Amy Johnson - WikiHQ

Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia.

Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records during the 1930s. In 1933, Katharine Hepburn's character in the film Christopher Strong was inspired by Johnson. She flew in the Second World War as a part of the Air Transport Auxiliary. Her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary: she died after bailing out. Because her body was never recovered, the precise cause of her death—drowning, hypothermia or being pulled into a warship's moving propellers, is unknown and has been a subject of discussion since the possibility of friendly fire was raised in 1999.

Early life

Born in 1903 in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, Amy Johnson was the daughter of Amy Hodge, granddaughter of William Hodge, a Mayor of Hull, and John William Johnson whose family were fish merchants in the firm of Andrew Johnson, Knudtzon and Company. She was the eldest of three sisters, the next in age being Irene who was a year younger.

Johnson was educated at Boulevard Municipal Secondary School, later Kingston High School, and the University of Sheffield, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. She then worked in London as secretary to a solicitor, William Charles Crocker. She was introduced to flying as a hobby, gaining an aviator's certificate, No. 8662, on 28 January 1929, and a pilot's "A" licence, No. 1979, on 6 July 1929, both at the London Aeroplane Club under the tutelage of Captain Valentine Baker. In 1929 she became the first British woman to obtain a ground engineer's "C" licence.

Johnson was a friend and collaborator of Fred Slingsby whose Yorkshire based company, Slingsby Aviation of Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, became the UK's most famous glider manufacturer. Slingsby helped found Yorkshire Gliding Club at Sutton Bank and during the 1930s she was an early member and trainee.

Aviation

thumb|Johnson in her [[de Havilland DH.60 Moth|Gipsy Moth leaving Australia for Newcastle, 14 June 1930]]

thumb|Amy Johnson greeted after having flown solo from England to Australia

Johnson got the money to buy her first aircraft from her father, who was always one of her strongest supporters, and Lord Wakefield.

In 1930, Johnson achieved worldwide recognition when she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Flying Jason, she left Croydon Airport, Surrey, on 5 May and landed at Darwin, Northern Territory on 24 May, a distance of 11,000 miles (18,000 km). Six days after, she damaged her aircraft while landing downwind at Brisbane airport and flew to Sydney with Captain Frank Follett while the aircraft was repaired. Jason was later flown to Mascot, Sydney, by Captain Lester Brain. Jason is now on permanent display in the Flight Gallery of the Science Museum in London.

She was awarded the Harmon Trophy and also the CBE in George V's 1930 Birthday Honours in recognition of this achievement, and was honoured with the No. 1 civil pilot's licence under Australia's 1921 Air Navigation Regulations.

thumb|Amy Johnson and Jack Humphreys' visit to Japan, September 1931

Johnson next bought a de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth G-AAZV which she named Jason II. In July 1931, she and co-pilot Jack Humphreys became the first people to fly from London to Moscow in one day, completing the journey in approximately 21 hours. From there, they continued across Siberia and on to Tokyo, setting a record time for Britain to Japan.

thumb|Amy Johnson and Jason in [[Jhansi, India, in May 1930]]

thumb|Amy Johnson and Jim Mollison were married on 29 July 1932

In July 1933, Johnson and Mollison attempted to fly the de Havilland DH.84 Dragon I G-ACCV, named Seafarer, They hoped to then fly Seafarer to Baghdad in an attempt to gain the record for a non-stop long-distance flight. Running low on fuel and flying in the dark, the pair made the decision to land short of New York. Spotting the lights of Bridgeport Municipal Airport (now Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Connecticut) they circled it five times before crash landing some distance outside the field in a drainage ditch. Both were thrown from the aircraft but suffered only cuts and gashes. After recuperating, the pair were feted by New York society and received a ticker tape parade down Wall Street. Johnson succeeded Elizabeth M. Kennedy in the role. Johnson was succeeded as president by Edith Mary Douglas. She was active in the society until her death.

On 4 May 1936, Johnson made her last record-breaking flight, starting from Gravesend Airport and regaining her Britain to South Africa record in G-ADZO, a Percival Gull Six. In 1936, she was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club. In 1938, Johnson overturned her glider, when landing after a display at Walsall Aerodrome in England, but was not seriously hurt. Following the accident, she told reporters, "I still declare that gliding is the safest form of flying." Johnson began to explore other ways to make a living through business ventures, journalism and fashion. She modelled clothes for the designer Elsa Schiaparelli and created for her a travelling bag sold under her own name.

In 1939, Johnson found work flying with the Portsmouth, Southsea and Isle of Wight Aviation Company, piloting short flights across the Solent and flying as a target for searchlight batteries and anti-aircraft gunners to practise on.

Second World War

During the Second World War, Johnson's employing company's aircraft were taken over by the Air Ministry in March 1940. She was served a notice of redundancy alongside all other pilots in the company, as all the aircraft were requisitioned for the war effort. She received a week's pay and a further four weeks' pay of £40 as a redundancy package.

