High Flyers: How Britain Took to the Air

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0:00:02 > 0:00:041920'S MUSIC PLAYS

0:00:15 > 0:00:19In Britain in the 1920s and 30s, a revolution took place

0:00:19 > 0:00:23that would change forever our perspective on the world.

0:00:23 > 0:00:28Driven by a spirit of Modernism and adventure, dashing pilots and daring

0:00:28 > 0:00:34socialites took to the air, pushed back boundaries and forged new links across the globe.

0:00:34 > 0:00:36Air travel was born.

0:00:36 > 0:00:39It was clearly the mode of travel of the future.

0:00:39 > 0:00:42It was bright, fast, sophisticated... It had all kinds

0:00:42 > 0:00:45of allure attached to it that was extraneous to the idea of flight.

0:00:46 > 0:00:51Caught in the grip of the Great Depression, life on the ground was bleak,

0:00:51 > 0:00:53but in the air, the first passenger flights gave birth

0:00:53 > 0:00:58to a decadent high-life that flew in the face of economic adversity.

0:00:58 > 0:01:05For two glorious decades, Britain ruled the sky and ruled it in style.

0:01:05 > 0:01:09When you look through diaries and autobiographies and photograph albums

0:01:09 > 0:01:13of the most affluent people from the 1930s, travel is dominant.

0:01:14 > 0:01:20It was all so new that people expected the kind of experience you'd get in the Ritz.

0:01:20 > 0:01:24They expected it to be as they imagined a luxurious experience would be,

0:01:24 > 0:01:26partly because they paid so much to do it,

0:01:26 > 0:01:29but partly also because it was so new and exciting.

0:01:30 > 0:01:35This was a time where flying was a passport to fantasy and adventure

0:01:35 > 0:01:39for the wealthy passengers and pioneering pilots

0:01:39 > 0:01:46who soared above the clouds, a world away from the low-budget, no-frills airlines of today.

0:01:46 > 0:01:51This is the story of the golden age of British aviation, and of how

0:01:51 > 0:01:56the original jet set shaped air travel for generations to come.

0:02:18 > 0:02:24When the First World War began, planes had been in the sky for just 11 years.

0:02:24 > 0:02:27Once scoffed at by generals, by the end of the war,

0:02:27 > 0:02:30they were offering different and exciting opportunities.

0:02:33 > 0:02:36Just before the end of the First World War,

0:02:36 > 0:02:41there is a whole series of questions asked about what is British aviation

0:02:41 > 0:02:44going to look like at the end of the First World War?

0:02:48 > 0:02:53Can we use the surplus aircraft and the skills of aircrews

0:02:53 > 0:02:57to create a Civil Aviation Organisation?

0:02:57 > 0:03:03By February 1919, Britain's first Department of Civil Aviation was formed

0:03:03 > 0:03:06to oversee a burgeoning new industry,

0:03:06 > 0:03:12as the first independent airlines started to transport cargo across Europe.

0:03:12 > 0:03:15But soon these flights were to carry passengers as well

0:03:15 > 0:03:22and first on board in July 1919 was a Lancashire businessman, Colonel William Pilkington.

0:03:24 > 0:03:28The very first commercial flight was a businessman,

0:03:28 > 0:03:35a man from Pilkington Glass, no less, who had read in the newspapers

0:03:35 > 0:03:38that it was going to be possible to fly to Paris.

0:03:41 > 0:03:44So he phoned up Air Transport and Travel and said,

0:03:44 > 0:03:48"Can I have an airplane to take me to Paris?"

0:03:48 > 0:03:50And they said, "Well, I suppose so."

0:03:51 > 0:03:57Anyway, Mr Pilkington turned up at Hounslow, had a wonderful trip to Paris.

0:03:57 > 0:04:01The pilot stayed overnight with them, and he flew back the next day.

0:04:02 > 0:04:05Six weeks later, in August 1919,

0:04:05 > 0:04:09the world's first scheduled international service was launched,

0:04:09 > 0:04:12between Hounslow Heath and Paris.

0:04:12 > 0:04:16On board were several brace of grouse, some Devonshire clotted cream

0:04:16 > 0:04:20and one paying passenger.

0:04:20 > 0:04:23But in these so-called stick and string planes, built for fighting,

0:04:23 > 0:04:27there was little in the way of creature comforts.

0:04:27 > 0:04:30The earliest planes, despite at the time

0:04:30 > 0:04:35seeming like something from the future, were actually very primitive.

0:04:35 > 0:04:37I mean, they had three or four controls.

0:04:37 > 0:04:40They had to fly blind a lot of the time.

0:04:40 > 0:04:45Ventilation was through holes in the cabin, effectively.

0:04:45 > 0:04:48And the seats were just the sort of seats you might have at home.

0:04:48 > 0:04:50So they were very primitive.

0:04:50 > 0:04:56Toilet facilities were really just a bucket with a curtain round it.

0:04:56 > 0:05:00It wasn't terribly private, but it was at the back of the aircraft

0:05:00 > 0:05:04and all the other people were looking forwards,

0:05:04 > 0:05:08and there was so much engine noise and vibration that nobody would

0:05:08 > 0:05:12hear anything unless you had a particularly upset stomach.

0:05:15 > 0:05:20But by the mid-1920s, developments in aircraft design and technology,

0:05:20 > 0:05:24much of it spearheaded by British companies such as Handley Page,

0:05:24 > 0:05:27de Havilland and Armstrong Whitworth, were to produce

0:05:27 > 0:05:31both beautiful and innovative aeroplanes.

0:05:31 > 0:05:36In 1923, the Government decided to merge four

0:05:36 > 0:05:42small struggling companies into one major subsidised airline.

0:05:42 > 0:05:46Imperial Airways was to be Britain's official air link with the rest of the world.

0:05:51 > 0:05:55Getting Britain into the air and showing that Britain was abreast

0:05:55 > 0:06:01of modern technology was a statement about modernity. It was a statement about technological prowess.

0:06:01 > 0:06:04And that was really important cos the Dutch were starting to do this,

0:06:04 > 0:06:09the Americans were doing this, the Germans were getting in on the act.

0:06:09 > 0:06:14So Britain really had to do it in a sense, in order to hold her head high.

0:06:14 > 0:06:19Imperial Airways, really they were pioneers, like the pilots who worked for them.

0:06:19 > 0:06:22And I think, to some extent, they really didn't know.

0:06:22 > 0:06:25It was like space travel in the 1950s and 60s.

0:06:25 > 0:06:28It was all so new, they had to work it out as they went along.

0:06:32 > 0:06:35You can tell, too, from the name - Imperial Airways -

0:06:35 > 0:06:40they felt that this was a way to make the Empire, which still existed, smaller.

0:06:43 > 0:06:45Diplomats could travel around,

0:06:45 > 0:06:47so it was part of that move

0:06:47 > 0:06:49to ensure that the empire remained stable.

0:06:49 > 0:06:55Most of the people who travelled were diplomats and government people. No-one else could afford it.

0:06:57 > 0:07:03As Britain's ambassador in the air, Imperial Airways was set for its maiden flight to Paris

0:07:03 > 0:07:10on the auspicious and the unfortunate date of April 1st, 1924.

0:07:13 > 0:07:17In true British style,

0:07:17 > 0:07:21the pilots all decided to go on strike,

0:07:21 > 0:07:25so Imperial Airways didn't actually get itself into the air

0:07:25 > 0:07:28for a little while after the date of its formation,

0:07:28 > 0:07:34but if you're going to do something properly, start with a damn good strike, you know, it's very British.

