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April 2019
Issue No 552,
Vol 47,
No 4

HISTORY IN THE AIR SINCE 1911

EXCLUSIVE REPORTS
MOSQUITO Incredible survivor’s story
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Flight trials from Bringing on the

the cockpit new blood Curtiss P-36/Hawk 75

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Twynhams_fp.indd 1 14/02/2019 09:31:47
 Contents
April 2019

See pages
24-25 for a g
reat
subscription
offer
26 58

66

W ION O
!RD
RAF C SF
AIR SHOW
TICKETS
See page XIX
53

34 99

NEWS AND FEATURES 53 VICKERS VULTURE

ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT
COMMENT 26 FUTURE OF THE PAST:
A deeply sentimental journey to
view the only surviving relics from an
WARBIRD PILOTS intrepid 1924 voyage
4 FROM THE EDITOR Bringing on the new blood in the
6 NEWS warbird flying scene 58 LAST RAF HUNTERS
• Airacobra flies in New Zealand It’s now 25 years since the RAF retired
34 TESTING CONCORDE the classic Hawker jet
• Ex-RN Wessex airborne again The last surviving Concorde
• A-26 arrives in Germany manufacturer’s test pilot remembers 66 LOCKHEED 12A
…and the month’s other top aircraft his part in the programme Les Whittlesey’s superb example of
preservation news the Thirties aerial limousine
42 MOSQUITO PZ474 70 AEROPLANE MEETS…
17 HANGAR TALK The latest airworthy ‘Mossie’
Steve Slater’s comment on the historic WALLY EPTON
represents a remarkable story Afternoon tea at the RAF Club with
aircraft world of survival — PLUS The Coastal
19 FLIGHT LINE the chairman of the Historic Aircraft
Command missions from Portreath Association
Reflections on aviation history with that it salutes
Denis J. Calvert DATABASE
81 DATABASE: CURTISS
DEVELOPM
Development

ENT

P-36/HAWK 75
FREE
Technical Details

15

REGULARS
Colourfully schemed
H75A-3
298 of the 2ème Escadrille, serial
de Chasse I/5, while serving Groupe IN-DE
Armée de l’Air d’Armistice with the PAGEPTH
force of Vichy France. — the air
CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY S
In Service

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

Insights

INSIDE!
The P-36
was
the US Army the first truly

examines America’s first

is representedAir Corps. A modern fighter
of the 1st by serial typical pre-war for
38-038, P-36A
Michigan. Pursuit Group at on the
AVIATION Selfridge strength
HISTORY COLLECTION/ALAMY Field,

CURTISS
It was hardly
revolutio

15
modern nary, but
fighter to
appear in the Curtiss Model

P-36/HAWT K 75
he mid-1930s the mid-193 75 was America
revolution saw a 0s
pioneer ’s first truly
through sweep Glenn Hammond
Curtiss, and
many leading

truly modern monoplane

air Aeronautical the Wright
all-metal, forces, as the had equipped
low-wing established Corporation, and the both the

20 SKYWRITERS
design eclipsed fighter US AAC
US Army all others. 1919 by as Wright-Martin the P-1/F6CNavy, starting with company
that was
Air Corps The Orville Wright in and finishing series in 1927 advanced most
though among (AAC), Glenn L. and in this respect
Martin. F11C of with the Northrop
and least-develop the weakest were well-known Both firms 1932. P-6/ Aviation was
WORDS: THOMAS McKELVEY aircraft and suppliers Curtiss was California. of Burbank,
CLEAVER
of the period, ed air arms
participant. was an
engines
military aviation. for US
of development aware of new 1929 by
It was founded
John K. ‘Jack’ in
active s in aircraft Northrop,
contemporarHowever, as with Hawk series The Curtiss structures
that made one of the
of biplane geniuses
US aeroplanesy Italian designs, fighters products
obsolete its current of aviation true
and had
the lack suffered
from
development for future
. The American blazed the history,
of aSeptember
really good, 1939’s National Air Races
successful way for
high-powered all-metal,
at Cleveland,
, aero Ohio, were attended by a commercial low-wing
like the outstanding
number of 1stengine
Pursuit Group/27th Pursuit started with aircraft. These

fighter of the 1930s

Royce PV12,
Squadron P-36Cs Rolls-
in various experimental, the Northrop
Alpha, a
as the Merlin,later to becamoufl
washable knownage schemes. NASM seven-seat,
or the Daimler- engine fast single-
Benz DB600
transport mail/passenger

UK VINTAGE
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019 series. with innovative
The Curtiss-Wrigh fillets researched

22 Q&A
Corporation t wing
of Buffalo,www.aeroplanemonthly.com Guggenheim at the
York, had 81
been New Laboratory Aeronautical
1929. It mergedcreated in

IN-DEPTH
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C.indd 81
Institute of the California
Aeroplane the Curtiss of Technology,
multi-cellular
Company, and Motor and a
founded 03/03/2019 15:27
of Northrop’s stressed-skin wing
1916 by
American in January Alpha flew own design.
The
aviation The first
from the
prototype 177mph, cross-country at
of the Model and
Curtiss factory 75, registration service with when it entered

PAGES
airfield at X17Y, took Transcontinen
Buffalo, Western tal &
82 www.aeroplan New York, to Air (TWA)
on 6 May the air 1931, a fl in
emonthly.com 1935. ight from April,
Francisco San
to New York
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took just
(81-95)_AM_Databa

Your questions asked and answered

se_Apr19_cc
C.indd
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FLIGHT
AEROPLANE
APRIL 2019

99 AEROPLANE ARCHIVE:
03/03/2019
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78 HOOKS’ TOURS EXPERIENCES CLW CURLEW

More superb colour photos from
the late Mike Hooks’ collection: this
month, a selection of DHC Beavers
96 REVIEWS
The latest aviation books and products
in the spotlight
102 NEXT MONTH
An attractive inter-war trainer —
Your 27-page but ultimately a blind alley
guide to where you can fly in
COVER IMAGE: Newly restored by Avspecs for owner
Spitfires, Mustangs, Tiger Moths Rod Lewis, DH Mosquito FBVI PZ474 airborne from
and many more Ardmore, New Zealand, in the hands of Steve Hinton.
GAVIN CONROY

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 Editor
From the

CONNECT WITH AEROPLANE…

www.facebook.com/AeroplaneMonthly
@HistoryInTheAir

T
here are some eras in aviation made by all at Marham, from the station
that seemed as if they’d never
come to an end. The Panavia
commander down, to afford enthusiasts
and the wider public a chance to see the
CONTRIBUTORS THIS MONTH
Tornado’s RAF service is one. aircraft in action as they prepared for VANESSA ASCOUGH
Introduced with the Cold War arguably retirement are worthy of much praise. The granddaughter of
Sqn Ldr Archibald Stuart-
at its height, the adaptability of the multi- Specially marked jets (one looking MacLaren, Vanessa has
role combat jet saw it remaining relevant magnificent in 1980s camouflage), spent the past 25 years
researching his life and
right up to the present day, via decades of three-ship flypasts over locations country- career in the RFC and RAF.
almost continuous front-line involvement wide, an enthusiasts’ day — this was She gives illustrated talks
about his world flight
in the Middle East and participation in anything but a half-hearted effort. In the attempt all over the UK, as
many other operations. Make no mistake, circumstances, it was absolutely the send- well as this year in Vancouver. Having been the
editor of a magazine for the Centre for Leadership
this is an aeroplane deserving of its place off the RAF’s Tornados deserved. Studies at the University of Exeter, Vanessa
in the pantheon among the RAF’s greats. continues to follow her passion for adventure and
public speaking, and is now writing the biography
The Tornado Less impressive, of her grandfather’s impressive life and vocation.
GR4 will be I must say, was the
formally retired The efforts made by news release put out GAVIN CONROY
New Zealand-based Gavin
when it reaches
its out-of-service
all at RAF Marham to by the Ministry of
Defence to mark
is among the world’s
leading air-to-air
date on 31 March. afford a chance to see the the return of the photographers, having
completed hundreds of
However, the last
day of February,
Tornados in action as they last GR4s from
operations over
sorties with aircraft ranging
from the FE2b to the

just before we went prepared for retirement Syria and Iraq.

