Ed. 'Public School' m. 1923 Una St Mary [Kittoe] Address in 1940: Vince Cottage, Kingsdown, Deal, Kent Next of Kin: (brother) Squadron Leader Murray Payn, [who had "taught Prince Bernard to fly at Hatfield", according to Lettice Curtis] prev. a Company Director; also a racing motorist [at Brooklands, and in the 1931 French Grand Prix] prev. exp. 390 hrs Had owned an SE5A and a 1929 Avro 504K G-AARV [which he wrote off in an accident in 1931], but had also flown "Tiger Moth, Miles Hawk, Comper Swift, Desoutter etc" Postings: 1FPP, 2FPP, 15FPP "An extremely keen and helpful member of the Pool" Rather accident-prone, though... 9 accidents in 15 months, (admittedly only 3 of them deemed to be his fault) - 2 Nov 1940, accident in a Hurricane, "not blamed but guilty of indiscretion and poor judgement"; - 17 Nov 1940, hydraulic failure in a Master, "pilot showed good judgement"; - 18 Dec 1940, taxied a Hurricane into a parked lorry, due to low brake pressure; - 13 Feb 41, heavy landing in a Hurricane, damaging a wing tip; - 26 Apr 1941, landed a Spitfire with the undercarriage up; - 8 Jun 1941, accident in a Tomahawk (for which he was deemed "Not Responsible, as information which would have helped was not available to him"); - 3 Nov 1941, collided with a stationary Blenheim in (of all things) a Handley Page Hereford, after his port engine failed, and - 18 Nov 1941, forced landing in a Swordfish after engine failure; - 25 Jan 1942, forced landing in a Spitfire after engine failure. d. 22 Sep 1942, at the Victoria Hospital in Deal, while on sick leave, "after a short ilness" Buried St James Cemetery, Dover His brother Murray wrote to Gerard d'Erlanger: "[His death] is very sad but I would like you to know that Armstrong was very happy in the ATA." Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file): |
1928
ELC
