Adelaide Franklin Cleaver (née Pollock; 1885 - 14 August 1939) was an Irish
aviator from Northern Ireland.
Life and flying
She was the daughter of Northern Ireland's first
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
,
Hugh MacDowell Pollock
Hugh MacDowell Pollock, CH, PC(Ire) (16 November 1852 – 15 April 1937) was an Ulster Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 until his death in 1937, being appointed as the country's first Minister of Finance.
Life ...
. Her husband was Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Spencer Cleaver.
In 1929 she spent 3 months flying to India and back in her
de Havilland Gypsy Moth
The de Havilland DH.60 Moth is a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.
Development
The DH.60 was developed from the larger DH.51 biplane. ...
''G-AAEA'' named ''Will o' the Wisp''. She was piloted by Captain Donald Drew of
Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...
, and arrived back at
Croydon Airport on 10 June.
In July 1933 she was responsible for a flying display which was held at Aldergrove Aerodrome, Co. Antrim with the intention of stimulating air-mindedness in Ulster. In 1934,
Mary de Bunsen
Mary de Bunsen (29 May 1910 – 13 April 1982) was a British Air Transport Auxiliary pilot and author.
Early life
Mary Berta de Bunsen was born in Madrid on 29 May 1910 to Sir Maurice William Ernest (1st Bt) de Bunsen and Bertha Mary Lowry-Co ...
wrote that "Mrs Spencer Cleaver makes the usually fatiguing journey to Northern Ireland three or four times a year in her own aeroplane, and, fitted with extra tanks to save refuelling during the day, it has many times enabled her to breakfast in London, shop in Paris from 11 to 1, and return in plenty of time for dinner at her house in London."
[de Bunsen, Mary Bertha: "''Practical Flying for Women''" (1934)]
Equipment
An immense lover of flying, Cleaver owned several aircraft:
* a 1929
de Havilland Gipsy Moth
The de Havilland DH.60 Moth is a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.
Development
The DH.60 was developed from the larger DH.51 biplane. ...
'' G-AAEA'', ''Willo the Wisp'', which she sold to Venetia Montagu;
* a 1930 de Havilland Gipsy Moth ''G-AAVY'' ''Will o' the Wisp II'', which she sold to Lady Howard de Walden;
* a 1930
De Havilland Puss Moth
The de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth is a British three-seater high-wing monoplane aeroplane designed and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1929 and 1933. It flew at a speed approaching 124 mph (200 km/h), making it o ...
, ''G-ABFV''
* a 1933
Percival D.2 Gull Four IID, ''G-ACIP''
References
External links
* ''Includes two photographs of Cleaver''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleaver, Adelaide
1885 births
1939 deaths
British women aviators