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Western Airways was an airline based in
Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...
,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
between 1932 and 1978. Before
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, for a short period, it was the world's busiest airline. It survived WWII by using its aircraft engineering expertise.


History


Origins and development

On 26 September 1932, Norman Wallace George Edgar started a twice-daily passenger service between
Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport, also known as Whitchurch Airport, was a municipal airport in Bristol, England, three miles (5 km) south of the city centre, from 1930 to 1957. It was the main airport for Bristol and the surrounding area. Durin ...
and Cardiff (Splott) Airport – a 20-minute trip in the
De Havilland Fox Moth The DH.83 Fox Moth was a successful small biplane passenger aircraft from the 1930s powered by a single de Havilland Gipsy Major I inline inverted engine, manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. The aircraft was designed late in 1 ...
of his company, Norman Edgar & Co. At that time a road journey between Bristol and Cardiff meant either crossing the
Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...
by the
Aust Ferry Aust Ferry or Beachley Ferry was a ferry service that operated across the River Severn between Aust and Beachley, both in Gloucestershire, England. Before the Severn Bridge opened in 1966, it provided service for road traffic crossing betwee ...
, or a long detour upstream via
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
. Business boomed, and Edgar formed a new company, Norman Edgar (Western Airways) Ltd at Whitchurch, with a larger aircraft, a
De Havilland Dragon The de Havilland DH.84 Dragon is a successful small commercial aircraft that was designed and built by the de Havilland company. Design and construction Following the commercial success of its single-engined de Havilland Fox Moth that had fi ...
. New routes were added, across the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
to
Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (; pcd, Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache; vls, 't Oekske, older nl, Het Hoekske), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France. It has a population of ...
and
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, and also to Cardiff and Bournemouth (Christchurch), as that airport's first airline service. Further Dragons were added to the fleet, and Edgar decided to look for a new base. In January 1933 Edgar approached the council of
Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...
to finance the construction of a new airfield. Convinced, the council bought the land and construction started in February 1936. Edgar's company started two new ventures: Western Air Transport whose role was 'to operate airlines', and Airways Union, to 'establish lines of aerial connection'. Airways Union appears to have been a holding company for all of the planned activities. Western Airways was to manage the new airport for a fee that would help to mitigate the landing and per-passenger fees charged by the council to recover its large investment. In May, the new airport was licensed for De Havilland Dragon flights and, to Edgar's dismay,
Railway Air Services Railway Air Services (RAS) was a British airline formed in March 1934 by the Big Four railway companies (the GWR, LMS, LNER and SR) and Imperial Airways. The airline was a domestic airline operating routes within the United Kingdom linking up ...
started flights on two routes the same month, one to Cardiff and Whitchurch, and another via Cardiff and
Haldon The Haldon Hills, usually known simply as Haldon, is a ridge of high ground in Devon, England. It is situated between the River Exe and the River Teign and runs northwards from Teignmouth, on the coast, for about until it dwindles away nort ...
,
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
, to Plymouth (Roborough) Airport. With the help of good publicity, Edgar soon responded with the Weston to Cardiff 'air ferry', another between Weston and Whitchurch, and a route to Birmingham (Castle Bromwich). By the end of July 1936 the company had relocated to Weston and the fleet had expanded to four Dragons, plus two
De Havilland Puss Moth The de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth is a British three-seater high-wing monoplane aeroplane designed and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1929 and 1933. It flew at a speed approaching 124 mph (200 km/h), making it o ...