0:07:36 > 0:07:42On 24th April 1924, Imperial Airways finally took off

0:07:42 > 0:07:45as it made its first flight to Paris.

0:07:45 > 0:07:52Within a year, the airline was also operating services to Basil, Brussels and Cologne, from its new

0:07:52 > 0:07:56base in Croydon, where a small grass airfield had been transformed

0:07:56 > 0:07:59into Britain's major airport.

0:08:09 > 0:08:12After the horrors of the First World War, life was moving to a different

0:08:12 > 0:08:15beat for the bright young things of the roaring '20s.

0:08:15 > 0:08:18And they were quick to see the attractions of air travel,

0:08:18 > 0:08:22despite the limitations of the early passenger planes.

0:08:24 > 0:08:29This was an airliner of the period, lumbering to our eyes, but astonishingly efficient.

0:08:32 > 0:08:34Already we had airports.

0:08:34 > 0:08:38This was Croydon, bright, gleaming new field for London.

0:08:42 > 0:08:46The tower, the passenger reception, customs area, control,

0:08:46 > 0:08:49weather section... Yes, the pattern was already there,

0:08:49 > 0:08:54and it was all working as smoothly and safely as taking a bus.

0:08:59 > 0:09:03# Happy feet I've got those happy feet... #

0:09:03 > 0:09:08Not only did the high flyers wish to travel to exciting locations,

0:09:08 > 0:09:12they wanted to do so at a pace that suited their modern lifestyle.

0:09:12 > 0:09:13# When they hear a tune

0:09:13 > 0:09:17# I can't control the dancing, dear, To save my soul... #

0:09:17 > 0:09:20This quickening of the pace, which is metaphorical as well as

0:09:20 > 0:09:24actual, is one of the interesting things about the inter-war era.

0:09:24 > 0:09:28The kind of platinum shinyness of life, the rapidity,

0:09:28 > 0:09:31the idea of going places very fast.

0:09:31 > 0:09:35# Cos I've got those hap-hap-happy Ba-da-da-da! #

0:09:35 > 0:09:37Speed was an essential part of it.

0:09:37 > 0:09:40Chroniclers of the time make the point that the moneyed

0:09:40 > 0:09:44young man or woman about town lived life in a kind of perpetual transit.

0:09:44 > 0:09:48If you went out to dinner, you didn't just do it at one restaurant -

0:09:48 > 0:09:51you trailed around the West End by taxi from one to another,

0:09:51 > 0:09:54and then back to somewhere else to finish the evening off.

0:09:59 > 0:10:05Air travel, newly arrived on the social scene, was an essential extension of this,

0:10:05 > 0:10:09in that if you could get to Paris in a couple of hours

0:10:09 > 0:10:11to sort of extend your social life over there,

0:10:11 > 0:10:14this was immensely congenial to the young person with

0:10:14 > 0:10:18too much money and not enough to do with their spare time.

0:10:18 > 0:10:24But for the young and wealthy, speed was not the only requirement for modern travel.

0:10:24 > 0:10:27If they were to go by plane, they had to do so in the comfort

0:10:27 > 0:10:30and style to which they had become accustomed,

0:10:30 > 0:10:33on five-star ocean liners.

0:10:36 > 0:10:41Ocean travel was one of the most luxurious things

0:10:41 > 0:10:44that man could be exposed to.

0:10:44 > 0:10:50It set new standards for catering, accommodation and entertainment.

0:10:52 > 0:10:58People were expecting to have this level of comfort and luxury,

0:10:58 > 0:11:01and so, gradually, Imperial Airways

0:11:01 > 0:11:05began to realise that they could court more custom

0:11:05 > 0:11:11by offering the trappings of comfort.

0:11:11 > 0:11:17These people are boarding an airliner, to be the first ever to view a motion picture in mid-air.

0:11:17 > 0:11:21To compete with the luxury liners, Imperial Airways experimented

0:11:21 > 0:11:24with ways of entertaining their passengers.

0:11:24 > 0:11:30And in 1925, even introduced the world's first in-flight movie.

0:11:31 > 0:11:36Two years later, the airline launched its Silver Wing service to Paris.

0:11:36 > 0:11:42Expensive and exclusive, this was the original first class air travel.

0:11:46 > 0:11:51Flying today is about moving maximum numbers of people for minimal cost.

0:11:51 > 0:11:54During the 1920s, it was the exact opposite.

0:11:54 > 0:11:57Travelling by air wasn't just about getting from A to B as fast

0:11:57 > 0:11:59and as painlessly as possible -

0:11:59 > 0:12:03the process was part of the pleasure because it was so luxurious.

0:12:03 > 0:12:07# It don't mean a thing If it ain't got that swing... #

0:12:07 > 0:12:11When you were planning to fly, you notified

0:12:11 > 0:12:14the airline when you wanted to fly,

0:12:14 > 0:12:20they sent you a ticket and they would usually send a limousine

0:12:20 > 0:12:23to come and collect you from your home.

0:12:24 > 0:12:28And then you would go into the departure shed,

0:12:28 > 0:12:31and there, certainly to begin with, it was essential that

0:12:31 > 0:12:34the aircraft wasn't too heavy,

0:12:34 > 0:12:40so they weighed your baggage and they also weighed you.

0:12:40 > 0:12:44Baggage allowance was 30lbs - less than most airlines permit today -

0:12:44 > 0:12:49but additional luggage could be sent ahead on a separate flight.

0:12:49 > 0:12:56Everything was geared towards giving passengers a first-class service, including a stress-free check-in.

0:12:57 > 0:13:01From getting out of your car to getting on to the aircraft

0:13:01 > 0:13:06was no more than eight or nine minutes.

0:13:08 > 0:13:15For £11, an average monthly wage, the wealthy got to enjoy luxury travel to Paris

0:13:15 > 0:13:19on a state-of-the-art, three-engined airliner,

0:13:19 > 0:13:24whilst revelling in the new experience of taking to the sky.

0:13:24 > 0:13:29And people would begin to look out and see the countryside going past.

0:13:29 > 0:13:33And they'd say, "My God, I'm flying."

0:13:33 > 0:13:38And there was the sense of being like a bird.

0:13:38 > 0:13:44It was a wonderful, exciting, euphoric experience to go and fly.

0:13:44 > 0:13:49And it was a euphoria in considerable style.

0:13:49 > 0:13:53With its Silver Wing service, Imperial Airways offered all

0:13:53 > 0:13:56the trappings of the luxury ocean liner,

0:13:56 > 0:13:58including the first airline steward.

0:14:02 > 0:14:06For the steward, it was gloves, a white jacket. They represented the airline,

0:14:06 > 0:14:09and they represented this luxurious experience,

0:14:09 > 0:14:12so they had to look the part. I mean, they had to be immaculate.

0:14:12 > 0:14:15The steward on board would set up a table,

0:14:15 > 0:14:20or part of the chair in front as the table, with a tablecloth,

0:14:20 > 0:14:22a full complementary set of cutlery,

0:14:22 > 0:14:27matching glasses and napkins, possibly even a rose in a vase.

0:14:28 > 0:14:30The food was predominantly kept warm.

0:14:30 > 0:14:36It had been pre-cooked, either at the airport or had come from some rather stylish restaurants,

0:14:36 > 0:14:40but it still had to be served in a manner. So meat would be plattered.

0:14:40 > 0:14:45Vegetables would go into tureens, and it would be spoon and fork service the whole way through.

