Thanks for this wonderful video. There were so many accomplishments by female pilots yet you constantly hear the name Amelia. VERY INTERESTINGLY, Harriet Quimby, America's FIRST female registered pilot died at the same age as Amy Johnson. She too was just 37 years of age. Her death was horrible as she was catapulted out of her seat when the aircraft pitched forward at about 1500 feet.
On an interesting note, the impressively bewhiskered gentleman greeting Amy at 6:15 is General Gaishi Nagaoka, who was a key figure in the development of Japanese military aviation.
What a charming woman! She had a wonderful smile and great enthusiasm. She didn't live very long, but she obviously lived life to the fullest, while she was here.
You mean she speaks properly and articulately. Preferable to today's (possible) version: "Yeah, well... I like, flew 'o Aus'ralia, like, 'cos I was like, y'know, 'I really wanna, like, do that', 'cos it like, looks cool an' that, know wha' I mean?"
What bizarre comments about her non-accent. She is speaking in standard RP - Received Pronunciation - which was compulsory then amongst all middle class educated English people (she was a rare female economics graduate). Even now RP is the standard speech pattern of most university-educated grammatically-correct English people - it's different now to how it was then, obviously. She'd hardly speak like a working-class chapped-knees housemaid who'd never been out of Hull, would she?
Fantastic footage!! Agree that in those times, it's not unusual that Amy did not have had a regional accent. Thanks so much for this, I have really enjoyed watching it, she's one of my heroines :-)
emmzlee - I know the accent sounds strange but that is how people spoke in the 1930's. Listen to any recording of the Queen as a young woman - she sounds just the same.
She came from Hull and so this isn't her natural accent. If you read the book it mentions that she used to change how she sounded during interviews, I think it was referred to as 'BBC English'.
Middle class and a university education, I doubt very much that she had a typical Hull accent. I am aware of "BBC English" and the change in attitudes in broadcasting towards regional accents in the early 60's. Have you heard a recording of her speaking differently? I would love to know! Is her accent any more fake or risible than the youth of today trying to sound ethnic or the last school trend of trying to sound Australian? Pity that more people can't make the effort to speak properly!! :)
You're quite right, "jason" was fitted with an additional fuel tank in the front cockpit. The fairing added 5 mph to the performance. Oddly, G-AABN is registered as a "Puss Moth", monoplane which was withdrwan from service 8/31. DeHavillands records show it as a Gipsy Moth which crashed 6/31 at Stanmore. I can't reconcile the two records, but I shant lose any sleep over it! I do wonder if Amy Johnson had anything to do with the crash??
She never could land, God bless her. My Grandfather used to run taxis to and from Ryde Airport, on the Isle of Wight back in the 1930's. When my Mum was a young girl, Amy would take her flying to Southsea.
Thank you for this, BG. I was aware of Amy Johnsons's name since I was a kid with a Kielkraft model glider. Now I know who she was, and what she did. Well done.
As Wolife672 says, early flying was a risky business, but neverthesless the Wright brothers, Louis Bleriot, Charles Lindbergh and quite a few others died in their beds.
Some rare stuff here, Bomberguy, thank you. You certainly have to listen hard to discern any trace of a Yorkshire accent in Amy's voice but when her husband, Jim Mollison, speaks - well he was a Glaswegian but not even a hint of a Scots accent!
Amy had lived and worked in London for years, and there was a particular style of pronunciation, based on "la-de-da" upper class accents, that was expected in film commentaries and affected by most actors. People in the news would often try to mask their regional accents in this way.
The BBC insisted on the same stilted pronunciation until satire and wider recruitment drove it out of general use in the 1960s. Some Brits still talk like that, but they're not all toffs by any means.
My grandma was in her class, and she had all sorts of letters and postcards from her. They were great friends. And my grandma's eldest brother was killed with the Hull's Pals in WWI. She deid when I was 10 and unfortunately I only remember her talking about her flying school friend who was 'a girl'!!! Just shows how important it was to her then as well as in 1989! Thanks for that.
What is discouraging is I have seen so many of these where the biography includes details of their early deaths. Seems to me aviation at this time was almost certainly a death sentence. That being said we owe a lot to these truly brave pioneers. She is really cute when she talks haha.
She was very well known here in the UK. There was even a popular song about her. Her Gypsy Moth, Jason, is on display in the Science Museum in London.
