The 80-year-old DAREDEVIL

Excitement-mad Johanna Hamer is on top of the world as she lives life to the fullest

- FRANCESCA WOODSTOCK

Gazing up at the clouds, Johanna Hamer thought fondly of all the memories she’d made while flying high in the sky.

Johanna, now 80, from Cheltenham, has always loved planes. ‘I moved to Jersey from the Netherlands at the age of 19. I worked as an au pair, but I lived close to the airport and loved watching the planes fly overhead,’ Johanna explains.

After her first marriage broke up in 1974, Johanna seized the opportunity to get involved.

‘I found the idea of flying a plane fascinating. Aged 33, I booked a trial lesson at a local pilot school, and I loved it,’ she says.

By this time, Johanna was already a mum to John, now51, and after a year of studying, she received her licence to fly light aircraft.

‘When I first got my pilot’s licence, it was just for fun, but I quickly made friends with other pilots. I met lots of women working as air hostesses, and we had a great time,’ she says.

Johanna’s eyesight meant that she wasn’t able to fly commercial planes so, in 1975, she embarked on a new career as a flight attendant, and continuedto fly smaller planes in her spare time. ‘When I wasn’t working, I’d charter a private plane and fly to Scotland with friends. Everything was cheaper and more accessible back then. We had so much fun,’ she says.

It was an exciting time, and Johanna, who remarried in 1978, found nothing compared to the buzz of sky-high adventures.