to press, saw the
final mass mission
are worthy of praise
by the type in
RAF hands. Nine examples from Nos
IX(B) and 31 Squadrons launched from
their Marham home for diamond nine
formation flypasts there and over the
RAF College Cranwell. Not surprisingly,
the public turned out in droves. Just a few
more Tornado training sorties were due to
take place prior to a formal disbandment
ceremony on 14 March, after which
the force will remain on stand-by for
operations until the end of the month.
Of course it is a shame that the GR4
couldn’t have enjoyed a last hurrah on
the 2019 airshow circuit, but with the
retirement date set, this was never going
to happen. The flypasts undertaken at
IWM Duxford last September, as part
of the No 617 Squadron formation
alongside Lancaster and F-35B
Lightning, will stand as the type’s final
RAF display appearance. But the efforts
Aeroplane traces its lineage back to the weekly The Aeroplane,
founded by C. G. Grey in 1911 and published until 1968. It was
relaunched as a monthly in 1973 by Richard T. Riding, editor for
ESTABLISHED 1911 25 years until 1998.
F/A-18 Hornet. A particular
privilege has been
chronicling the Mosquito restorations that have
It talked of the
“recently introduced
emerged from the Avspecs workshop at Ardmore,
and for this month’s cover feature he flew with the
latest, Rod Lewis’s simply stunning FBVI. Gavin
new fleet of F-35 also tells the story of how this aircraft came to
Lighting [sic] jets”, and of how they survive, very much against the odds.
and the Eurofighter Typhoon force
GP CAPT TOM EELES
have demonstrated their ability to work Having joined the RAF in
“alongside on another”. This is before we 1960, Tom’s first
consider the corporate-speak: capabilities operational tour was spent
flying the Canberra B(I)8 in
being “delivered” in the field of “combat the nuclear strike and
air”, the RAF’s “ability to exploit the conventional ground attack
role. However, he’s best-
synergy” of its latest platforms… Thank known for his many years
goodness the vivid descriptions of front- on the Buccaneer, which he
flew with both the Royal Navy and the RAF. As a
line flying we normally deal with in result of that, he also spent a lot of time in the
Aeroplane aren’t similarly afflicted. Hunter T7A and T8B models, which he describes
this month. A flying instructor with wide
experience, Tom is a member of the IWM Duxford
Keep up to date with the latest news flying control committee and a liveryman of the
Honourable Company of Air Pilots.
from Aeroplane by signing up to
our regular newsletter. Simply go JEANNE FRAZER
to www.aeroplanemonthly.com Jeanne’s warbird education
began when she was
to register. offered the job as manager
of The Fighter Collection at
Duxford, promoting and
Ben Dunnell co-ordinating participation
of its fleet in displays across
Europe and also organising
the Classic Fighter Display.
For nearly 20 years she operated and flew an L-4
Cub, and was always keen to point out that such
aircraft — at least in their artillery-spotting role —
were ultimately responsible for a massive amount
of enemy destruction and truly merited their
warbird status.

4 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2019

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 Taking to the skies both day and night in his
Phantom II as part of operations Rolling Thunder,
Steel Tiger, and Barrel Roll, Capt. Gaillard R. Peck, Jr
found himself immersed in the heat of fierce
aerial combat during the Vietnam War.

This is his story.

AVAILABLE 21 MARCH FROM ALL GOOD BOOKSHOPS

AND ONLINE AT WWW.OSPREYPUBLISHING.COM

HOLDING THE LINE

T H E N AVA L A I R C A M PA I G N I N K O R E A

From Thomas McKelvey Cleaver,

author of The Frozen Chosen, this is the
gripping history of the naval air campaign
which helped save South Korea.

AVAILABLE 21 MARCH FROM

ALL GOOD BOOKSHOPS AND ONLINE AT
WWW.OSPREYPUBLISHING.COM

Osprey_fp.indd 1 25/02/2019 10:33:44

 News NEWS EDITOR: TONY HARMSWORTH
E-MAIL TO: tony.harmsworth@keypublishing.com
TELEPHONE: +44 (0)7791 808044
WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd,
PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK

The third currently airworthy example of the Airacobra during

its maiden flight from Ardmore on 26 February. Although it is
painted as P-39Q 42-20431, it is really P-39F 41-7215. GAVIN CONROY

P-39 flies in New Zealand

T
he Military Aviation
Museum’s Bell P-39F
Airacobra, 41-7215,
made its first post-
restoration flight at Ardmore
Airport in Auckland on 26
February, just over three years
after a team at Pioneer Aero
began work on the former US
5th Air Force machine. Once
pilot Frank Parker has
completed the test schedule,
the fighter will be dismantled
for transportation to Virginia
Beach on the east coast of the
USA, where it will be one of
the star performers at the
Military Aviation Museum’s
Warbirds over the Beach show
from 17-19 May.
Paul McSweeny, director of
Pioneer Aero says, “The
restoration was fairly
challenging and different in
many respects to what we
have done in the past. The
aircraft is quite small, so
access to the systems is more
difficult than with the Curtiss
P-40 or North American P-51.
The biggest problem with the
rebuild was the sourcing of
P-39-specific items, which are
much harder to get than
Kittyhawk or Mustang
components.
“The fact that the propeller,
undercarriage and flaps are all
electric is also a departure
from what we were used to.
The three undercarriage legs
are driven by one motor and
reduction gearbox through a
The restoration was fairly challenging and
different in many respects to what we have done
in the past
series of gearboxes, shafts and
chains, which is pretty complex
compared to hydraulic pipe
and jacks. The flaps are the
same sort of system. Thanks
must go to the staff at Pioneer
Aero for the great work that
they have put in on this, and
we are also appreciative of the
positive comments we have
had from around the globe as
this restoration has
progressed.”
This example was one of six
P-39s from the 36th Fighter
Squadron, 8th Fighter Group
that took off from Antill Plains
Airfield near Townsville,
Australia on 1 May 1942
heading for Port Moresby.
Following a refuelling stop at
Cooktown, the formation hit
bad weather, getting lost in
heavy cloud. Running low on
fuel, two of the Airacobras
made forced landings, Lt
Walter Harvey in 41-7215
emerging unhurt following a
wheels-up arrival just inland
from Cape Orford Ness near
Weipa, Queensland. Harvey
and the pilot of the other
Airacobra, Lt Faletta, took two
days to walk to the nearest
beach, from where they were
rescued.
Harvey’s P-39 was recovered
in September 1972 by
members of the Cairns Aircraft
Recovery Team (CART) and
shipped to Cairns for a
planned static restoration. The
wings went into storage at the

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 News April 2019

home of CART member Ian Test pilot Frank

Mullins in Townsville, the Parker opens the
fuselage going to Mount Isa P-39’s ‘car door’ to
prepare for the initial
Airport in western flight. TONY SMITH
Queensland. Following some
restoration work to static
exhibition standard, the
project was moved on to
Murray Griffiths/Precision
Aerospace at Wangaratta,
Victoria in 2000, but following
his tragic death in September
2011 the Airacobra was again
moved on.
The aircraft is now the
world’s third airworthy P-39.
Rod Lewis has the former
Fighter Collection P-39Q,
42-19993/NX139RL, as part of
the Lewis Air Legends
collection at San Antonio,
Texas, and the Central Texas
Wing of the Commemorative
Air Force operates P-39Q
42-19597/N6968 from San
Marcos, 30 miles south-west of
Austin, Texas.
On 20 January Pioneer
Aero announced that its next
project will be former Royal
New Zealand Air Force Curtiss
P-40N-1 NZ3147, which saw
wartime service in the
Solomon Islands. The fighter
has been acquired by an
Auckland-based businessman, The Airacobra gets airborne for the
and work to get it back into first flight, highlighting the type’s
the air is scheduled to start distinctive, stalky nose gear. TONY SMITH
later this year.

