Amy johnson biography

The Lecture is held on or close to 6 July every year to mark the date in when Amy Johnson was awarded her pilot's licence. Over a six-month period, inmates of Hull Prison built a full-size model of the Gipsy Moth aircraft used by Johnson to fly solo from Britain to Australia. In February this went on public display at Hull Paragon Interchange. InGoogle commemorated Johnson's th birthday with a Google Doodle.

In the airline Norwegian painted the tail fin of two of its aircraft with a portrait of Johnson. St Mary's Church in BeverleyEast Yorkshire announced their intention of installing a stone carving of Amy Johnson as part of a programme of celebrating women in the restoration of the stonework of the medieval church in Johnson's life has been the subject of a number of treatments in film and television, some more accurately biographical than others.

The movie is known in the United States as Wings and the Woman. Johnson earned a passing mention in other works such as the British film adaption of Noel Streatfeild 's novel Ballet Shoeswherein the character Petrova is inspired by Johnson in her dreams of becoming an aviator. In music, Johnson inspired a number of works, including the song "Flying Sorcery" from Scottish singer-songwriter Al Stewart's album, Year of the Cat Queen of the Air by Peter Aveyard is a musical tribute to Johnson.

More fictionalised portrayals include a Doctor Who Magazine comic story in entitled "A Wing and a Prayer", in which the time-travelling Doctor encounters Johnson in He tells Clara Oswald her death is a fixed point in time. Clara realises what's important is that it appears Amy died. They save her from drowning then took her to the planet Cornucopia.

The character Worrals in the series of books by Captain W. Johns was modelled on Amy Johnson. Amy Johnson facts for kids Kids Encyclopedia Facts. Quick facts for kids. Jim Mollison. All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles including the article images and facts can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Init was reported that Tom Mitchell from Crowborough, Surrey, claimed to have shot down the plane.

He claimed that Amy failed to say the right identification code, which was changed every day for all British forces so troops on the ground would know they were British. Apparently, she failed to give the code twice and was shot down as an enemy aircraft. During her lifetime, Amy was recognised many times. She was the guest of honour at the opening of the first Butlins holiday camp in Skegness in Amy was also the president of the Women's Engineering Society between and After her death, several tributes were made.

Meticulous planning was needed to cut through red tape and work out suitable airfields where Amy could refuel. As far as India, this was not too great a problem, but beyond the subcontinent she would be flying over vast stretches of ocean and jungle that had barely been mapped, at a season when the monsoon might well be beginning, and where there was little hope of rescue if things went wrong.

Undeterred, Johnson completed her preparations by her deadline of May 5. Witnessed by a small group of friends on a chill, spring morning, the year-old ex-typist, who had never flown farther than from London to Hull, took off for a flight of 11, miles to the other side of the world. Despite a spluttering engine and a gas leak that allowed nauseating fumes to escape into the cockpit, and her hair-raising adventure in the Iraqi desert, Johnson's flight went relatively smoothly as far as British India.

She reached Karachi safely and landed in triumph. She had improved on Hinkler's record for the same distance by two days. The world's press was suddenly interested. It was only after a cheerful send-off from the Karachi airport that Johnson's troubles began to start "in earnest. An officer who witnessed her landing described it:. The plane was down.

Down on the regimental parade ground, and charging at high speed towards the barracks. It twisted its way round trees, barely missed an iron telegraph pole, scattered a group of men waiting to mount guard, smashed into the name board outside the regimental offices, and then came to rest wedged between two of the barrack buildings. There was a race to reach it.

From the cockpit climbed a figure—it was a girl—young, almost a child, fair, wearing only a shirt, an ill-fitting pair of khaki shorts, socks and shoes, and a flying helmet. The skin on her face, arms and legs was burnt and blistered by the sun, and tears were not far from her tired eyes. Her amy johnson biography was premature.

As was to happen again and again on this extraordinary journey, Johnson received help from the most unexpected quarters. Skilled workers from among the soldiers soon straightened her bent wing, and, after acceding to the request of a group of Indian women, delighted by her adventure, that "Miss Sahib would just touch them with her hand," Johnson was on her way again.

