A TALK and a film were enjoyed by members of the Probus Club of St Austell after a lunch at the Britannia Inn.

Member Chris Williams, a local historian, gave a talk on the Cornwall Aviation Company and its founder, Captain Percival Phillips, whilst membership secretary Mark Bardsley showed a film from the 1920s about the aeronautical displays made by the captain and his team.

A club spokesperson said: “Sightseeing and joy-riding flights were on offer, taking place at Rocky Park, once a popular venue on the edge of St Austell, near St Mewan. The same opportunities to experience flights were available throughout the country as Captain Phillips took the Cornwall Aviation Company far and wide.

“Captain Phillips was an experienced mechanic and joined the DCLI (Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry) in 1914 as a mechanic before being transferred to the newly-formed RFC (Royal Flying Corps) as an aircraft engineer. He then took to the air as a gunner before being chosen as a pilot by Major de Havilland.

“He saw plenty of wartime action, including being shot down, and won the DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) for heroic action attacking enemy Kurds emplaced in a ravine in Mesopotamia.

“In 1922, he returned to St Austell, married and set up the Hill & Phillips motor garage with a partner. In 1924, he provided pleasure flights from Rocky Park and throughout the country. The Cornwall Aviation Company owned eight versatile and reliable Avro 504 aircraft.

“Captain Phillips also joined Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus, travelling widely and giving thrilling flying displays plus aerial acrobats, stuntmen doing wing-walking and other dangerous tricks.

“After a job involving towing aerial adverts in Cambridgeshire, the captain visited friends near where he was working but, on his return trip to home, he encountered very bad weather which brought his aeroplane down in woods. He was killed instantly.”