D-DAY SPITFIRE BACK IN THE AIR AT BIGGIN

D-Day veteran Supermarine
Spitfire IXT MJ772/G-AVAV
flew again at Biggin Hill on 27
February, following lengthy
repairs required after a take-off
accident caused by engine
failure at Woodchurch in
September 2015.
The fighter has been brought
back to health by the Spitfire
Company (Biggin Hill) and
been repainted in the markings
and GW-A codes it wore while
serving with No 340 (Île-de-
France) Squadron at
Funtington advanced landing
ground, five miles west of
Chichester, Sussex, in June
1944. It flew several sorties
over the Normandy beach-
head area that month, and is
due to return to Normandy in
Pete Kynsey prepares to taxi out in Spitfire IXT MJ772 for its maiden
post-rebuild flight at Biggin Hill on 27 February. BHHH
early June for the 75th
anniversary commemoration of
the landings.
The Castle Bromwich-built
MJ772 was originally delivered
to No 341 (Alsace) Squadron
at Perranporth, Cornwall in
January 1944, and had flown
50 operational sorties before
being damaged on landing
when it lost its tailwheel on 18
June 1944. Post-war it was
sold back to Vickers-
Armstrongs and converted
into a two-seat trainer, being
delivered to the Irish Air Corps
at Baldonnel in June 1951.
Retired in January 1960, it was
acquired by Film Aviation
Services. During the making of
the Battle of Britain film on 9
July 1968, MJ772 suffered
engine failure and pilot Wilson
‘Connie’ Edwards made a belly
landing at Little Staughton,
Cambridgeshire.
On the same day that MJ772
flew again, Duxford-based
Spitfire IXT PT462/G-CTIX was
damaged in a landing accident
at Denham, without injury to
the two occupants, and the
Battle of Britain Memorial
Flight Spitfire PRXIX PM631
made its first flight since 2014
at Coningsby.

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 News April 2019

Ex-RN Wessex airborne again

T
hirty-two years after it
last flew, Westland
Wessex HU5 XT761/
G‑WSEX was airborne
again at Crewkerne, Somerset,
on 15 February following
completion of a 10,000-hour
restoration by a team at
Historic Helicopters. At the
controls was former Empire
Test Pilots’ School instructor
and Wessex HU5 ‘Junglie’
pilot Capt Steve Daniels.
This coupled de Havilland
Gnome-powered machine
made its maiden flight from
Yeovil on 3 October 1966 in
the hands of former Pathfinder
Force Lancaster pilot Leo
Charles Evan DeVigne DSO
DFC. The following February,
XT761 went to 707 Naval Air
Squadron, a commando The magnificent sight of a former Royal Navy Wessex in the air at Crewkerne on 15 February as Capt
helicopter training unit at Steve Daniels gets Historic Helicopters’ HU5 XT761/G-WSEX airborne, more than 30 years after the type
RNAS Culdrose. It entered was retired by the RN. LEE HOWARD
front-line service with 848 NAS
at Culdrose the following
month, and in May 1967 was machine with 771 NAS at Island, where it joined the 845 Naval Aircraft Yard at
allocated to the Royal Fleet Culdrose, but during May NAS Base Flight. Wroughton where it was
Auxiliary (RFA) Resource Flight, 1982 it was allocated to 845 Returning to the UK on the stored as a reserve airframe for
spending much of the next NAS for service on Operation RFA Oliver in November 1983, 771 and 772 NAS. Shortly
decade operating in the Far ‘Corporate’ in the South XT761 went back into an SAR after the type’s retirement from
East with 846, 847 and 848 Atlantic and was flown from scheme, making its last service Royal Navy service, the
Squadrons. In June 1979 it Yeovilton in HeavyLift Shorts flight on 6 November 1986 helicopter was taken by road
became a search and rescue Belfast G-BEPS to Ascension from Yeovilton to the Royal to Lee-on-Solent in April 1988
to become a ground
instructional airframe with the

DORNIER FLIES IN
Air Engineering School,
moving with the unit to nearby
HMS Sultan in November

SPANISH COLOURS 1995. During December 2008

After more than four years of intensive
restoration, Markus Rheinländer took his
Dornier Do 27, D-EKFG, aloft from Paderborn-
Lippstadt Airport on 16 February. The 59-year-
old machine has been painted as U.9-51, the
first Do 27 delivered to the Spanish Air Force,
the original prototype having first flown in
Spain on 27 June 1955. Although most
production examples were built in Germany,
50 more were built in Spain as the CASA 127.
The first German-built Do 27 flew on 17
October 1956. D-EKFG was built in 1960 as
Do 27A-4 c/n 471 and flew with Luftwaffe unit
Lufttransportgeschwader (Air Transport
Squadron) 61 at Penzing, Bavaria as GA+374.
After seeing service with several units in the
West German Bundeswehr, the Dornier was
retired in 1970. Between 1976 and 2013 it had
a second career as a parachute dropping
platform at Kiel. Markus Rheinländer was able
to acquire the rather tired airframe during
it was earmarked — along with
Wessex HU5 XT771 — for the
Royal Navy Historic Flight.
In May 2013, both aircraft
were roaded to Culdrose
before being sold to Somerset
Markus Rheinländer flying his Spanish Air Force- businessman and helicopter
liveried Dornier Do 27, D-EKFG, near Paderborn- aficionado Andrew
Lippstadt in mid-February. Whitehouse, operating as
MIRKO KROGMEIER
Historic Helicopters. The
Wessex arrived at his new,
2015 and moved it to the Quax-Flieger hangar purpose-built facility near
at Paderborn, where the Dornier was Crewkerne on 6 July 2017 for
thoroughly renovated by Markus and restoration. Once test-flying is
numerous helpers from the club. completed, XT761 will join
Now that D-EKFG is back in the air, work on Historic Helicopters’ Whirlwind
the club’s own Do 27, D-EQXG, is in the final HAR10 XJ763, the world’s last
phase, the Quax-Flieger having acquired airworthy example of the type,
Do 27A-3 c/n 429 during 2013. It now wears for the 2019 display season.
its former livery as LC+155, in which it served The last UK military examples
during 1959 at the Luftwaffe base at Fassberg. of the Wessex were HC2
Stefan Schmoll models, retired from RAF
service in April 2003.

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 News April 2019

NEWS IN BRIEF
DH JETS ON SHOW AT FISHBURN
The Fishburn Historic Aviation
Centre in County Durham recently
A-26B Invader 44-34769/N500MR put former Royal Navy Sea Vampire
taxiing in at Bremgarten on 18 T22 XG743 on display alongside an
February. MATTHIAS DORST ex-Swiss Air Force Venom FB54,
J-1790.

Former racing A-26

TRIDENT REPAINTED
The Duxford Aviation Society
Hawker Siddeley Trident 2E,
G-AVFB, emerged from the IWM’s

arrives at MeierMotors
AirSpace building on 23 February
following a repaint of its British
European Airways scheme.

D
ouglas A-26B
Invader 44-34769/
N500MR arrived at
the MeierMotors
workshops at Bremgarten,
south-western Germany on 18
February following a ferry
flight from Athens, Greece.
The 1945-built twin-engined
bomber will now be
overhauled by MeierMotors
for new owners Tina Fly. That
company also owns ex-Iraqi
Hawker Fury ISS NX1954H,
which was delivered to
Bremgarten by Achim Meier
from an owner in the Czech
Republic during April 2018.
The Invader was previously
operated by the Athenian
Aviators Collection from Tatoi
near the Greek capital, having
been acquired by Athens-
based Minos Kiriakou and
ferried from Connecticut to
Greece in September 1995.
The crew for the flight from
Tatoi to Bremgarten included
pilot Achim Meier, Swiss Air
Force pilot Lukas Meier as
navigator, and MeierMotors
mechanics Julian Heinrich and
Felix Ohlhoff. The ferry flight
took in fuel stops at Corfu
and Perugia.
The machine was never
delivered to the US Army Air
Forces, going straight to the
Reconstruction Finance
Corporation at Kingman,
Arizona for disposal in October
1945. Subsequently converted
by On Mark Engineering at
Van Nuys, California to On
Mark Marketeer configuration,
the Invader was operated as a
corporate transport with a
succession of owners in
California and Texas until
being acquired by Lloyd
Hamilton of Santa Rosa,
California in 1971. Hamilton
entered the Invader in the
1971 California 1000 Air Race
at Mojave, a closed-course
long-distance event consisting
of 41 laps of a 15.1-mile circuit.
He finished in seventh place at
294.06mph, beating three
North American P-51D
Mustangs, two Grumman F8F
Bearcats, a Vought F4U Corsair
and a Lockheed P-38
Lightning. Hamilton went on to
race a former Royal Australian
Navy Hawker Sea Fury FB11,
which he named Baby Gorilla,
and a Wright R-4360-powered
Sea Fury, Furias, in which he
finished second in the
Unlimited Gold race at Reno
in 1986.
FOKKER D.XXI TO BE UNVEILED
An airworthy Fokker D.XXI
reproduction project is due to be
unveiled at the ATN Aircraft Division
works at Hoogeveen in the
north-east of the Netherlands
during the airfield’s Wings and
Wheels Fly-in on 30 May. Original
drawings are being used to build
what will become the only
airworthy representation of this
mid-1930s, fixed-undercarriage,
monoplane design.
CORSAIR GATHERING
Mike Luther, the Yankee Air
Museum’s Thunder over Michigan
show director has booked a grand
total of 10 Vought/Goodyear
Corsairs for this year’s event, to be
held at Willow Run Airport in
Ypsilanti, Michigan, on 3-4 August.
‘HIND’ MOVES IN GERMANY
Mil Mi-24D ‘Hind’ attack helicopter
96+43, formerly serial 387 with
the East German armed forces, left

