Johnson View

In honour of : Amy Johnson

Full Real Name : Amy Johnson, CBE

Born in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding, Yorkshire on 1st July 1903

Died in Thames Estuary, Herne Bay, Kent on 5th January 1941


Amy Johnson started flying as a hobby and achieved her Aviator's Certificate on 28th January 1929, a Pilot's A Licence on 6th July and became the first woman to achieve a Ground Engineer's C Licence all in the same year.

Her first airplane was a de Havilland DH.60 Gipsy Moth (G-AAAH) which she named Jason and it was in this aircraft that she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia leaving Croydon Airport on 5th May 1930 and landing at Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia on 24th May some 11,000 later.

Amy and Jason in May 1930

To recognise this achievement she was awarded the Harmon Trophy, honoured with the No 1 Civil Pilot's Licence (Australia) and a CBE in George V's 1930 Birthday Honours.

The following year, together with her co-pilot Jack Humphreys and a new airplane - a de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth (G-AAZV) named Jason II - she flew from London to Moscow (1,760 miles) in around 21 hours.  They then flew on to Tokyo setting a record time for Britain to Japan.

In July 1932, having married Scottish Pilot Jim Mollison, Johnson went on to fly from London to Cape Town in a new airplane a Puss Moth (G-ACAB) named Desert Cloud breaking Jim's record.

A year later, known now as the "Flying Sweethearts", they flew nonstop over 3,300 miles for over 39 hours to Stratford, Connecticut from Pendine Sands, South Wales in a de Havilland DH.84 Dragon (G-ACCV) named Seafarer.

The following year in 1934 they took part in the MacRobertson Air Race from Britain to Australia in a de Havilland DH.88 Comet (G-ACSP) named Black Magic and although they flew in record time from Britain to India they were forced to retire due to engine problems.

The de Havilland Comet Black Magic just before the race

In 1936 Amy Johnson flew her last record-breaking flight from Britain to South Africa in a Percival Gull Six (G-ADZO).

Sadly whilst flying an Airspeed Oxford from Prestwick to RAF Kidlington in January 1941 she was forced to bail out over the Thames Estuary.  The crew of HMS Haslemere attempted to rescue her but were unable to do so.

The Oxford was used throughout the Second World War for training

References:

http://amyjohnsonartstrust.co.uk/her-life
https://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Johnson
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/26713
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/153555
Puss Moth (G-ACAB)