Who was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia?

Answer 1

Maude Rose "Lores" Bonney OBE (November 20, 1897-February 24, 1994) was an Australian aviatrix and the first woman to fly solo from Australia to England.

Born as Maude Rose Rubens, in Pretoria, South Africa, she adopted the name "Lores" later in preference to her given names. The family moved first to England, then to Australia. After education first in Melbourne, and then at a finishing school in Germany, she met and married Harry Bonney, a leather goods manufacturer in 1917 and moved to Brisbane, Queensland.

In 1928 she met Harry Bonney's cousin, Bert Hinkler, a Queensland aviator who had set a solo England-Australia record in his Avro Avian biplane (now in the Queensland Museum, Brisbane). His exploits fired her imagination and her first flight in his Avian confirmed her determination to learn to fly. She took her first lessons secretly, but when she told her husband, he bought her the DH 60 Gypsy Moth with which she began her record-breaking flights.

In 1931 she set the record for the longest one day flight by a woman,

In 1932 she became the first woman to circumnavigate Australia by air,

In 1933 she became the first woman to fly from from Australia to England,

In 1934 she became the first woman to fly from Australia to South Africa.

Answer 2

On page 156 of my newly published book, "First Females Above Australia", I quote:

"In 1932 Lores Bonney set the woman's solo record of flying around Australia in her Moth, with few navigational aids, few refueling facilities and no SAR services. Her flight took detours for these safety reasons, not always following the coast."

"In 1996, Allana Arnot flew solo around Australia's mainland in an R22 helicopter setting an historic record."

In 1999, Fran West made a flight around the coastline of Australia and Tasmania, claiming to be a "first solo flight around Australia". This was a commendable flight, but passengers were carried on some sectors of it, which draws criticism of the term "solo flight".

Lores Bonney would have had great difficulty getting permission to fly across Bass Straight in 1932, for it was not until May 1933 that this permission was granted to Nancy Lyle, who then became the first Australian woman to fly across Bass Strait.

Women experienced great prejudice as early as 1926 when they were not given permission to learn to fly, as members of the Aero Club at Mascot Aerodrome. Finally in 1927 both Millicent Bryant and Evelyn Follett were granted membership allowing them to take flying lessons. Millicent became Australia's first licensed woman pilot, then Margaret Reardon was second and Evelyn was third, all in 1927.

Hilda Hope McMaugh should have been considered the "first" for she learned to fly in England in 1919, but on her return to Australia after serving in WW1 her UK Licence was not acknowledged, nor was she allowed an Australian pilot's licence.

In 1926 another Australian, Gladys Sandford did her flying training in NZ but this was not recognised in Australia. All countries were part of the great British Commonwealth of Nations, the British Empire, and I would believe that the male pilots of WW1 were given Australian pilots' licences, upon their return to their homeland. Discrimination against women pilots continued when, in the 1930s Freda Thompson won as many as 47 flying trophies, but women were not permitted to attend the Aero Club's Presentation Dinners, so her trophies were accepted on her behalf by men.

Hope these facts interest you, for I spent many years on research.

- Rosemary Arnold, BAv

Answer 3

Amy Johnson.

Answer 4

Harriet Quimby in 1912

Answer 5

Wrinkle bumm