Jean Batten: The superstar aviator who twice chose seclusion

In 1928, Charles Kingsford Smith made the first flight across the Tasman Sea, flying from Sydney to Christchurch.

Jean Batten was a superstar of aviation. Photo /
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19340613-40-02

“It was mind-blowing stuff for people,” Waugh said.

Batten, born in Rotorua in 1909, was one of several famous pioneering female aviators, along with Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson.

“The women made a splash because it was unusual. Jean, I think, knew how to play the media. She probably knew how to market herself,” Waugh said.

“Jean Batten was one of the great aviation megastars of the 1930s,” the late biographer Ian Mackersey wrote.

“Driven by an extraordinarily ambitious and reckless force, she maintained an image of awesome perfection. Her crowded years of glory, however, were brief.”

Mackersey wrote that Batten disappeared in 1937, going off to resume a nomadic life with her mother.

Jean Batten attracted crowds and attention at many events in the 1930s and at visits such as this one to a centre for blind people in Auckland. Photo / Auckland Weekly News

But she returned to public life in the late 1960s.

Waugh said his mother bumped into Batten in about 1977 and the aviator was very famous then.

Waugh said Mackersey’s biography captured the “unusualness” of Batten’s personality.

“We admire her courage and skills on the international stage.”

But he said it was also important to remember the many other pilots, engineers and administrators who built New Zealand’s civil aviation system.

Batten’s achievements are being celebrated at Auckland Airport and the Museum of Transport and Technology (Motat).

The Percival Gull, in which Jean Batten made the first solo trip from England to New Zealand in 1936, at Auckland Airport. Photo / Brett Phibbs

“Jean Batten’s arrival at Māngere Aerodrome was one of the defining moments in New Zealand aviation history, taking place at the site that is now Auckland Airport,” the airport’s chief operations officer Chloe Surridge said.

As part of the anniversary programme, Motat will present a special evening on Thursday dedicated to Batten’s life, achievements and global impact.

“Jean Batten’s achievements remain an extraordinary example of courage, determination and innovation,” Motat director of collections Alba Letts said.

“Ninety years on, her record-breaking journey continues to inspire New Zealanders and aviation enthusiasts around the world.”

Jean Batten with her cat Buddy. Photo / NZME

The celebrations will continue on October 18 when Motat will have a special showcase of heritage aviation technology across the museum.

Batten’s achievements will form a central theme of the day.

“We’re proud to care for and share the stories and objects that connect us to her legacy,” Letts said.

Mackersey wrote that Batten retreated from public life in 1982, shortly before dying in Mallorca, one of Spain’s Balearic Islands.

“Bitten by a dog, she had refused medical attention,” Mackersey wrote.

An infection spread to her lungs as she spurned antibiotics.

“Among the Spanish hotel staff, ignorant of her former great celebrity, she had died a needless death, overwhelmed by a pulmonary abscess,” Mackersey wrote.

She was buried anonymously in January 1983.

Her relatives later installed a plaque at her Spanish grave site.

John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation. He also has experience covering consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.

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