An "incredibly talented" aerobatic pilot who taught Carol Vorderman to loop-the-loop was killed in a horror plane crash while practising a mid-air stunt.
Emily Collett, 36, and student flier Tom Castle, 43, died when a Pitts S-2A plane - which has a top speed of 200mph - crashed into a field.
Mrs Collett, an aerobatics national champion in 2016, taught former Countdown presenter and pilot Ms Vorderman, 58, how to perform a loop-the-loop in her two-seater aircraft in July 2017.
She posted photos of themselves on Instagram back then, writing: “I loved doing the loop with this top woman Emily Collett . . . just brilliant x.”
Mrs Collett was practising spins with Mr Castle when her small plane went down near the village of Stonor in Oxfordshire on Saturday afternoon.
She had taken off from White Waltham airfield near Maidenhead, Berkshire, earlier in the day.
Cambridge-educated Mrs Collett and her husband Mike ran Ultimate Aerobatics from the airfield - the base of the West London Aero Club - and competed with the British Advanced Aerobatics team.
They both learnt aerobatics in the Pitts S-2A, which has a top speed of just over 200mph, according to their company's website.
Mrs Collett won the UK Standard class nationals in G-ODDS using the plane.
She had once said of the aircraft: “She shows up all your mistakes, so that you quickly learn how to prevent them."
Mrs Collett graduated from Cambridge University with a Master of Engineering and had been a civil servant with the UK Government for 18 years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She was director of the British Aerobatic Association and won the British Advanced Aerobatics Championships in 2016, "with only a whisker" between her and Mr Collett, who finished second, according to their website.
Mrs Collett, an instructor, had competed at the World Advanced Aerobatics Championships and won a number of national and international awards, including a silver medal with the British team - and her husband - in South Africa in 2014.
She had also won the British Women Pilots' Association's Flying High Scholarship in 2016.
She started flying in 2001 and started flying in aerobatic competitions in 2007, first in gliders and then in aeroplanes in 2009.
Last year, she became the first female member of the Great War Display Team, flying in an SE5a replica aircraft.
Graeme Fudge, of the British Aerobatic Association, paid tribute to the pilot.
He told the Sun: "Emily was an incredibly talented and highly experienced aerobatic pilot.
"A caring and considerate nature, Emily’s generosity in sharing her knowledge and time to help others was well known in the aerobatic community and beyond, helping many pilots achieve their goals.
"Emily will be sadly missed by all who knew her and our thoughts are with her family and friends who have lost a wonderful daughter, wife and friend."
The crash, which happened just after 2pm on Saturday, is being probed by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
The wreckage was taken to the AAIB's facility at Farnborough Airport for an examination.
