Amy Johnson

(1932-8: Amy Mollison)
Aeronautical Engineer & Pilot

A black and white image of Amy Johnson in the cockpit of her aircraft, wearing pilot uniform and goggles and looking determined

Johnson in her Black Hawk Moth leaving Australia for Newcastle, 14 June 1930 (Image from The Age newspaper on Wikimedia Commons)

  • BORN 1st July 1903, Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
  • DIED 5th January 1941, Thames Estuary, near Herne Bay
  • WORKED Initially in London as a solicitor’s secretary; based in England but flew all over the world
  • HONOURS CBE; many aviation medals
  • MINERVA SCIENTIFICA PROJECT Echoes from Northamptonshire

Entry by Dr Patricia Fara, Emeritus Fellow of Clare College Cambridge and member of the British Society for the History of Science.

Artistic Connections

In 2016, the 75th anniversary of the death of Amy Johnson was celebrated by an ambitious two month Festival of the Arts & Engineering. The Amy Johnson Arts Trust has now been set up as a charity which continues to champion Amy and ensure that future generations of young people know about her remarkable story. Amy herself has no recorded connection with the arts.

Music

Title: Amy Johnson – Let’s Do Engineering
Composer: FRANCES M LYNCH and Sarah Cooper (Electrical Engineer)
Words by: Frances M Lynch and Sarah Cooper (Electrical Engineer)
Written: 2022
For: Voices and electronics
Performed by: Frances M Lynch and Sarah Cooper (Electrical Engineer)

In this song, we follow Amy as she makes her journey from England to Australia. We learn about all of the exciting places Amy was able to visit, and the things those places are famous for (eg. Austria for Coffee and Turkey for a bath!).

Title: Let’s Build A Plane For Amy – Let’s Do Engineering
Composer: FRANCES M LYNCH and Sarah Cooper (Electrical Engineer)
Words by: Frances M Lynch and Sarah Cooper (Electrical Engineer)
Written: 2022
For: Voices and electronics
Performed by: Frances M Lynch and Sarah Cooper (Electrical Engineer)

In this song we are building a plane for Amy to ensure she will be able to make the long flight to Australia.

Both of these songs were commissioned as part of Let’s do engineering, a large scale research project led by Helen Bridle, an Associate Professor at Heriot-Watt University. The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council under the Engagement Champions Awards. Let’s do engineering is co-creating resources with engineers and artists to showcase the diversity of engineering careers to 3-7 year olds and families.

Education

School in Hull; a BA in Economics at Sheffield University

Amy Johnson visits Victoria (Image by Public Record Office Victoria on Flickr)

Occupations

Secretary
After graduating, she earned money as a solicitor’s secretary

Air pilot
Her major career was in aviation; she gained a world-wide reputation for her daring, record-breaking flights

Fashion
For a few years before the War, she modelled and designed clothes

Volunteer
She joined the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War

Scientific Achievement

She became world famous in 1930 for being the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Subsequently, she broke several other aviation records. She is still celebrated as a great female pioneer in aviation.

She was the youngest President of the Women’s Engineering Society.

Did You Know?

Image from the Science Museum

She mysteriously drowned after parachuting down into the icy-cold Thames when her plane crashed. Although she may have run out of fuel or navigated badly, a British soldier has claimed that he shot her down thinking it was an enemy aircraft after she twice signalled the wrong code word.

When she set off for Australia, the Daily Mail reported she had ‘a cupboard full of frocks’.

After running low on fuel, she and her husband deliberately crash-landed their plane in Connecticut, but were given a ticker tape parade through New York.

An Inspiring Woman

She is still internationally renowned for her courage, initiative and determination in pursuing a new and dangerous career that was dominated by men. To satisfy her passion for flying, she was willing to study hard, take risks and ignore criticism.

Links