1934

A complete list of Alan Cobham's 'National Aviation Day' displays in 1934

l to r: Martin Hearn, Flt-Lt Geoffrey Tyson, and Mr Johnstone (sic)

GROUP CAPTAIN "JOHNNIE" JOHNSTON, who died in 2002 aged 83, was seized with an ambition to follow his father as a pilot and specialist navigator after hearing of his death as navigator of the ill-fated airship R 101.

Johnston, as he liked to reminisce, was "born with both ears cocked for the sound of aero engines" and brought up in the airship and aviation community. His first memories of aeroplanes dated from Croydon aerodrome in 1924, when he spent his time scrambling about in Handley Page W 8 biplane airliners and the eight-passenger DH 34s which served on the London to Paris route.

His father had joined Daimler Airways as navigation officer shortly before Daimler was absorbed into Imperial Airways. Aged six, Johnston climbed the ladder to reach the cockpit, where he would daydream for hours.

"The DH 34 was the biggest influence in making concrete my intention to become an aeroplane pilot," he recalled. Later he transferred his affections to the DH 61 of Sir Alan Cobbam's flying circus, known as the "Giant Moth", which was to stir the ambitions of a generation of boys who became Second World War aircrew.

Shortly afterwards, however, Johnston's enthusiasm switched to airships, following his father's appointment as navigation special assistant in the newly-created Directorate of Airship Development.

August 5th, Padstow:

"TICKETS TO BE RETURNED Sunday Flying Protest DECISION AT PADSTOW Council And Aerial Circus STRONG disapproval of Sir Alan Cobham's proposed visit to Padstow on Sunday next with his flying circus to give a display at Porthmissen Farm was expressed at a meeting of Padstow Urban Council on Tuesday evening, when Mr. N. Parkin presided. The Clerk (Mr. F. A. Williams) announced that Sir Alan had sent the Council a number of tickets for free flights in one of his air liners on Sunday. The Chairman: Take my ticket and send it back to him, and tell him as far as I am concerned I am very much opposed to Sunday flying or anything of that sort."

September 3, Hull:

"MAN WHO FLEW THE CHANNEL UPSIDE DOWN. HE IS COMING TO HULL AIR CIRCUS Hull shortly to see the pilot who recently celebrated the anniversary of Bleriot's pioneer Channel flight by doing the same flight— upside-down. He is Flight-Lieutenant Geoffrey Tyson, who is coming to Hull as principal display pilot in Sir Alan Cobham's flying circus."

Alan Cobham: "My pilots could make mistakes, sometimes fatally. In 1934 one of our stunt pilots, Jock Mackay, was amusing the crowd with the 'crazy flying routine', in which some very experienced pilot would put on unsuitable clothes and climb aboard an aircraft and take it off, while we all cried 'stop that man!' as though he were really an unqualified member of the public. The performance that followed - of wildly erratic flying very close to the ground, with the supposedly incompetent pilot climbing out onto the wing and back again and buffooning in every way - was very amusing to those who had tumbled to the trick, if frightening to those that hadn't, and it was a regular part of our show. But on this occasion Jock seems to have got the stick tangled up with his leg and the throttle, and he hit the ground before he could release it; he died that night in hospital."