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Saint John plaque in honour of Daphne
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The 2nd plaque..
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D A P H N E P A T E R S O N was another of our
earliest Pioneer women pilots. She obtained her Pilot's Licence in
1929, one year later than Eileen Vollick who was Canada's FIRST
woman pilot. Daphne was the first woman to be licenced in the
Province of New Brunswick. Although she was not well known in the
annals of aviation history she was a very determined, ambitious
young lady who excelled at flying and earned the respect of everyone
she came into contact with.
The daughter of Dr. and Mrs A.P. Paterson, she was
born in St. John in 1905 and graduated from McGill University in
Montreal with a Batchelor of Science degree. Engines, whether in
cars or planes, fascinated her. Daphne raced cars and held a speed
record between
St. John and Montreal, a distance of 800 miles. It
was inevitable that she eventually became interested in flying.
On her very first flight, the Chief Flying
Instructor at the Montreal Light Aeroplane Club, tried to discourage
her by flying aerobatic manoevres. He was not amused when she came
back for another lesson the next day. (Most men were very negative
in those years about women venturing into their domain of flight!)
Daphne joined the Montreal Light Aeroplane Club in
1929 and luckily found an Instructor who encouraged her to attain
her Pilot's Licence. She began her dual instruction with H. "Tony"
Spooner on February 2, 1929. A "natural" pilot, she was allowed to
go solo
after only 7 hours and 10 minutes flying time. On
May 29, 1929, she passed her flying tests before Inspector Stuart
Graham and received her Private Pilot's Certificate No. 327.
She continued her flight training and on March 15,
1930, she became the FIRST woman in Canada to qualify for her
Commercial Pilot's Licence, Certificate #658. The Department of
National Defence, who granted all licences, first rejected her
application, solely because she
was female!
Her Instructor, Tony Spooner, who had been her
biggest supporter from the beginning, challenged the powers that be,
that the word "PILOT" in Regulations, did not specify MALE ONLY!
However, due to the fact that she would be the first woman
Commercial Pilot, they panicked and introduced a brand new rule
requiring a medical every three months instead of the current six
months for a male Commercial Pilot. (They hadn't considered the
possibility of a pregnant Commercial pilot before!)
Daphne was very well known as a pilot in eastern
Canada. An active member of Flying Clubs in Montreal, St. John, the
Fredericton Flying Club and the Toronto Flying Club, she was always
a very strong supporter of general aviation. She became involved in
many flying
activities to educate the general public and also
spread the word that women could make flying a career. She generated
a lot of press in the media, but the Airlines were not considering
hiring females under any circumstances, no matter how qualified they
were.
In 1931, she won the Canadian Flying Clubs' de
Havilland Trophy in Class "A" in the Maritime zone competitions and
was a runner-up twice in the Canadian Webster Trophy Trials. She
crossed many hurdles in those early days, meeting male resistance at
every step of her flying achievements, but she never considered
giving up at that time.
Daphne married Tony Shelfoon in the mid-thirties,
a pilot who was working towards a career in aviation. ( He
eventually became a Squadron Leader in the RCAF) Daphne kept her
flying current and a few years later, earned a Public Transport
Licence, Certificate #130
on August 9, 1938. The highest rating possible in
Canada. The three-month medical was once again a requirement for
this Licence. She was the only woman to hold a Public Transport
Licence in Canada prior to World War II. She felt she must be well
qualified to fly in the RCAF when and if war was declared. At some
point, there was a strong possibility, that owing to a shortage of
instructors, she might pursue her ambition in this way, so she began
training for her Instructor's Licence, receiving it in May, 1940.
It was all to no avail, when it came down to the
crunch, she was told that they felt it was improper for women to
teach men how to fly! By then, she was considered too old to join
the Air Transport Auxilliary. In desperation, she contacted
Jacqueline Cochran who was recruiting for the newly formed Womens
Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS) but she didn't have the required
American citizenship to qualify. She had exhausted all possible
leads and no one would hire her.
Daphne Paterson ultimately spent the war years on
the ground as a journalist. By the time the flying clubs suspended
operations, she had a total of 410 hard-earned flying hours and
every rating possible in her log book. She gave up flying when she
moved to Trenton with her husband after the war. There was no civil
airfield in the area at that time.
In 1978, the First Canadian Chapter of the 99s,
honoured her with the presentation of an Amelia Earhart Medallion at
a small dinner party in Toronto. Daphne was too shy to attend a
large Section Meeting of the 99s, but representatives from all East
Canada Section Chapters were invited to the dinner. A delightful
lady, it was a privilege to have met her. Daphne passed away in
Trenton, March 1982, at the age of 77.
Daphne Paterson and others like her had the
courage, skill and determination to follow their dreams, even though
due to prejudices, they sometimes didn't attain their ultimate
goals. We owe many of our present flying privileges to these Pioneer
ladies.
Written by Shirley Allen
