AMY JOHNSON'S FLIGHT.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19972, 5 July 1930, Page 18

AMY JOHNSON'S FLIGHT.

♦ ENGLAND'S PRIDE. MESSAGES OF APPRECIATION. (rROSt QVB OW* COXRSSFOKDJNT.) LONDON, May 30. Miss Amy Johnson's flight to Australia has been acclaimed in this country as few other feats of endurance and courage have ever been. The newspapers have never had more remarkably. varied posters ■ and headlines. Every speaker at every kind of function has made a point of eulogising her prowess. Her first lesson in flying was; on September 'lstli,' 1928; and she soon, impressed the experts with her capabili tics. All that time shei was working' in a London office, and; could only visit Stag Lane' aorodromo in her spare time, but on Juno,9th 3 1929, she. made lier first solo flight. Seventeen days later she' was a fully qualified pilot. Even this did not satisfy her, and she began to study the mechanical side, eventually gaining an Air Ministry ground engineer's license., She is the first woman to achieve this. Miss Johnson comes of an adventurouslyinclined family, and is a B.A. of Sheffield University. The Air League iB particularly interested in-Miss Johnson's success, in view of the fact that about two years ago she oflcrod her services to the. League, intending to familiariso herself with aviation in general, and thus further her ambition of making a longdistanco Empire flight. She devoted much of her spare time to office routine, stenography, typewriting, and sub-edit-ing. After she had taken her flying "ticket" she was persuaded to do somo lecturing for the Lcaguo. It is a remarkable fact that she undertook her flight to Australia after less than ninety hours ot' flying, her longest cross-country trip being from London to Hull—22o miles. Pride of Hull.

Miss .lohnson'a flight to Australia in a second-hand aeroplane is regarded in Hull as an adventure which stands out prominently in tho history of a port which has claimed many notable adventurers in tho past. "Amy had intend ed to fly in a new aeroplane," Mrs Johnson told an interviewer, "but she simply could not wait till it was readj. She was afraid, of being overtaken by monsoons, and wo got her a second-hand aeroplane to avoid her - disappointment, in not being able to accomplish this year the flight on which sho had set her heart." Tho Lord Mayor of Hull sent tho following message to Port Darwin: "The progress of your long and .arduous flight has been followed with eager anticipation, and your epoch-making achievement has been tho result of wonderful fortitude, skill, and courage. Your native city is intensely proud of its worthy daughter." Courage and Endurance. Hundreds of telegrams of congratulation must have been sent to Miss Johnson. The warmest appreciation was expressed by many well-known people hero at homo. Lady Bailey, the woman pilot, said: "Miss Johnson has made a most distinguished name for herself in the achievement of this remarkable flight. It is a wonderful example of courage and enterprise which, J am sure, will be followed by. many others. It is also a fine example of what the . flying clubs have done." Lord Wakefield, who has financed many speed enterprises, said: • "Tho magnificent feat of that young English girl is one which will stir the imagination not only of women, but of men in every country in the-world. Every nation 'will join in paying tribute to what is undoubtedly a most extraordinary exhibition of courage and endurance on the part of a young girl, who so lightheartedly set out from London less than twenty days ago on one of the most hazardous expeditions anyone could at- ' tempt. Miss Johnson has been termed the English girl Lindbergh, but I think her feat will establish a record in tho history of aviation even greater than that of the great American airman. Her feat was accomplished in what is practically our smallest aeroplane, with no great capacity for extended ' flights. What a trbiute this is to British aeroplane construction and to British engineering practice! One now can visualise the day when an air mail to Australia like that to India comes within the realms of practical politics." Sir Alan Cobham: "Miss Johnson has put up British prestige throughout tho world. She is a wonderful girl. Apart altogether from the personal aspect of her achievement, she has done a fine thing for aviation." Captain de Haviland, the aeroplane designer: "An outstanding performance. It demonstrates that women flyors can do just as well as men."