the first female airline captain

First edition, first impression, presentation copy inscribed by the author on the title, 'For Judith, with love, Jackie Moggridge, 1958'.

South Africa-born Jackie Moggridge (née Sorour, 1922-2004) was one of the most accomplished female pilots of the Second World War, and the first woman to captain a regular commercial service. She earned her flying license at age fifteen and moved to England to attend aeronautical college, joining the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and then the Air Transport Auxiliary when war broke out. Moggridge was one of the youngest pilots to serve, flying more than 1,500 aircraft of 83 different types and earning the King's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air. She remained in the RAF Women's Volunteer Reserve during peacetime, becoming only the second woman to gain their RAF wings. Moggridge earned her commercial pilot's license in the 1950s and, in after a stint ferrying planes between Cyprus and east Asia, she became the first female airline captain, working the Isle of Wight, Jersey, and Guernsey routes for Channel Airways. The present volume is a short autobiography covering Moggridge's life and career up to 1957, just prior to her hiring by Channel Airways.

First edition, first impression; portrait frontispiece, folding map, spotting to title and top edges of early leaves, tape marks and spotting to endpapers; original blue cloth, titles to spine gilt, cloth lightly rubbed with a few small marks, spine rolled, a very good copy in the rubbed and creased jacket with some small chips and splits repaired with tape on the verso; 235pp.