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Amy Johnson

Queen of the Air

Midge Gillies

An adventuress both in her private and public life, Amy Johnson has iconic status as an outstanding female adventurer whose death remains a mystery to this day.

In May 1930, Amy Johnson, a typist from Hull, took off from Croydon Airport with a thermos flask and a packet of sandwiches to try to beat the world solo record to Australia.

She arrived, sun-blistered and with grease on her face, after weeks of flying a second-hand, open-cockpit biplane with no radio communication and the most basic of maps. Her adventures inspired a world struggling with the devastating effects of the Depression and made her into a celebrity overnight.

She married Scottish playboy Jim Mollison, and together 'The Flying Sweethearts' broke records, mixed with the Mayfair Set, Amelia Earhart and Hollywood stars. But her tempestuous marriage was soon to crumble and she resumed her love affair with speed, taking up gliding and rally driving, and finding solace with a French millionaire.

Her plane disappeared over the Thames Estuary during the Second World War, sparking rumours which are still being investigated today. Her body was never found.

Amy Johnson-Queen of the Air

Buy Amy Johnson from Amazon
£7.99
Paperback
400 pages
198 x 129 mm
ISBN-10: 0753817705
ISBN-13: 9780753817704
Publication: May 2004
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