Aviation Pioneer Alan Cobham signed RAF Marham flown cover. He served on the Western Front from 1914 to 1917. He ...

Aviation Pioneer Alan Cobham signed RAF Marham flown cover. He served on the Western Front from 1914 to 1917. He dealt mainly with injured horses and attained the rank of Staff Veterinary Sergeant. After transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and then the Royal Air Force, he became a Pilot Officer flying instructor. After the war Cobham became a test pilot for the de Havilland aircraft company and was the first pilot for the newly formed de Havilland Aeroplane Hire Service. In 1921 he made a 5, 000-mile air tour of Europe, visiting 17 cities in three weeks. Between 16 November 1925 and 13 March 1926, he made a trip from London to Cape Town and return in his de Havilland DH. 50, in which he had replaced the original Siddeley Puma engine with a more powerful, air-cooled Jaguar. On 30 June 1926, he set off on a flight from Britain (from the River Medway) to Australia, where 60, 000 people swarmed across the grassy fields of Essendon Airport, Melbourne, when he landed his de Havilland DH. 50 floatplane (it had been converted to a wheeled undercarriage earlier, at Darwin). During the flight to Australia, Cobham's engineer of the D. H. 50 aircraft, Arthur B. Elliot, was shot and killed after they left Baghdad on 5 July 1926. The return flight was undertaken over the same route. Cobham was knighted the same year. Good condition. All autographs are genuine hand signed and come with a Certificate of Authenticity. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide. UK postage from £5.99, EU from £7.99, Rest of World from £10.