully in air races with him, and was one of a group of flying socialites. She was "one of the first women to fly over the Alps, in a

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary traine ...

", and was the first in Great Britain to design and fly a glider. Aircraft owned: * Sopwith Grasshopper G-EAIN February 1928 to May 1929 * Westland Widgeon IIIa G-AAJF June 1929 to May 1931 (crashed in Germany) * De Havilland DH.60 Cirrus Moth G-EBRX February 1932 to June 1933 *

Comper Swift The Comper C.L.A.7 Swift is a British single-seat sporting aircraft designed and produced by the Comper Aircraft Company. It was the company’s first aircraft. The Swift was designed shortly after Nicholas Comper’s departure from the Royal A ...

G-ABUU April 1934 to May 1940

Air Transport Auxiliary

When World War II broke out she was working in the map department at

Bristol Airport Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is an international airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built ...

and volunteered as one of the first members of the

, female pilots who delivered aircraft from the manufacturers; her instructor in military flying was her cousin John "Jack" Armour. She achieved the ATA rank of Flight Captain, flying heavy bombers as well as fighters to airfields in many countries.

Later life

After the war ended she became a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

special representative to the Greek island of

Icaria Ikaria, also spelled Icaria (; ), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. Administratively, Ikaria forms a separate municipality within the Ikaria regional unit, which is part of the North Ae ...

and received an award of merit from the International Union for Child Welfare. She reluctantly gave up flying in 1958 and retired to a farm in Little Bavington,

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, where she cared for rescued

donkey The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...

s. Leathart is buried at Thockrington church; she had requested her grave not be marked, but friends placed as a marker the stone she used to step into her unheated swimming pool every day regardless of weather. Northumberland Archives hold a collection of her papers including a number of photograph albums which record her adventures in aviation from the 1920s to the 1940s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leathart, Constance 1903 births 1993 deaths British aviators British World War II pilots Air Transport Auxiliary pilots British women aviators People from County Durham People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College