aviation - the past, present and future of flight

A

short journey from the Yorkshire

coast to Norfolk in the late 1920s

began the era of official royal  ights.

Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales

was  own from Scarborough racecourse to

RAF Bircham Newton, which is fewer than

10 miles from the monarch’s Sandringham

Estate.

He was already a keen aviator, having

taken his  rst  ight in 1916 and was awarded

RAF pilot’s ‘wings’ in 1919.

However, the Queen’s Flight of the RAF

can be traced to the journey he made along

the east coast on May 27, 1928. The Prince

had gained authorisation for Bristol F2B

J8430 to be allocated for ‘special duties’, which

included transporting the heir to the throne.

In the years that followed, he acquired

a variety of aircraft for personal use and

appointed Edward H ‘Mouse’ Fielden (who

would later receive a knighthood) as his full-

time, personal pilot. The aircraft included a

DH60M Gipsy Moth, a DH Puss Moth and a

DH Fox Moth, all painted in the colours of the

Brigade of Guards.

For official royal visits, he was still required

to travel in RAF aircraft, but it was around this

time that his personal aircraft began to be

referred to unofficially as the ‘Royal Flight’.

These aircraft were disposed of and

replaced by more modern types including a

Vickers Viastra, DH84 Dragon and DH89A

Dragon Rapide.

SERVING THE

ROYAL FAMILY

Charles Woodley details the different aircraft that have

fl own the Royal Family around the globe through the decades.

36 Aviation News incorporating Jets January 2018

RAF 100th ANNIVERSARY

36-40_raf_queens_flightDC.mfDC.indd 36 04/12/2017 13:19