SHUTTLEWORTH SHOW the Militärhistorisches Museum at

Berlin-Gatow on 28 February bound

VISITORS ANNOUNCED
An increase in the number of visiting display items will
for the Luftfahrttechnischen
Museum at Rechlin. BEN DUNNELL

enhance Shuttleworth Collection shows during the 2019 747 GOES ON SHOW
season, with the 7 July Military Airshow boasting a Following a road move from
particularly strong line-up of five airworthy Hurricanes and Amsterdam-Schiphol, ex-KLM
Fighter Aviation Engineering’s P-47D Thunderbolt, Boeing 747-406 PH-BFB has gone
G-THUN. The Season Premiere event on 5 May will see the on display at the Corendon Village
debut flying appearance from the Aircraft Restoration Hotel in Badhoevedorp, south-west
Company’s Lysander, plus Tony de Bruyn’s OV-10 Bronco, a of the Dutch capital. BEN DUNNELL
UH-1 ‘Huey’, L-19 Bird Dog, Albatros D.Va, and the Plane
Sailing PBY Catalina and a C-47 landing on at Old Warden ‘DAKS’ CORRECTION
for the first time. The Family Airshow on 4 August will see An amendment to last month’s item
Christoph Zahn bringing his spectacular Habicht glider on the Daks over Duxford event,
replica to the UK for the first time since 2012. taking place on 4-5 June at IWM
Duxford: the assembled C-47/DC-3
variants will in fact set off for France
RIGHT: Christoph Zahn and his superb DFS Habicht glider on the afternoon of 5 June, not 6
display will no doubt star at Old Warden on 4 August. BEN DUNNELL June as stated. BEN DUNNELL

AEROPLANE APRIL 2019 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 9

06-10,13-15_AM_News_Apr19_cc C.indd 9 04/03/2019 12:36

 News April 2019 A veritable timewarp at Heathrow on 25 February, as 20-year-old British Airways Boeing
747-436 G-BYGC climbs out in a 45-plus-year-old BOAC colour scheme. STEVE FLINT/AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM

Retro BOAC scheme for BA 747

B
ritish Airways Boeing 747-436
G-BYGC arrived at Heathrow
on 18 February wearing an
early 1970s-era British Overseas
Airways Corporation colour scheme
following a repaint by International
Aerospace Coatings at Dublin Airport.
The 1999-built airliner flew its first
scheduled flight in the BOAC scheme
the following day.
The livery is the first of several that
will be applied to British Airways aircraft
to celebrate the centenary of the
establishment of Aircraft Transport &
Travel, an operator which BA can trace
its lineage back to. The current airline
came about with the merger of BOAC
and British European Airways in 1974,
and the next aircraft to be repainted
was Airbus A319-131 G-EUPJ, which
received a ‘Red Square’ BEA scheme as
worn in period by the Hawker Siddeley
Trident, Vickers Viscount, Vickers
Vanguard and BAC One-Eleven. A
further two 747-400s will subsequently
be painted in previous British Airways
liveries, one of them in the original red
and white ‘Negus’ Union Jack tail
scheme and the other in the later,
predominately blue-tailed ‘Landor’
design adopted in the 1980s.
Each of the centenary aircraft will be
operated on British Airways’ regular
routes until the individual airframes are
retired, which in the case of G-BYGC is
planned for 2023.

Lancaster celebrates his 100th

F
ormer Bomber
Command Vickers
Wellington and Avro
Lancaster pilot John
Oliver ‘Jo’ Lancaster DFC —
who went on to become the
first man to make an
emergency ejection using a
Martin-Baker seat —
celebrated his 100th birthday
at the RAF Benevolent Fund’s
Princess Marina House in
Rustington on 4 February.
For many years the veteran
pilot, who lives in Hassocks,
near Brighton, has dedicated
countless hours to fundraising
and advocating on behalf of
the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Heather Kemp, regional
fundraiser at the RAFBF, said,
“From the first moment I met
Jo, he has been such an
incredible inspiration to me and
everyone at the Benevolent
Fund. He has given so much of
his time and energy, not only to
fundraising on behalf of the
Bomber Command Memorial
but to signing books day in,
day out in all sorts of weather
with me at airshows. We’re
delighted that he is celebrating
apprentice with Armstrong
Whitworth, Jo flew 54
operations during the war,
including the first thousand-
bomber raid on the night of
30-31 May 1942 in a
Wellington while still serving
with No 22 Operational
Training Unit. In 1945 Jo went
to the Empire Test Pilots’
School, and the following year
to Saunders-Roe at Cowes as
deputy to chief test pilot
Geoffrey Tyson. As a test pilot
on the SR/A1, Jo flew the
flying boat fighter at the 1948
Farnborough show, and after
rejoining Armstrong Whitworth
in 1949 he made his historic
Jo Lancaster blowing out the candles on his 100th birthday cake, with
ejection when the AW52 flying
daughter Jenny to his left and Jean, one of his three grand-daughters, wing he was piloting from
looking on to his right. In addition to the model Lancasters, note the Bitteswell on 30 May 1949
ejection seat emerging from the cake! JENNY LANCASTER developed a terminal
oscillation in pitch during a
shallow dive.
amongst fellow Bomber years now and the staff here When Jo retired from flying
Command veterans at Princess look after us so well. They’ve in 1984, he had more than
Marina House, and are been fantastic in pulling this 13,000 hours in his logbooks.
honoured to be a part of this party together for me and I am He had a feature about his
truly special occasion.” really grateful to each and ejection, ‘Setting the Record
Jo added, “Us bomber boys every one of them.” Straight’, published in the
have been coming to Princess Starting his aviation career in October 2006 issue of
Marina House for about eight 1935 as an engineering Aeroplane.

10 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2019

06-10,13-15_AM_News_Apr19_cc C.indd 10 04/03/2019 11:51

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WarbirdExp_FP.indd 1 18/12/2018 17:17