s and a
Gipsy Moth The de Havilland DH.60 Moth is a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Development The DH.60 was developed from the larger DH.51 biplane ...
available for charter and pleasure flights. To Edgar's great relief, Railway Air Services withdrew all its services from Weston on 12 September, leaving his company with no competition. In 1937 the company started Western Airways Aero Club, teaching many pupils to fly. Edgar also gained a contract with the Army for night flying for anti-aircraft practice. This meant equipping Weston Airport with lighting, including floodlights, and a control tower. Many of the company's aircraft were fitted with radios, and operations got underway by the end of April. At first, aircraft engineering and maintenance had been performed by outside contractors in a hangar at Weston. With the growth of activity, it was decided to do this work in-house and in October 1937 an ex
British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...
chief engineer, Freddy Jeans, was hired to oversee this work. An Air Training School was started by Western Airways to train engineers to work there. Up to now, despite all its activity, the airline had failed to make a profit. On 10 July 1937, Louis Strange, a director of Straight Corporation, diverted to Weston during the annual air race from London (Heston) to Cardiff (Pengam Moors, which had been renamed from Splott). Seeing all the activity at Weston may have had an influence on the Straight management, who intended to get into the airline business, and in January 1938 the Straight Corporation bought a controlling share in Norman Edgar (Western Airways) Ltd, renaming it Western Airways Ltd. It was then operating the highest frequency of flights of any airline in the world: 58 services a day. At the same time, Western Air Transport was renamed Straghtways Ltd. On 10 August 1938, Norman Edgar left the company in some acrimony after he alleged that some of its pilots were flying while drunk. An unfair dismissal claim ran on into 1940. With airport lighting in place for the Army contract, the airline wanted to start night passenger operations, principally for the Cardiff air ferry route. The
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
demanded further work, mainly the lighting of nearby electricity pylons and the cables between them. All four runways were also lengthened, and once the work at Weston and Pengam Moors had been approved, the first British commercial night service began. The event, on 2 October 1938, was covered live by
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
reporters, and famous aviators
Arthur Whitten Brown Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Arthur Whitten Brown, (23 July 1886 – 4 October 1948) was a British military officer and aviator who flew as navigator of the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight with pilot John Alcock in June 1919. Biogr ...
and
Jim Mollison James Allan Mollison MBE (19 April 1905 – 30 October 1959) was a Scottish pioneer aviator who, flying solo or with his wife, Amy Johnson, set many records during the rapid development of aviation in the 1930s. Early years Born on 19 ...
were at Cardiff to meet the incoming Rapide. Routes in 1938 :Weston – Cardiff (Pengam Moors Airport) :Bristol – Cardiff – Swansea (Jersey Marine Airport) :Swansea – Barnstaple – Newquay (Trebelzue airfield) – Penzance :Swansea – Weston :Weston – Bristol – Birmingham (
Castle Bromwich Castle Bromwich () is a large suburban village situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of the West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east; also Sutton Coldfield to the east and ...
) – Manchester ( Barton airport, moving to Ringway) :Weston – Le Touquet – Paris (Le Bourget) Routes in 1939 :Weston – Cardiff – Swansea: Until 30 April, four times weekly. :Weston – Cardiff: Until 4 March, five times daily; 5 March to 15 April, six times daily; 16 to 30 April, seven times daily; 1 to 31 May, twenty-eight times daily; 1 to 30 June, twenty-five times daily; from 1 July, twenty-six times daily. :Bristol – Cardiff – Swansea: From 1 May, five times daily. :Swansea – Barnstaple: From 8 May, twice daily. :Swansea – Barnstaple – Newquay – Penzance: From 8 May, once daily. :Weston – Bristol – Birmingham (Elmdon) – Manchester (Ringway): From 17 June, three times daily. To service these routes, a DH.86 Express and two Percival Q.6 airliners were acquired, offering greater capacity and, with the Q6s, greater speed, than the airline's existing fleet.