Flying on over the dense jungle of Burma now MyanmarJohnson was due to land at the racecourse at Rangoon but came down with a bang on the playing fields of the Government Technical College instead. Again help was at hand. A local forestry officer was able to make a new strut overnight, and the boys at the college surrendered their shirts with much glee to improvise a covering for the torn wing.

There were several other such incidents. While flying over Thailand on her way to Singapore, Johnson had to make an unscheduled landing at Singora on the coast. Again, her machine needed attention. By this time, exhausted and feeling very weak, she turned to a strong-looking man in the crowd to help her undo the nuts and bolts. Landing in untracked country in Java, Jason 's wings were again torn.

This time Johnson had to resort to sticking plaster to repair them. On the island of Timor, she landed in a field of ant-heaps miles from anywhere, miraculously hitting none of them. A few minutes later, she wrote, "I was surrounded by a horde of yelling natives, with hair flying in the wind, and knives in their hands or between their redstained teeth.

I pulled out my revolver, but I had no amy johnson biography at all to worry. With a deep salute, the leader came forward and gingerly touched first the machine, then me. Johnson was now on the amy johnson biography lap. Only the Timor strait— miles of shark-infested sea—lay between her and her goal. The Shell Company had thoughtfully stationed an oil-tanker halfway across, and it was with great relief that Amy swooped low over its decks.

The last few hours seemed interminable. In another half an hour my wheels were touching Australian soil. Because of bad weather and her various mishaps, Johnson did not beat Hinkler's record, but the world did not seem to care. Despite the fact that there had been no public relations build-up before the flight, the public went wild with spontaneous enthusiasm.

The Australians loved her for her modest gaiety, and she was feted across the continent in verse and song:. News of her exploit even reached the remote corners of Tibet. On being told of the flight, the Dalai Lama considered the news gravely and then with a puzzled frown asked, "Why was the Honorable Lady in such a hurry? After the amazing success of her Australian flight, Johnson's subsequent career may seem something of an anti-climax.

However, during the s, she was never far from the news and went on to make some astonishing record-breaking flights. Although at first amazed and thrilled by her fame, Johnson was not always comfortable with it. At times, she came close to having a nervous breakdown. She particularly resented being exploited by the press and publicity firms.

In an outburst to her father, she fumed, "I strongly resent interference and efforts to rule my life or control my actions. But fame brought her financial independence. She could now choose from the best planes available to make her flights, and sponsorship was no longer a problem. After an abortive attempt to fly solo across Siberia in the depths of winter —31Johnson successfully broke the London to Tokyo record in the summer ofaccompanied by her loyal engineering mentor, Jack Humphreys.

He had taught her engineering; she taught him to fly. Flying across the vast Russian steppes, they found airport facilities primitive, but the Russians in charge—often women—were very friendly. Arriving in Tokyo, she danced with General Nagaoka, the distinguished president of the Imperial Aviation Society, whose whiskers were claimed to be the longest and whitest in the world.

It was at this point that a new love entered Johnson's life. Like Amy, Jim Mollison was a pioneer long-distance pilot. Retrieved 22 June Retrieved: 14 December BBC News. Retrieved 1 October The Guardian. ISSN Retrieved 18 May English Heritage. Retrieved: 25 December Retrieved 5 January Retrieved: 9 June Retrieved 12 February Google Doodle.

Retrieved 1 July Business Traveller. Retrieved 5 July Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 4 December Retrieved 3 December Retrieved 31 May The Times. St Mary's Church, Beverley. Retrieved: 27 October Retrieved: 1 January Retrieved: 18 May Retrieved: 24 September The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 November Retrieved 15 November Retrieved: 25 August Further reading [ edit ].

Gillies, Midge. Moolman, Valerie. Women Aloft The Epic of Flight.

Amy johnson biography

Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, Nesbitt, Roy. Sugden, Philip. Beverley, East Yorkshire: Highgate Press, External links [ edit ]. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amy Johnson. Authority control databases. Trove 2 Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Hidden categories: All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from June Articles with permanently dead external links Pages containing London Gazette template with parameter supp set to y Webarchive template wayback links Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Use British English from May Use dmy dates from January Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles needing clarification from September All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October Commons category link is on Wikidata.

Toggle the table of contents. Amy Johnson c. Believed to have died in an aviation accident. Boulevard Municipal Secondary School.