Joan was hired to test a near-replica of the 1909 Santos-Dumont
Demoiselle monoplane, flying it for the film Those Magnicent Men
in Their Flying Machines (1965). She also flew replica World War I
aircraft for the film The Blue Max (1966). Joan was also the stand in
pilot for Lady Penelope in the 1968 thunderbirds film, landing a tiger
moth on the M40 near High Wycombe, taxiing under the bridge and
then taking off again. Instead, she flew under the bridge without
landing and found herself on 7 charges of dangerous flying.
Fortunately she was acquitted after she successfully argued that
the inclement weather made it safer to fly straight rather than land.
Joan’s most famous role was as the stand in pilot for Lady
Penelope in the 1968 thunderbirds film. Her task was to land a
Tiger Moth on the motorway near High Wycombe, taxiing under the
bridge and then taking off again. Instead Jean flew under the
bridge without landing, and found herself on 7 charges of
dangerous flying. Fortunately she was acquitted after she
successfully argued that the inclement weather made it safer to fly
straight rather than land. She was awarded an MBE for her
wartime service.
In 1984, Joan was interviewed by the Imperial War Museum about
her life and ATA career, which can be accessed here:
Joan Lily Hughes – IWM Interviews
Joan died of cancer in Taunton on the 16
th
August 1993, aged 75.