It was on February 15 of that year that a Bleriot XI monoplane piloted by Oscar Morison took off from Brooklands aerodrome, near Weybridge, and just a little over an hour later crash-landed on Brighton beach, at ‘Banjo Groyne’.
Morison was unharmed and just five days later attended a dinner in his honour that was hosted by a local businessman and keen supporter of aviation, Harry Preston – one of those, along with Morison, who have added their signatures to the cover.
The menu sold on July 15 had been estimated at of £200-300.
Advertising pays off
Sold for £420 in a Dominic Winter sale of July 21 was 'The Record Flight from London to Calcutta'.
Sold for £420 in a Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) sale of July 21 was The Record Flight from London to Calcutta.
Edited by WM Cairncross and published in 1920, this illustrated work tells the story of a flight from London to Calcutta made by Lt Raymond Parer and Lt John Cowe McIntosh of the Australian Flying Corps.
Flying a single-engined machine, they had run out of money by the time they reached Calcutta, so in order to raise funds they opted to make advertising flights over the Indian city for whisky and tea companies and to get this initial account of their flight published.
They did eventually reach Melbourne and the aeroplane survives to this day as part of the Australian War Memorial Collection in Canberra.
