Flight Lieutenant Charles William Anderson Scott, AFC (13 February 1903 – 15 April 1946Dunnell Aeroplane, November 2019, p. 46.) was an English aviator. He won the MacRobertson Air Race, a race from London to Melbourne, in 1934, in a time of 71 hours.

Born on Friday the 13th, he was the son of Charles Kennedy Scott, who was founder of the Oriana Madrigal Society and the founder and conductor of the Philharmonic Choir.Scott's bBook, p. 15. Scott was also the great nephew of Lord Scott-Dickson, a Scottish Unionist politician and judge.Scottish law review and Sheriff Court reports: Volume 50 published 1934 Scott was born in London and was educated at Westminster School. He was a keen musician, poet and yachtsman. After leaving school he served on a sugar plantation in British Guiana for a short time before returning to England and in 1922 joining the Royal Air Force, where he learned to fly.

While serving with the RAF, Scott gained a reputation for his aerobatic skill and was RAF heavyweight boxing champion for two consecutive years. He left the RAF in 1926 and emigrated to Australia, where he took up a post as a commercial pilot for the fledgling airline company Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (now Qantas). In 1929, while on leave from QANTAS following a crash in a de Havilland DH.50J, Scott met his first wife Kathleen. In 1930, he broke the solo record from Brisbane to Melbourne in a de Havilland DH.60 Gipsy Moth aeroplane to get to the birth of his daughter Rosemary. Scott broke the England–Australia solo flight record in 1931, flying a de Havilland DH.60 Moth. For this achievement, the King awarded him the Air Force Cross in 1931. Competing against fellow pilots such as Bert Hinkler, Charles Kingsford Smith and Jim Mollison, Scott went on to beat the Australia–England solo flight record in 1932 and then re-took the England–Australia the same year. In 1934, he was picked, along with Tom Campbell Black, to fly one of three purpose-built de Havilland DH.88 Comet Racers to compete in the MacRobertson Air Race, which is still considered the world's greatest air race. Scott and Black won the race, breaking the England–Australia flight record of 162 hours down to 52 hours and 33 minutes. They reached the finish line in Melbourne in 71 hours, winning the £10,000 prize money and becoming world-famous overnight. Following the race, Scott received several medals and awards, including the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club, and was celebrated wherever he went, including invitations from King Edward VIII.

In 1936, Scott took over Sir Alan Cobham's National Air Displays Ltd and for one season operated C.W.A. Scott Flying Display Ltd. In September that year, he won another air race; flying a Percival Vega Gull, he and Giles Guthrie won the Schlesinger Air Race from Portsmouth to Johannesburg, South Africa, again winning the £10,000 prize money. Before the race, Scott married his second wife, Greta Bremna, but they divorced in 1940. With the onset of World War II Scott served for a time as an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) civil defence ambulance driver then he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) as a lieutenant, and took part in the Dakar landing. He also spent a period as an Atlantic ferry pilot and was stationed with de Havilland Canada as a test pilot, testing newly built de Havilland Mosquitos and training pilots to fly them. Following the war, and after becoming estranged from his third wife,Scott family archive held by Tim Barron, digital copy held by Jim Scott. Scott took a post at the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) headquarters in Germany. On 15 April 1946, while in a state of depression, he fatally wounded himself with a gunshot, using his military-issue revolver.

Early career and RAF service Scott was educated at Westminster School. In 1920 he left school and took a five-year contract with a sugar plantation at a British colony in Demerara, British Guiana. Scott did not enjoy his time at the sugar plantation and after 18 months and a bout of malaria his father arranged for his release of the five-year contract and for his passage back home to London.Scott's Book, p. 17. He joined the RAF as a pilot in 1922 and on 9 December 1922 he was granted a short service commission as a probationary pilot officer, and joined No. 2 Flying Training School, Duxford for flight training.Scott's Book, p. 19. He made his first "solo flight" in an Avro 504K and on 9 July 1923 his rank as pilot officer was confirmed; on 15 December 1923 he and was appointed pilot officer to be stationed with No. 32 Squadron RAF Kenley, where he acquired a reputation for his aerobatic skill flying Sopwith Snipes and Gloster Grebes. Partly because he had passed the navigation exam at flying training school with 100 per cent, his C.O sent him on a three-month navigation course at RAF Calshot; Scott enjoyed his few months by the sea and just passed the final examinations with 60 per cent, which was the exact percentage required to pass.Scott's Book, pp. 32–33. On 9 July 1924 he was promoted to the rank of flying officer, and on 1 November 1924 he was appointed flying officer to be stationed at the Armament and Gunnery School Eastchurch; however, the decision to post him there was changed and he remained with 32 Squadron, Kenley. He left the service on 9 December 1926Scott's Book, p. 62. and was transferred onto the reserve list as a class C flying officer until 9 December 1930. During Scott's time with the RAF he recorded 893 hours of flying time.

