An amazing video has emerged from the UK of a 14-year-old girl flying alone for the first time.

The footage, shot on November 28 in Devon, shows Ellie Carter successfully flying an ASK 21 aircraft on her 14th birthday.

''She has been flying since she was 9 and she has been learning to fly soaring planes for 12 months, powered aircraft since she was 9,'' the father wrote online.

''When she got to 9 she developed a a fascination with high altitude flying. This led her to write to the USAF who use some extremely high flying aircraft in conjunction with NASA.

''We were told her letter went to the Pentagon and then to an air-force base in California.The high altitude pilots spoke to a contact in the UK and arranged for her to start flying at 9,'' he continued.

''She then started flying an old WW2 Grasshopper plane here in Devon and became known as the flying schoolgirl,'' he added.

Youngest female solo pilot on her 14th birthday.

The video was filmed. near Honiton, Devon (Place called North Hill, but I guess no-one is likely to have heard of that)


The aircraft was a ASK 21


She has been flying since she was 9. She flies powered aircraft and gliders. She has been learning to fly soaring planes for 12 months, powered aircraft since she was 9.


I have absolutely no idea what generated her passion to fly. There is no flying in our family at all so its not something that she has just naturally fallen into. She was always looking up at the sky as a young toddler and started to come out with some quite strange things at 4/5. When she got to age 7 she begged us to take her to an air-show.


When she got to 9 she was designing some quite complex aeronautical things and then developed a a fascination with high altitude flying. This led her to write to the USAF who use some extremely high flying aircraft in conjunction with NASA. We were told her letter went to the Pentagon and then to an air-force base in California. The high altitude pilots spoke to a contact in the U.K and arranged for her to start flying at 9. They even invited her to California. She had a great time there.


She then started flying an old WW2 Grasshopper plane here in Devon and became known as the flying schoolgirl.


She started gliding to improve her skills. There is a lot of airmanship involved and she wants to fly everything and ideally solo on each birthday. The captain of the Hudson river aircraft (The film Sully) said he owed those life saving skills to his training as a soaring pilot. Ellie works hard and applies for bursaries and grants to pay for the soaring all by herself.


As her father there was a small amount of natural nerves on that first solo flight, but I know how much flying means to her and how professional those that teach her are. In fact I was always worried that those who feel women should not do things like this would put her off, so I wrote her an 84500 word book about two pioneering girls in 1918 America (Even wrote a sequel) so i guess that proves i am fully supportive.


Ellie's long term ambition is to study aeronautics. Become a high altitude/ test pilot. Something like Virgin galactic. She would also love to get involved with film/television work involving flying/ aerial filming / science.