0:14:45 > 0:14:50You would expect the same service on Silver Wing as you would perhaps get at Claridges.

0:14:52 > 0:14:56Most of the stewards had all served apprenticeships as waiters.

0:14:56 > 0:14:58And waiters then knew everything about food.

0:14:58 > 0:15:01They could describe a dish.

0:15:01 > 0:15:05And if they were wine waiters, they could describe the wine.

0:15:05 > 0:15:08And it was a profession.

0:15:10 > 0:15:15And everything in those days was all silver and all bone china.

0:15:15 > 0:15:17It was really something.

0:15:20 > 0:15:24The main course sometimes consisted of a rib of beef.

0:15:24 > 0:15:29And it used to go on to the trolley, and you used to carve it.

0:15:29 > 0:15:33Put it onto the plate, with the vegetables.

0:15:33 > 0:15:36That was it. Sweet was exactly the same.

0:15:36 > 0:15:40It was served sweet with whatever you wanted, champagne and everything else.

0:15:40 > 0:15:43And cheese and biscuits. And eventually coffee and liqueurs.

0:15:43 > 0:15:46That was a first-class meal service.

0:15:49 > 0:15:54Although the dining service was first class, in other respects, the flights were still basic.

0:15:54 > 0:15:59The planes could only fly during the day, and still didn't have any seat belts.

0:15:59 > 0:16:05And one particularly important in-flight facility was in desperate need of an upgrade.

0:16:09 > 0:16:14Toilets started out being rather primitive,

0:16:14 > 0:16:18but they did become an essential feature

0:16:18 > 0:16:21of the airliner quite early on.

0:16:21 > 0:16:28And they were made rather primitive right up until 1930,

0:16:28 > 0:16:32with the introduction of the big H.P.42 biplanes.

0:16:32 > 0:16:37They did have proper washrooms with water and a basin

0:16:37 > 0:16:39where you could wash your hands.

0:16:40 > 0:16:46The Handley Page 42 represented a huge step forward in civil aviation.

0:16:46 > 0:16:53Not only did it provide a proper washroom - it had the interior of a first class rail carriage.

0:16:54 > 0:16:59The H.P.42 also became renowned for its remarkable safety record.

0:16:59 > 0:17:05In doing so, it helped restore the faith in commercial aviation after an Imperial Airways plane

0:17:05 > 0:17:11had ditched into the English Channel in 1929, claiming the lives of seven passengers

0:17:11 > 0:17:17and prompting calls in the press for flying to be restricted to adventurers and fighter pilots.

0:17:19 > 0:17:22I mean, these planes had to be wrestled through the air.

0:17:22 > 0:17:25None of the controls... were power controls.

0:17:25 > 0:17:26It was all manual,

0:17:26 > 0:17:28so it was difficult, it was hard work.

0:17:28 > 0:17:31And it was dangerous. The planes weren't as good as they are now,

0:17:31 > 0:17:35but the pilots were amazing. There should've been far more crashes than there were.

0:17:35 > 0:17:41The first men to fly commercial airplanes were fighter pilots from World War 1.

0:17:41 > 0:17:46But over time, many of them were replaced by a new generation of flyers - men whose style and grace

0:17:46 > 0:17:53created the iconic image of the dashing airline captain.

0:17:53 > 0:17:57One such pilot was Ron Valentine, from Plymouth.

0:17:57 > 0:17:58In an illustrious career,

0:17:58 > 0:18:01he was to break several aviation speed records,

0:18:01 > 0:18:08and fly VIPs, from the Queen to Charles de Gaulle, around the world.

0:18:08 > 0:18:11My husband was taken up as a small boy by his father.

0:18:11 > 0:18:13And he said that from that minute onward,

0:18:13 > 0:18:17he was absolutely sold on the idea of flying.

0:18:19 > 0:18:22The first flying he did was the Silver Wing service

0:18:22 > 0:18:25to Paris, and...

0:18:25 > 0:18:28they had some very interesting passengers,

0:18:28 > 0:18:32because it was very much a luxury flight then.

0:18:32 > 0:18:36Oh, people like the Aga Khan, and minor royalty and so on.

0:18:36 > 0:18:41And he said the stewards all loved the Aga Khan

0:18:41 > 0:18:43cos he used to give them racing tips!

0:18:43 > 0:18:48I think as a young man it was very exciting to meet all these people.

0:18:48 > 0:18:52And they also, they made a big fuss of the captains, you see,

0:18:52 > 0:18:55cos they were rather thin on the ground in those days.

0:18:55 > 0:18:59So they were very chuffed when the VIPs...

0:18:59 > 0:19:04And they always used to go back and socialise and talk to the passengers.

0:19:04 > 0:19:07They weren't just the driver, you know.

0:19:07 > 0:19:11They were in command, they had to look after the passengers in every sense.

0:19:16 > 0:19:19# Every time

0:19:19 > 0:19:25# We say goodbye, I die... #

0:19:25 > 0:19:28In these early ones, he doesn't have a moustache.

0:19:28 > 0:19:29And then he grew a moustache,

0:19:29 > 0:19:32cos he said he thought it made him look older.

0:19:32 > 0:19:37Because I think he was only 22 or something when he got his command.

0:19:37 > 0:19:41# I wonder why a little... #

0:19:41 > 0:19:47He was always impeccably dressed except, as my family said,

0:19:47 > 0:19:51when he was gardening, when he was incredibly scruffy.

0:19:51 > 0:19:53He wore all his old clothes.

0:19:53 > 0:19:58And very fussy, always fastidious about his clothes, his appearance.

0:20:00 > 0:20:05Pilots like Ron enjoyed a glamorous lifestyle to rival that of their passengers.

0:20:05 > 0:20:08They too were part of the early jet set.

0:20:10 > 0:20:13He would have three days in a Rome,

0:20:13 > 0:20:19three days in Beirut, three days or four or five days in Hong Kong.

0:20:19 > 0:20:21And so he had friends all over the world.

0:20:21 > 0:20:26So they became my friends too.

0:20:28 > 0:20:31# There's no love song finer... #

0:20:34 > 0:20:41When Cherie met Ron at the age of 22, she was swept off her feet by the handsome young pilot.

0:20:41 > 0:20:43But standing in the way of true love

0:20:43 > 0:20:48was one particular clause in Ron's contract with Imperial Airways.

0:20:51 > 0:20:54# We say goodbye... #

0:20:56 > 0:21:02"Clause 19 lays down special regulations concerning the marriage of a captain.

0:21:02 > 0:21:07"This is necessary because the operations of the company

0:21:07 > 0:21:12"necessitate a considerable proportion of its flying personnel

0:21:12 > 0:21:15"remaining unmarried."

0:21:17 > 0:21:20What it meant for me was that when we wanted to get married,

0:21:20 > 0:21:24we had to go to the station manager, who was Robert,

0:21:24 > 0:21:28later Sir Robert Maxwell, who very kindly took us out

0:21:28 > 0:21:33to lunch and inspected me, and gave us permission.

0:21:33 > 0:21:35And remained a friend for life.

0:21:35 > 0:21:39# Every time

0:21:39 > 0:21:44# We say goodbye... #

0:22:00 > 0:22:03For millions of ordinary British people,

0:22:03 > 0:22:07life was extraordinarily grim at the beginning of the 1930s.

0:22:07 > 0:22:11As the Great Depression overwhelmed the country, industries collapsed

0:22:11 > 0:22:16and unemployment soared, leaving over two and a half million people jobless.

