Jim Mollison

JIM MOLLISON MBE d1959. Scottish pioneer aviator married to Amy Johnson between 1932-38. At the age of just 22, he became a flying instructor at Central Flying School setting the record for being the youngest in this role. Shortly after, he transferred to the RAF Reserve and devoted his time to civil aviation. In 1928–29, he served as an instructor with the South Australian Aero Club in Adelaide, leaving that position to become a pilot with Eyre Peninsular Airways and Australian National Airways. Whilst gaining a reputation as a playboy, Mollison was a highly skilled pilot who, like many others, took to record breaking as a means of "making his name." In July–August 1931, he set a record time of eight days 19 hours for a flight from Australia to England and in March 1932, a record for flying from England to South Africa in 4 days 17 hours. He had flown commercially for Charles Kingsford Smith's ill-fated Australian National Airways and during one of his commercial flights, he met the equally famous aviatrix Amy Johnson. He proposed only eight hours after meeting her and whilst still in the air. She accepted ; they married in July 1932 and then she went off to break her husband's England to South Africa record. They were dubbed The Flying Sweethearts by the press and public. Mollison continued his record-breaking attempts and on 18th August 1932 he became the first pilot to perform an East-to-West solo trans-Atlantic flight from Ireland to Canada. In February 1933, he flew from England to Brazil in 3 days 13 hours (using Africa as a stop-over continent) a record time and the first solo crossing. By then, he and his wife began to plan a record breaking flight across the world. On 22nd July 1933, they took off from Pendine Sands in Wales on a non-stop flight to New York, but were forced to crash land in Bridgeport Connecticut just short of their target, after running out of fuel. He and Amy were both injured and the plane broken apart by souvenir seekers. In October 1934 the Mollisons took part in the MacRobertson Air Race ; their De Havilland DH88 led the competitors off the line and was leading at Baghdad, but they were forced to retire after having to use non-aviation fuel which damaged their engines. Their marriage became strained ; they were rivals for the same aviation records and Mollison was at times a heavy drinker. They were divorced in 1938, she resumed her maiden name, but died in a freak flying accident in the Thames Estuary aged just 37 in January 1941. In later years he settled in London and ran a public house, but drinking remained a problem. He died aged 54 on 30th October 1959.