C. W. A. Scott (original) (raw)

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Flight Lieutenant Charles William Anderson Scott, AFC (13 February 1903 – 15 April 1946) was an English aviator. He won the MacRobertson Air Race, a race from London to Melbourne, in 1934, in a time of 71 hours. Born on Friday the 13th, he was the son of Charles Kennedy Scott, who was founder of the Oriana Madrigal Society and the founder and conductor of the Philharmonic Choir. Scott was also the great nephew of Lord Scott-Dickson, a Scottish Unionist politician and judge. Scott was born in London and was educated at Westminster School. He was a keen musician, poet and yachtsman. After leaving school he served on a sugar plantation in British Guiana for a short time before returning to England and in 1922 joining the Royal Air Force, where he learned to fly. While serving with the RAF, Scott gained a reputation for his aerobatic skill and was RAF heavyweight boxing champion for two consecutive years. He left the RAF in 1926 and emigrated to Australia, where he took up a post as a commercial pilot for the fledgling airline company Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (now Qantas). In 1929, while on leave from QANTAS following a crash in a de Havilland DH.50J, Scott met his first wife Kathleen. In 1930, he broke the solo record from Brisbane to Melbourne in a de Havilland DH.60 Gipsy Moth aeroplane to get to the birth of his daughter Rosemary. Scott broke the England–Australia solo flight record in 1931, flying a de Havilland DH.60 Moth. For this achievement, the King awarded him the Air Force Cross in 1931. Competing against fellow pilots such as Bert Hinkler, Charles Kingsford Smith and Jim Mollison, Scott went on to beat the Australia–England solo flight record in 1932 and then re-took the England–Australia the same year. In 1934, he was picked, along with Tom Campbell Black, to fly one of three purpose-built de Havilland DH.88 Comet Racers to compete in the MacRobertson Air Race, which is still considered the world's greatest air race. Scott and Black won the race, breaking the England–Australia flight record of 162 hours down to 52 hours and 33 minutes. They reached the finish line in Melbourne in 71 hours, winning the £10.000 prize money and becoming world-famous overnight. Following the race, Scott received several medals and awards, including the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club, and was celebrated wherever he went, including invitations from King Edward VIII. In 1936, Scott took over Sir Alan Cobham's National Air Displays Ltd and for one season operated C.W.A. Scott Flying Display Ltd. In September that year, he won another air race; flying a Percival Vega Gull, he and Giles Guthrie won the Schlesinger Air Race from Portsmouth to Johannesburg, South Africa, again winning the £10,000 prize money. Before the race, Scott married his second wife, Greta Bremna, but they divorced in 1940. With the onset of World War II Scott served for a time as an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) civil defence ambulance driver then he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) as a lieutenant, and took part in the Dakar landing. He also spent a period as an Atlantic ferry pilot and was stationed with de Havilland Canada as a test pilot, testing newly built de Havilland Mosquitos and training pilots to fly them. Following the war, and after becoming estranged from his third wife, Scott took a post at the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) headquarters in Germany. On 15 April 1946, while in a state of depression, he fatally wounded himself with a gunshot, using his military-issue revolver. (en)

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Arthur Swinson "The Great Air Race" (en)
Scott's speech Movietone (en)

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0001-04-15 (xsd:gMonthDay)
A very short time ago I was sitting in the cockpit of an aeroplane flying towards an almost mythical place called Melbourne. It had seemed to us as we started about 5 centuries ago, and that Melbourne as soon as we caught up one mile, receded two! So that made our journey very much longer than we had previously supposed. Particularly though it seems remarkable that only two hours ago one was in such a mental state, and now one is in a very different mental state, terribly embarrassed by your enthusiasm and yet very gracious to you all indeed for being so kind and welcoming us here this afternoon. Actually I wouldn't know I was here only somebody gave me a paper, and I see that it has my name on it, and of course as we all know, the press never lies! So, I don't think that I better say any more because I’ve talking too much to Campbell Black the last three days and I've got quite husky, I've been roaring at him ! He hasn't been roaring quite so much so I'm going to get him to talk. (en)

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Flight Lieutenant Charles William Anderson Scott, AFC (13 February 1903 – 15 April 1946) was an English aviator. He won the MacRobertson Air Race, a race from London to Melbourne, in 1934, in a time of 71 hours. (en)

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