British Civil Aviation in 1937

1 March
The Air Registration Board is formed.

5 July
Imperial Airways and Pan American World Airways (Pan-Am) undertake the first North Atlantic flying-boat route survey.

18 October
Jean Batten establishes a new solo record, flying from Darwin in Australia to Lympne in Kent in 5 days 18 hours 15 minutes, in a Percival Gull Six.

14-20 November
Flight Officer A.E. Clouston and Mrs Betty Kirby-Green establish a record for a return flight from the United Kingdom to South Africa. Flying a de Havilland DH88 Comet (G-ACSS ‘The Burberry’), the flight takes 5 days 17 hours 28 minutes.

Also this year…
The Armstrong Whitworth Ensign becomes the first British aircraft with a hydraulic, retractable undercarriage.