How WW II pilot Jaye Edwards dodged a snowstorm and emerged in blue skies

This story was originally published on Dec 24, 2018.

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When pilot Jaye Edwards found herself trapped in a snowstorm en route to Scotland, she put her faith into the plane's ability to fly itself.

Edwards — who turned 100 in October — is one of three surviving "Attagirls," civilian female pilots tasked with ferrying planes from the factories to the front lines during the Second World War. 

The North Vancouver, B.C., woman spoke to As It Happens host Carol Off for our annual Christmas Eve episode, in which we air late host Al Maitland's beloved reading of Frederick Forsyth's The Shepherd.

In that story, an Royal Air Force pilot gets lost in the fog and is saved by a ghost. Edwards, however, had to take matters into her own hands — or rather, out of them. 

Here is some of what she had to say.

When did you first know that you wanted to fly airplanes?

When I saw an ad for national women's air reserve I thought, "Oh." I thought that sounded pretty interesting. I joined them in January of '39.

I said to Mother, "What would you think about it if I said I was going to go flying?"

And my mother replied, "We'll have to consider it."

So I said to her, "Well, I'll just wait until I'm 21."

But I didn't have to wait that long because she actually paid for me to have my lessons. It was something nobody in the family did.

When you got to flying, when you went up in the air in one of these single-engine planes, what did it feel like for you?

I think I was just excited. When [the instructor] tried to teach me how to do a stall turn, my stomach said, "No way, thank you." And I was very sick and she was sitting behind me. So you can imagine what happened.

There were not many women who were pilots at that time when you became part of the Attagirls, as they were called. This was the civilian pilots, the female pilots who were taking planes to the front lines during the Second World War. 

We replaced the planes that had been damaged, shot down, whatever. We were supposed to get them safely to their new destination. And many times, you were actually flying a plane that had come right out of being built at your airfield.

You had at least one really scary flight, didn't you, when you were making a journey up to Scotland. Can you remember that snowstorm you encountered?

Yes, I do. It arrived very shortly after I had took off and I was sort of pushed out to the coast and I didn't fancy turning back because I would be flying straight into the storm.

So I carried on up the coast and then got to the Firth of Forth, which is quite a large stretch of water. I didn't fancy crossing because you couldn't really see what was on the other side.

So, planes are built to fly, and you give a little bit of power and use your feet to turn, and take your hands and feet off, it will fly — which it did. I don't know for how long. Not very long.

And I flew all the snowstorm up in the sunshine.

Into blue skies and sunshine.

Which was a relief, I must admit. Although, I had confidence I'd done the right thing. It really was very peaceful to be up in the air in peace and quiet. 

You were in the middle of a war, and you found peace and quiet. 

That's right. Not many people had the opportunity. I was lucky. 

Written by Sheena Goodyear. Produced by Kevin Ball. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.