01/05/2019
100th Anniversaries in British Aviation
100 years ago today, British Civil Aviation began on 1 May 1919, when the “Air Navigation Regulations-1919” came into force. The honour of making the first recorded flight under the new regulations goes to Captain H J Saint, who took off from Hendon Aerodrome, London, flying a DH9 of Aircraft Transport and Travel Ltd. The first transport flight was from Cricklewood Aerodrome, London to Didsbury, Manchester – also on 1 May – in a Handley Page 0/400 (above), flown by Lt-Col W Sholto Douglas with 11 passengers. 50 years later, on 2 July 1969, a dinner was held at Heathrow Airport, London to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the official start of civil flying in Britain – and other significant events from 1919: landmark events for which we celebrate the 100th anniversaries later this year. The commemorative brochure from the 1969 dinner celebration has recently been added to the Trust’s Collection.