Spurn Head
Note: This map shows only the general location within the UK.
SPURN HEAD: Forced landing ground
NOTES: There can be little doubt that Amy Johnson suffered from a fairly severe mental condition, probably now described as Asperger syndrome. Most people claim she was remarkably brave, but I now think she was mostly simply unaware of the risks she was taking. I shall leave it up to you to decide.
To quote from David Luff's excellent biography; Amy Johnson - Enigma in the Sky: "Many people have said that Amy had nine lives, and that one of them was used up in the late afternoon of 9 November 1930, when she set out to fly to Hull." David Luff, (who is not a pilot), is invariably far too kind: Amy Johnson was often suicidal - but quite frankly too stupid and ignorant to know what she was doing very often.
"It was only her fourth outing that Amy had made in her new Puss Moth, G-AAZV, Jason II, and she set off from Stag Lane in conditions that were far from ideal. Just north of the capital she ran into fairly thick fog which reduced her visibility to such an extent that there were only two courses of action open to her: she could either turn around and go back, or she could climb above the murk and hope that is was clear over her destination."
Needless to say she chose the latter - having no capabilities or even equipment to navigate. An utterly stupid decision.
FORGING ON
"She chose the latter course and climbed to 6000 feet, where she broke through the cloud layer and emerged into brilliant sunshine." This of course does demonstrate that she had become quite capable in IMC, flying on instruments, very basic as they were in those days.
"After flying on a compass course for the estimated time required to be over Hedon, she descended through the cloud, only to find that she was over the sea. She quickly realised that there had been a drift in her course for which she had not allowed. It was amost pitch dark and as she descended to 500 feet, she was horrified to see nothing but the white caps of the waves of the North Sea.
She flew around in ever-widening circles for some time in the hope that she would eventually see land, and was relieved when she finally saw what she imagined to be the lights of the shoreline. However, a she approached them she discovered that she was circling over an ocean liner." See below, I cannot believe that Amy Johnson would have stupid enough to fly around in circles - it makes no sense whatsover.
ALL NONSENSE
Gripping stuff at face value but actually utter nonsense - and typical of authors inventing scenarios who have no knowledge whatsoever of flying. The reality is that given such circumstances, quite common in those days and well beyond WW2, was to plot a course guaranteed to put yourself over the sea, and then fly back to land.
For example, I had an uncle, a captain with BEA flying a DC-3 to Lisbon whose navigator had plotted a descent - only to emerge below the cloud into a valley. In no uncertain terms, climbing back into the clouds, the navigator was told to make another course certain to make sure they descended over the Atlantic, from where they could turn east to identify their position from the coastline, and then plot a course into Lisbon.
For Amy, on this occassion, all she had to do was fly west until reaching the east coast. It appears she spotted the lighthouse at Spurn Head and decided to land on a suitable area of beach. She then made her way by foot to seek help. But of course the outcome, given presumably limited endurance in her Puss Moth, could have been fatal if the westerley winds had been stronger.
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