0:22:16 > 0:22:21In sharp contrast, those who were immune to such economic hardships

0:22:21 > 0:22:23continued to gather at Croydon Airport,

0:22:23 > 0:22:26their glamorous gateway to the high life.

0:22:26 > 0:22:31- TV BROADCAST:- 'The huge Imperial Airways plane Syrinx descends at Croydon coming to rest

0:22:31 > 0:22:35'like some giant liner pulling into dock, Lady Willingdon on board.'

0:22:38 > 0:22:41It very much was the haves and have-nots.

0:22:41 > 0:22:45Margaret Fontaine, Lord Astor, these sorts of people were travelling.

0:22:45 > 0:22:48The super-rich - the Vanderbilts from America. Not Joe Bloggs.

0:22:48 > 0:22:53Croydon was a little spectacle, a little theatre of Imperial endeavour.

0:22:57 > 0:23:03The cameras were here. I've got a feeling that Imperial, if not Imperial possibly Croydon itself,

0:23:03 > 0:23:08had the equivalent of the Heathrow photographer, who was a celebrity spotter.

0:23:08 > 0:23:14And the Imperial News Magazine is filled with photographs of eminent

0:23:14 > 0:23:19people arriving and departing from this airport over a ten-year period.

0:23:21 > 0:23:27While Croydon was the way out of Britain, for the fashionable high-flyers in pursuit of style,

0:23:27 > 0:23:33glamour and perhaps a little romance, one destination above all was to be an irresistible magnet.

0:23:37 > 0:23:43During the 1920s and '30s, Paris was absolutely indisputably the cultural centre of the world.

0:23:43 > 0:23:46It was a centre of design, of painting and also the centre

0:23:46 > 0:23:49of the most luxurious haute couture fashion.

0:23:53 > 0:23:58Wealthy women had travelled to Paris to buy clothes during the 1910s and 1920s,

0:23:58 > 0:24:02but what was so significant about the 1930s is that, rather than it taking days,

0:24:02 > 0:24:07they could fly to Paris in just over three hours to buy clothes and come home again.

0:24:13 > 0:24:17There are two words that come to mind when we think about flying.

0:24:17 > 0:24:18One is glamour and one is luxury.

0:24:18 > 0:24:22And we see those come together in the most exclusive fashion magazines

0:24:22 > 0:24:26such as Vogue, which features airplanes in 1937 on its cover.

0:24:30 > 0:24:34Air travel at that time really was an elitist thing.

0:24:34 > 0:24:36You needed money and you needed lots of it.

0:24:36 > 0:24:43Not only for the flying, but for every inch of gorgeous fabric she is wearing.

0:24:43 > 0:24:45This is a gorgeous English dress...

0:24:47 > 0:24:49..most definitely cut off the bias,

0:24:49 > 0:24:52care of our designer V&A in Paris.

0:24:52 > 0:24:55It has got a great fluidity in its movement,

0:24:55 > 0:25:00as you can see when Jane swings a bit, the movement of the dress.

0:25:00 > 0:25:03Large over-sized pearls,

0:25:03 > 0:25:07red lips. That was the look. That was it - fast, racy and fun.

0:25:07 > 0:25:10This epitomises that time completely.

0:25:10 > 0:25:14It encompasses the body consciousness of the time,

0:25:14 > 0:25:20and the freedom and sauciness that the ladies were feeling at the time.

0:25:20 > 0:25:22And this bias cut around the bottom

0:25:22 > 0:25:27just compels you to twizzle and become a flapper.

0:25:27 > 0:25:31Just imagine how exciting it was to go on a plane for the first time.

0:25:31 > 0:25:36The whole world was open to you and it was just a whole feeling of freedom, I think,

0:25:36 > 0:25:39and I think this dress just epitomises that.

0:25:42 > 0:25:46While some women were in search of style and glamour, others saw

0:25:46 > 0:25:49aviation as a way to make their mark on history,

0:25:49 > 0:25:53despite condescending labels such as "petticoat pilots".

0:25:59 > 0:26:03I think it's not surprising that women are involved in aviation,

0:26:03 > 0:26:07just as they were involved in motor racing and that kind of thing.

0:26:09 > 0:26:13Although, in one sense, the world was opening up and horizons were becoming

0:26:13 > 0:26:17greater, in another sense what they were allowed to was fairly limiting.

0:26:17 > 0:26:21So when something new came along where there weren't any really any parameters,

0:26:21 > 0:26:26where nobody had laid down the law about what you did or didn't do, and no particular

0:26:26 > 0:26:31educational qualifications needed, then I think this was something that a number of them grasped at.

0:26:31 > 0:26:36It was there and it could be done, and it was somewhere where you could compete with men

0:26:36 > 0:26:40and perhaps even be superior to them, and nobody was going to get in your way.

0:26:40 > 0:26:43Some women did take to the air to compete with men.

0:26:43 > 0:26:48However, they were not entitled to call themselves pilots.

0:26:49 > 0:26:54"Aviatrix" is the term that was used to describe women pilots in the 1930s.

0:26:54 > 0:26:57In recent years, especially women's historians

0:26:57 > 0:27:00have said, "Why weren't they simply called pilots?"

0:27:00 > 0:27:04Because until that time, people really didn't believe that women could

0:27:04 > 0:27:11undertake work that was dangerous, risky, competitive, and also was technologically challenging.

0:27:11 > 0:27:17And women pilots proved them wrong. They won the races on equal terms and they were excellent pilots.

0:27:17 > 0:27:20# Anything goes... #

0:27:20 > 0:27:25Britain's most celebrated female pilot was Amy Johnson from Hull.

0:27:25 > 0:27:29Consumed by a passion for flying, she had qualified as a pilot

0:27:29 > 0:27:34in the late 1920s, but could only find work as a ground engineer.

0:27:34 > 0:27:41However, fixing planes for men to fly was never going to satisfy Amy Johnson.

0:27:41 > 0:27:44She was young, she was attractive.

0:27:44 > 0:27:46- She was vibrant.- Yes.

0:27:46 > 0:27:50She was doing the most amazing things in an impossible world really.

0:27:52 > 0:27:57She was passionate, passionate about flying. Passionate.

0:27:59 > 0:28:01She wanted to be a pilot.

0:28:01 > 0:28:06And she felt she had to prove herself basically, I suppose because she was female.

0:28:09 > 0:28:15To prove herself, Amy took on the ultimate aviation challenge, to break the record

0:28:15 > 0:28:19of 16 days for a solo flight of 11,000 miles to Australia.

0:28:19 > 0:28:22But as Amy took off in her Gypsy Moth called Jason

0:28:22 > 0:28:27in May 1930, only a handful of people turned out to see her.

0:28:28 > 0:28:31She started off from Croydon.

0:28:31 > 0:28:35Nobody knew who she was, and I think there was one reporter there.

0:28:35 > 0:28:38# Forget your troubles and just be happy

0:28:38 > 0:28:40# Forget your troubles and just be gay... #

0:28:40 > 0:28:46Jason was an open cockpit plane.

0:28:46 > 0:28:48It had about four instruments.

0:28:48 > 0:28:55A modern car has got more instruments than Jason actually had.

0:28:55 > 0:28:58She had very little maps.

0:28:58 > 0:29:01She took a school atlas with her.

0:29:01 > 0:29:03# Forget your troubles and just be happy

0:29:03 > 0:29:05# Forget your troubles and just be gay... #

0:29:05 > 0:29:10Despite her basic navigational tools, Amy set off on her arduous

0:29:10 > 0:29:15flight to Australia, stopping in 11 countries along the way.

