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A prestigious annual aviation lecture has heard from Boeing's chief pilot for training about the challenges experienced in setting a new long distance record from Hong Kong to London- the long way.
Speaking at the 100th annual Wilbur and Orville Wright Lecture, held to commemorate the American brothers who made the first controlled heavier-than-air human flight, Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann regaled the audience with stories of her career in aviation and highlighted the impact of some of the female pioneers of flight.
These pioneers, all heroines of Darcy-Henneman's, included Hilda Hewlett, the first Englishwoman to gain a pilot's licence and Beryl Markham, the first person to fly solo east to west across the Atlantic.
In 2005, Darcy-Hennemann, as part of a Boeing 777-200 Longer Range crew, set a new long distance record by flying from Hong Kong to London- via the United States rather than the more orthodox method of flying over Asia and Europe.
The flight, which landed with an hour and a half of fuel remaining, took 22 and half hours and covered a total distance of 11,664 nautical miles, beating the previous record by 2,400 miles.
Outlining the three key factors to consider before pursuing a world record attempt as the weight, fuel density and wind, Darcy-Hennemann informed attendees at the Lecture, hosted by the Royal Aeronautical Society, of the detailed preparation that had gone into the flight and demonstrated the international media coverage the record had garnered.
She also outlined a list of unexpected activities that can affect a test pilot, a previous role of Darcy-Hennemann's.
She notably recounted the time a raptor hawk had flown into her plane's engine.
Darcy-Hennemann described herself as "the first woman in every job I've ever had".
She said: "I come from a family of goal-setters, so I was always fortunate in that I believed anything was possible.
"In all of my jobs, I have always needed to prove myself, as does everybody regardless of gender, however once that has happened I have always been fully accepted."
And Darcy-Hennemann noted that the work of females in aviation was increasingly valued.
"There has become gender blindness in aviation. It is all about hands and feet and loving your airplane."
The 100th annual Wilbur and Orville Wright Lecture took place on the 8 December 2011 at the Royal Aeronautical Society, London.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd