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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0409.PDF
40913 April 1956 5/7ver City's fine terminal at Ferryfield flies the Duke's personal Standard during his visit on April 5th. Duke of Edinburgh with Silver City First Visit to a British Private Airline JUST before 1100 hr on Thursday of last week, the Royal Heron,piloted by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, touched down at Ferryfield Airport, Kent, and taxied to a stop by the terminalbuilding between two Silver City Superfreighters. It was the Duke's first visit to a British private-enterprise airline—and,incidentally, an appropriate sequel to his presentation to Silver City last October of the Cumberbatch Trophy, the Common-wealth's highest safety award. The airline's cross-Channel car ferry was operating at its usual brisk tempo, and before samplingit for himself the Duke, with Mr. E. C. Mekie and A. Cdre. G. J. Powell (respectively Silver City's chairman and managing director)as his hosts, had a look behind the scenes. Ferryfield—built in the first six monthsof 1954 by Silver City's contractors, Richard Costain, Ltd.—is notable for itsclean and pleasing terminal building, and for its up-to-date and well equippedcontrol tower, in which the Duke re- marked on the similarity of the Deccainstallation to that in the Royal Yacht Britannia. He drove round the site ofextensive new additions to Ferryfield's facilities (about which we hope to saymore in a future issue) and looked inside the big maintenance hangar, where for afew moments work was suspended on the maintenance of a Wayfarer and a Super-freighter. Some thirty Silver City en- gineers, attired in what one newspaperafterwards described as "spotless" over- alls, were presented, and it is reportedthat the Duke remarked to one: "I bet you take that nice clean overall off whenI've gone." Just before lunch, after an aperitif inthe airport restaurant, the Duke boarded Superfreighter G-AMWD (in whose holdtwo export cars, a Sunbeam Rapier and a Triumph T.R.3, were loaded) for the19-minute flight to Le Touquet. The pilot was Capt. D. Flett, Silver City'ssenior captain; and the co-pilot, who gave his seat to the Duke for the flight, was Capt. C. A. A. Hopkins. As the Duke was unfamiliar withthe Superfreighter he left the take-off and landing to Capt. Flett, but he flew the aircraft at its scheduled height of 1,000ft en route.He was received at Le Touquet by Dr. J. Pouget, president of the French Aero Clubs, who at the informal lunch in the airport res-taurant proposed the loyal toast; the toast to the president of the French Republic was proposed by Mr. E. C. Mekie, Silver City'schairman. At 1350 hr, on schedule to the minute, the Duke flew off in his Heron (which S/L. B. G. Stanbridge had brought overfrom Ferryfield), bound for London Airport for an appointment to inspect the control tower and approach-control system there. (Above) aboard Superfreighter "Whiskey Delta" for the flight to Le Touquet, with A. Cdre. G. J. Powell (centre). Silver City's man- aging director, and Mr. E. C. Mekie, chairman. The pilot was the firm's senior captain, Capt. D. Flett (left), with Capt. C. I. Hopkins (right) as co-pilot. (Left) The Royal Heron, flown by the Duke, arrives at Ferryfield.
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