I Never Scream

Im not sure if anyone is interested in this but while sorting through some things today I came across what I thought was an old hand written letter. It turned out that my late gran had written an account of the time that a flying instructor had tried to get her to scream while flying stunts and also having a bet with my gran's brother. It was in the 1920's and it is believed that the aircraft used was probably an ex RAF Avro 504. I had heard the story several times but never thought that she wrote it down.

One has to remember that in the 1920's privately owned aircraft were not always maintained in A1 condition. Things such as "fraying Bowden cables" that control the control surfaces were commonplace. My gran and her brother never flew together so that they would not both be lost in any accident.

I have copied it onto my computer, word for word, what my gran wrote changing nothing.

I Never Scream!

In the wild days of my youth, my brother, my late husband and I joined an aero club. My brother learnt to fly and took his pilot’s licence. I was keen to loop the loop and my brother had been talking to other members of the club about women screaming. He said that nothing would ever make his sister scream.

The instructor had a wager with my brother that he could make me scream by stunt flying. It was arranged for me to go up and loop the loop. My brother lent me his new car to make the journey of 15 miles to the aero club because my car was in for repair. I thought this was so nice of him. I knew nothing about the stunts and bet except to loop the loop.

The ground staff checked the cockpit harness rather well, I thought, then off we went. My brother had made a rapid repair to my car and with my best friend Gladys had followed me to see the fun.

We looped the loop, spiral dived, did “the stairs”, “hedge hopped”, flew upside down, climbed straight up till the plane fell over and, in fact, every stunt the plane was capable of doing. I did not scream, I was petrified, My brother won his bet.

I can remember the force of the wind on my face and the pull of the straps on my shoulders. When we landed a member of the club presented me with a box of chocolates.

Happy memories.


Additional photo added 20/6/22

Thank you for sharing that. I am from an aviation family and really enjoy hearing from the past. I’m not big on aerobatics although I have been onboard during them in everything from biplanes to jets.
I would be more likely to get sick than scream, though. ;)

My late gran passed away in 1997 but I only found her account of aerobatics, above, yesterday. I should still have her flying helmet but that has yet to surface.

What a wonderful family memoire!
Thany you for sharing; it brought a smile to my face!

Really enjoyed that post.
Bet she fought for the vote too!

I came across a few more photos today which were captioned on the back, one of which identified the flying instructor who tried to get my late gran to scream by stunt flying as John Goodyear. Looking up his name on the net confirmed what I suspected that he was ex RAF, learning to fly at the end of WW1, before eventually becoming flying instructor to the Eastern Counties Aero Club, of which my gran and her brother were members. John can be seen, in the pic below, with his wife, Dorothy, standing next to a De Havilland Moth.

The group photo are some of the members of the Eastern Counties Aero Club in front of a Robinson Redwing aircraft and the photo is taken at the club's home at Blue Barns airfield, near Colchester. The aircraft in flight is a Robinson Redwing.

1933 Who's Who in British Aviation: Name G - Graces Guide