Fiftieth anniversary of flight
New Zealand’s most famous woman aviator, Jean Batten, will play a leading role in this week’s celebrations to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the historic flight of Amy Johnson from Britain to Australia. Miss Batten, who now lives in the Canarj’ Islands, will open an exhibition in Miss Johnson’s
home town of Hull, in northern England. Miss Johnson, who was then a 26-year-old typist, took off from Croydon Aerodrome, south of London, 50 years ago today in her newly bought secondhand De Havilland Gipsy Moth. After a difficult and lonely flight she landed to a rapturous Australian welcome in Darwin 20 days later-— the first
woman to have completed the 16,000 km flight. As well as numerous special events in Hull and Croydon, a young English aviator, Miss Jan Schonburg, will fly a Cesna 150 to Australia to mark the anniversary of Miss Johson’s flight. Miss Schonburg will leave today and will follow the route used by her famous predecessor.
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Press, 8 May 1980, Page 20
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164Fiftieth anniversary of flight Press, 8 May 1980, Page 20
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