Surrey Air Services

Surrey Flying Services

Based in Croydon, Southsea, Yarmouth and Portsmouth 1919-34. Surrey Flying Services Ltd operated a flying school from Croydon Aerodrome. In 1929 they built a biplane designed by John Bewsher, who had earlier designed the ANEC Missel Thrush. The Surrey Flying Services AL.1 was a single-engined side-by-side two-seater. It was a single-bay biplane, with considerable stagger and with wings of constant and equal chord, built using spruce and three ply construction with fabric covering. The upper wing span was slightly greater than that of the lower. Simple spruce parallel interplane struts were used, leaning slightly outwards; on the underside of the lower wing, beneath these struts, were fitted looped wire protector skids.[1] The centre section was supported by two pairs of outward-leaning cabane struts linking the upper fuselage longerons to the front and rear wing spars. The rear pair of these was just in front of the open cockpit; above the occupants the wing trailing edge was cut back to the rear spar for improved visibility, and the lower wing had small nicks at the root for the same purpose. The fuselage was flat sided, fabric covered over ash longerons with a rounded decking, deepest at the cockpit, from tail to nose. The tail surfaces were also fabric covered wooden structures. The fin was quite small and triangular, carrying a generous, semicircular unbalanced rudder on a hinge which leaned forward in flying attitude. The rudder continued down to the fuselage bottom, so the elevators, mounted with the tailplane on the top of fthe fuselage had a cut out in which it could move. The cockpit was fully upholstered, with a large luggage space behind that could alternatively have seated a child. The AL.1 was powered by a 95 hp (71 kW) seven cylinder Salmson AC.7 radial engine, mounted without a cowling and driving a two-bladed propeller. The undercarriage was a single axle unit with the main legs attached at the front spar roots. The legs were braced, unusually, by struts from the axle to the forward fuselage just behind the engine. The undercarriage legs splayed outwards to produce a large track. The wheels were wire braced, though in some images they are covered. There was a tailskid on the rear fuselage. The AL.1 first flew in 1929. Registered G-AALP in the name of the Flying School secretary it flew occasionally until 1931. Plans to market it and a proposed Cirrus engined variant were defeated by the economic depression, and in 1931 the sole AL.1 was stored. In September 1936 there was an advertisement in Flight, offering it for sale at £65. In May 1938 it was bought by Bertram Arden of Exeter, who restored and flew it up to the outbreak of war in 1939. It is currently stored by the Arden Family Trust.

Some log notes from SFS.

1921: "The five-seater Avros carried nearly 500 passengers in one day last week - some flying!"

1922: "Surrey Flying Services have been having a busy time lately. They have been erecting another Avro to add to their joy-ride fleet and, with this completed, have now started on the erection of a D.H. 9."

June 1922: "There is now too much work for the one Avro. Mr. Yule (sic), who has been engaged for the last three years piloting machines in Norway, has joined the Surrey Flying Services as pilot, and will be in charge of the new Avro when it is away on joy-riding excursions. During the week-end, Capt. Muir has been at Leighton Buzzard, taking up joyriders in connection with a carnival that is being held there."

April 1931: "Mr. E. Smith, well known as a pilot of Surrey Flying Services, was killed instantaneously when he and his companion, Mr. C. M. Brown, who was the owner of the machine, crashed in the centre of some cross-roads in Wallington. The machine was an Avro Avian, G-EBZD, which originally belonged to Airways Publications, Ltd., but was sold to Mr. Brown some time ago."

June 1930: "Surrey Flying Services have had three joy-riding machines constantly in commission over the week-end, during which period they carried over 1,000 passengers, in addition to which 20 pupils are under dual instruction on the Avian, and the D.H.9 is kept busy on Continental work."

In September 1939 the government dispersed the fleet to Weston Super Mare Airport.

Freddie Laker followed up his acquisition of bankrupt Surrey Flying Services in February 1951 with the purchase of loss-making Air Charter Ltd later the same year.

(below) SFS advertising postcard