Bay's skies were filled with planes as far back as 1914
ALTHOUGH the nearest airport is miles away, Torbay has seen many airborne arrivals over the years.
As early as 1914 Daily Mail airmen Salmet and Rayman were offering tourist flights from Preston Green. Entrepreneur Paris Singer, of Oldway Mansion, erected marquees as temporary hangars.
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missile: Blood Hound surface-to-air missile on display on Paignton Green in July, 1986, for an RAF show
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crash landing: A Hawker Typhoon which crash landed on Meadfoot Beach, Torquay, in 1942
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watery landing: Amphibian aircraft off Paignton on May 10, 1972
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SPOT THE WRECKAGE: Pieces of a plane washed up (ringed) on Elbury Cove on March 13, 1972
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FLYING VISIT: An Avro seaplane which took off from Preston Green flies past the Redcliffe Hotel on Paignton seafront. Inset: A Short Sunderland flying boat pictured in Torbay 1949
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In later years tourist flights were operated by former RAF pilot Captain Truelove for 'thirty bob' (£1.50 in today's money) per flight.
The Second World War saw much activity in the air, some of it malevolent and destructive.
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The picture of the Hawker Typhoon on Meadfoot beach, Torquay, in 1942 is a reminder of the risks pilots faced.
The crash landing wrote-off the plane, but the pilot survived. He's probably the man standing on the wing. The plane was salvaged, but parts of it were still being recovered into the 1970s by memorabilia collectors.
Short Sunderland flying boats were also seen in Torbay during the war years. They were based at RAF Mount Batten in Plymouth and patrolled the skies looking for U-boats.
The picture here was taken after the war, on July 30, 1949 when local ATC cadets were invited on board and taken for a flight along the coast.
A picture taken on March 1972 poses a mystery. It is captioned 'plane wreckage at Elbury Cove' and just visible is part of a fuselage on the beach near Brixham. If readers can provide an explanation please write or email in.
Needing less explanation is the visit of a seaplane to Paignton a few months later, on May 10, 1972. Seaplanes became quite regular visitors to the bay in the 1970s at the height of tourism boom.
Finally a reminder that the RAF doesn't just fly aircrafts but also shoots them down. The Bloodhound surface-to-air missile was on display on Paignton Green in July, 1986.
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