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Concept
Christopher Draper
Résumé
Squadron Commander Christopher Draper (15 April 1892 – 16 January 1979), was an English flying ace of World War I. His penchant for flying under bridges earned him the nickname "the Mad Major". After the war he became a film star through his work both as a stunt pilot and as an actor. During the 1930s he worked for a time as a British secret agent, serving as a double agent to Nazi Germany. He returned to the Navy in World War II. During his flying career he logged over 17,000 flying hours on 73 types of aircraft.
Christopher Draper was born at Bebington on the Wirral in Cheshire, England, into a family of five sons and two daughters. He became interested in flying in July 1909 when Louis Blériot flew across the English Channel. Unable to afford the £75 fee for pilot training, Draper wrote to his local MP, Joseph Hoult, who was an acquaintance of his father. Hoult provided Draper with £210 after making him promise not to tell anyone about the gift. On 9 October 1913, with a total of 3 hours 15 minutes of flying experience, he obtained Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 646 after flying a Grahame-White biplane at the Grahame-White Flying School at Hendon Aerodrome.
While trying to find a job flying, he learned from a cousin in the service that the Royal Navy was offering short service commissions to pilots with an Aviator's Certificate. After passing the medical Draper joined the Royal Naval Air Service on 27 January 1914 and was commissioned as a probationary sub-lieutenant, RNR.
From January to April 1914 he attended the fifth course at the Central Flying School. Also on the course were Hugh Dowding and Wilfrid Freeman while the instructors included John Tremayne Babington and John Salmond – all of whom were later air marshals. After passing his course, Draper was assigned to the Royal Naval Air Station at Eastchurch under the command of Commander Charles Rumney Samson. He was promoted to flight lieutenant in June, and on 20 July he was one of nine pilots who flew in the Naval Review at Spithead, the first review to include aircraft.
Source officielle
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