0:29:15 > 0:29:17# Hallelujah... #

0:29:17 > 0:29:2119 days later, three days outside the record, she arrived in Darwin.

0:29:21 > 0:29:24But despite her failure to break the record,

0:29:24 > 0:29:27and her inauspicious landing...

0:29:29 > 0:29:33..Amy had captured the hearts of the public across the world.

0:29:40 > 0:29:44- It was a bit of a romantic thing to do, wasn't it?- Mmm.

0:29:44 > 0:29:48And it captured people's imaginations.

0:29:48 > 0:29:50She was in the thick of it.

0:29:51 > 0:29:54Her departure had gone almost unnoticed,

0:29:54 > 0:29:57but an estimated one million people lined the streets

0:29:57 > 0:29:59to greet her on her return.

0:29:59 > 0:30:01AIRPLANE ENGINE

0:30:01 > 0:30:03CROWD CHEERS

0:30:08 > 0:30:12We started off and nobody was really in the least bit bothered.

0:30:12 > 0:30:14They thought you were crazy.

0:30:14 > 0:30:17And suddenly the whole world was at your feet.

0:30:17 > 0:30:22And this of course led to an enormous amount of fan mail

0:30:22 > 0:30:28that just poured into the family home back in Yorkshire.

0:30:28 > 0:30:33And a lot of them were, of course, addressed to Miss Amy Johnson.

0:30:33 > 0:30:37Or some went care of her mother, this sort of thing.

0:30:37 > 0:30:43But this is one of the most amazing ones. Just her Christian name - Amy.

0:30:43 > 0:30:48No address except the country she came from - England.

0:30:48 > 0:30:49And it got there!

0:30:51 > 0:30:52CHEERING

0:30:52 > 0:30:57Amy Johnson had become a public figure in high demand.

0:30:57 > 0:31:01And she used her newly found fame to champion a new and exciting future

0:31:01 > 0:31:04for a country in the clutch of Depression.

0:31:08 > 0:31:13If we are going to accomplish the ideal of making England

0:31:13 > 0:31:16the tip-top country in the world,

0:31:16 > 0:31:19we've got to get England in the air.

0:31:19 > 0:31:23And just remember, take to the air,

0:31:23 > 0:31:26and take to it actively and seriously.

0:31:29 > 0:31:33While Amy Johnson had connected with the public,

0:31:33 > 0:31:35flying was still the preserve of the wealthy,

0:31:35 > 0:31:38and of adventurers like herself.

0:31:38 > 0:31:41But for ordinary people, the dream of flight came a little closer

0:31:41 > 0:31:46with the arrival of a new British phenomenon, the flying circus.

0:31:47 > 0:31:51The most celebrated of these was the brainchild of a First World War

0:31:51 > 0:31:53fighter pilot, Sir Alan Cobham.

0:31:55 > 0:32:00By 1932, he had put together Cobham's Flying Circus,

0:32:00 > 0:32:04which cashed in on the public's growing fascination with flight,

0:32:04 > 0:32:08and gave the masses their first opportunity to take to the air.

0:32:22 > 0:32:26Parents took their children for this incredible experience.

0:32:26 > 0:32:28You paid and got 10 minutes of flying.

0:32:28 > 0:32:31Actually, I think lots of people didn't think it was possible

0:32:31 > 0:32:34until they turned up at the field where Sir Alan Cobham was saying,

0:32:34 > 0:32:37"Just get in and you can see it's going to happen."

0:32:44 > 0:32:46He would go round the various towns of England,

0:32:46 > 0:32:51like any circus would, really.

0:32:51 > 0:32:57And he would get crowds and crowds of people to these air shows.

0:32:57 > 0:33:01Once they had experienced that, they couldn't let it go.

0:33:01 > 0:33:06I mean, so many boys who had that experience wanted to become pilots.

0:33:06 > 0:33:10And those who didn't become pilots wanted to work in any capacity

0:33:10 > 0:33:12for this new, exciting way of travelling.

0:33:12 > 0:33:14And, so many people,

0:33:14 > 0:33:15even to this day, say,

0:33:15 > 0:33:20"Oh, my father, my grandfather had the very first flight

0:33:20 > 0:33:21"with Alan Cobham."

0:33:21 > 0:33:23So many people say that.

0:33:23 > 0:33:25So I think...

0:33:25 > 0:33:27thousands and thousands of people must have had

0:33:27 > 0:33:30their first flight in that way.

0:33:36 > 0:33:39While the flying circus gave ordinary people

0:33:39 > 0:33:43the chance to share in the adventure of flying,

0:33:43 > 0:33:47the introduction of tea flights in 1933 gave the middle classes

0:33:47 > 0:33:51an opportunity to sample the luxury of flying.

0:33:51 > 0:33:55The only catch was that these flights didn't actually go anywhere.

0:33:58 > 0:34:01These flights have been innovated by Imperial Airways

0:34:01 > 0:34:04to show what London looks like from the air.

0:34:09 > 0:34:13Imperial Airways introduced its superb tea flights,

0:34:13 > 0:34:17where you could go for a flight over London if you wanted to, while drinking

0:34:17 > 0:34:22and enjoying tea and cakes from a table,

0:34:22 > 0:34:27with a tablecloth, silver service and a vase of flowers.

0:34:30 > 0:34:31Is that the Crystal Palace?

0:34:31 > 0:34:34Yes, oh, yes, doesn't it look lovely?

0:34:34 > 0:34:36Lovely and clear.

0:34:36 > 0:34:38THE COUPLE CHATTER

0:34:38 > 0:34:41A tea flight sounds an incredibly camp thing,

0:34:41 > 0:34:44especially if it's a silver service, white-gloved thing,

0:34:44 > 0:34:49and I'm going to get my selection of sandwiches, cream cakes, fruit cake, possibly even a high tea.

0:34:49 > 0:34:53I would do it at the drop of a hat. And I am sure my friends would love it.

0:34:53 > 0:34:56I'd have a decadent day out methinks.

0:35:00 > 0:35:03For their decadent day out and a bird's-eye view of London,

0:35:03 > 0:35:08passengers paid £2, an average week's wages at the time.

0:35:08 > 0:35:11But while it was cake in the sky for the lucky few,

0:35:11 > 0:35:15it was soup kitchens on the ground for many others.

0:35:15 > 0:35:19Although the Depression continued to ravage life in 1930s Britain,

0:35:19 > 0:35:24it appeared that the aviation industry would continue to fly high.

0:35:33 > 0:35:36Air travel was always going to be recession-proof, I think,

0:35:36 > 0:35:39because it was so obviously, not only of its age,

0:35:39 > 0:35:42but it was of the age that was coming as well.

0:35:42 > 0:35:47All the projections of the bright technological future had a place for air travel in them.

0:35:47 > 0:35:52It was clearly the mode of travel of the future. It was bright, it was fast, it was sophisticated.

0:35:52 > 0:35:55It had all kinds of allure attached to it that was extraneous

0:35:55 > 0:35:57to the idea of flight, you know,

0:35:57 > 0:36:00the way it was sold to the public in those days.

0:36:00 > 0:36:05It was the kind of thing that would always prosper, however badly the stocks and shares were doing.

0:36:07 > 0:36:10In fact, the period of the Great Depression

0:36:10 > 0:36:14was also the time of greatest expansion for Imperial Airways.

0:36:14 > 0:36:18Subsidised by the Government to carry British diplomats

0:36:18 > 0:36:20and royal mail throughout the Empire,

0:36:20 > 0:36:22it was able to spread its wings

0:36:22 > 0:36:26and fly free of the economic hardships on the ground.

