Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 19, 2022 10:36:21 GMT 12
I noted in this article that a New Zealander called Geoffrey Marler flew a Miles Falcon and came fourth in the 1952 Kings Cup Air Race.
I thought I'd see what else I could find on him. Sadly this:
What a sad thing to have happened. My question is, did he fly at other airshows in Britain previously? Was he a well known air display pilot? I had never heard of him till now.
I thought I'd see what else I could find on him. Sadly this:
N.Z.-Born Millionaire Killed In Air Crash
(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter— Copyright) LONDON, Sept. 22.
A New Zealand-born millionaire who lived for flying crashed to his death in front of his wife and three children yesterday. Geoffrey Marler, a 52-year-old shoe tycoon, died when his light aeroplane clipped a row of trees m the front garden of his luxury home and cartwheeled into the sea, the Daily Express” said.
Mr Marler, a noted amateur flyer, was practising for an air display at Shoreham, Sussex, today. He telephoned his wife at their mansion at Angmering-on-Sea, Sussex, and told her to take the children out on to the lawn to watch, the newspaper said.
Mr Marler swooped in low over the lawns in his silver four-seater aeroplane. Disaster came in a flash. The engine failed, the aeroplane clipped the tops of trees on the edge of the garden, and then crashed about 100 yards off-shore. Witnesses said the plane spun into the sea and “disintegrated in a sheet of flame," the “Daily Sketch” said.
Mr Marler’s body was recovered two hours later by search craft.
Mr Marler “practically lived in the air,” said a friend, the newspaper reported. He earned the nickname “the flying shoeman” because he flew thousands of miles all over Europe on business.
Last month, Mr Marler flew a Miles Nighthawk in the national air races at Coventry, Warwickshire, and he often competed in the King’s Cup air race, the newspaper said. The aircraft in which he died was one of several planes he owned.
The Press, PRESS, 24 September 1962
(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter— Copyright) LONDON, Sept. 22.
A New Zealand-born millionaire who lived for flying crashed to his death in front of his wife and three children yesterday. Geoffrey Marler, a 52-year-old shoe tycoon, died when his light aeroplane clipped a row of trees m the front garden of his luxury home and cartwheeled into the sea, the Daily Express” said.
Mr Marler, a noted amateur flyer, was practising for an air display at Shoreham, Sussex, today. He telephoned his wife at their mansion at Angmering-on-Sea, Sussex, and told her to take the children out on to the lawn to watch, the newspaper said.
Mr Marler swooped in low over the lawns in his silver four-seater aeroplane. Disaster came in a flash. The engine failed, the aeroplane clipped the tops of trees on the edge of the garden, and then crashed about 100 yards off-shore. Witnesses said the plane spun into the sea and “disintegrated in a sheet of flame," the “Daily Sketch” said.
Mr Marler’s body was recovered two hours later by search craft.
Mr Marler “practically lived in the air,” said a friend, the newspaper reported. He earned the nickname “the flying shoeman” because he flew thousands of miles all over Europe on business.
Last month, Mr Marler flew a Miles Nighthawk in the national air races at Coventry, Warwickshire, and he often competed in the King’s Cup air race, the newspaper said. The aircraft in which he died was one of several planes he owned.
The Press, PRESS, 24 September 1962
