Note: The profiles in this series in no way imply any endorsement of Junonia products or services by the women profiled or their estates.

Goddesses of Yesterday: Amy Johnson

These days, many frequent flyers think of traveling by air as a necessary evil. Sure, a jetliner is a quick and relatively painless means of getting from point A to point B, but when you're dealing with delayed takeoffs, cramped seating conditions and ever-escalating ticket prices, it can be easy to forget about the miracle of flight.

Back in the early Twentieth Century, though, aviation was a relatively new and exciting field. Airplanes were an international fascination, and the people who flew them became full-fledged celebrities. Most of those honorees were, predictably, men, but pioneering female pilots like Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson captured the imaginations of girls around the world.

Born July 1, 1903 in Kingston-upon-Hull, England, Johnson took up flying at the London Aeroplane Club in her mid-20s. In 1929, she earned her certification as Britain's first female ground engineer, a distinction that established her as more than a mere hobbyist. As public interest in airplanes and the people who flew them grew, so did Johnson's fame. Soon newspapers and radio broadcasts around the globe were breathlessly tracking her ever-daring efforts in speed and endurance flying.

Over the next few years, Johnson embarked on a highly publicized campaign of air travel feats that would confirm her as one of the world's preeminent pilots. Flying various single-engine aircraft, she made record-setting solo flights from London to Australia and South Africa. Working along with co-pilots, she set speed records for flights to Moscow and Tokyo. During Johnson's brief marriage to fellow flying ace Jim Mollison, the couple established new marks for the quickest flights to India and the United States. The latter excursion ended in a frightening crash neat Bridgeport, Connecticut. The injuries Johnson sustained only added to her legend as the world's most daring aviatrix.

When World War Two broke out, Johnson enlisted in Britain's Air Transport Auxiliary, a service group that escorted Royal Air Force planes around the country. It was on one of these missions in 1941 that bad weather over the River Thames forced Johnson's plane off course. In danger of crashing, she bailed out into the water below. A rescue attempt failed, and Johnson became the first ATA officer to die in service. Like so many other service people, she was gone too early, but she left a legacy of accomplishment that continues to reverberate in the world of aviation.