Maude Rose ‘Lores’ Bonney – Google honors first woman to fly solo from Australia to England

Google dedicates a beautiful doodle to Maude Rose 'Lores' Bonney, the renowned Australian aviator on her 122^nd birthday. She was the first woman to fly solo from Australia to England.

Maude Rose 'Lores' Bonney was born as Maude Rose Rubens. She was born on November 20, 1897 in South Africa's Pretoria. Later she adopted the name 'Lores' in preference to her given names. Her family first moved to England and then to Australia. She received her primary education in Melbourne.

Maude Rose 'Lores' Bonney or simply Maude Bonney married Harry Barrington Bonney, a leather goods manufacturer in 1917 and moved to Brisbane, Queensland. A flight with her husband's cousin in 1928 sparked her desire to become a pilot. By 1931, Lores had dedicated herself to flying, embarking on her first solo flight in a Gipsy Moth biplane named My Little Ship. A record-breaking first flight, it took Lores nearly 15 hours to fly south from Brisbane, Queensland, to meet her father for dinner in Wangaratta, Victoria.

She continued to push the boundaries for aviators with each successive flight, and in 1937, Lores became the first person to fly solo from Australia to her birthplace of South Africa.

With her honorary doctorate from Griffith University, confirmation as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), as well as a Queensland electoral district named after her, Lores' achievements serve to inspire pilots of the future. Unlike Lores, however, today's pilots have access to a radio and won't have to do their own maintenance to get to their destination.

Despite these honours, Lores Bonney's achievements and flights have largely been forgotten, overshadowed by other women pilots of her era who received more promotion and publicity. Neither of her aircraft still exist.