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
Page 496 - Knights of the Air – The Leading War Aces of all
Countries
Page 497 – Richthofen’s Last Flight – The Story of the Death of Germany’s Greatest Ace – W. E. Johns
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
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
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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