A Day in the Life of an ATA Ferry Pilot

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The ATA operated hand in glove with the RAF and FAA, flying to and from military airfields in military aircraft. ATA personnel enjoyed mess privileges (which they thoroughly enjoyed!) and were subject to the same targeted bombing and aerial attacks that the Luftwaffe directed at RAF fields, installations and operational aircraft. Yet the work pace and schedule looked dramatically different. Today I look at the day in the life of an ATA pilot.

The ATA flew seven days a week, fifty-two weeks of the year, and individual pilots had a duty schedule of ten days on and two days off, with two weeks' holiday per year. They were never posted to ground duties for a rest. By the end of the war, the original ATA pilots had been flying six years straight.

Furthermore, during the long hours of daylight in summer, a ferry pilot's working day might last twelve to thirteen hours. On the other hand, since ferry pilots were allowed to fly only in daylight, the short winter days made for a work day as short as six hours. In bad weather, of course, there was no flying at all, but pilots were still required to remain at their ferry pool on call—just in case the weather cleared.

Summer or winter, the working day for an ATA ferry pilot began at 9 am when all pilots reported to their respective Ferry Pools irrespective of weather. By the time they reported, the Pool Operations Officer had worked out the day's programme of deliveries based on the dispositions of Central Ferry Control or CFC.

CFC was a small staff located directly at the Headquarters of No 41 Group, RAF, the unit responsible for 'maintenance and movement of all His Majesty's aircraft.' On any one day, there could be anywhere from 400 to 1,400 military aircraft in need of ferrying, and CFC allocated these aircraft across the various Ferry Pools. The Pool Operations Officer at each pool then worked out the duty roster, matching aircraft to pilot qualifications, while also seeking to optimise each pilot's schedule to minimise time on the ground.

The pilots received their 'chits' (i.e. delivery forms) for each aircraft they were scheduled to ferry in the course of the day, and were told where and when they would be transported by taxi aircraft. The pilots were then individually responsible for checking on the weather report from the Pool Meteorological Office and checking with Maps and Signals regarding flying hazards (such as barrage balloons, Restricted Areas etc.). If a pilot had never or only infrequently flown a particular type of aircraft, it was also his/her responsibility to check up on the characteristics and recommended handling instructions.

Assuming the weather was good enough for an airfield to open, shortly after 9 am the pilots would be taken by the available taxi aircraft (or if the distance was short by motor car) and dropped off at the location for their first pick-up—usually one of the RAF's Maintenance Units or an aircraft factory. At the larger ferry pools, as many as six or seven taxi aircraft might take off one after the other. Each taxi would drop pilots at one or more different destinations and then, once the last pilot had disembarked, hurry on to start collecting pilots from delivery points to take them to their next assignment.

If the weather was very bad, of course, the Pool Commander might close down the airfield. This did not mean, however, that the pilots were released from duty. On the contrary, as mentioned earlier, they had to wait around the Mess in hope of the weather improving. Only when there was no hope of making a delivery before dark would the pilots be released.

On good weather days, however, the delivery of the first aircraft was only the start of a series of deliveries. As often as possible, a ferry pilot would have a new aircraft delivery originating at his/her first destination airfield. Alternatively, the pilot would be collected by taxi and taken to his/her next task, or—if the distances warranted—he/she might be expected to use ground transportation between the terminus of one delivery and the start of the next. As a rule, a pilot would deliver two to three machines per day and up (but rarely) as many as five machines on good, long summer days. On one occasion, however, two pilots working together and using a Fairchild 'taxi' to shuttle back and forth delivered seventeen aircraft in a single day.

In short, the work was demanding and intensive, particularly in summer, but at the end of the day, ATA personnel were civilians. They could live where they liked, go where they liked, and maintain a normal family life, if they wanted. They were employees, not bound by service discipline in their time off. They were treated like mature, responsible adults rather than like the adolescent youth that dominated the military forces. It is one of the ironies of history that while the American women lost the right to fly over their desire to be militarised, the British women not only kept flying, but did so with far more freedom, responsibility and pay than had they been part of the armed services.

A former ATA woman pilot is one of the leading female protagonists in the Bridge to Tomorrow Trilogy about the Berlin Airlift. Find out more about the series at: https://helenapschrader.net/bridge-to-tomorrow/

Watch a video teaser here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7rS_Mwy3TU

 

                                      

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