Autographs of Don Bennett
Air Vice Marshal Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett, CB, CBE, DSO (14 September 1910 – 15 September 1986) was an Australian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest air vice marshal in the Royal Air Force. He led the "Pathfinder Force" (No. 8 Group RAF) from 1942 to the end of the Second World War in 1945. He has been described as "one of the most brilliant technical airmen of his generation: an outstanding pilot, a superb navigator who was also capable of stripping a wireless set or overhauling an engine". More about Don Bennett
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Donald Bennett was born the youngest son of a grazier and business agent in Toowoomba, Queensland. He attended Brisbane Grammar School. After some time working in his father's business, he joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1930, qualifying at RAAF Point Cook as a pilot on the DH Moth and Westland Wapiti. He transferred to the Royal Air Force a year later. Starting with the flying boats of 210 Squadron, Bennett developed a passion for accurate flying and precise navigation that would never leave him. After a period as an instructor at RAF Calshot, he left the service in 1935 (retaining a reserve commission) to join Imperial Airways. Over the next five years, Bennett specialised in long-distance flights, breaking a number of records and pioneering techniques which would later become commonplace, notably air-to-air refuelling. In 1936 he wrote the first edition of his The complete air navigator: covering the syllabus for the flight navigator's licence (Pitman, London) which he updated several times up to the seventh edition in 1967. In July 1938 he piloted the Mercury part of the Short Mayo Composite flying-boat across the Atlantic; this flight earned him the Oswald Watt Gold Medal for that year.
During 1940 Bennett's long-distance expertise was set to work setting up the Atlantic Ferry Organization tasked with the wartime delivery of thousands of aircraft manufactured in the United States and Canada to the United Kingdom. At that time, a transatlantic flight was a significant event, but the Atlantic Ferry project proved remarkably successful and demonstrated that with suitable training even inexperienced pilots could safely deliver new aircraft across the North Atlantic. Read even more about Don Bennett at Wikipedia
During 1940 Bennett's long-distance expertise was set to work setting up the Atlantic Ferry Organization tasked with the wartime delivery of thousands of aircraft manufactured in the United States and Canada to the United Kingdom. At that time, a transatlantic flight was a significant event, but the Atlantic Ferry project proved remarkably successful and demonstrated that with suitable training even inexperienced pilots could safely deliver new aircraft across the North Atlantic. Read even more about Don Bennett at Wikipedia
Traded items with a signature of Don Bennett
The most expensive item with a signature of Don Bennett (Signed R Schoenert Night Fight Ace & Don Bennett Wellington Pilot on Tirpitz) was sold in November 2023 for £35.95 while the cheapest item (RAF FIRST DAY COVER SIGNED BY AIR VICE MARSHAL DON BENNETT CBE DSO WINNER) found a new owner for £0.99 in May 2023. The month with the most items sold (3) was January 2021 with an average selling price of £5.99 for an autographed item of Don Bennett. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in November 2023 with £35.95 and the month that saw the lowest prices with £0.99 was February 2018. In average, an autographed item from Don Bennett is worth £6.62.
Most recently, these items with a signature of Don Bennett were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
| Item Title | Price | Store | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | AIR VICE MARSHAL DON BENNETT SIGNED OWN HISTORIC AVIATORS COVER | £5.50 | |
| AVM DON BENNETT CB CBE DSO & LADY HARRIS Signed Bomber Command RAF AC23c Cover | £8.99 | |
| AVM DON BENNETT CB CBE DSO & LADY HARRIS Signed Bomber Command RAF AC23c Cover | £5.99 | |
| AVM DON BENNETT CB CBE DSO Signed 1986 GB Royal Air Force RFDC49 RAF Flown FDC | £6.99 | |
| AVM DON BENNETT CB CBE DSO Signed 1986 GB Royal Air Force RFDC49 RAF Flown FDC | £6.99 | |
| DCT (Don) Bennett AVM - Historic Aviators - HA 33 - Pilot Signed | £2.99 | |
| Don Bennett pencil signed WW2 RAF 617 Tirpitz | £16.00 | |
| RAF BOMBER COMMAND PATHFINDER SIGNED BOOKPLATE X 2 DON BENNETT/HAMISH MAHADDIE | £14.51 | |
| RAF FIRST DAY COVER SIGNED BY AIR VICE MARSHAL DON BENNETT CBE DSO WINNER | £0.99 | |
| RAF SIGNED FIRST DAY COVER SIGNED RFDC SERIES SIGNED COVER SIR DON BENNETT | £2.77 | |
| RAFES SC11 cover - Escape from Norway - signed by Pathfinders leader Don Bennett | £5.00 | |
| RFDC 49 cover 1986 - Reorganisation of RAF - signed by Pathfinder Don Bennett | £2.70 | |
| Signed R Schoenert Night Fight Ace & Don Bennett Wellington Pilot on Tirpitz | £35.95 | |
| WW11 Bomber Pilot Profile Signed AVM Don Bennett Bomber Command Pilot | £15.00 | |
| WWII Pathfinder Force Leader AVM DON BENNETT CB DSO DFC Signed on own RAF Cover | £8.99 | |