Didcot
Note: This map simply shows the position of Didcot town within the UK. If anybody could kindly provide a more exact location for the site Air Trips used, or indeed more information about aviation in Didcot, this advice will be much appreciated.
DIDCOT: Temporary aerodrome
Operated by: Air Trips
Period of operation: 1931 only? Typically such visits were just for a day or two, rarely longer
NOTES: Here the story goes, Miss Gower the pilot, had to hit a drunk ‘wing-walker’ on the head with a spanner to prevent him leaving the cockpit once in flight, having just taken off! How come she didn’t realise he was drunk before taking off I wonder?
On the other hand, considering how wing-walkers went about their business in those days, no safety straps let alone a harness, how on earth could you go about performing such a potentially suicidal act when sober?
It is perhaps hard to appreciate today that in those pre-war days having a stiff drink, especially spirits, before going flying was considered perfectly acceptable to steady the nerves and help ward off the effects of the cold, especially in open cockpits. And indeed, the de Havilland company were well known for offering 'hospitality' to pilots, including the RAF, who were collecting new aircraft from the factory in STAG LANE (LONDON). I expect the 'tradition' continued after the move to HATFIELD (HERTFORDSHIRE)?
Nick Forder
This comment was written on: 2020-05-08 15:27:26Pauline Gower's 1938 book 'Women with Wings' makes it very clear that the joyriding passenger was one of a group of 'gypsies' worse for drink but there was no thought of not taking any of them up because Gower & Spicer needed the money. They were based at Wallingford at the time and flew over to Didcot for the day.
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