Aviation group Cobham is marking the 80th anniversary of founder Alan Cobham returning to the UK following a pioneering protest flight to Australia.
The photo below shows the aviator Cobham landing in London on the Thames on 1 October 1926, in front of the Houses of Parliament, at the end of the 41,800km (26,000 mile) round trip.
Around one million people were waiting on the bridges and embankments of the Thames to watch him touch down in his de Havilland 50 J seaplane. The trip was only the third flight from the UK to Australia.
Cobham had been planning to fly to London from Rochester in the southern UK county of Kent to deliver a petition calling for a more determined, forward-looking aviation policy. He had been persuaded that his plea would have more impact if delivered by way of a long-haul flight via several stopovers to Australia. But the trip was marred by the death of Arthur Elliott, who had been accompanying Cobham on the trip as an engineer. He was shot when the plane flew low over Iraq. He died in a hospital in Basra.
Cobham (right) received a knighthood within days of returning. He remained an influential figure throughout his life, founding Flight Refuelling, which developed into the Cobham group, in 1934
Source: FlightGlobal.com
