Charles Woodley detailed in the January 2018 issue of Aviation News the different aircraft that have flown the Royal Family around the globe through the decades.
A short journey from the Yorkshire coast to Norfolk in the late 1920s began the era of official royal flights. Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales was flown 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 first flights 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 fulltime, 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 ar…
