1951: Newsreel - Car Engined Plane Wins Air Race

Cameraman Cyril Page climbs aboard a Percival Proctor to give a pilot's view of the race. Flying over countryside, beaches and cliffs, the plane (named Windmill Girl) heads for the finishing line at Brighton Pier where enthusiastic crowds are gathered. The South Coast Air Race was organised by the Daily Express and the Royal Aero Club.

Zita Irwin, the pilot of the plane used for this broadcast, was one of a number of women recruited into the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). The ATA transported aircraft from the factories to the RAF's airfields in Britain during the Second World War, enabling RAF pilots to tend to front line duties. Reportedly, at first female pilots weren't allowed to wear trousers, only skirts.

BBC Archive: Originally broadcast 24 September 1951.