SIR ALAN JOHN COBHAM, KBE, AFC
(6 May 1894 – 21 October 1973)
An English aviation pioneer.
80th Anniversary of Flight Refuelling 1934 - 2014
A member of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I, Alan Cobham became famous as a pioneer of long distance aviation. After the war he became a test pilot for the de Havilland aircraft company, and was the first pilot for the newly formed de Havilland Aeroplane Hire Service. In 1921 he made a 5,000 mile air tour of Europe, visiting 17 cities in 3 weeks. On 30 June 1926, he set off on a flight from Britain (from the River Medway) to Australia where 60,000 people swarmed across the grassy fields of Essendon Airport, Melbourne when he landed his de Havilland DH.50 floatplane (it had been converted to a wheeled undercarriage earlier at Darwin). During the flight to Australia, Sir Alan J. Cobham's engineer of the DH.50 aircraft, Mr. Arthur B. Elliot, was shot and killed after they left Bagdad on 5 July 1926. The return flight was undertaken over the same route. He was knighted the same year.
On 25 November 1926, Cobham attempted, but failed, to be the first person to deliver mail to New York City by air from the east, planning to fly mail from the White Star ocean liner RMS Homeric in a de Havilland DH.60 Moth floatplane when the ship was about 12 hours from New York harbour on a westbound crossing from Southampton. After the Moth was lowered from the ship however, Cobham was unable to take off owing to rough water and had to be towed into port by the ship. The same year Cobham was awarded the Gold Medal by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
In 1927 Cobham starred as himself in the 1927 British war film The Flight Commander directed by Maurice Elvey. In 1928 he flew a Short Singapore flying boat around the continent of Africa landing only in British territory. Cobham wrote his own contemporary accounts of his flights and recalls them in his biography. The films 'With Cobham to the Cape' (1926), 'Round Africa with Cobham' (1928) and 'With Cobham to Kivu' (1932) contain valuable footage of the flights. Recent commentaries contextualize his flights across the British Empire in the wider events and culture of the time. In 1932 he started the National Aviation Day displays – a combination of barnstorming and joyriding. This consisted of a team of up to fourteen aircraft, ranging from single-seaters to modern airliners, and many skilled pilots. It toured the country calling at hundreds of sites, some of them regular airfields and some just fields cleared for the occasion. Generally known as "Cobham's Flying Circus" it was hugely popular giving thousands of people their first experience of flying and bringing "air-mindedness" to the population. These continued until the end of the 1935 season. In the British winter of 1932–33, Cobham took his aerial circus to South Africa (with the mistaken view that it would be the first of its kind there).
Cobham was also one of the founding directors of Airspeed Limited, the aircraft manufacturing company started by Nevil Shute Norway (perhaps better known as the famous novelist, Nevil Shute), together with the designer Hessell Tiltman; who, having been discharged by the Airship Guarantee Company (a subsidiary of Vickers) after the R101 disaster also caused the grounding of the more successful R100, decided to found their own small aircraft business. Cobham was an early and enthusiastic recruit: indeed, it was thanks to Sir Alan – who placed early orders for two "Off Plan" aircraft (the three-engined ten seater Airspeed Ferry) for his National Aviation Day Limited company – that Airspeed managed to commence manufacturing at all.
Cobham's early experiments with in-flight refuelling were based on a specially adapted Airspeed Courier. This craft was eventually modified by Airspeed to Cobham's specification for a non-stop flight from London to India using in-flight refuelling to extend the aeroplane's flight duration.
In 1935 he founded a small airline, Cobham Air Routes Ltd, that flew from London Croydon Airport to the Channel Islands. Months later, after a crash that killed one of his pilots, he sold it to Olley Air Service Ltd. and turned to the development of inflight refuelling. Trials stopped at the outbreak of World War II until interest was successfully revived by the RAF and United States Army Air Forces in the last year of the war.
He once remarked: "It's a full time job being Alan Cobham!" He retired to the British Virgin Islands, but returned to England where he died in 1973.
The company he formed is still active in the aviation industry as Cobham plc.
FLIGHT REFUELLING/COBHAM PLC HISTORY
Cobham was founded as Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL) at RAF Ford in Sussex by Sir Alan Cobham in 1934. It moved to Tarrant Rushton in Dorset in 1947. It developed the 'probe and drogue' method of air-to-air refuelling in 1949. In the 1970’s FRL transferred its aerial operations to Hurn Airport (now Bournemouth International Airport). The company he formed is still active in the aviation industry as Cobham plc.
SPORTS CLUB
The company created Cobham Sports and Social Club, a members' club in Merley near the main manufacturing site in Wimborne, Dorset.
RADIO SOCIETY
The Flight Refuelling Amateur Radio Society (FRARS) was founded in 1982 by employees of Flight Refuelling (now Cobham PLC). The Society is an affiliated member of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB).
The club has a variety of members with wide-ranging interests. Members contest on every band from DC to light and others who just enjoy the company of like-minded people that can be found at the club. There is also interest at both extremes of the radio spectrum with members who are interested in microwave and members interested in LF operation. In recent years club members have taken an interest in computing and the internet. Computing and especially wireless networking is now becoming a part of the radio hobby and is embraced at FRARS.
The club meets every Wednesday and Sunday evening in the club house at 19:30. Sundays are usually when we have special interest talks or our once monthly Committee meetings whereas Wednesdays are a social night where people just come to chat and use radios. The club’s facilities are available every club night for members to use.
Anyone who is interested in becoming a member or would like to know what we are all about is more than welcome on either of the club nights where they will receive a warm welcome.
If you are interested in joining one of the UK's finest radio societies, then check out our website www.frars.org.uk and follow the link.
Our Address is:
Flight Refuelling Amateur Radio Society
c/o Cobham Sports & Social Club
Merley Park Road
Merley, Wimborne
Dorset BH21 3DA
Ascension Island
