Freda Thompson

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Freda Thompson in the cockpit of a De Havilland DH.60 Moth (around 1935)

Freda Mary Thompson OBE (born April 5, 1909 , South Yarra , a district of Melbourne , South Australia ; † December 11, 1980 , Malvern , a district of Melbourne), was the first Australian female pilot to successfully fly a solo flight from Great Britain to Australia completed. In 1934 she was the first licensed flight instructor in the British Empire .

Private life

She was the older daughter of Frederick Thompson, a successful Melbourne banker , and his wife Martha.

Freda Thompson went to school at Toorak College in Melbourne. During her school days she successfully passed exams in piano and ice skating. She was an early member of the Girl Guide Movement at her school. She successfully played golf, tennis, riding and swimming.

Later she was active in several sports, health, aviation and auto sport organizations. She traveled widely in Australia and also stayed overseas.

Professional life as a pilot

On May 28, 1930, Freda Thompson took her first flight. In the same year she acquired the license for private pilots. In 1932 she passed the professional pilot's exam. She was the fifth professional pilot in Australia. In 1933 she successfully passed her flight instructor exam and became the first pilot instructor in the entire British Empire. She mastered the techniques of blind , night and aerobatics as well as stunts and she successfully participated in flight competitions. It won 47 flying trophies in 1932.

In April 1934, Freda Thompson traveled to the UK, where they have a single-engine biplane of the type De Havilland Moth Major bought for £ 1,000, to let them equip with additional tanks for their flight to Australia. Thompson had over 250 hours of flight experience at the time. On September 28, 1934, she flew from Lympne Airport in Kent for Marseille in France. Her onward flight took her via Rome and Brindisi in Italy to Greece . Her plane hit hard when landing near Megara in Greece and needed repairs. She waited 20 days for spare parts. On October 21st, she flew to Damascus via Nicosia . From there she reached Baghdad and flew over several stations to Karachi in Pakistan . On October 30, she arrived in Calcutta , India , and then flew to Rangoon via Indonesia and the Timor Sea . It reached Darwin , Australia on November 6, 1934 . She set a new record for single-engine aircraft with a flight time of 5½ hours on her last flight from Kupang to Darwin. The pilot needed 39 days for the entire route, 20 days of which she had to wait in Greece. At that time, the flight record for this route was 19 days.

From 1940 to 1942 she was in command of the Victoria of the Women's Air Training Corps , the forerunner of the Woman's Australian Airforce . She then served in the Australian Women's Army Service . After the end of the Second World War , she worked as a professional pilot. Freda Thompson was elected President of the Royal Victorian Aero Club , one of the oldest flight organizations in the world , in 1948 .

On May 4, 1980, she made her last flight as co-pilot . She practiced as a pilot for 50 years and had a total of 3330 flight hours.

Honors

In 1937 she was awarded the King George VI Coronation Medal and in 1953 the Queen Elisabeth II Coronation Medal . In 1957, her achievements were honored with the issuance of a stamp by the Australian Post . In 1973 the Freda Thompson Aerial Derby , an aviation event for female pilots, was held at Port Phillip Bay for the first time in her honor

Services

  • 1933: first licensed flight instructor in the British Empire
  • 1934: first woman to fly to Australia from Great Britain alone
  • 1934: Record flight for single-engine aircraft on the route from Kupang to Darwin

Web links

Commons : Freda Thompson  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Judy Cannon: Freda Thompson. Gypsi in a Major Mouth , on pandora.nla.gov.au (English). Retrieved January 31, 2014
  2. ↑ a b Papers of Freda Thompson (1906-1980) , on nla.gov.au (English). Retrieved January 6, 2015
  3. ↑ Val Dennis: Thompson, Freda Mary (1906–1980) , on adb.anu.edu.au (English). Accessed December 31, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Thompson, Freda
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thompson, Freda Mary (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION first female Australian pilot
DATE OF BIRTH April 5, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH South Yarra , Melbourne , South Australia , Australia
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1980
Place of death Malvern , a suburb of Melbourne