My Jean Batten Report: By Teagan

Jean Batten was a famous aviator who broke world records. She wanted to prove that men and women were equal.

Jean was born in Rotorua, New Zealand. She was born on the 15th of September 1909. Jean’s full name was Jean Gardner Batten. Jean’s  mum was an actress while her dad was working as a dentist. Jean had two older brothers, she would of had three but one died at birth. Jean’s  Dad wanted her to be a pianist but she wanted to be an aviator.  Jean sold her piano to pay the fares for herself and her mother to go to England. There she learned to fly and got her pilot’s license. Later on Jean sold her first plane the moth and bought a Percival Gull Monoplane.  

Jean started to achieve and break records. Her first record was for the first solo flight in 1933 from England to India. In 1934 she set the new record for women from England to Australia (14 days and 22 and a half hours). In 1935 she flew from Australia to England , she was the first woman to fly both ways. She made another record in that year from England to Brazil. In 1936 she went from England to New Zealand and from Australia to New Zealand. In 1937 she went from Australia to England and from London to South America in the fastest time.

Jean had no fear, she was a great navigator. Bad weather did not put her off. She was lucky to survive her first efforts, she caught a sandstorm over Iraq. When she lost control of the plane it went spinning. Her bed that night was under the wing in the desert. A sad time for Jean was when the man she was planning to marry got killed in a horrible plane crash, Jean was heartbroken. She went looking for him but didn’t find him.                         

When Jean was flying  all she needed was a compass and a watch.

Jean’s death was very sad. She died on the 22nd of November 1982. She got bitten by a dog and it turned septic and refused to take medicine. Later on the wound got infected. She died alone in Spain, Majorca. Her family didn’t know she was dead until five years later. Her mother died in 1966 on the island of Tenerife, Spain.     

Jean Batten was one of the world’s best aviators, and put New Zealand on the map. She will be greatly remembered in New Zealand history.