Fly in a
Sea Fury
I
n addition to its existing
Spitfire and Mustang ride
programme and the
planned Lysander and
Blenheim flight opportunities
(see News, Aeroplane
February 2019), the Duxford-
based Aerial Collective
announced in late February
that flight experiences will
soon be available in Hawker
Sea Fury T20 WG655/G-INVN.
The potent former Royal Navy
trainer is due to complete
winter maintenance in early
March, after which this new
ride programme of 30 or
50-minute chock-to-chock
sorties will go live. The flights
start from £2,550.
For details go to
www.aerialcollective.co.uk.
‘Tim’ Elkington (right)
at Oxford Airport after
flying in Boultbee’s
two-seat Spitfire,
SM520, in July 2011.
His pilot, Al Pinner, is
on the left. RICHARD PAVER
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
06-10,13-15_AM_News_Apr19_cc C.indd 13
Sea Fury T20 WG655, in which
flights will now be available
from Duxford thanks to Aerial
Collective. GEORGE ROMAIN
‘TIM’ ELKINGTON 1920-2019
Battle of Britain veteran Wg
Cdr John Francis ‘Tim’
Elkington died on 1 February
at the age of 98. Born in
Edgbaston, Birmingham on 23
December 1920, after
schooling in Bedford and pilot
training at Cranwell, Elkington
joined No 1 Squadron on
Hurricanes at Northolt on 15
July 1940, getting his first
confirmed kill, a Bf 109, on 15
August 1940. The following
day he was shot down and
injured by Bf 109 pilot Maj
Helmut Wick. Following
recuperation, Elkington
rejoined No 1 Squadron at
Wittering on 1 October.
In July 1941 Elkington was
posted to No 134 Squadron at
Leconfield, and the following
month embarked with the unit
on HMS Argus, flying off the
carrier in a Hurricane on 7
September bound for an
airfield near Murmansk. He
flew bomber escorts and
helped train Soviet pilots to fly
the type. On 6 October 1941,
Elkington shared a Ju 88 kill
over Vayenga. He returned to
the UK in January 1942.
News April 2019
From April-August 1942
Elkington flew from Speke with
the Merchant Ship Fighter
Unit, and in September 1942
his varied Hurricane flying
career took another interesting
turn when he joined No 539
Squadron at Acklington, flying
Hurricanes alongside Turbinlite
Havocs on night interception
operations.
Following the failure of the
Turbinlite concept, 539 was
disbanded and in late January
1943 Tim joined No 197
Squadron, flying operations
from Tangmere on the Hawker
Typhoon. He was posted
overseas again to No 67
Squadron at Alipore, Calcutta
in December 1943. Elkington
then spent three years
commanding the Air Fighting
Training Unit at Amarda Road,
returning home in October
1946. Promoted to squadron
leader that year, Tim Elkington
went on to fly Avro
Shackletons, and became a
wing commander in 1961. He
retired from the RAF in 1975,
and set up an art supply and
picture-framing business.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 13
04/03/2019 15:32
 News April 2019
Sabre arrives
in France
F
ormer Luftwaffe
Canadair CL-13 Sabre 6
N80FS (c/n 1675)
arrived at Avignon-
Caumont Airport in the south
of France for its new owner,
display pilot Frédéric Akary, on
18 February. The 1958
Downsview, Toronto-built
machine was previously flown
by Dr Rich Sugden of Jackson,
Wyoming as N80FS. Akary flew
P-51D Mustang F-AZXS
Moonbeam McSwine at
displays in Europe from
2013-17, before it went back
to the USA for the Warbird
Heritage Foundation at
Waukegan, Illinois during the
spring of 2018.
The Sabre was one of 225 of
this ultimate variant of the type
to be delivered to the
Trans-Atlantic anniversary for Tangmere
An exhibition celebrating the
50th anniversary of the Daily
Mail-sponsored 1969 Trans-
Atlantic Air Race will be
opened at the Tangmere
Military Aviation Museum on
20 April by test pilots and race
participants Tom Lecky-
Thompson and Graham
Williams. The Harrier flown by
Williams on the west-to-east
leg, GR3 XV744 — which in
1969 was a Harrier GR1 — is
preserved at the museum.
On 4 May 1969, Lecky-
Thompson made the quickest
east-to-west time in the
Harrier GR3 XV744 is now displayed at Tangmere. VIA TMAM
14 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
06-10,13-15_AM_News_Apr19_cc C.indd 14
Luftwaffe, the two-stage
Orenda 14 engine pushing out
7,275lb of static thrust
compared to the 6,000lb of the
original General Electric
J47-GE-13 that powered the
North American F-86E model.
The machine made its maiden
flight on 11 February 1958 and
flew with various codes in
German service. Retired in
1970, seven years later it
became one of a number of
ex-Luftwaffe Sabres acquired
by Duxford-based Ormond
Haydon-Baillie, but after his
death in a Mustang accident in
July 1977 it went to Wroughton
for storage. In 1979 it was sold
to Flight Systems of Mojave,
California, for use as a target
tug, going back into private
ownership in 1997. The Sabre
London-New York leg of the
race, getting under way in a lift
at the top of the Post Office
Tower before riding pillion on a
motorcycle to a coal yard
adjacent to St Pancras station
Graham Williams made second-quickest time
on the west-to-east leg in Harrier XV744, with
which he will be reunited on 20 April
where Harrier XV741 was
waiting. The brand-new
V/STOL fighter was refuelled
four times by No 57 Squadron
CL-13 Sabre 6 N80FS shortly after unpacking at Avignon-Caumont
Airport in the south of France on 18 February. It will be registered
F-AYSB before test-flying begins. FRÉDÉRIC AKARY
was acquired by Sugden in
2007 prior to a ground-up
restoration, since when it is said
to have only flown for 50 hours.
Akary will soon begin
flight-testing the machine,
having qualified on the type in
the USA last summer. It will be
the only Sabre flying in Europe,
and among its bookings for the
forthcoming season is the Paris
Handley Page Victors during
the crossing, which was
completed when XV741
alighted onto a specially built
platform on a pier off 25th
Street East in New York’s Bristol
Basin. Lecky-Thompson then
rode on the back of a Harley
Davidson motorcycle — ridden
by an off-duty member of the
New York Police Department
— before completing the trip
to the top of the Empire State
Building by lift in an elapsed
time of six hours 11 minutes 57
seconds.
The shortest time on the
New York-London section went
to Lt Cdr Peter Goddard, the
back-seater in Royal Navy
McDonnell Douglas Phantom
FG1 XT859, his journey being
completed when a Royal Navy
Wessex delivered him into
Villaroche Air Legend show at
Melun on 7-8 September. This
year, the event will feature
several classic jets, including a
Lockheed T-33, Saab J 29,
Hawker Hunter, de Havilland
Vampires and MiG-15, as well
as Mustangs, Spitfires, Sea
Furies, Skyraiders, a Bearcat,
the Patrouille de France and a
Rafale solo display.
central London. He reached
the top of the capital’s then-
new, emblematic landmark in
five hours 11 minutes. Graham
Williams — who was to retire as
an air vice marshal — made
second-quickest time on the
west-to-east leg in Harrier
XV744, with which he will be
reunited at Tangmere on 20
April. The exhibition will be
open from 20 April until 12
May. Aeroplane will celebrate
the Trans-Atlantic Air Race in
our July edition.
In the museum’s main hall,
the Westland Lysander replica,
built for the 2016 Brad Pitt
feature film Allied, is now
displayed in a tableau
depicting a spy pick-up in
France. The highly realistic
Lysander — built by
Gateguards UK at Newquay
Airport, Cornwall — went on
display at Tangmere in June
2018, and represents the
special duties ‘Lizzies’ flown by
No 161 Squadron from
Tangmere on spy pick-up
missions during the war.
04/03/2019 11:52
 News April 2019

‘Tonka’ farewell tour

W
ith the retirement
of the Panavia
Tornado from RAF
service due by the
end of March, a series of finale
flypasts were made by a trio of
Marham-based GR4s over
current and former RAF bases
and other locations connected
with the type around the UK in
mid-February.
The first flypast, at lunchtime
on 19 February, was over
Cottesmore, Rutland — now
Kendrew Barracks — where the
Tri-National Tornado Training
Establishment (TTTE) was
based from 1981-99. A flyby
over Warton, Lancashire, where
the first British prototype
Tornado, XX946, made its
maiden flight on 30 October
1974, followed. Among the
other locations with significant
Tornado history that were flown
over during the next couple of
days were Coningsby, the
former Royal Aircraft
Establishment at Bedford, the
Tornado maintenance base at
St Athan, Leuchars, the
weapons range at Tain on the
Moray Firth, and finally
Lossiemouth, where No XV
(Reserve) Squadron was
disbanded in March 2017, after
24 years of Tornado operations
at the Scottish base.
The last operational strike
carried out by the type was on The Marham-based Tornado GR4s involved in the farewell flypast on
26 January, when two aircraft 20 February, with ZD716 leading ZD744 and ZA587 over Duxford.
hit positions occupied by DAVID WHITWORTH
so-called Islamic State forces in
Syria. The final operational
flight was an uneventful A total of 12 of the Marham taken by road to Honington,
six-and-a-half-hour patrol over Wing Tornados are due to be Suffolk, where it will become a
Syria by a pair of Tornados that preserved. GR4 ZG752 has gate guard. Examples are also
returned to base at Akrotiri to recently been painted in an set to be roaded to
close out an illustrious near-40- historic grey/green camouflage Cottesmore and Warton for
year career with the RAF. scheme and is scheduled to be future display.