World War II

On 3 September 1939, war with Germany was declared and the
National Air Communications National Air Communications was a British government organisation that directed civilian flying operations from the outbreak of World War II until April 1940. Pre-war preparations During the 1930s, and up to 1938, the British government progres ...
(NAC) organisation came into action. All British aerodromes and civil transport aircraft were requisitioned and most of the aircraft were flown to RAF bases. Western's DH.86 Express had been parked through lack of spares, but was overhauled and soon converted to an air ambulance. The NAC was persuaded to allow the Weston – Cardiff air shuttle to resume, but it only operated, on an hourly schedule, from 25 November until 30 March 1940. This was the last day of Western Airways' pre-war airline operations, but not the end of the company itself. The maintenance facilities were expanding rapidly with work to repair, maintain and modify a wide range of aircraft, ranging from
Miles Magister The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat monoplane basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was affectionately known as the ''Maggie''. It was authorised to perform aerobatics. The Magister ...
s to Curtiss Tomahawks,
Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCA ...
s and Fairey Battles. This work, mainly under contract to the Civilian Repair Organisation, continued until the end of the war, during which time the airfield had been greatly expanded, hard runways laid, and the Bristol Aeroplane Company had established a huge presence at Weston Airport.


Post-war diversification

Western Airways had done subcontracting work for Bristol, and after the war was producing components for their aircraft, such as for the Type 170 Freighter. It already had a contract for
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
Canadair Sabre The Canadair Sabre is a jet fighter aircraft built by Canadair under licence from North American Aviation. A variant of the North American F-86 Sabre, it was produced until 1958 and used primarily by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) unti ...
s, and to this was added component work on the
Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
airliner. They also refurbished a wide range of military vehicles, many for export, and Slingsby gliders, which led to them being appointed dealers for Slingsby Sailplanes and Percival Aircraft, a business that lasted into the early 1950s. Another post-war activity was the conversion of military aircraft for civilian use. At first, the aircraft were from the old Straight Corporation fleet which had been impressed for war service; these were restored to their old registrations and sold on. A wide range of aircraft types were then worked on, including
Avro Tutor The Avro Type 621 Tutor is a two-seat British radial-engined biplane from the interwar period. It was a simple but rugged basic trainer that was used by the Royal Air Force as well as many other air arms worldwide. Design and development The ...
, Supermarine Walrus, Percival Petrel (military Q6),
Taylorcraft Taylorcraft Aviation is an airplane manufacturer that has been producing aircraft for more than 70 years in several locations. The company builds small single-engined airplanes. The Taylorcraft design is a conventional layout: high-wing, fab ...
and Miles. Eight Ansons were converted for the corporation's Straight Aviation Training. Two were retained as civilian conversions with seven passenger seats and used for communications and charter work. Other Ansons were converted for other, mainly military, customers. Western Airways' airline operations restarted in July 1946, when the Ministry of Civil Aviation permitted services on the Weston – Cardiff air ferry route. At first, Western operated the route alone, but the following year the ministry dictated that it had to be operated in conjunction with
Cambrian Airways Cambrian Airways was an airline based in the United Kingdom which ran operations from Cardiff Airport and Liverpool John Lennon Airport between 1935 and 1974. It was incorporated into British Airways when BOAC, BEA, Cambrian and Northeast mer ...
. Western used its Avro Ansons, while Cambrian used Rapides which they had acquired specially for the route. The service only lasted until the end of the 1949 holiday season, when Western withdrew, Cambrian carrying on for a few weeks, finally stopping on 29 October. Western Airways then again concentrated on its parts manufacturing operations. Starting with orders for components for the
Westland Wyvern The Westland Wyvern was a British single-seat carrier-based multi-role strike aircraft built by Westland Aircraft that served in the 1950s, seeing active service in the 1956 Suez Crisis. Production Wyverns were powered by a turboprop engine dri ...
and
De Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by ...
, they started on parts for the
Bristol 170 Freighter The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively s ...
. This soon led to a Freighter production line being created in one of Western Airways' hangars. The first one was rolled out on 28 September 1953, the last on 23 March 1958. In total, 31 were built by Western Airways. With many Freighters used for intense English Channel car ferry operations, stresses on the airframe were high, and Western Airways got considerable business replacing components in the wing's main spar for many years after production finished. More work was obtained for Bristol, the next major project being the completion of the
Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
, two of which could just be squeezed into Western's hangar. Again Western Airlines got further repair and parts replacement work from that aircraft. Other work also came in, and during the 1960s work on
Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...
and the
Rolls-Royce RB211 The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a British family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce. The engines are capable of generating of thrust. The RB211 engine was the first production three-spool engine, and turned Rolls-Royce from a sign ...
engine was done. However, the company had already started to diversify, and in 1958 a hangar was taken over by a company soon to be called Barber Weston Ltd, whose director, Arthur A Barber, became a director of Western Airways and its holding company, Airways Union. Barber manufactured a range of products including conveyor systems, wheelchairs, vending machines, and prefabricated steel-frame buildings, many of which were bought by the
Little Chef Little Chef was a chain of restaurants in the United Kingdom, founded in 1958 by entrepreneur Sam Alper, who was inspired by American diners. The chain was famous for the "Olympic Breakfast" – its version of a full English – as well as it ...
restaurant chain. Another subsidiary was created, Straghtaways Ltd, taking its name from the Straight Corporation's pre-war house magazine. On the Weston Airport site it made prams and push-chairs for
Mothercare Mothercare plc is a British retailer which specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to eight years of age. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap In ...
along with chicken cages and electrically heated clothes driers. In the early 1970s, Western Airways had a contract to weld the fuselages of
autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...
s to be produced for Campbell Aircraft, and were contracted to build the prototype of a new version, the Campbell Cougar. It was completed in 1973 and flight testing went well. However, Campbell's funding ran out and the whole project was abandoned, the Cougar moving to
The Helicopter Museum The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, is a museum featuring a collection of more than 80 helicopters and autogyros from around the world, both civilian and military. It is based at the southeastern corner of the fo ...
, built on the site of Weston Airport's control tower. Western Airways continued to operate Weston Airport and serviced and maintained a number of private aircraft. Pleasure flights were still popular, and for a short while in the 1976 season, famous ATA pilot Jackie Moggridge was employed as a pilot. However, during the 1970s the level of activity was declining, and the runway was in need of costly resurfacing. Airways Union decided to relinquish the airport's licence at the end of 1978, and the remaining staff were made redundant.


