''Ferry Pilot'' is a British short

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

produced in 1941 about the work of the

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factori ...

(ATA). Directed by

Pat Jackson Patrick Douglas Selmes Jackson (26 March 1916 – 3 June 2011) was an English film and television director. Biography Born in Eltham, to a formerly affluent family which was severely affected by the Wall Street Crash in 1929, and his father' ...

and produced by

Ian Dalrymple Ian Dalrymple (26 August 190328 March 1989) was a British screenwriter, film director, film editor and film producer. Biography Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he was educated at Rugby School, Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge. He worke ...

the film was the work of the

Crown Film Unit The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during the Second World War. Formerly the GPO Film Unit it became the Crown Film Unit in 1940. Its remit was to make films for the general public in ...

and was released at the end of 1941. Originally conceived as a very short five minute film, it was expanded to a running time of over 30 minutes during production.

Synopsis

The film starts with the commander of one of ATA ferry pools and his assistant receiving telephone calls about aircraft to be moved between factories and airfields and working out pilot rosters. It moves on to introduce the variety of people, both men and women, who are pilots in the ATA. The movements of two pilots, an older Englishman and a young American as they are transported to a factory in an ATA

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCA ...

to collect two Supermarine Spitfires for delivery to an RAF base somewhere in England. After delivering the Spitfires, the English pilot flies an

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the Second World ...

to another airfield with the American pilot as a passenger. The two land, unaware that they came close to being attacked by German aircraft, and are picked up by another ATA crew to return to their base. The film ends with the two signing-off for the day with the ferry pool commander.

Reception

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' described the film as having "an attractively deceptive casualness about it", not indulging in heroics but paying "an admirable tribute to a service about which the public knows little." The ''

Northern Whig The ''Northern Whig'' (from 1919 the ''Northern Whig and Belfast Post'') was a daily regional newspaper in Ireland which was first published in 1824 in Belfast when it was founded by Francis Dalzell Finlay. It was published twice weekly, Monday ...

'' called the film "a sound competent piece of film production" urging its readers to see the film, while ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'' said "the film bears the stamp of authenticity one would expect in a production of the Crown Film Unit", ending the review "This little film was well worth making; it is also well worth seeing."

References

External links

* {{URL, https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060007292 , ''Ferry Pilot'', the full film on the Imperial War Museum website Crown Film Unit films British World War II propaganda films British documentary films Documentary films about military aviation 1941 documentary films 1941 films British black-and-white films Films directed by Pat Jackson