PROJECT UPDATE

STOKE SPITFIRE PROGRESSING AT MAPS

In the Medway Aircraft Preservation
Society (MAPS) workshop at Rochester
Airport, Kent, the wings of the Potteries
Museum and Art Gallery-owned
Supermarine Spitfire XVI, RW388, were
sprayed using a two-part epoxy primer
during early December. The majority of
the fuselage has also been stripped of
the ‘household enamel’ paint down to
the original silver paint finish that was
probably applied when the airframe
was first prepared for gate guardian
duties in 1952.
Robin Heaps, company secretary at
MAPS says, “There is very little
corrosion on the aircraft, and that is
only where we expected it to be,
typically on unfinished steel surfaces.
There is rippling on some of the skins,
probably resulting from multiple
handling over the years. There are also
a few minor but non-standard ‘repairs’
that have been carried out, probably
after it was last flown. We have cleaned
and painted the Packard Merlin engine
and done some refurbishment of the
exhausts, but a number of the
ancillaries are missing and we have a
number of pipes that were removed
prior to delivery to us that still need to
be fitted. The undercarriage legs have
been cleaned, primed and painted.
The starboard wing from Spitfire XVI
RW388 after being sprayed in primer.
The wings still show evidence of the two
forced landings the aeroplane endured,
with several many wrinkled panels, and
the wingtip ends bear witness to possible
ground-looping. TONY HARMSWORTH
“Much of the interior — instruments,
controls, etc — is missing and was
probably cannibalised before the
aircraft was passed by the RAF Museum
to Stoke in 1972. We are still discussing
with the owners at Stoke what action to
take — what will be the ‘completed’
state of the aircraft.”
The Spitfire is expected to be
returned to Stoke-on-Trent during the
first half of 2020, but that will depend
on a number of factors that are still
being determined, including the
completion date of the new museum
extension that will house the Castle
Bromwich-built fighter.
Although it saw no wartime service,
having been delivered to the RAF in
July 1945, RW388 was to achieve fame
during the summer of 1968. Following
conversion to ‘low-back’ configuration
at RAF St Athan, it was painted up as
Spitfire V AB917 and participated in
both the Royal Tournament at Earl’s
Court and the Edinburgh Tattoo during
the RAF 50th anniversary
commemorations. From 1952 to early
1968 it had been a gate guard at the
RAF bases at Benson and Andover. The
fighter was presented to the city of
Stoke-on-Trent by the RAF in memory
of Spitfire designer R. J. Mitchell, who
was born in Kidsgrove, just north of the
city, and educated at a co-educational
grammar school in Stoke.

AEROPLANE APRIL 2019 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 15

06-10,13-15_AM_News_Apr19_cc C.indd 15 04/03/2019 11:52

 Registered Charity No 307534

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19/02/2019 09:50:33

Hangar
HangarTalk
The late, great Derek Piggott in his element: in the cockpit of a Mechta Me7 glider for the 2005 Lasham
Regional championships. VIA PAUL HALLIDAY
I
n early January the aviation
community lost somebody
who, I’d argue, was up
there with the greats, his
name worthy of recognition
with the likes of Alex Henshaw,
Neil Williams, Ray Hanna or
Bob Hoover as one of the
great ‘pilot’s pilots’: Derek
Piggott MBE.
Derek’s RAF career spanned
World War Two combat flying
in Dakotas — and Hotspur,
Horsa and Hadrian troop-
carrying gliders after
volunteering to transfer
temporarily to the Glider Pilot
Regiment in 1944 — and giving
flying instruction on everything
from Tiger Moths to Lancasters.
Then post-war he made his
name in sport gliding, as well
as film flying for productions
including Those Magnificent
Men in their Flying Machines,
The Blue Max, Villa Rides,
Darling Lili, The Red Baron and
the 1970s BBC TV series
Wings. He set many gliding
records, was the first person to
make a verified human-
powered flight in Southampton
University’s SUMPAC aircraft,
and successfully flew a replica
of George Cayley’s 1853 glider.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
17_AM_HangarTalk_Apr19_cc C.indd 17
STEVE SLATER
While Derek was rightly
lauded for his big-screen
exploits, it was in gliding and
instruction that he left his
greatest legacy. From 1953
until ‘retirement’ in 1990, he
was the chief flying instructor of
the Lasham Gliding Society,
helping build it from a group of
small, disparate clubs sharing
the former wartime airfield in
Hampshire to one of the
world’s premier gliding
locations. He also created the
Boddington and Piggott devised a scheme to
pull out key undercarriage bolts with wires after
take-off, ensuring that it would collapse as the
aircraft smashed through the barricade
modern regime of dual-control
training, as previously pilots
had been taught on solo
gliders, graduating from
‘ground slides’ and short hops
to eventual circuits, a process
which was both time-
consuming and hard on aircraft.
Derek was active in gliding
well after his official retirement
from instructing. At the 2005
Lasham Regional competition,
then aged 82, he completed a
Comment on historic aviation
by the chief executive of the
UK’s Light Aircraft Association
triangular ‘Diamond C’ 505km
(313.8-mile) flight, returning to
Lasham with the task ‘in the
bag’ after seven hours and 14
minutes in the air.
Piggott made his final solo
flight, at the age of 90, in 2013.
His logbooks totaled more than
5,000 hours on 154 types of
powered aircraft, with a similar
5,000-plus hours logged on
184 types of glider. He still flew
regularly thereafter, but no
longer as pilot in command.
Even just a few months before
his death at 96, he drove to —
and flew — at Lasham.
Inevitably when flying to the
limits, Derek had a few
moments, but only once had to
bail out: when the tailplane of a
Polish-built SZD-9 Bocian glider
‘departed’ during an aerobatic
training flight. Amazingly, not
only did Piggott and his
student escape injury, but the
unmanned glider proved
Comment
Exiting from the superbly staged
Tiger Moth crash-landing, carried
out in Spain for the film Villa
Rides. VIA MATTHEW BODDINGTON
repairable after its crash-
landing, and it too went on to
fly again.
Piggott’s film flying is
perhaps best remembered for
his multiple passes under a
railway bridge near Cork,
Ireland, in Fokker Triplane
replicas during the making of
The Blue Max. However, the
example which I think equally
demonstrates his innovation
and precision was the
deliberate crash of a Tiger
Moth in 1968, carried out for
the movie Villa Rides.
Piggott was working in Spain
with fellow film pilot Charles
Boddington on the film about
Mexican rebel Pancho Villa,
who led a revolution helped by
an imprisoned American
aviator. The script called for a
Tiger Moth, disguised as a
Curtiss ‘Jenny’, to crash-land in
front of a fort, ploughing
through the defences to allow
Villa and his men to win the
day. Boddington and Piggott
devised a scheme to pull out
key undercarriage bolts with
wires after take-off, ensuring
that the undercarriage would
collapse as the aircraft smashed
through the barricade.
The shoot was a success for
all concerned, Piggott
commenting afterwards that he
earned “more in those four
minutes than in a year of
instructing at Lasham”.
However, he said, it was a pity
“that it came at the cost of a
rather nice old aeroplane.”
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 17
01/03/2019 10:53
 Grub Street Open Day(s) BRUNTINGTHORPE
For the launch of Nimrod Boys with author and veterans
AIRFIELD
signing. And to view our entire stock of books all at
discount prices on the day.
Sunday 26th May ‘19

SATURDAY 6TH
SUNDAY 7TH
APRIL
10AM - 4PM

4 RAINHAM CLOSE COLD WAR JETS

LONDON
SW11 6SS
FAST TAXi DAYs
GATES OPEN 9:00
FIRST TAXI RUN 11:00
£25
hardback, colour illustrations throughout £20 FOR ADULT
Please contact Tess on 02079243966 £15 FOR O.A.P
or email: tess@grubstreet.co.uk
to attend or reserve a signed copy (copies). www.bruntinghthorpeaviation.com
Or find all the details online on the Facebook event!