Strangely what strikes me is her voice. She doesn't sound as if she hails from Hull :)
Did Amy participate in (race in) the 2nd Annette Gipson race? She was photographed with Amelia Earhart and a number of the race pilots before the start at Roosevelt Field. Any footage of these races? Kudos 2U, as ever!
MY MUMS MOTHER MET HET 1938 AT TAF PERTON
terryjohn 1 month ago
What an incredible piece of footage this is! Very historical and fascinating, thank you very much for putting it on here. :-)
westl99 1 month ago
I don't know how she died but I know she disappeared during the world war II
NessLover94 2 months ago
@NessLover94 Yes Thames UK
terryjohn 1 month ago
Thanks for this wonderful video. There were so many accomplishments by female pilots yet you constantly hear the name Amelia. VERY INTERESTINGLY, Harriet Quimby, America's FIRST female registered pilot died at the same age as Amy Johnson. She too was just 37 years of age. Her death was horrible as she was catapulted out of her seat when the aircraft pitched forward at about 1500 feet.
lakeseminole 3 months ago
On an interesting note, the impressively bewhiskered gentleman greeting Amy at 6:15 is General Gaishi Nagaoka, who was a key figure in the development of Japanese military aviation.
victorbrunswick 5 months ago
Wait, did she die at the age of 38?????
WHY!!!!
CRaZy4RiGHT 5 months ago
I'm selling her's and jim's photograph, go to ebay and search for Authentic Photograph Of Jim Mollison And Amy Johnson Pilot Vintage 1930 Framed!!
harry360 6 months ago
Comment removed
incongra 7 months ago
Comment removed
incongra 8 months ago
Amy showed the world what women could do in much the same way as the suffragette movement
the world was a bigger place then especially in a tiny wooden aircraft that was not exactly new when she purchased it
she had guts
and deserves the respect fo young women all over the world
russthebiker 9 months ago
What a charming woman! She had a wonderful smile and great enthusiasm. She didn't live very long, but she obviously lived life to the fullest, while she was here.
aMarinedaughter 11 months ago
I am related to Amy Johnson she is my great, great, great, great aunt
93DOL 11 months ago
shes worm food heheheee
sylicone221 11 months ago
You mean she speaks properly and articulately. Preferable to today's (possible) version: "Yeah, well... I like, flew 'o Aus'ralia, like, 'cos I was like, y'know, 'I really wanna, like, do that', 'cos it like, looks cool an' that, know wha' I mean?"
enochsneed 1 year ago
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ghgfjfhgbfhgfj 1 year ago
What bizarre comments about her non-accent. She is speaking in standard RP - Received Pronunciation - which was compulsory then amongst all middle class educated English people (she was a rare female economics graduate). Even now RP is the standard speech pattern of most university-educated grammatically-correct English people - it's different now to how it was then, obviously. She'd hardly speak like a working-class chapped-knees housemaid who'd never been out of Hull, would she?
duncann 1 year ago
Thank you for sharing!
zbaby82 1 year ago
Fantastic footage!! Agree that in those times, it's not unusual that Amy did not have had a regional accent. Thanks so much for this, I have really enjoyed watching it, she's one of my heroines :-)
RoshySnow 2 years ago
GAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thedreamdealer 2 years ago
I'm just in the middle of reading her autobiography. What a brave and inspirational woman. Her fake accent is hilarious.
emmzlee 2 years ago
emmzlee - I know the accent sounds strange but that is how people spoke in the 1930's. Listen to any recording of the Queen as a young woman - she sounds just the same.
DinoDoesStuff 2 years ago
She came from Hull and so this isn't her natural accent. If you read the book it mentions that she used to change how she sounded during interviews, I think it was referred to as 'BBC English'.
emmzlee 2 years ago
Middle class and a university education, I doubt very much that she had a typical Hull accent. I am aware of "BBC English" and the change in attitudes in broadcasting towards regional accents in the early 60's. Have you heard a recording of her speaking differently? I would love to know! Is her accent any more fake or risible than the youth of today trying to sound ethnic or the last school trend of trying to sound Australian? Pity that more people can't make the effort to speak properly!! :)
DinoDoesStuff 2 years ago
The Moth in the opening sequence is not "Jason", which had a faired-over front cockpit and a special single-axle undercarriage for the record flight.
This liiks like a typical club or private machine, possibly with a yellow or orange fuselage in view of the black lettering.
Amy had the dark red G-AAAH repainted dark green, her favourite colour, in which it remains to this day.
danlefou 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
let's be realistics, her favourite colour is hardly gonna change, because she's DEAD.
