Winifred Spooner
| Winifred Evelyn Spooner | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
11 September 1900 Woolwich, Kent, England |
| Died | 13 January 1933 Leicestershire |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Aviator |
Winifred Evelyn Spooner (11 September 1900 – 13 January 1933), daughter of Major Walter B Spooner, was an English aviator of the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of the Harmon Trophy as the world's outstanding female aviator of 1929. She died aged 32 from pneumonia.
Winifred Spooner was born in Woolwich in Kent. She attended Sherborne Girls in Dorset.
She received a pilot's licence No. 8137 from London Aeroplane Club in September 1927, and then she became active competitor in sports aviation. She became only the 16th woman to receive a licence. She also received an Aviators's Certificate in the USA. This is dated 21 August 1931 and is signed by Orville Wright.
Winifred's brothers, Tony and Frank, had leased some farmland and stables near Folly Court in Wokingham where they schooled and sold polo-ponies, hunters and steeplechasers. They called their enterprise The Polo Farm. During the First World War Frank had served as a cavalry officer in India, and from 1917 to 1918, had been the head of the equestrian school. Winifred's other brother Captain Hugh “Tony” Spooner late of the 19th King George’s Own Lancers, married to Glenda Spooner, was Superintendent of Flying Operations and Chief Pilot to the Misr-Airwork Company of Egypt. He was killed in an flying accident in a sandstorm in Egypt on 15 March 1935.
Fortunately there was a field on the farm big enough upon which to land a light aircraft so Winifred built a wooden hangar and moved her Moth from Stag Lane. During this period Winifred, Hugh and Frank resided at No. 4, South Drive in Wokingham. Winifred continued her Air-Taxi Service, charging £4 an hour or one shilling a mile, covering Britain and France, and gave flying lessons. She also purchased a car. Wokingham locals recall her being one of the first woman drivers in the area. Some time later she moved to Scott's Farm near Bearwood, now part of Woosehill.
In July 1928 she took the 3rd place in the seventh King's Cup Race and won the Siddeley Trophy as the first Aeroplane Club aviator to cross the line (flying DH.60 Cirrus I Moth).
In 1929 she finished fifth in the King's Cup Race, and won the Harmon Trophy as the world's outstanding female aviator. She also took 10th place in the International Tourist Plane Contests Challenge.
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