0:36:27 > 0:36:32But while the aviation industry appeared financially immune to the ravages of the Depression,

0:36:32 > 0:36:37maintaining a regular service to the farthest corners of the Empire

0:36:37 > 0:36:39was still a daunting prospect.

0:36:41 > 0:36:46If we can think about the sky as being a literal frontier.

0:36:47 > 0:36:49Places like the Sahara

0:36:49 > 0:36:53in central Africa, in the Middle East, in India, the element,

0:36:53 > 0:36:56the sky was a completely unknown phenomenon.

0:36:56 > 0:36:58It was a major challenge.

0:37:01 > 0:37:05To help them meet that challenge, the airline had turned to former fighter pilot

0:37:05 > 0:37:10and flying circus entrepreneur, the irrepressible Sir Alan Cobham.

0:37:10 > 0:37:14He blazed a trail across the sky as a pathfinder for Imperial Airways

0:37:14 > 0:37:17as it sought new routes around the globe.

0:37:18 > 0:37:20He surveyed the routes,

0:37:20 > 0:37:24found out places where airfields could be built.

0:37:24 > 0:37:27And, of course, a landing strip was needed.

0:37:27 > 0:37:31Not just personnel there, but he had to have fuel supplies,

0:37:31 > 0:37:34engineers, this, that and the other.

0:37:34 > 0:37:40So setting up the infrastructure for an airline was quite a big job.

0:37:42 > 0:37:46A passionate aviator, Cobham worked tirelessly to make flying popular.

0:37:48 > 0:37:52And was driven by his own personal dream that one day,

0:37:52 > 0:37:54there would be a landing ground in every major town.

0:38:09 > 0:38:13He was a celebrated figure, who really did chart the new British earth,

0:38:13 > 0:38:18which Imperial Airways was to follow on its commercial flights in the 1930s.

0:38:28 > 0:38:32Well, I suppose that captures the adventure in the man.

0:38:32 > 0:38:35He does look like an adventurer there, doesn't he?

0:38:35 > 0:38:37Yes, he'd be doing meticulous planning.

0:38:37 > 0:38:42He was...he was an avid map reader,

0:38:42 > 0:38:46so I am not surprised that every trip was successful.

0:38:46 > 0:38:51He understood his aeroplane. He knew exactly what he could do.

0:39:00 > 0:39:04When I think back on him doing those...those long flights

0:39:04 > 0:39:08and the confinement of those primitive aircraft in those days,

0:39:08 > 0:39:12it is inconceivable that anybody could want to do it,

0:39:12 > 0:39:14let alone enjoy it.

0:39:14 > 0:39:18Somebody had to go ahead and pioneer the air routes of the world.

0:39:18 > 0:39:24We just didn't get there without these amazing people showing us the way.

0:39:28 > 0:39:33A central hub in Imperial Airways' navigation of the Empire was Egypt.

0:39:40 > 0:39:44By the 1930s, Cairo had become the gateway to British territories,

0:39:44 > 0:39:48linking regular flights between London and such destinations as

0:39:48 > 0:39:52Nairobi, Johannesburg, Delhi and Singapore.

0:39:53 > 0:39:56One young man who, in the 1930s,

0:39:56 > 0:40:00was attracted to working in such exotic locations was Ross Stainton

0:40:00 > 0:40:03from Whitstable in Kent.

0:40:03 > 0:40:08I joined as a trainee at the age of 19 with Imperial Airways.

0:40:08 > 0:40:11I was posted overseas

0:40:11 > 0:40:16for a number of years running the little stations that we had.

0:40:19 > 0:40:21The company...

0:40:21 > 0:40:26was given the duty, as a private company,

0:40:26 > 0:40:30to develop the Imperial air routes,

0:40:30 > 0:40:34especially those to the East

0:40:34 > 0:40:35and to South Africa.

0:40:43 > 0:40:47It was one of the most delightful places to be stationed,

0:40:47 > 0:40:50because there were people of all nations,

0:40:50 > 0:40:53and there were a lot of other Brits as well as us.

0:40:53 > 0:40:56And the social life was splendid.

0:40:58 > 0:41:01I look back on those days with great envy now.

0:41:03 > 0:41:08For passengers luxuriating in this world of original first class flying,

0:41:08 > 0:41:12overnight stops meant staying in some of world's most exclusive hotels

0:41:12 > 0:41:15and partying in the most fashionable nightspots.

0:41:15 > 0:41:17For the high flyers,

0:41:17 > 0:41:20this was a world where glamour and adventure met.

0:41:29 > 0:41:33Some of them, when they got as far as Alexandria

0:41:33 > 0:41:37where I was stationed for quite a while,

0:41:37 > 0:41:41they were very impressed with the nightclubs in Alexandria.

0:41:46 > 0:41:51And it was a matter of considerable practice and speed

0:41:51 > 0:41:55to get them ready for departure, which was at 4am

0:41:55 > 0:41:59from a place about 15 miles outside Alexandria.

0:41:59 > 0:42:02I used to have to go round the nightclubs and say,

0:42:02 > 0:42:06"Oi, come on, time!" And get them on board some old bus.

0:42:06 > 0:42:10The passengers' fares on these flights covered all major costs,

0:42:10 > 0:42:13such as their stopovers at luxury hotels.

0:42:13 > 0:42:14And for some gentlemen,

0:42:14 > 0:42:17an all-inclusive flight meant just that.

0:42:19 > 0:42:21In order to overcome the difficulty

0:42:21 > 0:42:24of currency exchanges, they gave people coupons.

0:42:24 > 0:42:27So you exchanged your coupon for coffee or for a meal,

0:42:27 > 0:42:30or for the bus ride, whatever the case may be.

0:42:30 > 0:42:34And there is a story of the Imperial Airways bus,

0:42:34 > 0:42:35I think it was in Cairo,

0:42:35 > 0:42:38travelling on a slightly different schedule in the mornings,

0:42:38 > 0:42:40going round to not just hotels

0:42:40 > 0:42:44to pick up gentlemen for the early flight, early morning departure,

0:42:44 > 0:42:48but also to sundry premises of Madam,

0:42:48 > 0:42:52where she would present the coupons for encashment...

0:42:52 > 0:42:54in the morning!

0:42:54 > 0:42:56# It's too darn hot

0:42:56 > 0:42:59# It's too darn hot

0:42:59 > 0:43:03# I'd like to sup with my baby tonight... #

0:43:03 > 0:43:07Although international flights gave passengers the opportunity

0:43:07 > 0:43:09to travel the world much quicker than ever before,

0:43:09 > 0:43:13several refuelling stops and overnight breaks were needed.

0:43:13 > 0:43:17But the airline was not about to expose its wealthy clientele

0:43:17 > 0:43:23to the hardships of life in remote locations in central Africa or Asia.

0:43:24 > 0:43:29Instead, it created what become known as Little Englands,

0:43:29 > 0:43:31small corners of western world,

0:43:31 > 0:43:35where passengers could expect nothing but the very best of British.

0:43:35 > 0:43:38# But sister, you fight my baby tonight

0:43:38 > 0:43:40# Cos it's too darn hot

0:43:40 > 0:43:42# It's too darn hot... #

0:43:42 > 0:43:44They didn't eat local food. I suppose,

0:43:44 > 0:43:46like the British throughout the Empire,

0:43:46 > 0:43:50they tried to keep up the traditions of being British.

