Memories of 'joy-riding'/Cobham's Flying Circus
 

Does anyone remember hearing about Alan Cobham's 'Flying Circus' or what he called 'National Aviation Day' tours? Cobham and other aviators toured Britain offering short aeroplane rides and air shows. You lot being pilots and experts, I expect you'll know this already!

I'm trying to find out about how people experienced their first flight in the 1920s and 1930s. If anyone has any anecdotes, or remembers friends or relatives mentioning a 'joy-ride', I'd love to hear about it. Both pilots' and passengers' points of view would be fascinating.

I'm researching the cultural impact of flight and aerial photography in the 1920s and 1930s for my PhD.

Thanks!

Can't help with memories....you'd need to talk to 90+ year-olds....but there are Aerofilms photos of the Cobham' fleet on
Search results | Britain from Above
and
Search results | Britain from Above
and
Search results | Britain from Above


Cobham sold the 'Circus' to the Cornwall Aviation Company (there is a book by Ted Chapman on the latter)

Raymond Baxter
 

In his book 'Tales of my time' Raymond Baxter writes of how as a 13 year old he lied about being 16 in order to fly with Cobham's circus when they visited a field near him. After the flight he told his dad that he was going to become a fighter pilot. And he did just that.

My father told me once he had flown with National Aviation Days near our home in Chesham, Bucks. When I asked him what field they had used, he indicated the Lye Green/ Lycrome Road area, but I've been unable to pin it down any closer. Looking at satellite photos there are several likely candidates.
Aeroplane Monthly has run several features on this subject so you could check their back issues.

Colin Cruddas, Those Fabulous Flying Years (Air Britain, ISBN 0-85130-334-X).

This one may help too..............

Planemike

I can't give you any gen about the flying circuses, but the man himself was certainly one of the greats. I had the pleasure of meeting him whilst I was acting as an usher for the Queen's visit to the RAF Club in 1968 to commemorate the 50th anniversary. As a young APO I was stationed just outside what was then 'The Smoking Room', and all I had to do was to bring the room to order and introduce Her Majesty to the assembled throng of aviation worthies, for which we had had a long and intensive briefing. He was one of the first to arrive, and took pity on me being stuck outside so bought out a couple of glasses (of Champagne) for me to wet my thirst. He then went round the room encouraging most of the others to do the same. He even bought out some nibbles, and then collected the (by now) large pile of empty glasses as Her Majesty arrived. The next 10 minutes are better glossed over, but he subsequently deflected the b********g which came my way, and spent the next hour or more talking with me about aviation in general and service flying in particular.

In my early growing up days we lived under a mile as the crow flys from Croydon Airport and my dad would often take me there on the crossbar of his roadster bike. The crowds when an aircraft came in or took off were all over the place and I believe Cobham came in one day and welcomed by a frenzied crowd.

I used my dad's bike after he was called up to go Croydon when the RAF moved in and ventured to stand on the same crossbar to look over the fence in Stafford Road. As the BoB broke out in July, I there then but was swiftly, without ceremony, sent home by the police. So I watched a lot of what was going above our heads from my back garden.

Croydon was a VERY exciting place of course.

My mother flew with Cobham - see my photos on another forum...

Norfolk - Flying Circus c.1935 - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums

Hdcr

Amazing how someone could be an aviation pioneer when they actually started life as a successful vet.

Many eons ago I used to work for Alan Cobham Engineering and Flight Refuelling Limited, but sadly only when his son Michael had taken over the helm. There were still plenty of people about who knew Alan first-hand and he was obviously a character and a half.

One day three sisters, who were participating in a sponsored walk, decided to go up to Alan's office and ask for sponsorship. Apparently he insisted on viewing the girl's legs to ensure that were up to the job and, what's more, he insisted on viewing them right to the top! All innocent fun in those days of course and many a laugh was had about it years on.

My father did his first hop with Cobham's Flying Circus, as I understood it from a field somewhere around Buxton, Derbyshire. Somehow a price of 7 shillings and 6 pence (7/6) seems to stick in my mind. I think the experience comprised one fairly tight circuit. Cobham seemed to pick up a number of oddball high-capacity aircraft, an Airspeed Ferry was one such.

IIRC (it's been a while since I read 'Slide Rule') the Airspeed Ferry was designed specifically for Cobham by Airspeed. So not really an oddball aircraft but one that was handbuilt to do that specific job. It may have been a bit odd looking and the production run was short, but I'm guessing they did their job pretty well.

And a quick Google produced this: Airspeed Ferry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

9780952448808 - AbeBooks

The book 'In Cobhams' Company' covers the period.

I can echo the 'he was a great chap' sentiments. In 1961 he address the assembled personnel of 214 Sqdn when he presented us with a silver trophy to commemorate the Sqdns efforts to re-fuel the Vulcan that did the 1st none stop flight from UK to Australia.

He'd presented a similar trophy to 617 Sqdn, who supplied the crew of the Vulcan, the previous week. He got a resounding response when he said words to the effect, 'But we know who did all of the real work, don't we?' :ok:

We had the Sqdn spread a bit thin to base tanker a/c in Cyprus, Karachi and Singapore. Me, as usual I was in Karachi, one of my 5 visits to that little piece of paradise. :sad:

Joy riding
 

Are you still working on your thesis?

I have some information that might interest you.

Best wishes.

There's a new Cobham exhibition on at the RAF Museum at Hendon — see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...9692316&type=1

My father took his first flight aged 4 from Rhyl beach in an Avro 504K. His father was with him and he remembers it very clearly. It is 95% certain that the aeroplane he had his first flight in is currently coming to the end of a restoration and will have its first flight in many many years very soon. I took my father to see the aircraft in November last year and to say his face showed the memories that seeing the 504K brought back is an understatement.

Didn't Harald Penrose write about seeing them as a boy in one of his books?

ROUND THE BEND
 

Also mentioned by Neville Shute in his book "Round the Bend".
Not documentary evidence but obviously a reference from first hand experience given Shute's background.