Amy Johnson

Amy Johnson

AMY JOHNSON d1941. Pioneering English aviatrix of the 1930s, flying solo or with her husband Jim Mollison. She achieved worldwide recognition in 1930, becoming the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia in her famous Gipsy Moth plane nicknamed Jason ; receiving the prestigious Harmon Trophy and a CBE. In 1931, she became the first woman to fly from London to Moscow in one day , completing the 1760 miles in 21 hours. In 1932, she married Scottish pilot  Jim Mollison who had during a flight together proposed to her within eight hours of meeting her. In July 1932, she set a solo record for the flight from London-Cape Town, breaking her new husband's record. Her next flights were as a duo flying with Mollison ; she flew G-ACCV "Seafarer" nonstop from South Wales- USA in 1933. However, their aircraft ran out of fuel and crash-landed in Conneticut (both were injured). After recuperating, the pair were feted by New York society and received a ticker tape parade down Wall Street. In May 1936, Amy Johnson made her last record-breaking flight, regaining her Britain-South Africa record in G-ADZO. In 1938, she divorced Mollison and reverted back to her maiden name. On 5th January 1941, while flying an Airspeed Oxford from Blackpool to Oxford, she went off course in poor weather and sadly drowned after bailing out in The Thames Estuary. Although she was seen alive in the water, a rescue attempt failed and her body was never recovered. There is still even today some mystery surrounding the accident, as the exact reason for the flight is still a government secret. In 1999, it was reported that a Tom Mitchell from Sussex claimed to have shot the heroine down in 1941 after she had twice failed to give the correct identification code during her flight ...............

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