The Cambridge Flying Group is a non-profit-making group open to all, which has been training people to fly for 70 years, just for the love of flying.
The Tiger Moth is a very basic aeroplane with few modern aids. Although more difficult to fly than modern aircraft, it is an excellent trainer. It was used as the basic trainer by the RAF and Commonwealth Air Forces, for almost all of the pilots who went on to fly the numerous types of aircraft in World War Two.
Nothing can match the thrill of flying in a historic open cockpit biplane, or the satisfaction of mastering all the techniques required to fly it well.
One of our two Tiger Moths, G-AHIZ, was built in 1944 and has an exclusively civilian flying history. The other Tiger Moth, G-AOEI, was built in 1939 and served in France with the British Expeditionary Force, before escaping back to England during the Dunkirk evacuations. She has a very interesting wartime history, as detailed later.
After WW2, the government realised how important it was to have a base of civilian pilots that could be called upon if the worst ever happened again. So, they encouraged civilian flying by subsidising the cost.
The No 22 Cambridge Private Flying Group was formed in 1953, under the auspices of the Popular Flying Association. The group recruited 3 former RAF pilots as instructors, all of whom had served in WW2. New students were initially taught on a Taylorcraft Plus C2, changing shortly after to the first Tiger Moth, G-ANLG, in 1954.
Bill Ison, our first Chief Flying Instructor, continued instructing with the group until 2010, when he was 89. Den Cash, another of the original three instructors, flew on a regular basis with other members of the group until 2020.
22 Elementary Flying Training Schools (22 EFTS) was based at Cambridge Airfield and trained a huge number of RAF pilots and instructors during WW2 using Tiger Moths, hence the reference to 22 in the name of the Private Flying Group. The group’s name changed to the Cambridge Flying Group to better reflect that it was open to all, but it still retains 22 in its badge in homage to 22 EFTS.
Sir Arthur Marshall had been instructing on de-Havilland Moths at Cambridge from well before the start of the war, and developed a scheme to train RAF instructors from scratch. This radical approach, at the time, focussed on the aptitude to instruct rather than just flying experience.
The Marshall Company, who own Cambridge Airport, supported the group for the first 70 years until CFG re-located to Old Warden Aerodrome as guests of the Shuttleworth Collection in June 2023.
The group is still very active with 10 flying instructors, all of whom give their time voluntarily, including 2 examiners, who conduct the final flying test for grant of the Private Pilots Licence.
We have a wide range of social backgrounds, age and experience, but we all share a common love of flying open cockpit Tiger Moths and sharing that with others.