DECEMBER 1932

Volume 1 Number 9  (9 of 88)

This was a special enlarged issue for Christmas costing 1 shilling rather than the usual price of 6d (remembering that there were 12 pence

to the shilling in pre-decimal currency and 6 pence was expressed as “6d”.  This issue was therefore twice the normal price).

 

This issue of Popular Flying magazine does NOT features a “Biggles” story

 

Biggles next features in the January 1933 issue

 

Contents

This issue runs from page 481 to page 556 but it also features four supplementary pages of advertising

numbered i and ii before page 481 and numbered iii and iv after page 556 making a total of 80 pages.

The first four issues of Popular Flying had had 64 pages and the next four had dropped to 56 pages.

Although twice the cost, this special issue was not twice the page count.

 

 

On preliminary page ii there is the usual John Hamilton advert – this time for 16 of their books and this time –

Johns is referred to as “Capt. W. E. Johns” as the author of ‘Fighting Planes and Aces’, ‘The Pictorial Flying Course’ and ‘The Camels are Coming’.

THIS IS THE EARLIEST KNOWN REFERENCE TO W.E. JOHNS AS “CAPTAIN”

‘Wings: Flying Adventures’ is referred to as edited by W. E. Johns.

Now there is no mention of back issues of Popular Flying Magazine

 

Page 482 – Contents Page

 

Page 485 – The Vision  B.C. 54 – A.D. 1918

 

Page 429 – The Editor’s Cockpit – W. E. Johns

(Subtitled – Christmas Number in which Johns relates some semi-supernatual aviation tales.

A box at the end informs readers about flying Christmas cards that are available)

 

Page 488 – The Intruder – Craven Hill

 

Page 491 – Modern Days – Modern Ways (a full page cartoon)

 

Page 492 – Planes of History – The Spad

 

Page 493 – A Sub-Arctic Holiday – Geoffrey d’Egville

 

 

Knights of the Air

 

Page 496 - Knights of the Air – The Leading War Aces of all Countries

 

 

Richthofens Last Flight

 

Page 497 – Richthofen’s Last Flight – The Story of the Death of Germany’s Greatest Ace – W. E. Johns

 

 

Christmas Day on the High Seas

 

Pages 500 and 501 – A double page illustration by Frank L. Westley – ‘Christmas Day on the High Seas’

 

Page 502 – Mainwaring gets Through – Arthur Cave

 

Page 434Page 505 – My Most Thrilling Flight – Lieut. W. J. Tremellen

(This account was published in 1936 in the book ‘Thrilling Flights’ as the 10th of 20 accounts)

 

Page 508 – Dumb Stunts – Suggested Flights for 1933 – by “G.G.”

(Two pages of cartoons)

 

Page 510 – Croydon Calling! – A Peep Behind the Scenes at the Air Port of London

 

Page 512 – Do You Remember?  - Some of the Men and Machines that made Aviation History

(A small note under the title says “Is “Biggles” here? Perhaps: who knows?

If not, he will be in the January Number in a story entitled “The Professor”)

 

Page 514 – Fighting Planes of the Royal Air Force – Major Oliver Stewart

 

Page 517 – A full page (colour) advert for Hamleys and a Flying Scale Model

 

 

Dreadnought of the Skies 

 

Pages 518 and 519 - The Centre Pages – an illustration by an uncredited artist – “A Dreadnought of the Skies”

 

Page 521 – What to Buy for 1933 – British Machines for the Private Owner – Capt. C. E. Ward

 

Page 527 – Where to Fly – A Guide to your Nearest Aerodrome

(It is interesting to note that the County where I live – Herefordshire - was without an aerodrome

 or landing ground in 1932. Now – some 75 years – we still only have one small one at Shobdon)

 

Page 528 – Records and Achievements in the Air

 

Page 530 – Did You Know – by Howard Leigh

 

Page 532 – A Seven League Stride in Model Aviation – W. Rigby

 

Page 536 – By Air Mail – An Aero-Philatelic Review of 1932

 

 

The Mix Up

 

Page 542 – The Mix-Up – An Amusing Competition for a Dull Evening

(You had to cut out the 8 jumbled aircraft illustrated and re-arrange them in a 6 inch by 6 inch box into a “realistic dogfight”.  The prize for the best entry, a gold fountain pen, would go to the arrangement most like the

original picture that had been drawn by the artist before all of the aircraft were jumbled up)

 

Page 545 – Falcons of France – A Thrilling Serial of War in the Air – Charles Nordhoff and J. N. Hall

 

Page 556 – The Aviation Bookshelf

 

Page iv – The Buyers’ Log

 

 

Click here to see a much larger picture of the cover artwork – the artist is uncredited

 

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