Lorna deBlicquy

Lorna Vivian deBlicquy (1931–2009) was a pioneering female Canadian aviator who flew for over 50 years, becoming Canada's first woman civil aviation flight test inspector. She contributed significantly to improve conditions for working women pilots. In 2014, she was posthumously inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.

Early life and education Born on 30 November 1931 in Blyth near Goderich, Ontario, Lorna Vivian Morcombe was the daughter of Vivian Morcombe, a bank manager, and Nora Eileen Bray. She was the youngest of the family's four children. When she was 14, she moved with her family to Ottawa, where she learned to fly in a Piper J-3 Cub at the Atlas Aviation Flying School, obtaining her private pilot licence when she was 16. In 1952, while studying at Ottawa's Carleton University she qualified for a commercial license and took work at Spartan Air Services as a navigation clerk. Following her complaints, Transport Canada policy was changed and she was taken on in 1977 as the first female civil aviation inspector in Canada. The following year, she was given the Order of Canada in 1995.

Personal life and death Lorna and Dick deBlicquy were divorced in 1995. The couple had a daughter, Elaine, born 1966.