Stack
From Moth to Viceroy
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Pub Date Mar 28 2026 | Archive Date Apr 27 2026
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Description
Neville Stack was once one of Britain’s favourite aviators. He came to fame as the first man to fly a light plane to India. And, having been honoured by the king for that achievement, he followed it with more than a decade of derring-do.
Stack circled the Med, crossed Arabia countless times, and even flew down to Banjul. He served in both World Wars and all three branches of the Armed Forces, broke record after record, and had his own flying circus. He piloted a prime minister, the Shoe King, and the odd sultan. But he also crashed more often than he was willing to admit, wrote bawdy songs – and recorded them, too – and played a controversial role in the Spanish Civil War. And he left behind a rich chronicle of his exploits, including newspaper articles, a memoir in song, and flight commentaries actually dictated in mid-air.
Drawing upon that chronicle, and also upon British Government files and a host of other fascinating sources, this book takes a close look at Captain Stack’s life and flights. It talks about his aeroplanes and his friends, who included Amy Johnson, Sir Alan Cobham, and the treacherous Master of Sempill. It goes back to the places he saw first-hand. And it tells the full story of his final, tragic fall from grace.
Exuberant, colourful, and ever so light on its feet, STACK provides an intimate and singular account of one of the true heroes of flying’s Golden Age.
A Note From the Publisher
David Hewitt has been a cook, a postman and a judge, and now, he enjoys telling true but unusual stories. Stack: From Moth to Viceroy is his third published book.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781806341436 |
| PRICE | £10.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 280 |
Available on NetGalley
Average rating from 1 member
Featured Reviews
Shreedevi G, Reviewer
Born on April 1, 1896, Captain Thomas Neville Stack was the son of an Irishman who made a fortune in Victorian London. Thomas's son, Sir Thomas Neville Stack, became an Air Chief Marshal in the RAF.
Thomas Stack served in both World Wars and all branches of the British military:
WWI: He joined the Royal Navy, moved to the Army, and by 1917, was flying with the Royal Flying Corps on the Western Front, ending the war as an instructor.
Aviation Pioneer: Re-joining the RAF in 1921, he flew airmail and bombing raids in Iraq until 1925. In 1926, he won global fame by piloting the De Havilland DH.60 Moth Wildflower from London to India with Bernard Leete—the historic first for a light aircraft, earning them the AFC. Dubbed the "Kangaroo Airman," he circled the Med, crossed Arabia, flew to Banjul, and staged pageants at Blackpool’s aerodrome.
The Airspeed Viceroy Scandal: Entering the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race, mechanical and brake failures forced him to abandon his Airspeed Viceroy in Athens. A bitter lawsuit followed with manufacturer Airspeed. The courts brutally ruled Stack's claims of defects were a ruse to avoid payment, forcing him to return the plane.
WWII: He served as Chief Test Pilot for Austin Motors, flying new planes off assembly lines, before joining the Fleet Air Arm to command 742 Naval Air Squadron in Southern India.
Stack flew Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, "Shoe King" Tomáš Baťa, and sultans. He dictated mid-air flight commentaries into a dictaphone and recorded bawdy aviation songs.
In 1949, Stack was managing Orient Airways in Karachi, Pakistan. On February 22, after being briefly interned by Pakistani authorities over
a disputed Dakota aircraft sale to India, Stack was struck and killed by a lorry near Mauripore Airport while walking to visit his priest. Local police claimed he committed suicide due to a nervous breakdown. Refusing to accept this, his sons flew out and demanded a formal inquest. Conducted by a magistrate and a Royal Navy medical officer, it completely cleared his name: medical evidence proved Stack suffered a fatal aortic aneurysm seconds before impact. The official verdict was amended to natural causes.
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