Jean Batten: New Zealand’s record breaking aviator

New Zealander Jean Batten was nicknamed the ‘Queen of the Skies’ for her record breaking flights of the 1930s.

After abandoning a career in music, Jean learnt to fly at the age of 21. She soon joined other female pilots, such as the American, Amelia Earhart, in making international headlines.

They were flying across the world, in planes made of wood and canvas, during the so-called golden age of aviation.

Jean’s achievements included being the first woman to fly solo from Australia to England; and the first female pilot to make a solo flight from England to Argentina.

Jane Wilkinson has been looking through the BBC archives to find out more about her life.

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(Photo: Jean Batten and her De Havilland Gipsy Moth, 1935. Credit: Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)