Croydon Airport - Aviators, Pioneers and Aircraft

Aviators, Pioneers and Aircraft

The aerodrome was known the world over, its fame being spread by the many aviators and pioneers who touched down at Croydon, such as:

• Alan Cobham, who flew from Croydon to Cape Town and back in 1925-6;
• Charles Lindbergh, who flew into Croydon in 1927 shortly after completing the first solo trans-Atlantic flight;
• Bert Hinkler, who made the first flight from Croydon to Darwin, Australia in 1928;
• Charles Kingsford Smith, who beat Hinkler's record;
• Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly from Croydon to Australia, later to return to Croydon to a jubilant welcome.
• Winston Churchill, who took extensive flying lessons at Croydon and was nearly killed during a crash at take-off in 1919.
• Tom Campbell Black, who with C. W. A. Scott won the MacRobertson London to Melbourne Air Race in 1934;
• Juan de la Cierva, the Spanish inventor of the autogyro, who died in an aviation accident on 9 December 1936.