Marion Alice Orr
| Marion Orr | |
|---|---|
| Born |
25 June 1918 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | 4 April 1995 (aged 76) |
| Cause of death | automobile accident |
| Occupation | Aviator and instructor |
| Known for | Pioneer female aviator |
| Title | Member of the Order of Canada |
Marion Alice (Powell) Orr, CM (25 June 1918 – 4 April 1995) was a pioneering Canadian aviator who was the first woman to run a flying school. She served with the Air Transport Auxiliary during World War II and was awarded the Order of Canada in 1986.
Marion Alice Powell was born in Toronto, Ontario. On 5 January 1940 she obtained her private pilot's license after working to pay for her flying lessons. She then worked as an aircraft inspector at de Havilland Canada, and qualified for her commercial license two years afterwards. She was the second woman in Canada to qualify as an air traffic control assistant. In 1942 she married D.K. "Deke" Orr. He helped her gain her instructor's license in 1942. The marriage was brief and the couple separated later that year, although Marion Orr, as she was now known, would keep her married surname.
After being told about the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) by Violet Milstead, she applied, was tested in Montreal and was admitted to the ATA. Orr and Milstead moved to England in the summer of 1942. Orr's first flight for the ATA was on 2 June 1943. Her favourite aircraft to fly was the Spitfire, which she considered "the most beautiful plane ever built."
She began her career ferrying airplanes across the Atlantic, according to her citation for the Order of Canada. The Maidenhead Heritage Centre, the Spiritual Home of the ATA, and the Royal Air Force Museum report that no ATA pilot ferried aircraft across the Atlantic. Her ATA record card in the RAF Museum shows she flew about 15 aircraft types, including the Airspeed Oxford, the only twin-engine machine. None of these types was capable of flying the Atlantic. Instead, she flew aircraft to and from factories, squadrons and other units.
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