HOPKINTON, N.H. (AP) – A Hopkinton man has plans to return a piece of aviation history to Britain.

Doctor Bob Furness, a veterinarian at Appletree Animal Hospital, has the aviator’s helmet belonging to Sir Alan Cobham, a racing aviator in the 1920s. Cobham was the first person to fly round-trip from England to Australia in 1926, a feat for which he was knighted. He died in 1973 at the age of 79.

Furness, who was born in Britain, was given the helmet as a gift from his godfather, who was Cobham’s chauffeur. He says he has had the helmet for a long time, and when he dies, he would like it to be displayed in a museum.

Furness says he will travel to Britain in September to return the helmet to Cobham’s family, who plan to donate it to the Royal Air Force Museum.

—

Information from: Concord Monitor, http://www.cmonitor.com