from The Goon Show, June 1957:
Milligan:
Little did he know, poor fellow, that in a shed off Lisle Street, a genius in grease stained evening dress, assisted by a dour Scots gentleman in a...
grease stained body, were at work on a strange and wonderous, grease stained machine...
Seagoon & McChisholm:
[in time with hammering] Ying tong, ying tong, ying tong, ying tong, ying tong-iddle-i-pohhhh. Ying tong, ying tong, ying tong, ying tong, ying tong-iddle-i-pohhhh. Ying tong, ying tong, ying tong, ying tong, ying tong-iddle-i-pohhhh. Ying tong yi...
Seagoon:
McChisholm! It's finished!
Seagoon:
Now, my masterpiece! This... apparatus!
McChisholm:
Ohhh! If it's no a rude question, sir, what's it supposed to be?
Seagoon:
I wish I knew... I'd feel much happier.
McChisholm:
Yuh-you said it was to be a mangle.
Seagoon:
Yes, I know. But I added a bit here and a bit there, and it got completely out of hand.
McChisholm:
I-I'll tell you what, man. You sit in the seat, and I'll swing the propeller.
Seagoon:
[camp] Mad, impulsive boy. Ohhohoh! But, as you wish...
McChisholm:
[shouting] CONTACT!
Seagoon:
Gad, you've invented the method for starting an aeroplane! CONTACT!
FX:
[plane engine starting, a few misfires, backfires. It stalls, followed by lots of bits falling off]
Seagoon:
Well, what shall we build now?
McChisholm:
Ah, M-mister Seagoon! Did you no notice? A moment before it fell to bits, it rose seven feet off the ground!
Seagoon:
Correction, five feet. Two of those feet were mine!
McChisholm:
If, if you ask me, sir, we've invented the hairyplane.
FX:
[phone rings, receiver being picked up]
Seagoon:
Hello?
Grytpype-Thynne:
[speaking over telephone] I hear you've invented the aeroplane.
Seagoon:
Who's this speaking?
Grytpype-Thynne:
The Air Ministry.
Seagoon:
Air Ministry? How are you off for air? Ahahahaha! [chuckling] Air Ministry! How are you off for air?! Ahahahaha! Ahahaha! Aha. Ahem.
Grytpype-Thynne:
Listen, little square pudding: the question is, how are you off for air?
Seagoon:
What-what-what-what-what-what-what-what-what-what-what-what-what-what? [degenerates into a clucking chicken]
Grytpype-Thynne:
It's all very well saying that Neddie, but if you've in... if you've invented the aeroplane, you'll need air to fly it in -- and we are the sole agents.
And so was invented the CAA (Who HD went on to work for).
A venerable colleague of HD's, Mr Davd Gunson, recorded the following:
David Gunson "What goes up might come down" From 1981, Former air traffic contoler tells us how to fly a plane. maddog77 on USTREAM. Birds
To cut a long story short, (but it is worth listening to even if you've heard it before), he summed it up nicely by saying:
In the early days, aircraft could fly unhindered from A to B, the CAA decided that the possibilities of a collision were mathematically remote so they introduced airways, forcing all the aeroplanes into corridors 5 miles wide therefore justifying the job of Air Traffic Controllers.