Trevor Hunter

Hunter was born in Whanganui on 25 January 1915 to Alice Elsie and Marmaduke Archer Hunter.[1] She was named Trevor as her mother was sure that the baby would be a boy. She was a member of the Whanganui Aero club and gained her 'A' license in 1933, flying solo at age 16.[2]

At the age of 18, she flew with Harvie on his flight from North Cape to Bluff which, at 1,880 kilometres (1,170 mi), was the longest recorded flight in New Zealand at the time.[3] The record lasted 28 years. She was also one of the four female pilots who escorted Jean Batten on her arrival to New Zealand following Batten's solo flight from Britain in 1934.[4]

She joined the ATA in 1941. Like other women from New Zealand who joined she had to pay her way to Britain to be examined. She was enlisted in the Ferry Service and flew planes from their factories to squadron bases. In this time she logged 1,200 hours of solo flying and flew 42 types of aircraft including, Spitfires, Warwicks, Mitchells and Wellingtons.[5]

After the war, Hunter was employed as a commercial pilot. In 1950, she married a journalist, James Colway, who became the editor of the Whanganui Chronicle from 1964.[6]