January
1938
Volume
6 Number 10 (70 of 88)
This issue of Popular Flying magazine features NO
“Biggles” story. The last “Biggles”
story was published in the May 1934 issue
Contents
This issue runs from page 545 to page 600 (56 pages)
Page 546 – Contents Page
(The contents page is by an advert for Air
France – “Fastest to the best places”)
Page
548 – A photograph of Four Hawker Furies (with Rolls Royce “Kestrel” Engines).
Page
549 – The Editor’s Cockpit – W. E. Johns
(Subtitled
– “Mr. Perkins Pulls the String” -
Johns writes with some admiration for Mr. Robert Perkins, M.P. for
Stroud for speaking out against Imperial Airways. He begins with a fascinating account of the British ship
“Shannon” fighting and taking the far larger American ship “Chesapeake” in
battle in 1813. The Captain even had
his brain exposed by a cutlass blow but with great British understatement, he
merely wrote in the ship’s log.
“June
1st. Off Boston. Moderate.
P.M. Took Chespeake”)
Page
552 – “Jagdeinsitzer” at Work – Armament Training in Germany – Peter Calvert
(“I
should like to say that the Germans were all exceedingly nice about letting me
watch their Air Force”)

Page 558 – Fighters in 1950 – Major Oliver Stewart
(This
article illustrated by Frank Westley takes a futuristic look at how aeroplanes
may develop)
Pages
561 – Modern Aircraft – The Stearman-Hammond Monoplane
Page
562 – Fog of War – Some Conclusions by “Vigilant” on the Spanish Conflict
(The
title refers to the fog that prevents information of any value reaching the
enemy in the Spanish Civil War)
Page 566 – My First Voyage in a Dirigible – Cherry Kearton (the well-known
explorer-photographer)
(An astonishing account of a voyage in May
1908 with the Spencer brothers in their first airship and the crash landing
from 14000 feet that followed)
Page 569 – The “Battle” Bomber – The Fairey “Battle” – Leonard Bridgman

Pages
572 and 573 – The Centre Pages – Wings Everywhere – Six glossy black and white
aviation photographs

Page 574 – War Birds on Parade (4) – How many can you name? - Six glossy
black and white photographs of aircraft from the Great War
(“No prize is offered for this memory test,
but the Editor will present a book to the reader who sends in the first correct
list. The Editor’s decision must be
final.
Last
month’s list: (13) Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8; (14) F.E.9; (15) P.V.5; (16)
Parnell Panther; (17) Bristol Monoplane; (18) Bristol Scout.)
Page 575 – Flying Wires – Brief News from Far and Near
(One particularly interesting items of news
from 1938 is that
“In future, all code weather reports which
are sent out by radio for the use of air pilots will use metric units”)
Page 576 – Flying Ten Miles High – The Present – and the Future – of
Stratosphere Flying
Page 579 – Training for the Aircraft Industry – Witney Aeronautical College
Page 580 – A British War Ace – Major Andrew Edward McKeever, D.S.O., M.C. –
John C. Hook
(Major McKeever shot down no less than 30
hostile aircraft whilst flying a two-seater Bristol Fighter – in just five
months)
Page 582 – 1938 Models – by “Balsa”
Page 584 – “Ground – Strafing” in 1917 – James A. V. Boddy (Late 64
Squadron, R.F.C.)
(“Attacking ground targets from the air is
an important and very demoralising feature of modern warfare”)

Page 586 – In Jocular Mood
Page 589 – ‘Planes and Personalities – A Monthly Causerie of Men and
Machines – By “Observer”
(Headed “The Youngest Air Commodore” – there
is news of W. Sholto-Douglas’ promotion to be the youngest Air Vice-Marshall. Having already been a Squadron Leader in the
First World War and having won a Military Cross and a Distinguished Flying
Cross, Sholto-Douglas went on to
replace Hugh Dowding as head of Fighter Command in 1941, became
Commander-in-Chief of the RAF in the Middle East and later the same for Costal
Command. He was eventually knighted and
promoted to Marshall of the RAF. He
retired in 1948 and died in 1969.)
On page 591 we are informed that “During the
six months ending June this year, just on 80,000 passengers made flights on the
air routes between England and the Continent”.
I wonder how many it is now?
More like 80 million I suspect ……….)
Page 600 – The Buyers’ Log
Inside Back Cover – Adverts for the British Aviation Insurance Co. Ltd and
for Wills’s
Gold Flake cigarettes
Back Page – An Advert for Lodge Spark Plugs noting the new World’s Land
Speed Record of 312.2 miles per hour
Click here
to see a much larger picture of the cover artwork – the artist is Howard Leigh
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