The Aviators

photo: 1921, aged 23

Chairman of de Havilland; the story goes that in 1921 he asked the one-year old de Havilland Aircraft Company to build a fast two-passenger touring aeroplane to his specification,

and stumped up £3,000 for them to do it. The money saved the company from extinction and they appointed him to the board of directors forthwith. He held the position until he retired in 1950.

The aeroplane became the DH37, (which he named, firstly, 'Sylvia' after his sister, then, rather diplomatically, 'Lois', after his wife, q.v.), which he entered in the very first King's Cup Race in 1922 and again in 1924, coming third.

He and Lois set up a world speed record of 120mph for 1000 km in 1928, and they also flew to Cape Town together .

Entered the MacRobertson Race in 1934 (assigned No 59) but didn't take part.

Was still aviating in 1970.

 Mr Larry L Carter

  photo: 1923

One of the original AT&T pilots after WWI.

In May 1922, "Mr. Larry Carter had an unusual experience while flying the 10-seater Bristol from Paris to London on Wednesday. Just as he rose from the ground at Le Bourget one of the joints of his under-carriage became loose, and a portion of the under-carriage was left hanging down. This was quite unnoticed by Mr. Carter, but the officials at Le Bourget saw what had happened and wirelessed to Croydon a full description of the occurrence. The wireless operators at Croydon, as soon as Mr. Carter came within speaking range, "rang him up" and told him what had happened. Mr. Carter, being thus warned of what difficulties were in store for him when the time came for him to land, was able so to manoeuvre his machine that, after a landing which excited the admiration of all the pilots on the aerodrome, only the tip of one wing was damaged. Had he not been made aware of the breakage in the under-carriage it is highly probable that a serious crash would have resulted."

Gloster's test pilot from 1923; he flew the prototype of the Grebe (derived from the SE5) in that year's King's Cup race.

Fractured his skull and broke a leg when the Gloster II racer crashed in 1925, and in 1928 (not having flown since) died from meningitus, aged 28.

 1916, when a captain in the Royal Gloucester Regt, aged 22

photo: 1927, aged 35

 Australian 'Lone Eagle', aviation pioneer, killed in a crash in Italy in 1933

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Hinkler

  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".

  1915, when a Sergeant in the RFC, aged 23

  1922, aged 30

   1922

b. Birmingham 3 Jul 1892

RFC in WWI; cross-channel pilot for Handley Page Transport 1920-22; test pilot for ADC Transport 1922-27. Joined Imperial Airways in 1927

Feb 1928: "A FLYING RECORD. Captain H. Perry, an Imperial Airways pilot, piloted a seven-ton Handley-Page Napier air liner, with a full load of passengers and freight, from London to Brussels on Saturday in 85 minutes flying time, a record for this type of machine."

Address in 1932: 'Sinaia', Cosdach Ave, Wallington, Surrey

A member of the Court of the Guild of Airline Pilots and Navigators in the 30s; awarded Master Pilot's Certificate in 1935

  1920, aged 27

© The Royal Aero Club [0011-0050]

© The Royal Aero Club [0357-0137]

© The Royal Aero Club [0738-0152]

© The Royal Aero Club [0906-0042]

© The Royal Aero Club [0908-0175]

'Fred', originally from Suffolk; the first man to recover from a spin, (although he didn't know how he had done it); test pilot for Hawkers; died 1954 in the USA and is buried in Colorado Springs. Survived a lot of crashes.

photo: 1916, when a 2nd Lieutenant in the RFC, aged 23

 1916, aged 19

 1920

b. 27 April 1897 in London

RFC and RAF in WWI, then an "exceptional" test pilot for Nieuport and General Aircraft Co Ltd, of Cricklewood.

Elected a Member of the RAeC in October 1921; at the time, the firm of 'Tait-Cox and James, Test Pilots' were extremely busy, and "could find work for half-a-dozen pilots", if they could find them.

In fact Leslie, followed by Jimmie, broke the British Speed record in 1921.

Joined Major Jack Savage's 'Sky-writers' in 1922 - as did Mogens L Bramson, Cyril Turner, G A Lingham, G F Bradley, D A Shepperson, C R McMullin, E D C Herne, Sydney St Barbe, Charles Collyer (US), Marttin Rudolph (Germany), and W von Feilitzsch (Germany).

Rejoined the RAF in 1926, and left in Jan 1935, to become a "Technical Mechanical Engineering Liason Officer"

Joined Plessey after WWII and d. Oct 1959 - Maidenhead, Berks.