Jean Batten

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Jean Gardner Batten CBE (September 15, 1909–November 22, 1982) was a New Zealand aviator.

Born in Rotorua, she became the best-known New Zealander of the 1930s, internationally. . In 1934 she flew solo from England to Australia. For this achievement and for subsequent record-breaking flights, she was awarded the Harmon Trophy three times from 1935 through to 1937.

Batten was created Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1936. In 1938, she was the first woman to be awarded the medal of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, aviation's highest honour. World War II was the end of her flying adventures, and she retired from public life. She became a recluse and died alone in a hotel on Majorca from complications from a dog bite.

Because of her striking looks and her reclusive tendencies, she became known as the "Greta Garbo of the skies". A house in Macleans College is named after her, as is a primary school in Mangere, Auckland. Jean Batten Place, a street in downtown Auckland is also named after her. The historic Jean Batten building on that street has been incorporated into the design of the new Bank of New Zealand head office.

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[edit] Major flights

  • 1934 – England - Australia (women's record) 10,500 miles in 14 days 22 hours 30 minutes, breaking Amy Johnson's record by six days.
  • 1935 – Australia - England in 17 days 15 hours. First woman to make return flight.
  • 1935 – England - Brazil: 5000 miles in 61 hours 15 minutes, setting world record for any type of aeroplane. Also fastest crossing South Atlantic Ocean, 13 1/4 hours, and first woman to make England - South America flight.
  • 1936 – England - New Zealand. World record for any type. 14,224 miles in 11 days 45 minutes total elapsed time, including 2 1/2 days in Sydney.

The Auckland International Airport International Terminal is named after her.

[edit] Her aircraft: Gypsy Moths and the Percival Gull

Jean Batten's Percival Gull
Jean Batten's Percival Gull

Batten used De Havilland Gipsy Moth biplanes for her early trips: G-AALG (originally owned by the Prince of Wales), for the England to India flight, G-AARB for England to Australia flight. These aircraft have not survived.

For her later flights, she used a purpose-built Percival Gull, with modifications for long-range flying and navigation. The Gull survives; it was bought by the manufacturer and flown after World War II by Percival's successor, the Hunting group. It was donated to the Shuttleworth collection, which sold it to Auckland International Airport in the 1990s. After flying over Auckland in 1996, it was suspended from the roof of the terminal building, where it is prominently displayed.

[edit] External links

[edit] Bibliography

  • Batten, Jean, Alone In The Sky, N.Z. Technical books, 1979 (an extended version of her book My Life, originally published in 1932).
  • Mackersey, Ian, Jean Batten: The Garbo of the Skies, Warner Books, 1999, 466pp, ISBN 0-7515-3019-0
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