noted051408
On the homepage
Vikings
Out There
Pardon Board
Petters
Deaths elsewhere
Print this story
E-mail this story
Save to del.icio.us
Share on Facebook
Share on Digg
Follow local news on TwitterMore from Local + Metro
Diana Barnato Walker, a World War II veteran who was the first British woman to pilot an airplane at supersonic speed, has died. She was 90.
A granddaughter of Barney Barnato, a co-founder of the De Beers mining group in South Africa, Diana Barnato was a spirited debutante and party girl who volunteered to be a Red Cross nurse in France in 1940.
Though she had less than 10 hours of flying experience, she passed the test in 1941 to join the Air Transport Auxiliary, which recruited civilian pilots to ferry new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between British factories and assembly plants during World War II.
Her wartime assignments included delivering some 240 Spitfire fighters.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Recent Local + Metro stories
Pickup driver dies in Itasca County crash - May 13, 2008
Pickup driver dies in Itasca County crash - A pickup truck driver died in a one-vehicle crash late Friday night in rural Itasca County, the State Patrol reported. More
- Legislators take a field trip to the Metrodome
- Library is pressed to take gang force report off Web
- Quam exits firm to help husband run for governor
- Backed by House, 6 patients sue Pawlenty, state officials
- Minn./Wis. reciprocity: Will workers be torn between two tax bills?
- Minn. GOP biggest user of tax break Pawlenty axed
- Not all forgiven
- Lowry Bridge, Saints, Como Zoo fighting for your money
- Sowing survivalism seeds on talk radio
- Is Quist too conservative to beat foe he calls too liberal?
 Receive Customized E-mail AlertsSign up for My Car Searches & E-mail Alerts. |
Win tickets to Doomtree at First Avenue, and maybe a Doomtree grand-prize pack that includes its album, t-shirt and signed poster.Vita.mn presents Doomtree Blowout V at First Avenue on Dec. 5. |
Comment on this story | Be the first to comment | Hide reader comments