By Tina Trefethen
Joan Trefethen Alford, EAA 1019, 1927 – 2024
Joan considered herself extremely lucky to have lived in America’s golden age of aviation that embraced freedom and experimentation. Her friends in early air racing were responsible for designing the top-performing aircraft of their day, and a normal working family could afford to participate in making aviation history — that’s what EAA has always been all about. Private pilots (uninsured and minimally regulated) retained as many rights to our airports and airspace as commercial/military traffic. She never lost hope that flying would stay available, affordable, and fun for everyone!
Sixteen-year-old Joan started her flight training at Compton Airport, but flying and college were stopped by WWII. She was called on to work as a draftsman for the war effort, though she did get to solo at an air base in Nebraska. Post-war, she took to the air with a passion at 18, flying military surplus aircraft including the Ryan PT-22, Vultee BT-13, NorthAmerican AT-6, and the Cessna UC-78B. Husband Al Trefethen was an Air Corps flight instructor who passed on rigorous training to Joanne at Torrance Airport — that passion lasted another eight decades!
Torrance was a new home for the famous pre-war race pilot Art Chester and his Goodyear racer Swee’ Pea while he was serving as president of the Professional Race Pilots Association. Joan and Al became Chester’s official air racecrew, and both went on to become active racing members of the PRPA. They were instrumental in the civiliandevelopment of TOA, a coastal defense P-38 and P-51 base on the Palos Verdes peninsula of Los Angeles. They also hand-built the first hangars, brought the first commercial business to the field (Nagels Surplus), and in 1953 startedEAA Chapter 11 soon after visiting Ray Stits’ Chapter 1 at Flabob Airport.
New chapters of EAA were encouraged in California to expand Paul Poberezny’s vision and organize the West Coast homebuilders, and Torrance quickly became an important base for experimental and racing aircraft — with as many as 250 members attending meetings and sit-down dinners. After flying the Stits Playboy, Joanne bought Ray Stits’ plans($3.00) and got to work, making her the first woman to scratch-build and test fly her own airplane.
Joan and Al’s three kids were raised around the airport as part of everyday family life which included: Mom welding the fuselage in the driveway, gluing spars in the living room, overhauling engines on the kitchen table, and appearing on TV from New York for “I’ve Got a Secret.”
With her second marriage, Joan relocated to Northern California with John Alford (A&P, corporate and air tanker pilot of the B-17 Flying Fortress and F7F Tigercat). They had a daughter in 1964, and Joan’s flying shifted to charterwork at a Piper dealership, and spotting, ferrying, and shuttling pilots for the Forest Service.
Joan approached North American designer George Owl to work with them to develop a Formula One class experimental for her. Years of meticulous work paid off, and Joan and John’s No. 87 homebuilt prototype Pogo proved to be a fast andexcellent handling craft. By the end of the 1960s, the ban against women in pylon racing had finally been busted – attributed to Betty Skelton’s threats of a lawsuit – and Joan was hot to compete after serving 20 years as PRPA’s legal secretary. Debuting at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, she became the first woman to race Formula One and her next stop on the circuit was the Reno National Championship Air Races.
Although she was highly qualified, Joan was turned down early by the airlines because she was a woman. Though, she did fly for general aviation aircraft dealers as a charter pilot, forestry on fire patrol and ferry flights, demonstrated agricultural equipment for Transland Co. (both the PT-17 and AG-2 aircraft), and her favorite time was chief pilot for Wing Aircraft Company’s twin Derringer.
She retired from Northrop’s Advanced Systems Division where, because of her flying experience, was given time in their B-2 bomber simulator. Her last personal homebuilt was a Van’s RV-4. She lovingly donated her beautiful Cosmic WindGoodyear racer, Mr. Robinson, to the EAA Aviation Museum in 1999.
Joan leaves four children; aircraft designer/builders, an A&P mechanic, world hang-gliding champion, composites engineer, Paris Air Show pilot… all artists. And she has five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson.
“Joan is one of the most naturally gifted pilots I have ever flown with.”- Corwin ‘Corky’ Meyer (Grumman Chief TestPilot, Head Edwards Flight Operations)
Joan’s group of friends and fellow flyers included such extraordinary aviators, pilots, designers, and builders as: PaulPoberezny, Art Chester, Art Williams, Tony Levier, Jack Northrop, Herman Salmon, George Owl, Irv Culver, John Thorp,Steve Wittman, Billy Robinson, Ray Stits, Corky Meyer, George Wing, Betty Skelton, Bill Brennon, Bob Hoover, BillFaulk, Chuck Yeager, Harvey and Helen Mace, Bill Warwick, Larry Heuberger, plus the field of competitive air race pilots.
Among Joan’s many accomplishments and activities include:
- Multi-engine rated commercial pilot
- Flew general aviation aircraft, warbirds, homebuilts, and ultralights
- Recreational and family flyer
- Sales/Engineering – aircraft turbocharger components (RaJay)
- Homebuilder – Stits Playboy (First woman to scratch-build an experimental aircraft)
- Awarded Longest Distance Traveled at the 1958 EAA fly-in (from Los Angeles to Rockford)
- Air Racing – Goodyear crew for Art Chester
- Closed course pylon racing – builder and pilot of a Formula One aircraft, becoming the first woman to race F-1
- Charter pilot – (Comanche 400 and Piper Line)
- Forestry – ferry, personnel, spotter (Sis-Q Flying Service)
- Agricultural airplanes – testing/demo (Transland)
- Chief pilot – sales, demo, checkrides (Wing Aircraft)
- Started EAA Chapter 11 in Santa Monica, California
- Aerospace employee – Advanced Systems Division (Northrop)
- Factory pilot – Air shows, exhibits, demos (Wing & Eipper Aircraft)
- Team member – Vision Research family kit airplane to EAA Oshkosh
- Donated Cosmic Wind Goodyear racer Robinson to EAA Aviation Museum
Aircraft Joan checked-out in and/or owned and operated:
- Porterfield CP-50 Collegiate
- Piper J-3 Cub
- Boeing PT-17 Stearman
- Fairchild PT-19
- Ryan PT-22 Recruit (owned/modified/flew)
- North American AT-6 (owned/flew)
- Cessna UC-78B Bamboo Bomber
- Stark SkyHopper EXP
- Stark Sportaire EXP (owned/flew)
- Stits Playboy EXP (built/tested/flew 700 hours)
- Timm Aerocraft N2T Tutor
- Messerschmitt Me 108 Typhoon
- Fairchild 24 Argus
- Thorp SkyScooter EXP
- Thorp T-18 EXP
- Curtis Pitts Special EXP
- Grumman G-21 Goose (co-pilot Catalina Runs)
- Beechcraft 17 Staggerwing
- Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (ferry/co-pilot)
- Owl Racer OR-1 Pogo EXP (built/owned/raced three seasons)
- Piper Comanche 400
- Grumman AG-2 AgCat (testing for Transland)
- Wing Aircraft Twin Derringer (factory/chief pilot)
- Piper full-line of aircraft (general charter pilot)
- American Aerolite Falcon EXP (Chuck Yeager’s)
- Maxair Drifter two-place EXP
- Eipper Aircraft UL/EXP
- Quicksilver, MX, MX II, GT, Floats
- Cessna Skymaster (owned/flew)
- Cessna 172 RG (owned/flew)
- Piper PA-28 Cherokee (owned/flew)
- Stoddard-Hamilton Glasair III EXP
- Vans RV-4 (owned/flew)
- Aero Vodochody L-29 Delfin (80th birthday jet check-out)
- Northrop B-2 bomber flight simulator