Solo2Darwin

If you feel like helping me with a few litres of W100 oil along the way, I have set up a GoFundme page, thank you.

To celebrate and promote women in aviation and engineering Amanda Harrison will be flying her 1942 Tiger Moth (DH82a) from the UK to Darwin in Australia. Her plan is to do this starting 11th May this year.

9,260 nautical Miles
30 days
23 countries
33 take offs and landings

The Route

The Reasons

To Inspire women to achieve.
To inspire cancer survivors to achieve great things in their life.
To promote females in flying.
To promote STEM amongst women.
To inspire dyslexics to achieve and see dyslexia as a gift not a disability.
To create the “Richard Harrison Aviation Apprenticeship Fund” to fund engineering apprenticeships for women.

The Ladies squadron

Each country will field a woman pilot either from the military or commercial sector to fly alongside Amanda.

This will provide excellent promotional & press opportunities at each stop to promote women in aviation internationally and locally.

• We intend to hold an end of adventure squadron dinner in London inviting all the pilots to join in and celebrate the achievement.

• The women’s squadron will fly a modern GA aeroplane (PA28, Cessna or Grob)

The Inspiration

During the 1920s and 1930s aviation was dominated by amazing and rich women such as Lady Mary Heath, the Duchess of Bedford and Lady Bailey. Amy Johnson was different, she gained a ground engineer’s “C” licence and, with the financial help of her father, took flying lessons. In 1929 she was awarded her pilot’s licence.

Amy left Croydon Airport on 5 May, 1930 in a second-hand Gipsy Moth. Amy had no radio, no reliable weather information, her maps were basic and, on some stretches of the route, she would be flying over uncharted land

Despite a forced landings and many other challenges she became the “British Girl Lindbergh”, “Wonderful Miss Johnson” and “The Lone Girl Flyer”.

In India she amazed an army garrison by landing on a parade ground and, when she reached Burma (modern-day Myanmar), she faced the monsoon. Outside Rangoon an unorthodox landing tore a hole her aeroplanes wing and damaged its propeller. A local technical institute repaired the wing by unpicking shirts made from aeroplane fabric salvaged from the First World War.

Amy went on to complete many other adventures and in the second world war she joined the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary) where during a ferry flight she ditched and died. She did however go down in the annals of aviation as one of the greatest aerial adventurers.

Getting started in 2014

Here is the first video promotion kindly provided by SWMTV. The hair is longer, the aeroplane is a Tiger not a Gipsy but the challenge is the same.

Sponsorship

Although the adventire is self funded, there is room for sponsors to help me in particular ways these are

Fuel
Overflight Clearance • Handling
Accommodation
Engineering

Sponsor should have a connection to or interest in:

Female empowerment
Cancer research or treatment
Aviation
Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths STEM

If you are interested in sponsoring me please click below.

Sponsorship Contact