Batten's Attitude Had Altitude Follow Your Dream: Aviatrix's determination to ascend shattered flying records.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)

Byline: MICHAEL MINK

Jean Batten lived her life by flying right past the word "no."

Batten's father, worried about her safety, didn't want her to become an aviator. And when she announced, after only a few hours of solo flying, that she intended to fly across the world and set records in the process, her relatives refused to help her.

That didn't sway Batten. "Once my mind was set on anything, it was quite useless to attempt to swerve me from my purpose or dampen my enthusiasm in any way," she wrote in her book "Alone in the Sky."

Her first goal was to break the women's solo record for flying from England to Australia. That flew partly in the face of the advice famous record-setting Australian pilot Charles Kingsford-Smith gave her: "Don't attempt to break men's records -- and don't fly at night."

"I made a point of ignoring both of them," Batten said. She wound up shattering many men's and women's aviation records and received numerous awards, trophies and medals in the process.

Figuring preparation was more than half the task, she spent months getting ready for her initial England-to-Australia flight. Batten (1909-82) made sure she thoroughly understood navigation, elementary meteorology and how to inspect her aircraft. She drilled while walking or performing chores, quizzing herself on names of airplane parts and signs of storms. She earned her pilot's license in 1931.