British Civil Aviation in 1933

6-9 February
J.A. Mollison establishes a new United Kingdom to South America record and becomes the first pilot to fly solo between the two continents. Taking off from Lympne in Kent and landing at Port Natal in Brazil, he also becomes the first to fly the South Atlantic solo from east to west and the first pilot to make a solo flight across both the North and South Atlantics.

3 April
Westland PV3 and PV6 become the first aircraft to fly over Mount Everest. The crews are Squadron Leader the Marquis of Douglas and Clydesdale and L.V.S. Blacker and Flight Lieutenant D.F. McIntyre and S.R. Bonnet.

22-24 July
Amy (Johnson) and Jim Mollison make an east to west crossing of the North Atlantic, flying a de Havilland DH84 Dragon. While attempting to land at Brideport in Connecticut the aircraft overturns and is wrecked, but neither crew member is seriously injured.

4-11 October
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith takes off from Lympne in Kent on a solo flight to Wyndham in Western Australia. He establishes a new record time of 7 days 4 hours 44 minutes, flying a Percival Gull Four.

Also this year…
The Airspeed AS5 Courier becomes the first United Kingdom airliner with a retractable undercarriage.