Bill Lancaster (aviator)

Captain William Newton Lancaster (14 February 1898 – 20 April 1933, Tanezrouft, Algeria) was a pioneering British aviator.

Born in Birmingham, England, Lancaster emigrated to Australia prior to World War I. In 1916, he joined first the Australian Army and later the Australian Flying Corps. He remained in Britain after the war and joined the Royal Air Force, marrying Annie Maude Besant in 1919 and serving in India during the 1920s. He was promoted to flying officer from pilot officer on 30 April 1921.

In 1927, Lancaster transferred to the RAF Reserve (he continued to hold a commission until 30 April 1930), and decided to make a name for himself by flying from England to Australia. He made this flight in the Avro Avian Red Rose, accompanied by Australian Jessie "Chubbie" Miller, who helped finance the flight. It was at the time one of the longest flights made in such a small aircraft—although they were overtaken en route by Bert Hinkler in another Avian—and the first England-Australia flight by a woman. A huge crowd greeted them on arrival in Darwin, and on their subsequent tour around Australia.

In 1928 Lancaster and Miller moved to the United States on the promise of a Hollywood movie which was never made. Lancaster then made a living selling British aero engines, and Miller became an aviator in her own right, competing in the famous "Powder Puff Derby" of 1929.

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