Mary Bailey (aviator)
The Hon. Dame Mary Bailey, née Westenra DBE (1 December 1890 – 29 July 1960) was a British aviator.
The daughter of Derrick Warner William Westenra, 5th Baron Rossmore, of Rossmore Castle, County Monaghan and his wife, Mittie (née Naylor), Mary Westenra Bailey was known as one of the finest aviatrices of her time, who "personally guided a plane from England to the nether tip of South Africa and back" (Time, 28 January 1930). In January 1930 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) and was styled as Dame Mary Bailey.
She was awarded a pilot's licence in early 1927 and quickly started a sporting career. She became the first woman to fly across the Irish Sea. On 5 July 1927 she set a world's height record of 17,283 ft (5268 m) in a light aircraft category, flying DH.60 Cirrus II Moth.
Between 9 March and 30 March 1928, she made an 8,000 mile solo flight from Croydon to Cape Town, flying de Havilland Cirrus Moth with an extra fuel tank, then she made 18,000 mile journey back between September 1928 and 16 January 1929. It was the longest solo flight and longest flight accomplished by a woman that far.
In 1927 and 1928 she twice won the Harmon Trophy as the world's outstanding aviatrix. She also participated in two F.A.I International Tourist Plane Contests - Challenge International de Tourisme 1929, which she completed off the contest, and Challenge International de Tourisme 1930, in which she took 31st place for 60 participants, being one of only two women.
She gained the rank of Section Officer in the service of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, during World War II.
Famous quotes containing the word bailey:
“It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter, because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the ordinary.”
—David Bailey (b. 1938)