Cobham Air Routes

The Envoy on a Cobham luggage label.

I think you’re right, lazy 8. The G-INFO details are incomplete, since they contain no reference to ownership prior to that of North Eastern.

There is, however, an unusual handstamp. It is indistinct in places but seems to read: ” THIS ENTRY COPIED on 1st JANUARY .. from FORMER REGISTER“

I show an image below but you might wish to look at the G-INFO page itself. Here’s the link:

https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ADBA.pdf

I think that says ‘Census’, which would imply the paperwork was a bit late catching up with reality.

AJ Jackson wrote that North Eastern Airways acquired three Envoys (G-ADAZ, G-ADBB and G-ADBZ) which were often used on the Croydon-Edinburgh route and, as longshot says, that G-ADBA was bought by Olley Air Service (its C. of A. being issued on 18 April 1935) and Olley sold it on to Cobham Air Routes Ltd. for use on its Bournemouth service.

G-INFO says that, on 2 February 1937, G-ADBA was registered to North Eastern Airways. The latter’s G-ADBB, according to Jackson, had gone to the Spanish Civil War in September 1936 but, on 22 January 1937, its G-ADBZ crashed , leaving North Eastern with a single Envoy. This, I would suggest, is the likely reason why North Eastern moved to purchase G-ADBA from Cobham so promptly.

Jackson says that G-ADBA next went to the Air Council in January 1939; G-INFO specifies 1 January 1939 but has also has a reference to 1938 in parentheses. I show an image below – can anyone read what it says? (It doesn’t look like “Cancelled” to me but that’s the closest I can get)

Peter Moss did not list G-ADBA as an impressment but says that, while seven Envoys were manufactured to an Air Ministry contract, an eighth (namely G-ADBA) was bought second-hand from North Eastern and became, as longshot said, P9778.

The Wikipedia account is incomplete…the Envoy (G-ADBA)was sold to Olley Air Services then involved in various thwarted sales attempts to Spain, used in the film Q planes as E-97, impressed in WWII as P9778 (info Air -Britain)…photo is in front of Croydon Airport Hotel and is in the Swissair archive http://ba.e-pics.ethz.ch/index.jspx?locale=en#1526296867588_7

The Wikipedia entry is almost identical to the entry in Air Britain’s Airlines of the British Isles, except in the AB item the fleet list includes Envoy G-ADBA in addition to the Courier and three Wessex.