06/09/2026
UNSEEN AVIATION HISTORY UNLOCKED!
Here is our rare, completely unseen photograph of Hull’s legendary aviation pioneer, often called the "Queen of the Air," Amy Johnson!
This incredible shot captures Amy during her very first months of flying lessons at the famous Stag Lane Aerodrome in late 1928 / early 1929.
She is pictured sitting in a Cirrus II Moth alongside her tutor, the iconic flying instructor Captain Valentine Baker.
At this exact moment in time, Amy was a young secretary who had moved to London. She wrote in the spring of 1928, "I'm going to learn flying! I'm joining the London Aeroplane Club, and then I can get tuition and always use their aeroplanes."
By 13th October 1928, she had completed six lessons. Of Amy's first ten lessons, five were with Baker and five with Captain Matthews, the junior instructor.
Spending an hour a week at Stag Lane and the rest of her time in the office (her salary was £5 a week), she worked towards her 'A' licence, completely unaware that she would soon become the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930.
Her instructor, Valentine Baker, was one of the most respected pilots of the era. A decorated First World War hero who flew with the RFC, RNAS, and RAF, he later went on to co-found the world-famous Martin-Baker Aircraft Company, revolutionising pilot safety (He sadly died during a prototype test flight for the company in 1942.) They went on to invent the ejection seat and still manufacture them to this day.
To do justice to this piece of history, a high-resolution, archival digital scan was produced and sourced directly from the original vintage Kodak Velox photo paper preserved within our private collection.
A copy of this high-res digital scan has been officially shared with the Amy Johnson Collection at sewerby hall so they can preserve it and credit it in their future museum displays. Because Amy herself famously opened Sewerby Hall to the public back in 1936, it felt only right to gift a copy of this training photo to their permanent archive.
