An original four-page programme for Empire Air Day at R.A.F. Station Hornchurch, Essex, held on Saturday 25th May 1935, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. A scarce and evocative piece of 1930s RAF and Essex aviation history, from the era when Hornchurch's fighter squadrons were still flying biplanes.

THE PROGRAMME. The front cover is printed in dark blue within a decorative border, with the Royal Air Force badge, the station and date, and the price: "Price Twopence". It states that the proceeds in excess of expenses, apart from the sale of the Air League booklet, would go to the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, and the booklet proceeds to the Air League of the British Empire. The printer is given at the foot as The Adjutants Press Ltd, Ludgershall, Wilts.

Inside, the left-hand page carries the visitor "Notices": free car park on the Parade Ground, refreshments in the South Hangar, guides with white arm bands, first aid, lost children, a warning not to approach aircraft with engines running, and bus services between Romford and Rainham and between Romford and Aveley via the Aerodrome. The facing page is the "Programme of Events", with timings from 2.15 to 5.30 p.m.: aerobatics, loops, rolls and diving by Bulldogs of No. 54 (Fighter) Squadron, formation air drill by 9 Bulldogs with orders passed by radio telephony, a mock air fight with a flight of 3 aircraft attacking a flight of 3 bombers, 9 Demons of No. 65 (Fighter) Squadron, flight aerobatics by 3 Gauntlets of No. 19 (Fighter) Squadron, an interval from 4.30 to 5.00, and a finale with six flights flying past in succession. It also notes that a Saro Cloud amphibian aircraft was expected to land after the interval.

The back page explains that No. 54 Squadron was equipped with Bulldog aircraft with Bristol Jupiter engines and No. 65 Squadron with Demon aircraft with Rolls-Royce Kestrel engines, that a de Havilland Moth light aeroplane was on view in the North Hangar, and that by permission of No. 312 Searchlight Company, R.E. (T), a searchlight and sound locator were on show. It lists the buildings open to the public, including both hangars, workshops, the armoury lecture room, parachute section, technical stores, transport section, education and lecture rooms, two barrack blocks, the Station Institute and sick quarters, and mentions demonstrations of radio telephony near the hangars.

BACKGROUND. Empire Air Day was organised by the Air League of the British Empire, with RAF stations around the country opened to the public to see the Service at its everyday work. The first was held in 1934 and the 1935 event was the second, and reports at the time put attendance at the Service aerodromes at around 136,000 visitors, with about £5,600 raised for RAF charities. They continued each year until 1939. RAF Hornchurch, in Essex, was home to fighter squadrons throughout the 1930s and later became one of the best-known fighter stations of the Battle of Britain. The Bristol Bulldog was one of the RAF's main single-seat biplane fighters of the early 1930s, and the Hawker Demon was a two-seat fighter variant of the Hart family, so this programme captures the RAF's front line on the eve of the rearmament and the arrival of the monoplane fighters.

SIZE: approximately 13 cm x 20 cm (about 5 x 8 inches) when closed. Four pages, a single folded sheet.

CONDITION: a genuine 90-year-old programme with the wear that goes with it. The paper is a thin, soft stock and shows light toning, vertical and horizontal fold creases, general creasing and rippling, some small spots and marks, and wear to the edges, with the top edge slightly wrinkled and a small mark near the top corner. The print is clear and all the text is easy to read. There are no names or annotations that I can see. Please look at all the pictures carefully, which form part of the description.

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CS14 - 2C