Amy Johnson: The pioneering pilot from Hull who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia
Amy Johnson was a pilot from Hull who made history as the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia - here’s an overview of her life.
Amy Johnson often flew solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, and set many long-distance records throughout the 1930s.
Her life story was featured in many documentaries and films, including the 1933 film Christopher Strong as Katherine Hepburn’s character was inspired by her.
After her death, a collection of Amy’s souvenirs and mementos was donated by her father to Sewerby Hall in 1958 and the hall now houses a room dedicated to Amy Johnson in its museum.
Childhood and education of Amy Johnson
Amy was born in 1903 in Kingston upon Hull and was the daughter of Amy Hodge, granddaughter of a Mayor of Hull, and John William Johnson whose family were fish merchants in the firm of Andrew Johnson, Knudtzon and Company.
She was the eldest of three sisters, the second eldest was Irene who was a year younger.
Amy attended Boulevard Municipal Secondary School, later Kingston High School, and the University of Sheffield, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.
She started working in London as secretary to a solicitor, William Charles Crocker and was introduced to flying as a hobby, gaining an aviator’s certificate in January 1929, and a pilot’s ‘A’ licence in July of the same year, both at the London Aeroplane Club under the mentorship of Captain Valentine Baker.
Amy broke her first record that year as the first British woman to obtain a ground engineer’s ‘C’ licence.
She was a friend and collaborator of Fred Slingsby whose Yorkshire based company, Slingsby Aviation of Kirkbymoorside became the UK’s most famous glider manufacturer.
Amy’s aviation career
Amy got the money to buy her first aircraft from her father, who was a big supporter, and Lord Wakefield.
She bought her first second-hand de Havilland DH. 60 Gipsy Moth G-AAAH and named it Jason after her father’s business trade mark.
Amy achieved international recognition when she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930.
She flew Jason from Croydon Airport, Surrey, on May 5 and landed at Darwin, Northern Territory on May 24, a distance of 11,000 miles.
Six days later, she damaged her aircraft while landing downwind at Brisbane airport and flew to Sydney with Captain Frank Follett while the aircraft was repaired.
Jason was later flown to Mascot, Sydney, by Captain Lester Brain and the aircraft is now on permanent display in the Flight Gallery of the Science Museum in London.
She achieved the Harmon Trophy and was honoured with the No.1 civil pilot’s licence under Australia’s 1921 Air Navigation Regulations.
The next aircraft Amy bought was a de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth G-AAZV which she named Jason II.
In July 1931, Amy and the co-pilot Jack Humphreys became the first people to fly from London to Moscow in one day, completing the 1,760 miles journey in around 21 hours. From that point, they continued across Siberia and on to Tokyo, setting a record time for Britain to Japan.
She married Scottish pilot, Jim Mollison, in 1932, who proposed to her during a flight together eight hours after they had first met.
Amy broke her husband’s record when she set a solo record for a flight from London to Cape Town, South Africa, in the Puss Moth G-ACAB Desert Cloud.
In 1934, the Mollisons set a record time for a flight from Britain to India in a de Havilland DH.88 Comet titled Black Magic, as part of the England to Australia MacRobertson Air Race. They had to abandon the race at Allahabad due to engine issues.
In September 1934, Amy became the youngest president of the Women’s Engineering Society, and had been vice-president since 1934. She had an active role in the society until her death.
Her last record was in May 1936, when she started from Gravesend Airport and regained her Britain to South Africa record in G-ADZO, a Percival Gull Six.
Amy overturned her glider in 1938, when landing after a display at Walsall Aerodrome in England, but was not seriously hurt.
She divorced Mollison in 1937 and reverted to her maiden name. Amy began to explore other career options through business ventures, journalism and fashion.
She modelled clothes for the designer Elisa Schiaparelli and in 1939, Amy found work flying with the Portsmouth, Southsea and Isle of Wight Aviation Company, piloting short flights across the Solent and flying as a target for searchlight batteries and anti-aircraft gunners to practise on.
Amy was served a notice of redundancy alongside all other pilots in the company, as all the aircraft were requisitioned for the war effort during the Second World War in March 1940.
When she flew as part of the Air Transport Auxiliary, her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary: she died after bailing out.
Since her body was never recovered, the exact cause of her death - drowning, hypothermia or being pulled into a warship’s moving propellers - is unknown and has been a subject since the possibility of friendly fire was raised in 1999.
Amy was 37 years old when she died.