Her mission was to emulate the pioneering British aviator Amy Johnson, who became the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia in 1930. Tracey set off in her 1942 Boeing Stearman from Farnborough, Hampshire, in October, with a support team of engineers in a separate aircraft, as well as a camera crew.
She retraced pioneer Amy Johnson's 1930 flight, at the age of 26 with little flying experience, flying over 23 countries and making some 50 refuelling stops.
“My own flight to Australia is the realisation of a burning desire to fly my beloved Boeing Stearman around the world following in their footsteps,” she has recreated the essence of Johnson’s era of flying, with an open cockpit, stick and rudder flying with basic period instruments and a short range between landing points.
She is not unfamiliar with this form of flying. She flew solo from Cape Town to the UK in 2013, recreating the 1928 flight of Lady Mary Heath.
She said that despite having just completed the exhausting trip, she still had the drive to make further expeditions. “What I would really like to do is get back in the airplane and fly up the east coast of Australia. I wish I could keep going, I never want to land as the experience is so profound, it’s addictive, I am still in expedition mode, but I need to relax and decompress.”
She said she would travel to New Zealand to celebrate her mother’s 80th birthday before joining her aircraft in Seattle for a coast-to-coast expedition across the US. “Why not keep going? Life should be about big projects,” she said.
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jan/09/i-need-a-drink-british-woman-lands-in-sydney-after-21000km-flight-in-vintage-biplane
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35271182
https://www.facebook.com/birdinabiplane/
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Jim Mollison husband of Amy Johnson, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Amy and Jim had crash landed after running out of fuel in a transatlantic record bid, hence the bandages. Sadly the marriage didn't last; Mollison was a pretty reckless character and would have been delicately described in the day as a "ladies' man". Amy was killed ferrying an Oxford twin during the early days of the war. She had parachuted into the English Channel and was almost saved but heavy seas foiled her would be rescuers. (Thanks Tony for the info!)
Hi Jesse,
ReplyDeleteThe chap next to Amy Johnson in the photo with FDR is her husband, Jim Mollison. They had crash landed after running out of fuel in a transatlantic record bid, hence the bandages. Sadly the marriage didn't last; Mollison was a pretty reckless character and would have been delicately described in the day as a "ladies' man". Amy was killed ferrying an Oxford twin during the early days of the war. She had parachuted into the English Channel and was almost saved but heavy seas foiled her would be rescuers.