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Scott's Co-pilot Has Had Colourful Career.
When the name of Thomas Campbell
Black was linked with Scott's as co-
pilot of A.O. Edwards' de Havilland
Comet, it was apparent that the com-
bination would become one of the
highest-rated teams in the Centenary
air race. Both are men of unconquer-
able spirit and determination. Both are
past masters of the art of long-distance
flying.
Yet few people, outside aviation
circles, had heard the name of Campbell
Black before. That was not surprising,
for Black, in common with his
colleague Scott, has an unassuming
manner bordering on tht deferential,
and for many years now has done his
job in commercial aviation with a
minimum of fuss and a maxinum of
efficiency.
Black entered aviation during the
war and flew with both the Royal
Naval Air Service and the Royal Air
Force. After several years of flying in
its most dangerous form and chose to
continue his career in the air
and was at the controls of the machine
from which the first air picture of
the crater of Vesuvius was obtained.He
was in Egypt for some time, flying
Royal Air Force machines.
Finally he turned his attention to
commercial aviation, and earned dis-
tinction in 1929 when he flew from
Narobi to London, a distance of 5000
miles, in eight days. This was the first
flight between East Africa and England.
He returned to Africa and piloted the
machines of Wilson Airways over regu
lar routes. In 1931 he completed a
flight of 1600 miles, linking up the four
capitals of the British dependencies in
one day. His frequent trips from East
Africa to London —he has made 13—
provided him with useful experience
which has undoubtedly stood him in
good stead.
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