Sir Alan John Cobham
(1894-1973), Pioneer aviatorSitter in 29 portraits
Cobham joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 and was commissioned as an instructor. After the war he worked for De Havilland as a test pilot, and made his name in long-distance flights to Rangoon, Burma (present-day Yangon, Myanmar, 1924), the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa (1925-6) and Australia (1926), establishing air routes for Imperial Airways. From the 1930s he pioneered the development of in-flight refuelling, and set up a company to develop its potential. As a taxi-pilot giving commercial 'joyrides', and through his air display company of 1934, he spread interest in aviation and contributed to the popularisation of air travel. He wrote several books including an autobiography, A Time to Fly (1978).
by Frank Salisbury
oil on canvas, 1926
NPG 5018
by Vaughan & Freeman
bromide print, 1920s
NPG x139732
Sir Alan John Cobham; Michael Cobham; Gladys Lloyd Cobham
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 17 March 1926
NPG x19418
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 17 March 1926
NPG x19419
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 17 March 1926
NPG x19420
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 17 March 1926
NPG x19421
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 1927
NPG x3390
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 1927
NPG x3392
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 1927
NPG x3393
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 1927
NPG x3394
by Howard Coster
toned bromide print on textured paper, 1927
NPG Ax2277
by Howard Coster
half-plate film negative, 1928
NPG x3391
Gladys Lloyd Cobham; Sir Alan John Cobham and members of Banbury town council
by Unknown photographer
bromide print, 26 April 1932
NPG x3774
by Bassano Ltd
bromide press print, 30 October 1947
NPG x184119
Sir Alan John Cobham; Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett
by Jimmy Wilds, for Keystone Press Agency Ltd
bromide press print, 28 May 1947
NPG x184321
by Brenard Press Ltd
bromide press print, 28 May 1947
NPG x184322
by Walter Stoneman
bromide print, 1952
NPG x166632
by Howard Coster
bromide print
NPG x1793
by David Jagger
brush and black ink with white heightening, circa 1926-1927
NPG D42941
Sir Charles Cheers Wakefield; Sir Alan John Cobham and eight unknown sitters
by Fred Roe
photogravure, 4 October 1926
NPG D43179a
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