WOMEN AS AIR PILOTS.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20498, 17 March 1932, Page 11

WOMEN AS AIR PILOTS.

A POLITICIAN'S ATTACK. RATHER FLY WITH A WINGED DRAGON. (UNITED TRESS ASSOCIATION— BX ELECTRIC TELEGR ArH—COPYRIGHT.) (Received March 16th, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, March 15. In the House of Commons an attack oil women pilots was the feature of the discussion on the Air Estimates, young bachelor, Mr W. R. D. Perkins (Conservative, Stroud), opposing grants to flying clubs, said it was common knowledge to every pilot that with cer tain exceptions women in the air '\ve.e notoriously dangerous. Personally, ho would rather find hamself flying in formation with a vvmgea dragon than a woman pilot. He pr cecded to argue that as women s services could not be utilised in wartime owing to international conventions it was a waste of public money to teacli them to fly.

The exceptional airwomen to whom Mr Perkins, M.P., alluded include the following record-breakers: — Tho Duchess of Bedford, who, with Captain C. D. Barnard and R. Little, in 1929 flew 9000 miles from England-India-England in 7-i days. Miss Amy Johnson, who made the first flight from England to Australia by a woman pilot in May, 1930, flying 9960 miles in 19 days. She flow alone in a Moth aeroplane. In August last year Miss Johnson flew from London _to Tokyo, via Siberia, in 10£ days, beating by a few hours the 11-day light aeroplane record between tho two cities made by Seiji Yoshihara, tlio Japanese airman. Miss Peggy Salaman (19 years of ago), who, with a male companion as copilot, made a record flight from London to Cape Town in 64 hours' actual flying time, beating the previous record flight of Commander Glen Kidston by 1 day 1 hour 23 minutes. Mile. Maryse Bastic, French airwoman, who in June, 1931, flying from Le Bourget to Prino, near Nijni Novgorod, Russia, covered 1805 miles, breaking the women's long-distance flight record of 1430 miles mado by Mile. Lena Bernstein. Miss Ruth Nichols (New York), who made a non-stop flight of 1977 miles from Oakland, California, to Louisville, Kontucky, in October, 1931—a now record. She had previously made an altitude world record for women, reaching 28,743 feet, beating tho record of 27,743 feet set up in 1930 by Miss Elinor Smith. Miss Nichols also flew over a three-kilometre courso at an average speed of 210.65 miles an hour, and reaching in one lap 226.88 miles an hour. Last June she crashed and was grievously injured. Mrs Amelia E. Putnam, tho first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean, on June 22nd, ]931, completed tho first flight from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back in an autogvro, flying more than 11,000 miles. b

Miss E. Tront and Miss E. May established a world's refuelling endurance flight for women at Los Angeles. They were in the air for 123 hours.

AIM AT NEW RECORD. LYMPNE TO DARWIN. AIRMAN SCOTT'S PLANS. (Received March 15tli, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, March 15. The airman, Mr C. W. A. Scott, will set out at the week-end to win back tho light aeroplane record from Britain to Australia. His famous Gipsy Moth will take off from Lympno at dawn on Sunday. Ho said: "I am going to make a big difference to tho record this time if I have any luck, and if the weather conditons arc good. The first 2000 miles will afford a really good chance of knocking off a fair lump." Mr Scott'a associates hint at aiming at lowering Mr Butler's record by a day. Mr Scott will probably also try to regain the record for tho return flight, which Mr J, A. Mollison holds.

In April last year Mr C. W. A. Scott, an Englishman, flew from England to Port Darwin in 9 days 12hr 45min, boating Air Commodore C. E. Kings-ford-Smith's record by 14 hours. Last November, Mr C. A. Butler beat Scott's record by 1J hours. In August, 1931, Mr J. A. Mollison flew 10,000 miles from Australia to England in 8 days 22 hrs 25min —the existing record.