Mrs Chubby Miller, 1930

Australian Mrs Keith “Chubby” Miller was better known in America than in her own country. After first flying as a passenger from England to Australia in a two-seat Avro Avian biplane with fellow Australian, Keith Lancaster, she became obsessed with flying. Her well-publicised trip to Australia had made her the first woman to fly halfway across the globe and she continued her relationship with her pilot, travelling further around the world to America with him to find work in the aviation business. It was there that she learned to fly.

With all the confidence of an enthusiastic amateur, she began flying in air races, competing against other well-known pilots such as Amelia Earhart and Laura Ingle. She spent three successful years racing, and her diminutive figure and trademark white flying suit caught the eye of the American press; as air historian Terry Gwynne Jones was to write in his book “Heroic Australian Air Stories” she was dubbed by them “The Australian Aviatrix”.

In 1930 she took on ‘the big one’ – the Trans-America race from Los Angeles to New York. For this, she chose to fly the fast and murderous Alexander “Bullet”. Two previous prototypes had crashed and one of its test pilots had been killed. When she tried to buy the plane from the Alexander company, they declined the offer and, instead, gave it to her. Thus, distancing themselves from any accidents the machine might cause while she was flying it! In Chubby Miller’s hands, the machine proved to be no problem.

A new Wright ‘Whirlwind’ engine was fitted and this, combined with its retractable undercarriage, produced a highly competitive performer. It proved to be a good choice - she won the race.

Mrs Miller later flew her ‘Bullet’ from Pittsburgh to Cuba. On the return trip, unforeseen strong winds took her miles off course, compromising her very survival. With poor visibility and fuel tanks nearly empty it was largely good luck when she found the way-out Andros Islands. Had she missed them, she would have flown on into the Atlantic with no hope of being seen again. Miller returned to the USA but without her Alexander Bullet. This, apparently, sank into the bog into which she had force-landed and disappeared. Presumably, it is still there.

The stress of that sort of flying must have been considerable but it paled into insignificance compared to her private life. Lancaster, with whom Miller was now living in a menage-a-trois arrangement, was accused of murdering the third party. While he was acquitted, it scarred him to the extent that he took on an ill-fated solo flight to Australia in an attempt to revive his aviation credentials. He died in the attempt. Regrettably, the complexities of Miller’s private life eclipsed her prowess as a flier and she is still virtually unknown to the general public to this day.

Mrs Jessie "Chubby" Miller, 1930