Cruiser and heavyweight boxing titles

When Scott first joined Flying training school Duxford, he and the other new pilot officers were divided into squads; in each squad one of the officers was made "Squad commander" though the squad commander was equal in rank to the other officers in his squad. In Scott's case the squad commander named Newbigging was a large fellow of some six-foot four and had seen a lot of service with the Scots Guards in World War I. Newbigging soon took offence to Scott's precocious attitude, as Scott was undisciplined and fresh from the sugar plantations, where he was well adept at enforcing discipline, but not too keen on taking orders for himself. This clash of personalities led to Scott and Newbigging having a fight, in which Scott was the victor. News of this spread around the camp, and subsequently Scott was sent off as one of a team to box in the group championships; after winning the fight in his weight there, he was then picked to box in the RAF championships at RAF Halton.Scott's Book, pp. 20–21. The RAF championships took place near the end of Scott's first term at Duxford and he won the heavy-weight title there, becoming RAF heavyweight champion for 1923.Scott's Book, p. 23.

On returning to his camp he received a personal commendation from his Wing Commander, who then informed Scott that he had been selected to box for the RAF against the Army, Navy, and Marines. In 1923, 1924 and 1925 The Imperial Services Boxing Association (I.S.B.A) Championships took the form of Inter Service Team Championships between the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force. The championships took place at Aldershot. Scott met his opponent in the dressing-room before the fight a Lieutenant Capper who in Scott's words – "held out two enormous gloves and asked me if I had any objection to his using those, as the standard gloves would not fit his hands. Had he held out a meat axe I would have acquiesced as meekly, for I knew that nothing could prevent him doing with me just what he liked."Scott's Book, p. 24. Scott lost the fight in round two and Capper went on to win the amateur championship of England.

The following year, then posted at Kenley the RAF annual individual boxing championships took place and Scott successfully defended his title becoming RAF heavyweight champion for his second year running in 1924. This meant that instead of returning immediately to his unit Scott went to RNAS Lee-on-Solent with the rest of the RAF team to train for the I.S.B.A Championships, to be held at HMNB Portsmouth, again he failed to beat his opponent but put up a much better fight than he had done the previous year.Scott's Book, pp. 33–34.

Aerobatics In 1924 Scott and other members of No. 32 Squadron performed six nights a week in a night time air display over the Wembley Exhibition flying Sopwith Snipes which were painted black for the display and fitted with white lights on the wings tail and fuselage of the aircraft. The display involved firing blank ammunition into the stadium crowds and dropping pyrotechnics from the aeroplanes to simulate shrapnel from guns on the ground, Explosions on the ground also produced the effect of bombs being dropped into the stadium by the Aeroplanes. On one evening during these displays one of the pilots had to make a forced landing at the nearby allotted forced landing ground, seconds after the pilot evacuated the crashed aeroplane it went up in flames. Unbeknown to Scott his parents were spectators in the crowd that night and after rumours among the crowd and belief by the pilots that one of them had burnt to death that night, Scott's father made several phone calls to the RAF who would not disclose any information, so he drove all the way to their Mess at Northolt to establish that his son was indeed alive and then relay that information back to Scott's mother who was very distressed. A similar air display was conducted the following year at the Wembley Exhibition called London Defended and they also did a piece much the same at the Aldershot tattoo.

The following month June 1925, No 32 Squadron did an air display demonstrating Flight-converging bombing at the RAF Display, Hendon. Scott was selected to do individual aerobatics in a brand-new Snipe which he was allowed to paint red, this pleased Scott greatly as it meant that he was also allowed to practice his aerobatics at a low altitude, rather than above 2000 feet which was R.A.F regulations at that time. In Scott's Book he tells of how for his solo display he was allotted exactly seven minutes during the luncheon break, to complete his show but after just two minutes, a flying wire broke in the near edge of the port side, anxious not to cut his allotted seven minutes down too much he began to fly the aircraft upside down in an effort to reduce the strain on the flying wires, he continued flying in an inverted position for some time until he noticed a worrying quiver in the top plane and promptly landed slightly short of his seven minutes. The following week in the weekly edition of Flight magazine their reporter described the incident in these words- Flight 02, 07, 1925- While there was a certain liveliness in the aerodrome during the early part of the day, it was not until about 1.30 pm that the first really exciting item occurred, when a machine—we think it was one of the good old Sopwith "Snipes"—went up and executed a number of really excellent stunts, including one of the longest sustained upside-down flights we have seen.Scott's Book, chapter 3 Aerobatics, pp. 41–48. Scott would go on to become top of the bill for the 1933 British Hospitals Air Pageant and then form C. W. A. Scott's Flying display for the 1936 season.

Qantas years