WOMAN FLYER

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18900, 30 December 1935, Page 12

WOMAN FLYER

BUYS NEW PLANE MRS. BONNEY’S PLANS SYDNEY, Dec. 13. One of the happiest women in Sydney yesterday was Mrs. Harry Bonney, the Queensland woman flyer, who made a final decision to purchase Mr. N. Berry Littlejohn’s aircraft in which he and his bride flew from England recently. Mrs. Bonney flew down from her home at Burren Hills, Brisbane, with Mrs. F. J. Ryder, of Brisbane, in her Gypsy Moth, “My Little Ship,’’ and, after flying leisurely, arrived here last Thursday. She came for the express purpose of seeing Mr. Littlejohn’s plane, about which she had been in communication with him, and she was very disappointed that slight engine trouble delayed her decision. However, yesterday she flew 35 minutes solo, and was delighted with the machine. It was a splendid flying machine, she said, and it was extraordinary' how the adjustable flaps, with ■which "her Gypsy Moth was not equip-ped^-broke down the landing speed. Though the instrument board was not as conveniently arranged as in her own machine—a matter she intends to adjust —she finds it much simpler to fly. And at noon yesterday she bought it. . The new machine, which is to be called “My Little Ship II,” is a German Klemm, and has a Mark 3 engine. At present it is painted a bright red. “As a Christmas present for myself, I ain going to give her a new dress, and it will be. blue,” said Mrs. Bonney. Looking quite forlorn in the adjoining hangar at Mascot is Mrs. Bonney’s much beloved “My Little Ship I,” which she is selling only because she wants an aircraft capable of more speed. . Mrs. Bonney speaks of it as though it were her greatest friend, and one with whom she has shared many delightful adventures. “She has never let me down,” said Mrs. Bonney yesterday, patting affectionately the aircraft’s folded wings. “Whenever she wasn’t feeling too well she always let me know in time so that I. Could pick out a nice paddock to land in.” Mr 3. Bonney had her first plane for five years; she has flown for 740 hours and has covered a distance of 56,000 miles. She is very much in favor of flying as a means of transport, and thinks that women who can afford to fly should do so. She herself has found it a wonderful relaxation and stimulant. The lifting of the ban on American and foreign aircraft was going to bring the price of planes down and within reach, she considered, of the person of average means. To-day. Mrs. Bonney intends to spend further time in the air, practising takingoff and landing. She hopes to fly back home at the end of this week with Mrs. Ryder. _____