Could any DH Moth pilot beat Jean Batten today?
Thread Starter
Could any DH Moth pilot beat Jean Batten today?
As another thread runs on so called 'tribute' flights let me ask this question.
How difficult is it to fly a Tiger Moth from the UK to Australia in two weeks.
Jean Batten managed it without modern facilities.
How difficult is it to fly a Tiger Moth from the UK to Australia in two weeks.
Jean Batten managed it without modern facilities.
Thread Starter
Logistics aside and allowing for a handicap?
Not for me but I suspect there must be some young aviators out there who could do it?
Sadly Jean Batten never enjoyed her recognition in later years.
The golden girl of 1930s aviation, so how did she end up dying a recluse and buried in a pauper’s grave?
How did it all go wrong?
Not for me but I suspect there must be some young aviators out there who could do it?
Sadly Jean Batten never enjoyed her recognition in later years.
The golden girl of 1930s aviation, so how did she end up dying a recluse and buried in a pauper’s grave?
On May 23, 1934, a flawlessly made-up woman dressed in an immaculate white flying suit and matching helmet stepped out of a tiny Gipsy Moth aeroplane and on to a dusty landing strip in Australia.
Jean Batten had just beaten the women’s record for a solo flight from England to Australia by almost five days. Her achievement captured the attention of the world’s media and congratulatory telegrams poured in from all quarters, including royalty and even one from British aviator Amy Johnson – the pilot whose record she had just broken.
Jean was on the cusp of becoming one of the most famous women in the world. So how did this young and talented pilot go from being dubbed “the Greta Garbo of the skies” to being buried in a pauper’s grave?
Jean was born in New Zealand in 1909 to dentist Frederick Batten and his wife Ellen, who had high ambitions for her beautiful daughter. Although she excelled as a musician and could have had a career as a concert pianist, Jean chose a path that was perhaps influenced by her mother.
When Jean was born Ellen pinned a picture of French aviator Louis Blériot’s flight across the English Channel above her cot. Jean’s early life was marred by scandal caused by her father’s philandering and after she was sent to an exclusive girls’ school in Auckland her parents parted.
Jean Batten had just beaten the women’s record for a solo flight from England to Australia by almost five days. Her achievement captured the attention of the world’s media and congratulatory telegrams poured in from all quarters, including royalty and even one from British aviator Amy Johnson – the pilot whose record she had just broken.
Jean was on the cusp of becoming one of the most famous women in the world. So how did this young and talented pilot go from being dubbed “the Greta Garbo of the skies” to being buried in a pauper’s grave?
Jean was born in New Zealand in 1909 to dentist Frederick Batten and his wife Ellen, who had high ambitions for her beautiful daughter. Although she excelled as a musician and could have had a career as a concert pianist, Jean chose a path that was perhaps influenced by her mother.
When Jean was born Ellen pinned a picture of French aviator Louis Blériot’s flight across the English Channel above her cot. Jean’s early life was marred by scandal caused by her father’s philandering and after she was sent to an exclusive girls’ school in Auckland her parents parted.
Jean did contribute to the war effort, becoming a fundraiser and public speaker. However her mental fragility was evident.
When the war ended in 1945, Jean and her mother retreated to the Caribbean where they lived for many years, becoming close friends with her neighbours, the author Ian Fleming and playwright Noel Coward.
The closeness between Fleming and Jean suggested an intimacy that may have inspired Fleming’s second novel Live And Let Die.
Like Fleming’s character Solitaire, Jean had dark hair and a nature that defied emotional closeness. It’s not clear what caused Jean and Ellen’s sudden departure from Jamaica, where they had a house, friends and a full social life. Whether coincidence or not, it occurred shortly after Fleming’s marriage in 1951 to Ann Charteris, who had recently divorced Viscount Rothermere.
Jean and Ellen spent seven years travelling around Europe, leaving only a forwarding address at Barclays bank in London. They settled in Tenerife in the Canary Islands but when Ellen died in 1965 Jean was consumed by grief.
When the war ended in 1945, Jean and her mother retreated to the Caribbean where they lived for many years, becoming close friends with her neighbours, the author Ian Fleming and playwright Noel Coward.
The closeness between Fleming and Jean suggested an intimacy that may have inspired Fleming’s second novel Live And Let Die.
Like Fleming’s character Solitaire, Jean had dark hair and a nature that defied emotional closeness. It’s not clear what caused Jean and Ellen’s sudden departure from Jamaica, where they had a house, friends and a full social life. Whether coincidence or not, it occurred shortly after Fleming’s marriage in 1951 to Ann Charteris, who had recently divorced Viscount Rothermere.
