Tweet
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/jean...he-skies-1988I had not heard of this woman, but she was quite an aviatrix. Came from NZ and went to London to learn to fly as a teenager. With 20 hors flying time she set out for Oz in an open cockpit biplane. With maps, a compass and an artificial horizon. She was the fastest woman to do it in about 1926. She later bought a Percival Gull, which could fly 200 mph in 1928! One fast plane, Looked a bit like a Spitfire wing. Percival was an Australian engineer.She flew to Brazil nonstop and did it ion record time. Again, no radio, just a strip map and a compass. Which began to spin when she got to the doldrums, as did her plane when she hit rain storms. She finally got to South America, 100 yards off course.Her autobiography is on line, and makes an interesting read. She sold her piano to pay for flying lessons, and other sources suggest she was quite charming. I bloke gave her her first biplane. A new Moth was worth about 500 pounds and the Gull was 2000 pounds.An interesting show to watch.Graham
-
-
There is an elderly gentleman that I fly with out of Somersby that in his Younger days use to ferry aircraft from England to Australia. I am not sure of the year but it was before GPS, like the lady you speak of he used a compass and an atlas and also was remarkably accurate.Hearing these type of stories makes you realize how spoilt we are now with all of our gadgets, iPads etc.There is a book written by an American lady called Marion Springer who was and i believe still is a gyro CFI in America which also is an interesting read.
Comment