PIONEER WOMEN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21470, 19 April 1933, Page 5

PIONEER WOMEN

HEROINES OF THE AIR SOME GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS An enthusiastic tribute to tho achievements of women in tho air is paid by a London writer and in particular to that of Mrs. /Mollison —or Amy Johnson as she will always be called by the public that has been so thrilled by her exploits. The conquest of the air has been man's boldest enterprise. Strangely enough, it has served-j-as nothing before has served—to reveal the adventurous spirit- of woman—her bravery—• her dogged determination. Amy Johnson has many gallant sisters of the air. They are a splendid company, but, save for Amelia Earba'rt, she stands alone. No one pays her higher tribute than airmen and airwomen in all parts of the world. For they realise what she has done. They know. In her latest achievement —the flight to Capetown—is to be found yet another example of the tenacity and heroic endeavour that animates airwomen to-day. In these rich years of the development of civil aviation and long-distance flying since tho war women have played a notable part. Their names leap to the mind —Winifred Browne, Lady Bailey, the Duchess of Bedford, Peggy Salaman, Lady Heath, Mrs. Victor Bruce —and many moro in this country alone. All over the world women have shown themselves fearless in the air in tho same way. Perhaps no woman has excelled the courage shown by Amelia Earhart, the slim young American woman with the boyish face and curly hair. Having once in company with men pilots faced the desperate venture of a flight across tho Atlantic, she set out to make the flight alone, and succeeded. ' Titled Pioneer . Some of the most precious services by women to aviation have been rendered by one who was not essentially a pilot. This is the Duchess of Bedford, who at the age of 64 flew from England to Capetown and back in 191 days, beating the record. Winifred Browne, of Manchester, two years ago proved women's fitness for the air in another way. She won the King's Cup air race of 750 miles round England against 72 men and six other women. She was accompanied by a man, Mr. E. J. Adams, who was not a certificated pilot, but assisted her in the navigation. She maintained an average speed cf 102.7 miles an hour. On that historic occasion, the fourth in the race was also a woman, Mrs. A. S. Butler. Another airwoman to whom the writer paid tribute was Winifred Spooner, whose death from influenza was recently announced. In air races against'men competitors Miss Spooner had a fine record. She had been flying continuously for many years, although at the time of her death she was only 32 years of age. Two years ago she wa? fourth in a round-Europe race, and shortly afterwards was fourth in a 2300-miles race round Italy, where she excited the admiration of her men rivals by/her extreme skill. 111 1931 she was put in charge of a private aerodrome a£ Ratcliffe, in Leicestershire. / „ Debutante's Feat Nor should we forget the courageous flight made by Peggy Salaman, a 19-vear-old London debutante, who flew . with Mr. Gordon Store froin England to Capetown in six and a-half days a little over a year ago, beating the late Glen Kidston's record by more than a day. Another brave woman who ielt the call of the Cape and flew there alone in a light aeroplane is Lady Bailey, who made the journey in 1928 by short stages. Later in the >;ear she flew back alone from Capetown to London and was given a great welcome 011 her return, her feat being regarded as a verv remarkable one in a machine 01 only 30-80 h.p. m;n+t Five years ago she and Mrs. Ll.ottLvjui—who later became Lady Heathbeat, the world's height record for_ a light aeroplane by ascending to an altitude of 16,000 ft. over Southampton. The Hon. Mrs. Victor Bruce is another woman of frail build who lias shown the finest courage and pertmacitv iii a number of fine flights. h,l< j made the first solo flight from England to Japan in 1930, 011 the first stage or her famous 20,000 miles journey round the world. Women of Mettle Instances of the enterprise of women in tho air could be prolonged mdehnitelv. All countries have their heroines of'the clouds. France, with her fine air , traditions, has been honoured by bra\e daughters. One of them, Maryse Bastie, broke the world's long-distance nonstop flight record by a journey from Paris to Nijni-Novgorod —a distance ot 1795 miles. , , \nd while many women have 10una fame froiii their * courage there have been not a few who have sacrificed their lives. The Atlantic has engulfed brave women who. have undertaken its perillous crossing. ~ ■ Elsie Maekay, the daughter of the late. Lord' Inchcape, set with Captain Hincliffe from Cranwell Aerodrome . toward tho west —and sank with-the sinking sun. Another woman of a noble fainilv, Princess Lowenstein-Wertueim, attempted the dangerous journey and, . with her -pilots, Colonel Minchm and Captain Hamilton, disappeared for ever into the unknown. Two American women, Mrs. Grayson nnd Mrs. Beryl Hart, have also given . their lives in trying to bridge that vast unfriendly barrier between the eastern '•nd western hemispheres.