Violet Milstead Warren, n.d.
Violet, “Vi,” was born in 1919, grew up in York County and attended school before being required to drop out to help in her mother’s wool shop. She took her first flying lesson in 1939, earned a private pilot's license a couple months later and became an instructor in 1941. Milstead Warren joined the Air Transport Auxiliary in 1943 with Marion Orr, who was her lifelong friend and opened an airport in Maple. Pilots were originally intended to fly light aircraft, but within six months, they were flying trainer aircraft, fighters, and bombers from factories to airfields. They were often called upon to fly any one of 147 different aircraft, often with no previous experience in a particular type. After the war ended, and meeting her husband, Arnold Warren, she began working for Nickel Belt Airways of Sudbury, becoming one of Canada's first female bush pilots. She also worked for the Ontario Water Commission, until retiring in 1973. She passed away in 2014.
Photograph courtesy of Cramahe Library Digital Archives
Violet Milstead Warren, n.d.
Violet, “Vi,” was born in 1919, grew up in York County and attended school before being required to drop out to help in her mother’s wool shop. She took her first flying lesson in 1939, earned a private pilot's license a couple months later and became an instructor in 1941. Milstead Warren joined the Air Transport Auxiliary in 1943 with Marion Orr, who was her lifelong friend and opened an airport in Maple. Pilots were originally intended to fly light aircraft, but within six months, they were flying trainer aircraft, fighters, and bombers from factories to airfields. They were often called upon to fly any one of 147 different aircraft, often with no previous experience in a particular type. After the war ended, and meeting her husband, Arnold Warren, she began working for Nickel Belt Airways of Sudbury, becoming one of Canada's first female bush pilots. She also worked for the Ontario Water Commission, until retiring in 1973. She passed away in 2014.
Photograph courtesy of Cramahe Library Digital Archives