0:43:50 > 0:43:54# Cos it's too, too, too darn hot... #

0:43:54 > 0:43:57Wherever the crew and the passengers stayed,

0:43:57 > 0:44:02the idea, to some extent, was to protect them from local food

0:44:02 > 0:44:07which might kill them, local water which might poison them, and local influences.

0:44:07 > 0:44:11It was as if there had to be this is little protected pocket

0:44:11 > 0:44:14that was jumping across these dangerous places.

0:44:14 > 0:44:18Flying down Africa over a period of eight days or so,

0:44:18 > 0:44:21as it was in the mid-1930s, would mean an opportunity

0:44:21 > 0:44:25to encounter wilderness, to encounter strange people.

0:44:25 > 0:44:29Landing in the bush and seeing eyes appearing,

0:44:29 > 0:44:31and men rushing out with assegais held high.

0:44:31 > 0:44:33And being scared.

0:44:33 > 0:44:37And some of the passengers had those kind of experiences.

0:44:40 > 0:44:44The first commercial flight from London to South Africa

0:44:44 > 0:44:47had taken place in April 1932.

0:44:47 > 0:44:51But the logistics of these 8,000-mile flights,

0:44:51 > 0:44:56with 11 different stopovers for re-fuelling, presented a particular problem.

0:45:01 > 0:45:04If you are going down through Africa in stages,

0:45:04 > 0:45:10it is very expensive to build runways every few hundred miles.

0:45:10 > 0:45:12But there were lakes they could use.

0:45:15 > 0:45:17Taking advantage of these lakes,

0:45:17 > 0:45:21the airline introduced the Empire Flying-Boat to its South African service.

0:45:23 > 0:45:27Now it could bring passengers to stopovers with proper facilities,

0:45:27 > 0:45:29rather than remote landing strips in the bush.

0:45:29 > 0:45:34And while Croydon Airport continued to service European routes,

0:45:34 > 0:45:39the arrival of the flying-boat would make Southampton the gateway to Africa

0:45:39 > 0:45:42and the furthest corners of the Empire.

0:45:57 > 0:46:00This is the flight deck of the aircraft.

0:46:00 > 0:46:03A pilot would sit here, with the co-pilot there.

0:46:03 > 0:46:05Standard array of instruments

0:46:05 > 0:46:08that you find on any aircraft of the period.

0:46:08 > 0:46:12These pilots are largely regarded as pioneers of long-haul flight.

0:46:12 > 0:46:17They had to develop skills to fly all the way across continents, they are flying very hands-on.

0:46:17 > 0:46:20There's no automatic pilot.

0:46:20 > 0:46:23They have to keep control of the controls all the time.

0:46:23 > 0:46:25These are big, big levers here.

0:46:25 > 0:46:27Four big throttles,

0:46:27 > 0:46:30and they are directly linked to the engines.

0:46:30 > 0:46:34You need about a mile of water for the aircraft to accelerate.

0:46:34 > 0:46:37So you need a lot of space and a lot of power

0:46:37 > 0:46:39to pull this big bird off the water.

0:46:46 > 0:46:47There was something beautiful

0:46:47 > 0:46:51about a flying-boat.

0:46:51 > 0:46:54Not only because of its size, it was because of its hull.

0:46:54 > 0:47:00It had this great big bow, and then it came down the hull,

0:47:00 > 0:47:02and the step there, and the tail going up.

0:47:02 > 0:47:06It was just a beautiful-looking thing. And it was big.

0:47:09 > 0:47:14And all you saw was this massive spray,

0:47:14 > 0:47:17then suddenly, out of this massive spray came this flying-boat.

0:47:17 > 0:47:21And it would gradually get higher and higher in the water,

0:47:21 > 0:47:23so in the end, it just lifted off the water.

0:47:26 > 0:47:29I used to think this was absolutely marvellous.

0:47:30 > 0:47:32You could almost feel yourself...

0:47:32 > 0:47:35you wanted to cheer it had taken off.

0:47:37 > 0:47:39Once again, the airline took inspiration

0:47:39 > 0:47:41from the luxurious ocean liners

0:47:41 > 0:47:44to create a first-class service on the new flying-boats.

0:47:44 > 0:47:46Large and spacious,

0:47:46 > 0:47:48but carrying no more than 40 passengers,

0:47:48 > 0:47:50these half-planes-half-boats

0:47:50 > 0:47:54provided the ultimate experience in comfort and elegance

0:47:54 > 0:47:56during long-distance flights.

0:48:01 > 0:48:05Once the flying-boats came along, everything changed.

0:48:05 > 0:48:08There were libraries, there was an upstairs, a downstairs.

0:48:08 > 0:48:11There was a prom deck where you could walk up and down.

0:48:11 > 0:48:16There are wonderful stories of people flying down across Africa.

0:48:16 > 0:48:19They would stand, they would promenade on the prom deck,

0:48:19 > 0:48:23and watch below the enormous herds of antelope

0:48:23 > 0:48:25moving away from the shadow of the plane.

0:48:25 > 0:48:27You could never do that now.

0:48:27 > 0:48:30# When I go a-dreaming

0:48:30 > 0:48:34# I go with you... #

0:48:34 > 0:48:39Flying-boats now carried a new breed of passenger on these flights to South Africa.

0:48:39 > 0:48:42Tycoons in search of fresh opportunities,

0:48:42 > 0:48:45and big game hunters in pursuit of adventure.

0:48:45 > 0:48:48But passengers still insisted on travelling in style.

0:48:51 > 0:48:54# You are delightful

0:48:54 > 0:48:56# To me... #

0:48:56 > 0:48:59Luxury, that's the only way you could describe it.

0:48:59 > 0:49:00They took off in the morning,

0:49:00 > 0:49:03had lunch on the boat, morning coffee, lunch,

0:49:03 > 0:49:08sometimes afternoon tea. If not, they were landing in the afternoon.

0:49:08 > 0:49:09Went to the lovely hotels,

0:49:09 > 0:49:12stayed the night, had dinner and everything.

0:49:12 > 0:49:14Next morning, took off again.

0:49:14 > 0:49:17# When I go a-dreaming with you. #

0:49:32 > 0:49:34This is one of the passenger cabins.

0:49:34 > 0:49:38When you look at it, it's more like a railway carriage than an airline.

0:49:38 > 0:49:40You've got plenty of leg room.

0:49:40 > 0:49:44Huge great windows for this wonderful view, you can look out there.

0:49:44 > 0:49:48I have heard one account of people travelling down through Egypt,

0:49:48 > 0:49:51flying over the pyramids,

0:49:51 > 0:49:53and the pilot actually turning the aircraft around

0:49:53 > 0:49:56and flying over the pyramids in a different direction,

0:49:56 > 0:50:02just to make sure all the passengers could see and get a good view of the pyramids, which was wonderful.

0:50:02 > 0:50:06Not the kind of thing you'd get from a modern airliner at all.

0:50:09 > 0:50:14While flying-boats were now able to take passengers as far as South Africa,

0:50:14 > 0:50:18Australia was still considered beyond the reach of commercial airlines.

0:50:18 > 0:50:23In 1933, Imperial Airways set out to change all that

0:50:23 > 0:50:26when it despatched a small crew on a survey flight,

0:50:26 > 0:50:28from Croydon to Melbourne,

0:50:28 > 0:50:31to chart the route for a new passenger service.

0:50:31 > 0:50:33Among them was Cecil Griffiths from London

0:50:33 > 0:50:36who took photographs along the way.

0:50:40 > 0:50:44One of these fellows was the ground engineer, and one was a wireless operator.