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Flight Line
Two heroes of British naval aviation together at the Fly Navy 100 launch a decade ago: Eric Brown (left) and John Moffat. DENIS J. CALVERT
A
lmost exactly 10
years ago ‘as I write’,
I attended the press
launch of Fly Navy
100, the Royal Navy’s
celebration of 100 years of
naval aviation that started with
the service’s first airship —
HMA No 1 Mayfly of 1909.
The event was held at the
Royal Aeronautical Society in
Mayfair and was attended by a
glittering array of speakers.
Following the formal
proceedings, I got talking with
Lt Cdr John Moffat, the Fairey
Swordfish pilot generally
credited with launching the
torpedo that disabled the
German battleship Bismarck’s
steering gear. The vessel was
subsequently heavily damaged
by gunfire from Royal Navy
warships and was scuttled the
following day. John was a
supremely humble man,
explaining straight away that
he was less than happy with
the title of his book I Sank the
Bismarck (Bantam Press, 2009),
since “nobody can be sure
who launched that torpedo.”
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
19_AM_Flightline_Apr19_cc C.indd 19
DENIS J. CALVERT
We discussed the
engagement of May 1941,
which pitched a small force of
Royal Navy Swordfish from
HMS Ark Royal against the
battleship, at the time the
pride of the German
Kriegsmarine. John recalled,
“the hellish weather. A force 8
gale, the height of the clouds
600ft, and a carrier deck that
was going up and down 60ft. I
John Moffat asked if I would take a photo of
him ‘and his mate’. He scuttled across the hall and
came back with Eric Brown
didn’t think they’d allow us to
take off. Our CO persuaded
the captain. To let us get off,
he had to reduce the speed
of his ship to 5kt because of
the waves.”
Like many men of his mettle,
John freely admitted to being
frightened. “Scared? I was
scared stiff. You have no idea.
They put up these big shells
and walls of water about 50ft
high. When we got through
Recollections and reflections — a seasoned
reporter’s view of aviation history
that they changed to different
weapons — smaller arms. That
and the tracers started coming
at us. Absolute sheets of it.
They left me in no doubt who
they were firing at. No doubt
at all. Then, I was just about to
drop my torpedo. I got in to
less than 2,000 yards and was
still flying, when a voice in my
ear said, ‘Not yet, John’. And I
thought to myself, ‘What the
hell. Not yet?’ I knew it was my
observer, but I couldn’t think
why he was saying, ‘Not yet’.
All the time, we were getting
nearer to this huge ship. I
turned around and there he
was outside the aircraft, with
nothing but his backside
showing. He was head down,
underneath — and then I
realised what he was up to.
When you drop your torpedo,
you mustn’t hit the top of a
Comment
wave — and they were
enormous waves — or it risks
being knocked off course. You
have to get into a trough. So,
after he said, ‘Let her go’, I
always remember his saying,
‘We’ve got a runner’, to which
I replied, ‘I’m doing a runner’. I
didn’t hang around to see
where my torpedo had gone. I
just kept going.”
We spoke for maybe 15
minutes, after which he asked
me — yes, he asked me — if I
would take a photo of him
‘and his mate’. I signalled
willing agreement, following
which he scuttled across the
hall and came back with Eric
Brown. The two of them posed
in front of a large poster of a
modern-day Royal Navy Lynx,
and the photo was taken.
Sadly, neither of these great
men is still with us. Eric Brown
died in February 2016 and
John Moffat later that same
year; they were two of the
truest of true heroes. Talking
with both in the course of a
morning was an occasion I
shall never forget.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 19
01/03/2019 10:53
 Skywriters
In every issue, the writer of our Letter of the Month wins a £25 book voucher to spend with leading military and transport publisher Crécy.
Making Landfall
Following up the feature on the Avro
Anson I in service with No 500 Squadron
over Dunkirk (Aeroplane January 2019), if
readers are interested in seeing a very
realistic depiction of 500’s Anson Is in
action then I would recommend they track
down the film Landfall.
This is a 1949 British war film about
Coastal Command Anson Is operating in
March 1940 out of what is given as RAF
Manston, Kent, on anti-submarine patrols
during the ‘Phoney War’. The plot has Rick,
a young Anson pilot played by the then
very popular film and stage actor, Michael
Denison, getting tangled up with his
superiors in Coastal Command and with
the Admiralty over his apparent fatal error
in bombing and sinking a British submarine
which he appears to have mistaken for a
German sub.
For the aviation enthusiast and historian,
Landfall has what appear to be Anson Is
bearing No 500 Squadron codes. Rick’s
Anson carries the serial and code letters
NK583/MK-L, of which there is a very good
air-to air study in the film. If I may quote
from my book, Flying Film Stars, “It is
surprising that there were sufficient
numbers of Avro Anson Is still available [in
1949] to be used in Landfall. A total of four
were found, most likely from Air Ministry
stocks. It is possible that they were Avro
Anson Xs, a version of the MkI with a
strengthened cabin floor which were
produced later in the war and retained all
the other features of the Anson I but did
not serve with Coastal Command.”
Frankly, Landfall is a rather boring film
with the main action taking place at the
beginning and the end. The bulk of the
plot is taken up with Rick’s very creaky love
interest with a local girl and his blue funk at
being held responsible for sinking one of
His Majesty’s subs — which turns out to be
a German one after all! But, for Anson
lovers, it is well worth looking out for.
Mark Ashley, Reading
New wings for an old Anson
I was drawn to the ‘In Service’ section of
your Database on the Avro Anson
(Aeroplane January 2019) and in particular
the article about Australian company Brain
& Brown undertaking a wing change
by replacing the MkI wooden wing with a
metal one.
20 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
20-21_AM_Skywriters_Apr19_cc C.indd 20
R
LETTE
of t h e
H
MONT
Ken Watkins with the late Basil Dodd — future U-2 pilot — on his shoulders back in 1949.
High jinks with a high-flyer
I greatly enjoyed reading Ben Dunnell’s
two articles about the RAF U-2 pilots.
In the late 1940s I knew one of them,
Basil W. Dodd, when he was an
aeronautical student. I was pleased to
see him mentioned in February’s
edition of Aeroplane, on page 43.
A few years ago I discovered that
Basil completed a course at the Empire
Test Pilots’ School in 1956. Later, as an
RAF squadron leader, he piloted the
U-2 and was awarded the Air Force
Cross. He died in May 2000.
Basil was a fellow student at the de
Havilland Aeronautical Technical
School. He entered the school in 1945,
a year before me. He gained his pilot’s
I was employed as a trainee radio
engineer by Air Couriers at
Croydon Airport, starting in the spring of
1957 when this company modified
Anson G-AGWE for Decca as an
experimental test and demonstration
aircraft. Some time that year, while
assisting my chief in the installation of
some new radio equipment in a Rapide at
one end of the hangar, there was a loud
shout from the depths requesting that all
hands were required on Anson ’WE.
Everybody appeared from all directions
when it was explained by the chief
In association with…
WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd,
PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK
E-MAIL TO: aeroplane@keypublishing.com,
putting ‘Skywriters’ in the header
‘A’ licence early in 1949 after training
with the London Aeroplane Club at
Panshanger aerodrome. From that
airfield later in 1949, in a Tiger Moth,
he gave me my very first flight. We all
remember our first flights! On this one
Basil demonstrated his aerobatic
enthusiasm, completing three loops,
several spins and sideslips.
You might be amused by the
accompanying photo of a student
prank, which was taken in 1949 in the
grounds of Astwick Manor, the home
of the DHAeTS near Hatfield. Basil is
on my shoulders.
Ken Watkins CEng MRAeS,
Campeaux, France
engineer that we were going to remove
the wooden wing from ’WE and replace it
with a metal one which was sitting on a
large RAF low-loader outside the back of
‘D’ hangar. I had not realised that so
many people worked in ‘D’ hangar — with
other companies, I guess — until they
all appeared to assist in moving trestles to
one side of the aircraft to accept the old
wing, and then another set to the other
side in preparation for unloading the metal
wing from the low-loader and finally on to
the aircraft. All this took a few days to
complete, what with reconnecting all the
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
03/03/2019 22:17

