Richarda "Dikki" Morrow-Tait (22 November 1923 – 17 December 1982
) was an English pilot and the first woman to pilot an aircraft around the world, accomplishing the
circumnavigation
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first circumnaviga ...
in a year and a day.
[ ]
Early life
Morrow-Tait was the youngest of three sisters.
She was educated, between 1932 and 1940, at the
Perse School for Girls in Cambridge.
"Dikki", as she was known, was inspired to fly while at school in the 1930s and began taking flying lessons at Cambridge Aero Club in January 1946, as soon as wartime restrictions allowed.
She was the first person to receive a post-war civilian pilot's licence in the UK.
During the Second World War, she was assigned as a temporary stenographer to assist an aeronautical mechanical engineer, Norman Morrow-Tait. On 21 July 1945, she married Morrow-Tait.
In October 1946 they had a daughter, Anna. Despite some criticism, Morrow-Tait continued to fly following her daughter's birth.
Round-the-world flight
On 18 August 1948, with about 85 hours of flying experience, and then 24 years old, she took off from Marshall Airport (now
Cambridge City Airport) to
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
, England for the official departure point of the trip. The trip was intended to take six to eight weeks. She initially flew a single-engine
Percival Proctor IV ''G-AJMU.'' She named the aircraft "Thursday's Child" (who "has far to go" in the nursery rhyme "
Monday's Child
"Monday's Child" is one of many fortune-telling songs, popular as nursery rhymes for children. It is supposed to tell a child's character or future from their day of birth and to help young children remember the seven days of the week. As with ma ...
"). For a navigator she was accompanied by childhood friend and Second World War RAF navigator Michael Townsend.
The 25-year-old Townsend was then a Cambridge University geography undergraduate student.
Their departure was not without controversy due to the social norms of the time, and the overwhelming reaction to her endeavour was a negative one. There was outrage that she would leave her 18-month-old girl behind. The press mockingly dubbed Richarda the 'flying housewife'.
They traveled by the south-eastern route. Passing south through France, then along the Mediterranean, through the Middle East to India and on to Vietnam, before turning north-east to Hong Kong and Japan. There were rough landings in
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
(causing minor damage)
and
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
.
They also had to wait nearly seven weeks in
Calcutta
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
, India, to replace the engine
and finding and getting approval for extra fuel tanks to be installed in the fuselage for the long flight across the Pacific Ocean.
On reaching Japan, they were denied permission to cross Russia or use Russian airfields, lengthening their Pacific crossing. With winter approaching, they were offered an escort by an American
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...
from Japan. They made the Pacific crossing on 9 November 1948; however, poor weather and radio issues meant they lost contact with their escort. They eventual reached
Shemya Air Force Base in the
Aleutians
The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain of 14 main, larger volcanic island ...
13 hrs and 20 minutes later, perilously low on fuel.
They reportedly arrived as the B-17 was preparing to go and search for them, assuming them to be lost.
They continued on to the North American mainland and on 21 November 1948, they took off from
Anchorage
Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...
, Alaska. However, the engine developed trouble and they were forced to land on the snow-covered