0:50:44 > 0:50:48There was my father in middle, he was a flight engineer.

0:50:48 > 0:50:51Um...

0:50:51 > 0:50:54It starts off here. "To Australia Per Astra."

0:50:54 > 0:50:58He has taken a photo everywhere where he landed, basically.

0:50:58 > 0:50:59Bathurst Island,

0:50:59 > 0:51:02Rangoon. Bangkok.

0:51:02 > 0:51:05Basra. Another one of Bangkok.

0:51:05 > 0:51:06And as he has gone down the route,

0:51:06 > 0:51:11Mount Isa, Gaza, Jodhpur, Gwadar. Bathurst.

0:51:11 > 0:51:16All corners of the Empire had to be surveyed from an aerial point of view

0:51:16 > 0:51:18to make sure that, in the future,

0:51:18 > 0:51:23aircraft could go and land there and operate a passenger service.

0:51:23 > 0:51:27Laurie Griffith's father arrived in Australia

0:51:27 > 0:51:30after plotting an epic 13,000-mile flight

0:51:30 > 0:51:35that took 12 days - 30 days less than the alternative journey by boat.

0:51:36 > 0:51:41In those days, there was no electric starter motors on the aircraft.

0:51:41 > 0:51:44And he called it the "If It" starting system.

0:51:44 > 0:51:46I remember him talking about this.

0:51:46 > 0:51:49The reason they called it the "If It" starting system is,

0:51:49 > 0:51:52you used to pull the propeller down with a pole,

0:51:52 > 0:51:56and if it goes, it goes, and if it doesn't, it doesn't!

0:51:56 > 0:51:58That was the reason for that, you see.

0:51:58 > 0:52:01This is a photo of the cockpit facing forward.

0:52:01 > 0:52:04And he has written underneath, "The office,"

0:52:04 > 0:52:07because that's where he worked.

0:52:07 > 0:52:09People that fly down there now

0:52:09 > 0:52:15owe a certain amount of debt to this particular flight, really.

0:52:17 > 0:52:21Two years after Cecil Griffiths and his colleagues tested the route,

0:52:21 > 0:52:25Imperial Airways introduced passenger flights to Australia.

0:52:25 > 0:52:28The airline had achieved its ambition

0:52:28 > 0:52:31of taking passengers to the furthest corner of the Empire.

0:52:34 > 0:52:37But there remained just one more significant challenge -

0:52:37 > 0:52:41to conquer the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean

0:52:41 > 0:52:46and introduce a passenger service to the most glamorous destination of all,

0:52:46 > 0:52:48New York.

0:52:48 > 0:52:53However, within days of achieving this, in August 1939,

0:52:53 > 0:52:57world events brought developments in commercial flight to an abrupt end.

0:53:01 > 0:53:06At the end of August 1939, all civil flying ceased.

0:53:06 > 0:53:08Three days later, war broke out.

0:53:12 > 0:53:17The Second World War really did close down a chapter -

0:53:17 > 0:53:19the first chapter -

0:53:19 > 0:53:21of organised civil aviation,

0:53:21 > 0:53:24which, many people look back nostalgically

0:53:24 > 0:53:27and say was by far the best and the most interesting.

0:53:27 > 0:53:31And it's the golden age of aviation which was very summarily closed by war.

0:53:33 > 0:53:36Just as the availability of surplus planes and pilots

0:53:36 > 0:53:41after the First World War had fuelled early developments in civil aviation,

0:53:41 > 0:53:43now the process went into reverse.

0:53:43 > 0:53:49Passenger planes were quickly taken into military service to support the war effort.

0:53:49 > 0:53:54As was Britain's most celebrated female pilot, Amy Johnson.

0:53:54 > 0:53:58But in 1941, as she flew through heavy fog

0:53:58 > 0:54:01to deliver a plane to an RAF base,

0:54:01 > 0:54:03Amy crashed into the Thames Estuary.

0:54:03 > 0:54:05Her body was never found,

0:54:05 > 0:54:07and to this day,

0:54:07 > 0:54:09uncertainty surrounds the circumstances of her death.

0:54:14 > 0:54:16In a way,

0:54:16 > 0:54:21I think that Amy is a bit of a mystery.

0:54:21 > 0:54:23She was quite young when she died,

0:54:23 > 0:54:25and it was quite tragic.

0:54:25 > 0:54:27- But she was flying.- Yes.

0:54:27 > 0:54:31She was flying and she was serving her country in the war.

0:54:31 > 0:54:36Plus, if she had to go, maybe that was the way...

0:54:36 > 0:54:39- she would choose.- Yes. Yes.

0:54:39 > 0:54:44Amy Johnson's death symbolised the end of an era.

0:54:45 > 0:54:49The golden age of flight with all its glamour, style and adventure

0:54:49 > 0:54:51had gone forever.

0:54:51 > 0:54:54But those bright young things who took to the sky between the wars

0:54:54 > 0:54:58defined an industry that has spanned the generations

0:54:58 > 0:55:02and changed how we live and travel today.

0:55:11 > 0:55:15After the war, commercial air travel was to change forever.

0:55:15 > 0:55:19Planes would no longer be the preserve of the rich and famous.

0:55:19 > 0:55:22That era was to give way to the modern age of air travel,

0:55:22 > 0:55:25when flight would become available to the masses,

0:55:25 > 0:55:29but lose some of the romance and allure treasured by people

0:55:29 > 0:55:32like Cherie Ballantine and her husband Ron.

0:55:37 > 0:55:41# Every time

0:55:41 > 0:55:44# We say goodbye

0:55:44 > 0:55:47# I'd die a little... #

0:55:47 > 0:55:51- TAPE RECORDING:- 'All flights then were timed for day flying.

0:55:54 > 0:55:56'So there were many occasions when we were scheduled

0:55:56 > 0:55:58'to spend a night in Paris

0:55:58 > 0:56:01'or some of the other European resorts.

0:56:01 > 0:56:06'For me, Paris was fun...'

0:56:06 > 0:56:09Ron Ballantine died in 2003,

0:56:09 > 0:56:12after more than 60 years of marriage to Cherie,

0:56:12 > 0:56:16and a life as one of Britain's most celebrated pilots.

0:56:16 > 0:56:20He was best known for flying the new Queen Elizabeth

0:56:20 > 0:56:23back from Africa to London in 1952,

0:56:23 > 0:56:28following the death of her father, King George VI.

0:56:30 > 0:56:33We played it all once quite soon after he'd died.

0:56:33 > 0:56:36This is the first time I have played it again.

0:56:36 > 0:56:38It's rather heartbreaking.

0:56:41 > 0:56:44When he was still flying, and after he retired,

0:56:44 > 0:56:47if he saw somebody flying up in a small... He would say,

0:56:47 > 0:56:50"Oh, lucky chap to be up there."

0:56:59 > 0:57:03Not everybody had a job as a steward

0:57:03 > 0:57:06on an aircraft flying on to different parts of the world.

0:57:09 > 0:57:11It was a glamorous life.

0:57:11 > 0:57:14It was a very glamorous life.

0:57:14 > 0:57:16# There's

0:57:16 > 0:57:20# No love song finer

0:57:22 > 0:57:25# But how strange

0:57:25 > 0:57:28# The change

0:57:30 > 0:57:34# From major to minor

0:57:37 > 0:57:41# Every time

0:57:41 > 0:57:46# We say goodbye

0:57:51 > 0:57:54# Every time... #

0:57:58 > 0:58:01Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:58:01 > 0:58:04E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk