TITLED PILOT.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 177, 28 July 1928, Page 9

TITLED PILOT.

ON AIR LINER. Lady Heath, Joins Passenger Service. ACROSS NORTH SEA ROUTE. (Australian Press Assn.—United Service.) LONDON, July 27. For the first time in the history of civil aviation a woman flyer has been engaged to pilot a regular passenger air liner. Lady Heath (formerly Airs. Elliott Lynn) will to-morrow fly from Amsterdam to Loudon in charge of a Royal Dutch air liner, a large two-engined Fokker-Jupiter.

Lady Heath obtained a passenger pilot license recently. According to the usual routine for new pilots she will be accompanied to-morrow by a regular pilot in the cockpit. The 'plane will carry a full complement of 15 passengers. It is understood that it is Lady Heath's ambition to pilot Imperial Airways' giant triple-screw 'plane, the world's largest.

TO GAIN EXPERIENCE. LIGHT TO HEAVY MACHINES. (British Official Wireless.) (lleceivrtl 12 noon.) RUGBY, July 28. Lady Heath, the well-known British airwoman arrived at Croydon aerodrome to-day in the cockpit of a Fokker Jupiter, fifteen-passenger Dutch air liner. She has entered into a contract with the Royal Dutch Air Lines in order to obtain experience of large multiple engined machines. Although Lady Heath was nominally second pilot on today's trip it is understood she took charge throughout the journey from Amsterdam. It was her third day with a passenger machine. She flew from Amsterdam to Paris on Wednesday, and to Brussels yesterday, and retruned to Amsterdam from Croydon later to-day.

On Monday she expects to fly to Zurich. Her purpose is to obtain experience prior to a 20,000 mile flight from Holland to Batavia and back in the autumn.

The Dutch are sending out four air liners to inaugurate an air service over that r</.ite, and Lady Heath is going as pilot of a fifth, machine, a Fokker with three Armstrong Siddeley engines, in which General Snyder, the distinguished Dutch soldier, will be among the passengers.

Lady Heath's previous air experience has been mainly with light machines in which she has made many notable flights.

| Anion? the notable feats of that intrepid airwoman, Lady Heath, "who was tlu? first British woman to obtain a pilot's license, is that of flying fyom Capetown to Croydon. This journey she completed alone in a tiny Avro-Avian plane. Although forbidden to continue her flight from Cairo without an escort, she did so and thus set up a record of being the first woman to make the journey alone. On July 10 Lady Heath created a new world's altitude record for light seaplanes at Rochester. Flying in a Shortt-Mussel seaplane of 30 lrorse-power and equipped with a Cirrus engine of the smallest type constructed she reached a height of 13,400 ft in 90 minutes. Lady Heath had a narrow escape when- crossing desert country in Africa through contracting sun stroke. In a subconscious condition she landed lier machine and when she came to was being nursed by blacks who bathed her lioad and face with milk. She commenced an aerial taxi service which she later abandoned to undertake her long flight. With Lady Bailey she is the best known woman aeronaut in Britain. In the first big post-war aerial carnival Lady Heath (when Mrs. Elliott-Lynn) won a scratch race against men competitors. She is also known as a daring parachutist.