Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

The first woman to pilot an aircraft around-the-world.

On August 18, 1948 Prudence Richarda Morrow-Tait with her navigator, Michael Townsend left Cambridge, England and began their flight eastward around-the-world.

They selected a Percival Aircraft, a Proctor IV (G-AJMU).

August 19, 1949 - Prudence Richarda Morrow-Tait landed in Croydon, England, after her flight, with navigator Michael Townsend, the first such flight for a woman. It took one year and one day with a 7 week stop in India to replace the plane's engine.

They survived a forced landing near Tanacross Alaska and spent 8 months there to raise funds to replace her plane. She spent Christmas 1948 in Edmonton, Canada.

She received little acclaim for her feat and even a bit of ridicule from a public that felt she had abandoned her motherly duties for an unnecessary adventurous undertaking.

Her trip is in a book "Thursday's Child".

(Source: www.wingnet.org)