A GREAT RECORD

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 20, 24 July 1933, Page 8

A GREAT RECORD

"FLYING MOLLISONS"

.SOME NOTABLE FEATS

The "Plying Mollisons," the most remarkable combination in aviation today, have been stated to be planning three major flights: the Atlantic crossing which they have completed, and a return after a short rest, in which an attempt will be made oil a non-stop flight in which their goal will be Bagdad; whilo following that, they are projecting a flight from London to Cape Town in the attempt to better the present non-stop record of 5340 miles.

Both Mr. J. A. Mollison and his wife, Britain's most famous woman aviator, won fame for flights with Australia and England as the terminals. Miss Johnson's flight was made in 3930, and the fact that sh<? was able to begin at all was a mark of tenacity of purpose and great ambition. She found great difficulty in obtaining the facilities to qualify as a pilot, but after <i series of disappointments she joined the Air League staff, where she worked as a typist, finally obtaining admission to the London Aeroplane Club. She managed to obtain the now famous aeroplanes Jason, persuade friends to allow her to make an attempt to fly to Australia, and hop off on a flight which received the most publicity of any flight in 'recent times. Tor a time it seemed that she might break Hinkler's record, for when she arrived at Calcutta: she was two days ahead of that record. But over the last and most difficult stage of' tho journey she suffered mishap; the . machine* was damaged at Rangoon, she found a new propeller to be defective, and ■ was held up by her magneto. She completed the flight to Darwin in nineteen days.

OTHEK FLIGHTS.

She was feted hi Australia, presented with an aeroplane by the readers of a British newspaper when she returned, and in 1931 she hopped off again, hoping to reach Peking, but came down at Anielin. a village 55 miles from Warsaw. Her machine was damaged, and she gave up the flight. In July of the same year she began a flight to Japan and after forced landings at Tiajin and Hailar reached Tokin in nine days, making a leisurely flight back. Towards the close of the year she went to South' Africa-and there was offered a post with Imperial Airways, but <ieclinc'd it. A later feat was the lowering of the record time between England and the Cape which her husband set up in March, 1932. He had made the flight in four and threequarter days; she did it in 10 hours 24 minutes' less. This flight was made in November last year, and she capped it by lowering the record of the Duchess of Bedford and Captain Barnard for a flight from the Cape to London. Her time for the outward flight, was 4 days 6 hours's3 mniutes, and that for the return journey 7 days 7 hours 5 minutes. Mr. J. A. Mollison's first flight gaining hjm wide fame was the AustraliaEngland journey of July-August, 1931, when? he lowered Mr. C. W. A. Scott's record by over a day and a half. Mr. Mollison's time for this flight was 8 days 22 hours 25 minutes. This he did in spite of a, monsoon in. Burma and dust storms in which he lost hi? way when travelling over Syria. .Mr. Mollison was then a pilot for Australian National Airways, and ho made another record by flying to South Africa in four and three-quarter days. His first attempt in November, 1931, ended in a crash near Minia, but the second effort was a brilliant success. He1 left Lympno on. March 24, 1932, and crashed at*his goal on the Milnerton beach on March 28. He followed this up with a great flight across the Atlantic from east to west, leaving Portmarnock, Irfland, on August 18, and landing at New Brunswick. He was the first, airman to fly solo non-stop from the European sidfi. Another remarkable flight was that, which he made from Lympno to Port Natal, Brazil, in less than three and a half days. He then ...went on to Eio aiul Buenos Aires, where he arrived seven days after leaving Eng-

The two famous flyers wore married last year.