Flying records

Thanks to earnings from her two successful flights - earned from lectures, advertising Castrol oil, and newspapers - Batten now had some money behind her and was able to upgrade the Gipsy Moth. With the help of a generous cheque of £1000 from Lord Wakefield (after she had succeeded in her 1934 flight to Australia) she bought a Percival Gull monoplane. With its lightweight metal propeller, hydraulic brakes (the Moth had no brakes), an automatic petrol pump, landing flaps, a 200 hp engine and an extra fuel tank, the Gull was the machine Batten would break records in.

 


The Percival Gull
The monoplane was constructed of wood and fabric and has a wingspan of 11.02 metres and a length of 7.6 metres.

Now very much the object of public fascination in England, Australia and New Zealand, Batten was preparing for another next long-distance flight. This time between West Africa and Brazil, across the South Atlantic. The record time for the route of 85 hours and 20 minutes was held by Scotsman Jim Mollison.

Batten took off from France for Casablanca on November 11, 1935, landing at her destination nine and a half hours later - an unintentional record. Then on to Thies in Senegal from where she would leave for South America. Batten battled freak storms over the Equator that made the Gull's instruments go haywire. Lost in the tropical storms with the compass out of action, she was convinced she was off course. It was only when the weather cleared and she saw cargo vessels on shipping routes that she knew she was heading in the right direction.

She made Port Natal, Brazil, in 61 hours and 15 minutes. Almost a day faster than Mollison.

The receptions she was honoured with in Australia and New Zealand were repeated in South America and took the levels of heroine worship to new heights. In Brazil she was awarded the Order of the Southern Cross, an honour never before given to a member of the British Empire not of royal birth. She was made an honorary member of the air force in three countries and 'the dashing and fearless aviator' was rushed by crowds of well wishers everywhere she went.

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