Straight Corporation
of 17 Manchester Square, London W.1.
1935 The Straight Corporation was established by Whitney Willard Straight, who then gave up motor racing. It was funded by Straight's own trust, with the objective of controlling up to 15 municipal airports, with first-class terminals, restaurants and flight training facilities.
1936 Discussions about leasing airfields with:
- Exeter aerodrome was to be developed by the Straight Corporation[1].
- Hull Council discussed leasing the race course for an airport but could not reach agreement[2]
- Ipswich Town Council; they obtained a 21 year lease of the aerodrome[3]
- Inverness Corporation, about Longman Municipal Aerodrome[4] which was agreed.
- Mansfield Corporation was approached[5]
- Leeds rejected an offer to take over the Racecourse and run it as a municipal airport, preferring it to be used for gliding.[6]
- Plymouth agreed to a lease[7] for Roborough airport
- Ramsgate, which was in use the following year[8]
- Stoke-on-Trent, about Meir Aerodrome[9] but discussions ended in September[10]
1936 Set up Southern Airways Ltd
By 1937 also controlled Haldon Aerodrome, Teignmouth
1937 The Corporation controlled a string of municipal aerodromes in various ...[11] and provided flying instruction at several of them.
1938 "Straight Corporation, one of the biggest aviation combines in the country, has acquired a controlling interest in Western Airways, Ltd., by the introduction of £15.000 worth of capital. Mr. Whitney Straight, the millionaire aviation ..."[12]
1938 "The Straight Corporation, Ltd., announces that the service connecting Swansea, Cardiff, and Weston-super-Mare, inaugurated by Western Airways on July 27, has been so successful that although it was originally intended ..."[13] . ".. the first season's flying at the new Clacton Airport has been very satisfactory. Since commencing operations at Whitsun 4,301 passengers have been carried on pleasure flights, and 600 passengers carried on the ..."[14]
1938 Straight Corporation, Ltd. was authorised to run this summer a regular passenger air service between Cardiff-Le Touquet and Paris.[15] A similar service to France from Weston-Super-Mare was also authorised[16][17]
1938 Civil Air Guard training at the five aerodromes controlled by the Straight Corporation — Ipswich, Ramsgate, Exeter, Haldon and Plymouth — will start on October 1[18]
1938 Mr Whitney Straight now has eleven (airports), as well as two air lines Western Airways and Southern Airways. Western Airways carried 24,000 passengers last year, which was more than any other internal air line in this country.[19]
1939 Cardiff Corporation Airport Committee decided not to accept proposals made some weeks ago by Mr. Whitney Straight to take over control of the Cardiff Aerodrome.[20]
1939 "It did not necessarily follow from the Straight Corporation's claim that, because of their experience in the management of nine other aerodromes, they (the Straight Corporation) were more competent to show better results than had been done ..."[21]
1939 In four years, Mr. Straight has created an organisation that now controls eight airports, six civil flying ..[22]
1939 Formed Straight Aviation Training Ltd with a view to providing commercial flying training.
WWII "... one of the few companies who have been permitted to operate their air lines all through the war period, i.e. Straight Corporation, operating the Swansea, Cardiff, Weston, Exeter. &c., routes up to the outbreak of war, have been suppressed for the ..."[23]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Western Morning News 06 January 1937
- ↑ Hull Daily Mail 25 September 1936
- ↑ Weston-super-Mare Gazette 29 February 1936
- ↑ Highland News 06 June 1936
- ↑ Nottingham Evening Post 23 April 1936
- ↑ Leeds Mercury 26 May 1936
- ↑ Western Morning News 11 March 1936
- ↑ Weekly Dispatch (London) 14 March 1937
- ↑ Staffordshire Sentinel 23 July 1936
- ↑ Staffordshire Sentinel 24 September 1936
- ↑ Daily News (London) 03 July 1937
- ↑ Weston-super-Mare Gazette 15 January 1938
- ↑ Western Mail 08 September 1938
- ↑ Essex Newsman 22 October 1938
- ↑ Evening News (London) 10 June 1938
- ↑ Yorkshire Evening Post 10 June 1938
- ↑ Western Daily Press 11 June 1938
- ↑ Evening News (London) 20 September 1938
- ↑ The Bystander 21 December 1938
- ↑ Western Mail 24 January 1939
- ↑ Western Mail 24 January 1939
- ↑ Truth 07 July 1939
- ↑ Western Mail 13 March 1945
- [1] Wikipedia