JoelDigg07of8 2 years ago
"Jason" could have been sold and repainted, as many Moths were.
However, it was preserved at the Science Museum exactly as it returned from Australia.
danlefou 2 years ago
You're quite right, "jason" was fitted with an additional fuel tank in the front cockpit. The fairing added 5 mph to the performance. Oddly, G-AABN is registered as a "Puss Moth", monoplane which was withdrwan from service 8/31. DeHavillands records show it as a Gipsy Moth which crashed 6/31 at Stanmore. I can't reconcile the two records, but I shant lose any sleep over it! I do wonder if Amy Johnson had anything to do with the crash??
DinoDoesStuff 2 years ago
She never could land, God bless her. My Grandfather used to run taxis to and from Ryde Airport, on the Isle of Wight back in the 1930's. When my Mum was a young girl, Amy would take her flying to Southsea.
radiomodeller 3 years ago
A fascinating story and a great video!
Thank you for this, BG. I was aware of Amy Johnsons's name since I was a kid with a Kielkraft model glider. Now I know who she was, and what she did. Well done.
genyouwin 3 years ago 2
Were u the kind of kid who got bullied t school?
JoelDigg07of8 2 years ago
Not that I recall, but it wouldn't surprise me if you were a bully.
danlefou 2 years ago 3
that's horrible! why would you say that to someone!
JoelDigg07of8 2 years ago
Mollison was a lush and something of a wastrel. Ultimately they divrced. She deserved better.
spitfireJEJ 3 years ago
As Wolife672 says, early flying was a risky business, but neverthesless the Wright brothers, Louis Bleriot, Charles Lindbergh and quite a few others died in their beds.
tomasperry 3 years ago
1D84down, haud oan, oora Scats fowk isna frae Glesca an canna spik ra patter
DottyWang 3 years ago
She was University educated
drigin1234 3 years ago
hey! i have the same first and last name!!
Amy Johnson!
Awesome!
Amyjay1059 3 years ago
wehayyyyyy what a doll.
TJ
terryjohn 3 years ago
Thank You Sir for Great Flying Videos From the Past!
Keep em Comming!
PAA2FLY 3 years ago
Some rare stuff here, Bomberguy, thank you. You certainly have to listen hard to discern any trace of a Yorkshire accent in Amy's voice but when her husband, Jim Mollison, speaks - well he was a Glaswegian but not even a hint of a Scots accent!
1D84down 3 years ago
Aye, 'ard to think they used to dream o' livin in corridor
pup2097 3 years ago
Amy had lived and worked in London for years, and there was a particular style of pronunciation, based on "la-de-da" upper class accents, that was expected in film commentaries and affected by most actors. People in the news would often try to mask their regional accents in this way.
The BBC insisted on the same stilted pronunciation until satire and wider recruitment drove it out of general use in the 1960s. Some Brits still talk like that, but they're not all toffs by any means.
danlefou 3 years ago 4
Many thanks for bringing us this priceless historic footage
Skeptician 3 years ago
My grandma was in her class, and she had all sorts of letters and postcards from her. They were great friends. And my grandma's eldest brother was killed with the Hull's Pals in WWI. She deid when I was 10 and unfortunately I only remember her talking about her flying school friend who was 'a girl'!!! Just shows how important it was to her then as well as in 1989! Thanks for that.
rwarreng 3 years ago
wonderful video.......great job!
tundra1030 3 years ago
What is discouraging is I have seen so many of these where the biography includes details of their early deaths. Seems to me aviation at this time was almost certainly a death sentence. That being said we owe a lot to these truly brave pioneers. She is really cute when she talks haha.
wolfie672 3 years ago
Thanks BomberGuy. I didnt even know of this historic woman aviator. Pity her tragic end.
Partok81 3 years ago
She was very well known here in the UK. There was even a popular song about her. Her Gypsy Moth, Jason, is on display in the Science Museum in London.
Strangely what strikes me is her voice. She doesn't sound as if she hails from Hull :)
Thanks for posting this.
Syd1940 3 years ago
Keep 'em coming, Bomberguy!
denberg2 3 years ago
Superb.
stjohnstjohn 3 years ago
Did Amy participate in (race in) the 2nd Annette Gipson race? She was photographed with Amelia Earhart and a number of the race pilots before the start at Roosevelt Field. Any footage of these races? Kudos 2U, as ever!
whizbang47 3 years ago
nice bomberguy give us more videos great !!!
vale41 3 years ago