FLYING ace Joy Lofthouse is no stranger to a bird’s eye view – but the 93-year-old is used to looking down from a plane’s cockpit, not the Royal Box at Wimbledon.

The pilot from Cirencester received a rousing cheer that dwarfed that of fellow guest David Beckham when she was introduced to the Centre Court crowd last Saturday.

SW19 honoured Joy as she sat in the star-studded enclosure with Sir Chris Hoy and Sir Geoff Hurst.

“It was amazing. I was so thrilled with all the people I met – Billie Jean King and John McEnroe,” Joy said.

Joy, who used to play tennis at Cirencester Grammar School, made it to the big day despite heavy traffic and was able to see British number one Andy Murray beat John Millman.

She went straight from Centre Court to an annual wreath laying for the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA).

“Once I got there everybody was saying ‘I saw you on television’,” she said.

She added that meeting David Beckham and his mother, who were “very nice”, was one of the highlights.

“Everybody was so kind and we were so well looked after, it was a tremendous day,” she said. “I was amazed at the applause from the crowd, especially with so many others there who had done so much.”

In 1943, Joy responded to an ATA advert calling for women willing to learn to fly.

Her application was a success and she became one of only 164 female pilots, known as ‘Attagirls’, who flew aircraft including Spitfires and Hurricanes between factories and airfields across the country.