Woman in History - Jean Batten

Jean Batten was fated to be a flier.  Her mother pinned a newspaper clipping about the first pilot to cross the English Channel above her cot!

Jean sailed to England at the age of 21 and enrolled in a flying school.  On her third attempt she flew all the way from England to Australia.

In 1936 she was the first to fly all the way from England to New Zealand.

After a series of record breaking flights she simply stopped flying.  She drove ambulances in the War.

Sadly she died alone in Majorca in 1982 from a septic dog bite.

Thanks to New Zealand Hall of Fame 50 Remarkable Kiwis.