Amy Johnson, Pioneer UK Aviatrix
First Woman to Fly From Britain to Australia, Many Other Records
1930s female British pilot who became a celebrity, Amy Johnson broke several long- distance flying records, then ferried aircraft in World War II, eventually drowning.
Amy Johnson became interested in flying at an early age. She saved money from her typist job, learned to fly, and with barely 100 flying hours, she set off to fly to Australia. The rest, as they say, is history...
Her Early Life
Amy Johnson was born on July 1st 1903, in Hull, Yorkshire. She went to Sheffield University in 1923 to read for a BA, and after graduating she moved on to work as a secretary to a London solicitor. She started to learn to fly at the London Aeroplane Club in the winter of 1928-29, and her hobby soon became an all-consuming passion. Above all, she wanted to succeed in some project which would demonstrate to the world that women could be as competent as men in a hitherto male dominated field. Soon after gaining her pilot’s licence, Amy qualified as the first British-trained woman ground engineer, and for a while she was the only female ground engineer in the world. This training was to stand her in good stead on her epic flight to Australia.
The Flight to Australia
Early in 1930, she decided to fly solo to Australia, aiming to beat Bert Hinkler's record of sixteen days. Her early efforts to raise financial support failed, but eventually Lord Wakefield agreed that his oil company would help, and Amy's father and Wakefield shared the purchase price of a used DH Gypsy Moth (G-AAAH), which was named Jason after the family business trademark. In this aircraft, Amy set off alone from Croydon Airport on May 5th 1930, eventually landing in Darwin on May 24th. She had failed to beat Hinkler’s record, but she was the first woman to fly alone to Australia, and as such she was feted and adored by an excited British public on her return.
Other Records
In July 1931, Amy set an England to Japan record in a Puss Moth, along with Jack Humphreys. In July 1932 she set a record from England to Capetown, flying solo in a Puss Moth. In May 1936, having lost that record, she again flew solo to Capetown, this time in a Percival Gull, in order to regain her record. Having married Jim Mollison, the two of them flew in a DH Dragon, nonstop from Pendine Sands, South Wales, to the United States, in 1933. They also flew nonstop to India in 1934 in a DH Comet in the England to Australia air race.
The Air Transport Auxilliary
After her commercial flying ended with the outbreak of World World II in 1939, Amy joined the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), a pool of experienced pilots who ferried aircraft from factory airstrips to RAF bases. It was on one of these flights, on January 5th 1941, that Amy crashed into the Thames estuary and was drowned, a tragic to the life of Britain's most famous woman pilot.
Amy Johnson is remembered in many ways. The British Women Pilot's Association (BWPA) offers an annual scholarship in her honour to help outstanding women pilots further their careers. At a recent BWPA dinner, Jackie Moggridge, another ATA pilot, recounted her wartime memories of Amy, saying what a kind and generous person she had been, as well as a record-breaking pilot. She was truly one of a kind.
Interested in other female pilots? See Hanna Reitsch, German Aviatrix
Further Reading
Amy Johnson, Queen of the Air, Midge Gillies, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2003
