Zenith Airways

Based in Rhyl 1935; Camber Sands, nr Rye, 1936

May 1935, Flight: "ZENITH AIRWAYS LTD.: Private company, registered May 3. Capital:  £1,000 in 5/- shares. Objects: to operate all methods of aerial conveyance ; manufacturers and repairers of and dealers in all types of aircraft, etc. The subscribers  (each with four shares) are Herbert D. Ward, "Belvedere," Thames Drive. Leighon-Sea. Essex ; Geo. T. Butler. The first directors are to be appointed by the  subscribers."

March 1951, Stuart Campbell Brander, writing in Flight: "More so, perhaps, than any other veteran type at last year's R.A.F. Display, the Avro 504 must have brought acute attacks of nostalgia to many spectators. Hundreds of Service pilots received their ab initio training on this endearing type, and there are many others who were once engaged in the joy-riding or circus business (or, as some would have it, "racket"): that fraternity of pilots who, throughout the summer months, persuaded their 504s out of incredibly small fields and, after completing the required circuit, gracefully "swish-tailed" in to a brakeless landing.

My last engagement as a ground engineer on a rotary-engined 504 was in the early summer of 1935 at Camber Sands, near Rye. Later that year I joined Sir Alan Cobham's circus, whose fleet of 504N Avros were, of course, radial-engined.
The 504 used at Camber Sands was something of a mongrel, as an authentic "N" airframe, owing to the scarcity of Lynx engines, had been modified to accommodate a Clerget rotary."

"The year before, at Rhyl, we operated directly from the sands, even continuing at high tide when but a narrow strip of foreshore remained. Our "runway" was marked out with red flags which, not surprisingly, were at times insufficient deterrents to prevent children, during a lull in flying, from digging large sand-castles in the middle of the area; and the ensuing ruthless destruction of these hazards often led to tearful protests from their owners or, worse still, to irate admonishments from parents. Absent-minded bathers on their way to the sea, too, would cross over just at the moment of take-off, whilst the ever-present beach dogs were a constant source of worry.
On Bank Holidays business was particularly brisk, and flying would be almost continuous from early morning till dusk."

Aeroplanes:

- 1935 Avro 504N G-ADGB

and possibly one of:

- 1935 Avro 504N G-ADGC;

- 1935 Avro 504N G-ADGM;

- 1935 Avro 504N G-ADGN