Blackburn Bluebird G-AATM at Norton (Coal Aston) aerodrome.
On Saturday, 27th August 1932 a flying gala was being held at Coal Aston to raise funds for the Sheffield Royal Hospital Centenary Fund. One of the attending aircraft was owned by the Brough company "North Sea Aerial and Transport Ltd." who gave RAF pilots refresher or initial flying training at that time. The pilot of the aircraft was an experienced First World War pilot and was at Brough at that time though his service records do not suggest he was an instructor there. He was an experienced wartime pilot having served in the RNAS before transferring to the newly created RAF having flown sea planes off Malta for a time. During the flight around Coal Aston he was demonstrating a bombing procedure using flour bombs and had released flour bombs onto a moving baby car on the aerodrome site. While making a turn over the aerodrome the aircraft stalled and dived toward the ground. It struck the parked Segrave Meteor aeroplane and owned by George Kenning (probably G-AAXP) and narrowly missed several people close to it before crashing close to a hangar. The Bluebird was badly damaged and it took some time for the seriously injured pilot to be freed from the wreckage. He received serious injuries and then died on 6th October 1932. The location of the old Coal Aston aerodrome appears to have been on land what is now Jordanthorpe housing estate, slightly north of Coal Aston. I believe the crash site to have been in Yorkshire. George Kenning had arranged the aeroplane and pilots to attend the gala, ironic it was his aeroplane that received damage as a result of this accident.
Elsewhere on the internet it is claimed that this aircraft was flying as part of Sir Alan Cobham's flying circus tour (called his "National Aviation Day" display tour) but their history is well documented on the www.afleetingpeace.org website and on 27th August 1932 they were at Abergavenny so this would seem unlikely it was also at Coal Aston on the same day. Cobham's display did come to Coal Aston on 8th / 9th July 1932. It was probably held in the same field as The Yorkshire Show was held.
Pilot - F/O John Leonard Mayer DFC RAFO, aged 34. Of Stoke on Trent. Died of injuries 6th October 1932. Buried Biddulph Churchyard, Staffordshire.
John Mayer was born on 20th July 1898 in Biddulph, Staffordshire.
Blackburn Bluebird was first registered on the British civilian register on 4th February 1930 to North Sea Aerial & Transport Ltd. at Brough. As a result of the crash near Coal Aston the aircraft was recorded as being destroyed in December 1932.