The Diverse Backgrounds and Characteristics of the Pilots who Flew for the ATA
"People who were keen on flying...were almost by definition slightly mad. It is my experience that the nicest people are all slightly mad, so it was pretty well inevitable that the ATA was full of the nicest people." -- Hugh Bergel, ATA Pilot Just who were the men and women who flew with the ATA? The key characteristic defining the ATA flying staff was, in fact, it's diversity. This applied to practically all demographic criteria from sex and age to nationality and race. It also applied to 'hidden' factors such as background, wealth and health. Starting with the most obvious, ATA employed both men and women pilots in an age where this was not normal. The Americans kept their women pilots in a separate (but not equal) institution. The Germans did not allow women to fly in any capacity. To my knowledge, the Soviet Union was the only country that allowed women to fly in WWII as fully integrated members of their armed forces. Furthermore, the Soviet Union allowed...