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Having graduated with a BA Economics from the University of Sheffield, Johnson went to work in London as secretary to a solicitor. She was introduced to flying as a hobby, gaining a pilot's licence at the London Aeroplane Club in late 1929.
From this, she went on to qualify as the first British-trained woman ground engineer.
She became well-known in 1930 when she was the first woman to fly from Britain to Australia. She left Croydon on May 5 of that year and landed in Darwin, Australia on May 24 after flying 11,000 miles. Her aeroplane for this flight a De Havilland Gypsy MothThe De Havilland DH. 60G Gipsy Moth was a variant of the DH. 60 Moth powered by the De Havilland Gipsy I engine. Others had a Blackburn Cirrus engine. Also see: De Havilland Gipsy Major British civil utility aircraft 1920-1929. (registration G-AAAH) named Jason, can still be seen in the Science Museum in LondonThe Science Museum on Exhibition Road, Kensington, London, is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction. Origin A museum was founded in 1857 under Bennett Woodcroft from the collection of the Roya. She received a Harmon TrophyIn 1926 Clifford B. Harmon, a wealthy sportsman and aviator, established the Harmon Trophy a set of three international trophies to be awarded annually to the world's outstanding aviator, aviatrix, and aeronaut ( balloon or dirigible). A fourth trophy, th in recognition of this achievement.
In JulyJuly is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. July was renamed for Julius Caesar; previously, it was called Quintilis in Latin, since it was the fifth month in the Roman calendar which started in March. Because of its orig 19311931 is the common year starting on Thursday. see link for calendar) Events January January 4 Female aviator Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa January 6 Thomas Edison submits his last patent application. January 22 Sir Isaac Isaacs sworn in as the, she set the record for flying from EnglandEngland is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the four " Home Nations" which make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Occupying the south-eastern portion of the island of Great Britain, England to JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh in a De Havilland Puss Moth co-piloted with Jack Humphreys .
In JulyJuly is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. July was renamed for Julius Caesar; previously, it was called Quintilis in Latin, since it was the fifth month in the Roman calendar which started in March. Because of its orig 1932, she set a solo record for the flight from England to Cape Town, South Africa, also in a Puss Moth. She was later to regain this record, this time flying a Percival Gull , in May 1936.
In 1932, she married the famous British pilot Jim Mollison, who had proposed to her only 8 hours after they had met, during a flight of theirs.
With Mollison, she flew a De Havilland Dragon Rapide nonstop from Pendine Sands, South Wales, to the USA in 1933. The plane ran out of fuel and crashed in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The Mollisons also flew nonstop in record time to India in 1934 in a De Havilland Comet in the England to Australia air race. Johnson was to divorce Mollison in 1938.
During World War II, she worked as a ferry pilot with Transport Auxiliary and, on January 5, 1941, whilst flying an Airspeed Oxford to RAF Kidlington near Oxford, she went missing. She was presumed killed in a crash into the Thames estuary, though her body was never recovered.