As the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia, Amy Johnson’s daring exploits laid the foundation for Australia’s female pilots in the 1930s and propelled ‘Johnnie, Our Aeroplane Girl’ to instant stardom.
Amy Johnson, circa 1930.
Amy was born in England in 1903 and grew up in Hull. She later attended the University of Sheffield - where female students were rare - graduating with an economics degree in 1925.
A broken romance led Amy to pursue a new life in London working as a typist. However, the spirited Amy would not be content with the grind of a nine-to-five desk job for very long.
Amy’s fascination with flying and mechanics began after taking a bus ride, on a whim, to the Stag Aerodrome in North London, where she would watch planes taking off and landing.
In September 1928 Amy began flying lessons at the London Aeroplane Club and the following year she earned her pilot's licence and became the first British woman to gain a ground engineer's licence. Soon after, she quit her secretarial job and worked full-time as a mechanic at the aerodrome.
