Flying Start

Flying Start, by M H Goodhall. Brooklands Museum, £12.95 post-free.

Not much has been written about aviation at Brooklands in book form, so this glossy, well-pictorialised little work about the Flying Schools and Clubs there from 1910 to 1939 must be greeted with enthusiasm. Sponsored by the Cabair Group of Flying Schools, published by the Brooklands Museum and with an Introduction by HRH’ Prince Michael of Kent, this book devotes a description, not unduly long, but sufficient, to each of 17 flying establishments which existed inside the Motor Course from 1910 to 1914, and continues with accounts of the wartime and post-war activities.

The photographs used are indeed nostalgic, and the maps of the aerodrome and sheds are instructional to historians. This modest publication exactly reflects the atmosphere of flying at Brooklands in the pioneer days in only nine pages, though with cartoons and documents. One must hope for a follow-up book about the post-war activities there. The colour cover illustrations, of a Bristol Boxkite turning over the Byfleet sheds and of a Tiger Moth over the 1930s Clubhouse are alone worth the price and the memories of Mrs Hilda Hewlett are something of a scoop. No one who calls him or herself a Brooklands enthusiast can afford to Miss Goodall’s little treat. W B