The incredible story of a woman who hung to the tail of a Spitfire in flight is being told by volunteers at an aviation centre.
Margaret Horton was a member of the ground crew working on a Spitfire at RAF Hibaldstow, in Lincolnshire, during the Second World War when the pilot took off without realising she was on the tail. The pilot landed, Horton hopped off and went about her day.
Her story is being kept alive by North Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, which is marking seven years since work began on a visitor attraction at the former RAF site.
Phil Jones, one of the centre’s directors, said visitors enjoyed discovering such tales because “it’s part of who we are as human beings”.
In 1945, Horton was tasked with sitting on the tail of a Spitfire while it was being taxied – a routine job used to prevent the aircraft from bouncing and the propeller striking the ground.
But when Horton was doing this, the pilot taxied out onto the runway and took off, forgetting she was still on the tail.
Speaking to the BBC in the 1970s, Horton said: “When I saw things going too fast, I flung myself across the tail plane and caught hold of the accelerator. I tried to move it so he would know I was there.”
Despite clinging on to the plane for a circuit of the airfield, she survived the journey.
“He made a beautiful landing,” Horton said. “It was a day to remember.”