Lieut John Herbert 'Jimmie' James

  1912, aged 18

  1920

 b. 2 June 1894 in Narberth, Pembrokeshire (which is in Wales); in 1913, he and his brother Henry were the first people in Pembrokeshire to build and fly their own aeroplane.

It was a sort-of-Caudron biplane and during its first flight it fell 60 feet to the ground, luckily without serious injury, and had to be rebuilt. It worked all right after that, though.

After WWI, he became test pilot to the British Nieuport Company; in April 1920 he flew the Nieuport in Bombay on a publicity trip, and its handling was "much admired". Nieuport later became Gloster Aircraft, and among his many accomplishments was the British Speed Record of 196.6 mph in a Gloster Bamel in 1921.

d. 4 Feb 1944, although he had "given up flying some time before".

 

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