Whitehead Reid was a founding director. He took part ins some of the earliest post-war aerial events, particularly at the nearby Lympne Airport which was the centre of light aircraft activity in Britain at the time. He attended some events anonymously, as his wife Mary was unhappy about him taking part in air racing. Events in which he participated include:    On 11 May 1926 Whitehead Reid joined 601 (County of London) Bomber (B) Squadron which had been formed on 14 October 1925. This was known as "The Millionaires' Squadron" because at one time there were reported to be six millionaire members. He was promoted to Flying Officer on 12 January 1928, then Flight Lieutenant on 20 November 1928. The squadron was formed at RAF Northolt, Middlesex on 14 October 1925, moving to RAF Hendon in January 1927. Equipped with the Airco DH.9 and, from November 1929, the Westland Wapiti they specialised in performing exercise bombing raids on London to test their own abilities and those of the defenders. They held annual training summer camps at Lympne. In the late 1920s Whitehead Reid took an interest in gliding. The Kent Gliding Club was founded on 4 January 1930 and the doctor was a member. Some of the club's activities took place at Bekesbourne aerodrome, and in the same year the doctor became the club's president. He was also involved with the British Gliding Association (BGA), which was formed on 27 March 1930. With several senior members, including Sir Sefton Brancker, Col. the Master of Sempill, Sir Gilbert Walker, Mr Eric Gordon England and Capt. C.H. Latimer-Needham, he visited the Rhön gliding competition at Wasserkuppe, Germany. This was a hotbed of German aeronautical design and development at the time. Whitehead Reid arrived in his Widgeon on 20 August 1930, leaving for Frankfurt the next day,  The doctor gained his 'A' certificate at the BGA Gliding Meeting at Ditchling Beacon, Sussex, held on 18–19 October 1930. The doctor and his passenger were killed on the return flight to Bekesbourne. On the afternoon of 19 October 1930, Whitehead Reid was returning in his Westland Widgeon G-EBJT from Shoreham, where he had been attending the BGA meeting at Ditchling Beacon. He was carrying a passenger, Miss Annie Irene Burnside, aged 27, an enthusiastic airwoman.