A Croydon coming-to-life on May 5th

Aviation enthusiasts should note that on Bank Holiday, May 5th, Sutton Council will be commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Amy Johnson’s famous solo flight from Croydon Aerodrome to Australia in a DH Moth. Because the London Borough of Sutton owns almost the entire site of the former Croydon Airport they are able to use this historic aerodrome that day for a flying display, passenger flights in two DH Rapide bi-planes, and displays by the Tiger Club of Great Britain which it is hoped will recapture much of the atmosphere of flying in the nineteen-thirties. What is more, a lady pilot will depart from Croydon at 15.30 sharp, in a DH Moth looking reasonably like Amy Johnson’s “Jason”, bound for either Gatwick or Heathrow with commemorative mail and greetings from the Boroughs of Sutton and Croydon, which it is hoped will continue their journey to Port Darwin in the Concorde inaugural flight to Australia. On that day, also, the second volume of “History of Croydon Airport”, dealing with the period 1929 onwards, will been sale and will also be flown to Australia. Nor is that all, because characters associated with flying at Croydon will be invited to a special lunch, before which a simple plaque in memory of Amy’s flight will be unveiled. As public money is involved it has been necessary to make this a commercial occasion, and side shows and sales-stands will line part of the old aerodrome, to which it is hoped to attract at least 50,000 people on May 5th. Car-parking will be free, and admission will be £2.50 per car, individuals otherwise £1 each, children 50p. Sutton Council also hopes to organise an annual Amy Johnson Memorial Lecture, in its Europa Gallery, Sutton. Such interest by a Local Government Department is to be highly commended, and supported. — W.B.