Jean and Ellen spent seven years travelling around Europe, leaving only a forwarding address at Barclays bank in London. They settled in Tenerife in the Canary Islands but when Ellen died in 1965 Jean was consumed by grief.
Last edited by Mike Flynn; 11th Jun 2016 at 19:53.
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I had the pleasure of meeting Jean Batten in 1979.
I say 'meeting', I actually came across her booth at an air display.
She was promoting her book 'Alone in the Sky' (Airlife 1979) and I am very proud of my signed copy. This is based on her 1938 book 'My Life' but updated to include her flights from 1935 to 1938 in her Percival Mew Gull G-ADPR.
G-INFO reminds us that aircraft was owned by Shuttleworth until 1995 when ownership was transferred to New Zealand, where no doubt she is esteemed.
A quote ...
"There have been times when vital decisions had to be made in the fraction of a second - decisions that meant life or death, and depended on a clear brain working in perfect co-ordination with a steady hand. There have been other times when the loneliness has been so intense that I have longed for the sound of a human voice or the sight of a ship, or even a tiny native village, to dispel the feeling of complete isolation that one feels when flying alone over the sparsely inhabited tracts that comprise such a great area of the earth's surface."
So that's what 'solo' feels like (St Exupery is also good at describing 'solo').
In 1938 she was awarded the Medal of the FAI - the first time it was awarded to a woman. She stands alongside Cobham, Lindbergh, Hinkler, Balbo, de la Cierva and Mermoz.
SD
I say 'meeting', I actually came across her booth at an air display.
She was promoting her book 'Alone in the Sky' (Airlife 1979) and I am very proud of my signed copy. This is based on her 1938 book 'My Life' but updated to include her flights from 1935 to 1938 in her Percival Mew Gull G-ADPR.
G-INFO reminds us that aircraft was owned by Shuttleworth until 1995 when ownership was transferred to New Zealand, where no doubt she is esteemed.
A quote ...
"There have been times when vital decisions had to be made in the fraction of a second - decisions that meant life or death, and depended on a clear brain working in perfect co-ordination with a steady hand. There have been other times when the loneliness has been so intense that I have longed for the sound of a human voice or the sight of a ship, or even a tiny native village, to dispel the feeling of complete isolation that one feels when flying alone over the sparsely inhabited tracts that comprise such a great area of the earth's surface."
So that's what 'solo' feels like (St Exupery is also good at describing 'solo').
In 1938 she was awarded the Medal of the FAI - the first time it was awarded to a woman. She stands alongside Cobham, Lindbergh, Hinkler, Balbo, de la Cierva and Mermoz.
SD
The main problem would be fuel and permissions at non-standard airfields because of tiger-moth's short range.
Permissions to go to out of the way airfields in difficult countries seem to be possible (TCT did it).
If one has a chase aircraft that can carry drums of fuel then it is easy, otherwise I expect there is much red tape and hassle arranging for alchohol-free motor fuel or avgas to be provided at said airfields.
Permissions to go to out of the way airfields in difficult countries seem to be possible (TCT did it).
If one has a chase aircraft that can carry drums of fuel then it is easy, otherwise I expect there is much red tape and hassle arranging for alchohol-free motor fuel or avgas to be provided at said airfields.
"Sunday Drivers" post reminded me I had a second hand copy of Jean batten's book "Alone in the Sky" and I've just had a look and lo and behold it was signed by her on 15/9/79. I'd never noticed that before. I would just point out that her aircraft was a Percival Gull Six not a Mew Gull. It went back to New Zealand and was hanging in the terminal building of Auckland airport when I was there a few years ago. It's rather sad how some of our long distance lady pilots came to a lonely end e.g. Jean Batten, Beryl Markham and Sheila Scott
VG.....
Sadly not unknown among their male counterparts: CWA SCOTT and Sir Arthur WHITTEN-BROWN both took their own lives. The end of Jim Mollison's life was far from pleasant.
Happily there are some who lived long and contented lives, Alex Henshaw and Sir Alan Cobham spring to mind..........
Sadly not unknown among their male counterparts: CWA SCOTT and Sir Arthur WHITTEN-BROWN both took their own lives. The end of Jim Mollison's life was far from pleasant.
Happily there are some who lived long and contented lives, Alex Henshaw and Sir Alan Cobham spring to mind..........