Two months later, Johnson joined the newly formed Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), which transported Royal Air Force aircraft around the country. She rose to first officer under the command of her friend and fellow pilot Pauline Gower. Her former husband also flew for the ATA throughout the war. Johnson described a typical day in her life in the ATA in a humorous article, published posthumously in 1941, for The Woman Engineer journal.

Five hours after her departure, a convoy of wartime vessels in the Thames Estuary spotted a parachute coming down and saw a person alive in the water calling for help, witnesses describing the voice as female. Conditions were poor: there was a heavy sea and a strong tide, snow was falling and it was intensely cold. Johnson's watertight flying bag, her log book and cheque book later washed up, and were recovered near the crash site.

Disputed circumstances

In 1999, it was reported that Johnson's death may have been caused by friendly fire. Tom Mitchell, from Crowborough, Sussex, claimed to have shot Johnson's aircraft down when she twice failed to give the correct identification code during the flight. Mitchell explained how the aircraft was sighted and contacted by radio. A request was made for the signal. She gave the wrong one twice. "Sixteen rounds of shells were fired and the plane dived into the Thames Estuary. We all thought it was an enemy plane until the next day when we read the papers and discovered it was Amy. The officers told us never to tell anyone what happened."

As a member of the ATA with no known grave and her body never recovered, Johnson is commemorated, under the name of Amy V. Johnson, by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede.

thumb|A memorial for UK Air Transport Auxiliary personnel, who went missing presumed dead during the Second World War

Honours and tributes

thumb|[[English Heritage blue plaque at Vernon Court, Cricklewood, London]]

thumb|The [[KLM McDonnell Douglas MD-11 named Amy Johnson]]

thumb|Amy Johnson Building, University of Sheffield

In June 1930, Johnson's flight to Australia was the subject of a contemporary popular song, "Amy, Wonderful Amy", composed by Horatio Nicholls and recorded by Harry Bidgood, Jack Hylton, Arthur Lally, Arthur Rosebery and Debroy Somers. She was also the guest of honour at the opening of the first Butlins holiday camp, in Skegness in 1936. From 1935 to 1937, Johnson was President of the Women's Engineering Society.

1929 built Aveling and Porter steam roller No. 12467 was named after Johnson in 1930. One of three steam rollers that was supposed to go to Australia, disappointment with the first engine resulted in the other two staying in the UK, with No. 12467 being sold to the Bilston Corporation, Wolverhampton. The current owner was told by the previous owner that the engine was named after Johnson when she visited the area, not long after the engine arrived. The Steam Roller is preserved in private ownership to this day, and carries the nameplate 'Amy'.

A collection of Amy Johnson souvenirs and mementos was donated by her father to Sewerby Hall in 1958. The hall now houses a room dedicated to Amy Johnson in its museum.

In 1974, Harry Ibbetson's statue of Amy Johnson was unveiled in Prospect Street, Hull city centre.

In 2016, new statues of Johnson were unveiled to commemorate the 75th anniversary of her death. The first, on 17 September, was at Herne Bay, Kent close to the site where she was last seen alive, and the second, on 30 September, was unveiled by Maureen Lipman near Hawthorne Avenue, Hull, on the now demolished (2004) site of the school named after her, also close to Johnson's childhood home. In 2017, The Guardian listed this second statue as one of the "best female statues in Britain".

A blue plaque commemorates Johnson at Vernon Court, Hendon Way, in Childs Hill, London NW2. She is commemorated with a green plaque on The Avenues, Kingston upon Hull. She is commemorated with another blue plaque in Princes Risborough where she lived for a year.

thumb|The Amy Johnson Comet Restoration Centre, 2017

Buildings named in Johnson's honour include:

"Amy Johnson Building" housing the department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield.
"Amy Johnson Primary School" situated on Mollison Drive on the Roundshaw Estate, Wallington, Surrey, which is built on the former runway site of Croydon Airport.
"The Hawthornes @ Amy Johnson" in Hull, a major housing development by Keepmoat Homes on the site of the former Amy Johnson School.
"Amy Johnson Comet Restoration Centre" at Derby Airfield, where the Mollisons' DH.88 Comet Black Magic is being restored to flying condition.
"Amy Johnson House" in Cherry Orchard Road, Croydon was named for her; built in the 20th century, it was demolished in the mid-2010s.
"Amy's Restaurant and Bar" at the Hilton hotels at both London Gatwick and Stansted airports are named after her.

Other tributes to Johnson include a KLM McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 named after her in 1993. After that aircraft was retired, a Norwegian Air UK Boeing 787-9 added a commemorative tail fin in her honour.

"Amy Johnson Avenue" is a main road running northwards from Tiger Brennan Drive, Winnellie, to McMillans Rd, Karama, in Darwin, Australia.

"Amy Johnson Way" is a road linking commercial premises in Blackpool, Lancashire, UK, adjacent to Blackpool Airport. It is also the name of a road in Clifton Moor, York.

"Johnson Road" is one of the roads built on the site of the former Heston Aerodrome in west London.

In 2011 the Royal Aeronautical Society established the annual Amy Johnson Named Lecture to celebrate a century of women in flight