Leavesden, Hertfordshire.



M/S of a Rolls Royce towing an autogyro, coming to a halt next to an airfield. Wing Commander Kenneth Wallis of the RAF gets out of the car, lifts the machine off and starts to prepare it for flying as the commentator tells us he built it himself and uses it for cross country flying.



C/U of the propellor and engine of the machine. Wallis puts on his helmet and climbs astride the machine; C/Us of the controls as he moves the joystick and foot pedals around; mix into M/S as he flies through the air with the greatest of ease at quite a low height, and smiles at the camera as he zooms past!



Various shots of Wallis flying as the commentator gives us lots of technical information on the auto gyro and tells us it took Wallis 9 months to build it in his spare time. Nice M/S as he flies towards us, swinging left and right.



As Wallis comes in to land commentator says "Furthermore, it's doubly safe, because if the engine should stall, the rotor would continue to freewheel, and the machine drifts gently down. The only trouble is that they're not in the shops yet!". Exactly! I want one!



Note: There is a fascinating letter on file from Wing Commander Wallis about his autogyro, and stressing the fact that it is not as easy to build and fly as it might seem. Also on file is a small newspaper article with photo.
FILM ID:123.06

A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT'S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASSIC MOVIES. http://www.britishpathe.tv/

FOR LICENSING ENQUIRIES VISIT http://www.britishpathe.com/

British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (19101932), Empire News Bulletin (19261930), British Paramount (19311957), and Gaumont British (19341959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website. https://www.britishpathe.com/