Fleet list (pre-war airline use only)

After the takeover by the Straight Corporation, aircraft were moved between their different airlines, airport operating companies, and flying clubs as the need arose. Therefore aircraft listed here probably didn't spend their entire career with Western before disposal, and some Straight Corporation aircraft not listed here may have operated for Western Airways. References: ; De Havilland DH.83 Fox Moth :G-ABYO Norman Edgar from September 1932 to 16 June 1934 (crashed) ; De Havilland DH.84 Dragon :G-ACAO from 8 July 1938, impressed 2 April 1940 as N9398 :G-ACJT from 26 August 1933 to 20 December 1939 (crashed) :G-ACLE from 18 May 1939, impressed 2 April 1940 as X9397 :G-ACMJ from 1 July 1938, impressed 2 April 1940 as X9396 :G-ACPX from 23 July 1938, impressed 2 April 1940 as X9399 :G-AECZ from 1 February 1937, impressed 8 May 1940 as AV982 ; De Havilland DH.86B Express :G-AETM from 18 April 1939 to 31 January 1940 ;
De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its rela ...
:G-ACTU from 14 July 1937, impressed 8 June 1940 as AW115 :G-ADBV from 31 May 1937, impressed 2 March 1940 as N8511 :G-ADDD from 8 July 1937, impressed 4 June 1940 as AW116 :G-AFSO (DH.89A) from 21 May 1939, impressed 23 January 1940 as W6457 ; De Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly :G-ADNA from 27 January 1939, impressed 17 April 1940 as X9452 :G-AEDH from 25 September 1937, impressed 10 May 1940 as AV987 ; General Aircraft ST-6 Monospar :G-ACGI from 6 November 1936, impressed 6 May 1940 as AV979 ; Percival Q.6 :G-AFIX from April 1939, impressed 2 April 1940 as X9406 :G-AFVC from 30 June 1939, impressed 10 May 1940 as AX860 ; Short S.16 Scion :G-ADDV from 22 May 1936, impressed 11 April 1940 as X9456 :G-ADDX from 15 May 1936, impressed 3 April 1940 as X9430 ;
Spartan Cruiser The Spartan Cruiser was a 1930s British three- engined transport monoplane for 6 to 10 passengers built by Spartan Aircraft Limited at East Cowes, Isle of Wight. It was a development of the Saro-Percival Mailplane for passenger use. Design an ...
II :G-ACBM from 28 July 1937 to August 1937 (scrapped)


Aircraft production

; Bristol Type 170 Freighter :Mk 31 (1953–1958) ::F-VNAR
Air Vietnam Active from 1951 to 1975, Air Viet Nam (Air VN) ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Việt Nam) was South Vietnam's first commercial air carrier, headquartered in District 1, Saigon. Established under a decree by Chief of State Bảo Đại, the airline f ...
::G-APLH
Dan-Air Dan-Air (Dan Air Services Limited) was an airline based in the United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of London shipbroking firm Davies and Newman. It was started in 1953 with a single aircraft. Initially, it operated cargo and passenger ...
::ZK-BVM Safe Air :::Total = 3 :Mk 31M (1954–1957) ::S4408
Royal Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...
(RPAF) ::S4410 RPAF ::S4413 RPAF ::S4415 RPAF ::S4417 RPAF ::S4419 RPAF ::S4421 RPAF ::S4422 RPAF ::S4424 RPAF ::S4426 RPAF ::S4427 RPAF ::S4429 RPAF ::S4430 RPAF ::S4432 RPAF ::S4433 RPAF ::S4435 RPAF ::S4437 RPAF ::S4438 RPAF ::9850
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
:::Total = 19 :Mk 32 Superfreighter (1956–1957) ::G-ANWJ Silver City ::G-APAU
Air Charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...
::G-AOUU Air Charter ::G-AOUV Air Charter ::G-ANWK Silver City ::G-ANWL Silver City ::G-ANWM Silver City ::G-ANWN Air Charter :::Total = 9 ::Total Freighter production = 31 ;Campbell Cougar ::G-BAPS. first flight 20 April 1973


Accidents and incidents

* On 16 June 1934 De Havilland Fox Moth G-ABYO of Norman Edgar & Co was on a business charter flight from Llanvair, near
Caerwent Caerwent ( cy, Caer-went) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about five miles west of Chepstow and 11 miles east of Newport. It was founded by the Romans as the market town of ''Venta Silurum'', an important sett ...
in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
to
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
when the aircraft crashed near Llanfair and caught fire. The pilot, Douglas Brecknell, was thrown clear and rescued his two trapped passengers. One of the passengers, Godfrey Jones, survived with injuries, but the other, Arthur Turner, aged 41, died later of his injuries. * On 20 December 1939 De Havilland Dragon G-ACJT registered to Southern Airways (part of the Straight Corporation) crashed on take-off at Weston Airport on a flight to Cardiff. It is thought the pilot, Leslie Ivor Arnott, aged 35, the sole occupant, had become incapacitated. He died in hospital of his injuries.


Footnotes


References

{{Airlines of the United Kingdom Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 1932 Defunct aircraft manufacturers of England