Anson G-AGWE in the colours of the London School of Flying at Elstree in 1964, a few years
after its time with Air Couriers and its wing change. WORLD AVIATION ARCHIVE/AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM
systems and checking for correct operation
afterwards. I flew in ’WE many times,
usually as an observer, learning how to
operate the navigation systems.
To this day I have never heard of
another, similar wing change taking place
on an Anson. I was assured afterwards
that Decca’s aircraft would have a much
better ability to carry all of the company’s
new systems, test equipment and staff.
Later documentation shows that ’WE was
recorded as becoming a Series 2 aircraft
in September 1957. It served the
Togetherness is bliss…
In the January 2019 issue, you
published a photograph of two
Ansons (JS193 and JS167) after
they had landed ‘together’ at
Gimli in Manitoba. This occurred
in 1943, and the caption noted
the parallel with a similar incident
in Australia in 1940. In fact, the
same thing had happened in
Canada a couple of years before
the Gimli mishap. It took place in
Macleod, Alberta on 1 February
1941. I attach a report from The
New York Times for 2 February
1941, which describes the
incident. There are some typographical
errors in the newspaper report: ‘Avra’
should be Avro, obviously; ‘Jaspar’ is
most likely Jasper; and “McLeod’ or
‘MacLeod’ (both are used in the report)
should apparently be Macleod, with an
‘a’ but not a capital ‘l’.
Ian Woodward
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
20-21_AM_Skywriters_Apr19_cc C.indd 21
company well until it was sold to Kemp’s
Aerial Surveys in 1969.
Brian Chipping
Backwards across the Pacific
I was interested to read the account of
David Cyster’s flight to Australia
(Aeroplane February 2019) as it was this
that enabled me to be probably the only
person to have flown in a Tiger Moth at
25,000ft and 230kt across the Pacific
Ocean, and backwards at that. How did
this unlikely accolade come about, you
The Anson mishap at Macleod, Alberta on 1 February 1941, with RCAF 6188 (formerly
W1570) on top of RCAF 6220 (ex-W1642). RCAF 6220 was scrapped in 1941, while 6188
was rebuilt, flown again, and scrapped after the war. BOMBER COMMAND MUSEUM OF CANADA
Skywriters
may ask? Very simple. I was the aircraft
ground engineer — a multi-skilled
technician who flew on the Hercules when
they went away from Lyneham to service
and maintain them — on that global
trainer, and took the opportunity to sit in
the Tiger’s cockpit as we flew across the
Pacific to be able to make that claim, one I
must admit has not exactly echoed down
the hallowed halls of aviation, so the
opportunity to present it after all these
years is not to be missed. And why
backwards? Well, the Tiger was loaded tail-
first to fit in with the rest of our cargo.
Nic Watts, Wroughton, Wiltshire
A Miles memory
Nice piece of history about the Miles Hawk
Speed Six (Aeroplane January 2019).
Thank you, and I am glad that she is now
in the Shuttleworth Collection. Just a
thought about why my uncle, Ron Paine,
may have obtained the Speed Six in
preference to the other contenders — I
have no proof of this, but I think Miles was
having financial problems at the time, and I
was under the impression that Derby
Airways bought Marathons as well as the
parts for at least three Aries/Geminis which
I think were built at Burnaston.
I was fortunate in being able to
participate in some air races as the
‘navigator/handicap allowance’ in Proctor
G-AHNA with my father, A. S. K. (‘Buster’)
Paine. Those were the days…
Keith Paine, Prissé-la-Charrière, France
The editor reserves the right to edit all
letters. Please include your full name and
address in correspondence.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 21
03/03/2019 22:17
 Q&A COMPILER: BARRY WHEELER
WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box
100, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK
E-MAIL TO: aeroplane@keypublishing.com,
putting ‘Q&A’ in the header

Are you seeking the answer to a thorny aviation question, or trying to trace an old aviation friend? Our ‘questions and answers’ page might help

THIS MONTH’S QUESTIONS

‘Droop snoot’ Britannia

Q Steven Keating recalls his time when, as a junior
technician, he was based at RAF Brize Norton between
1972 and 1975. In 1974, with the Brize runway being
resurfaced, personnel and aircraft were detached to RAF
Fairford when Concorde was a regular sight pounding round
the circuit (see pages 34-40). He recalls, “One morning,
driving in to Fairford, I saw what seemed to be a very unusual,
heavily modified Bristol Britannia. It was XM490 and,
according to the title on the droop-snoot nose section, it was
a ‘C Mk III’”. The wording on the fuselage side, meanwhile,
reads ‘Royal Air Farce’…
Steven can’t remember the date, but it could have been 1
April, and he has no idea who took the photograph. He gave
the picture to his late father, who was a flight engineer on
Britannias with Monarch Airlines, and discovered it at the back
of one of his logbooks. Does anyone know
about the occasion, who did it — and was
there any disciplinary action?

Fun at Concorde’s expense at RAF Fairford in 1974 — possibly the

action of some enterprising groundcrew, or maybe instigated by
the pilot of Britannia C1 XM490?

Far Eastern decoy? attacks on the airfield. The Anson Messerschmitt

Q Peter Marson would like
to know what this is and
where the photograph below
was taken. It appears to be a
collection of parts assembled
into a dummy aircraft, possibly
to draw the fire of enemy
main fuselage appears to have
come from a Japanese
Nakajima Ki-44 ‘Tojo’ fighter
with a rudder from another
type and an in-line engine
‘mounted’ at the front. Any
details would be welcome.
undercarriage column
Q Prompted by the Avro
Anson Database feature Q Sandy Freeleagus has a
control column from a
in the January issue, Tom Messerschmitt Bf 109, acquired
Griffiths would like to know by his father when serving with
how many turns of the handle No 3 Squadron, RAAF, in the
it took to retract the Middle East during World War
undercarriage. Was it really the Two. Sandy would like to find
much repeated 165? In the out what model of Bf 109 the
early 1960s, Tom was based at stick comes from — his dad
the RAE trials range at suggests an F/Trop or G/Trop.
Aberporth which had an The hand grip
Anson for various duties is quite worn
operating from Llanbedr, the from use and
airfield used for target drone missing the
development some 60 miles safety clip
along the coast. He recalls that normally located
on his one and only short flight on the top. Details on
he was ‘invited’ to undertake the column are as
the task and, having just follows: “Argus
completed the retraction after Motoren
take-off, he was told to start Gesellschaft m.b.H.
winding it down again, only Gerät-Nr 102-56E.
completing it on final Werk-Nr 13662. Ft-Nr
approach! 47945-3.”

22 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2019

22-23_AM_Q&A_Apr19_cc C.indd 22 03/03/2019 22:15


One of the substantial sections
of Spitfire MK997 after recovery
from Lake Samsjǿen, Norway, in
summer 2018 — but what was its
Vickers construction number?
ØYVIND MUNCH ELLINGSEN
Spitfire MK997
airframe number
Q Can anyone provide
Øyvind Munch Ellingsen
with the Vickers airframe
number for Spitfire IXe MK997,
which has been recovered from
Lake Samsjøen, south of
Trondheim, Norway? The
aircraft crashed during low
flying over the lake in August
1950, killing pilot 2nd Lt Finn
Thorstensen. Øyvind received
ownership of the wreck in 2009
and in 2017 partnered with
Norwegian Flying Aces in
recovering most of the remains
of the aircraft, which were
brought to the surface in
August 2018 (see News,
Aeroplane October 2018).
CORRECTIONS AND
CLARIFICATIONS
• Thanks to John Usher for
pointing out the error in the
Lancaster PA474 poster, free
with last month’s issue: as can
be seen by reference to the
image on the other side, the
side-view artworks did not
feature the York-type rudders
with longer trim tabs, with
which PA474 was built.
• Some clarification to details
of the two Fokker ‘Spins’
mentioned in last month’s
‘Aeroplane meets…’ feature
on Edwin Boshoff. The flying
example was PH-SPN, with an
inverted Hirth four-cylinder
engine; the other one was
PH-WEY, with a V8 Renault.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
22-23_AM_Q&A_Apr19_cc C.indd 23
THIS MONTH’S ANSWERS
Anglo-French
MATHIS engine
Q The mystery as to what
happened to the
MATHIS Vega aero engine
smuggled to Britain in 1940
was the subject of a question
from Andre Rousseau in the
January issue.
A John Martin of the
Rolls-Royce Heritage
Trust has made enquiries and
can find no known record of
Rolls-Royce evaluating the
engine. Nor is there any
indication that one of these
is still in existence in the UK.
John remarks that as this
59-litre, 42-cylinder unit
produced no more power
than a simple V12, 36-litre RR
Griffon, it’s unlikely anyone
would have shown serious
interest in it. Additionally, the
complex design would most
likely result in significant
power losses, making
reliability a major challenge.
Carrier-based
Caudrons
Q In the January issue,
Brian Bedford queried
the use of French Caudron
Luciole biplanes during the
Royal Navy’s action against
the Vichy French at Dakar
during 1940.
A From French sources,
Max Meindl confirms the
use of two pre-war Caudron
C272 Lucioles flown by Free
French pilots during the
action near Dakar. He adds
that a third was originally to
have taken part, all from
Groupe Mixte de Combat No
1 (GC 1) and forming part of
the French expeditionary
force sent to Norway in April
1940, but the British cruiser
Mosquito manuals
David Coeshall is trying to expand his collection
of technical manuals and documents for all the
different variants of the DH Mosquito. Aiming to
create the ultimate reference library on the
aircraft, David has already supplied copies of
relevant manuals to most, if not all, parties
involved in restoring both flying and static
Q&A
On the flight deck of HMS Ark Royal, British and French personnel
prepare the Caudron Lucioles for the impending flight to Ouakam,
near Dakar, on 23 September 1940.
HMS Fiji could only well and three more French
accommodate two aircraft for officers disembarked from
the journey to Freetown (in one of the Swordfish, which
what is now Sierra Leone). quickly took off again. After a
However, the ship was friendly reception, during
torpedoed on 1 September,
the aircraft and crews
transferring to HMAS
which the Free French tried to
persuade the Vichy personnel
to rally to their side, Cdt
Australia four days later and Fanneau de la Horie, the CO
being taken aboard HMS Ark of GC I/4, arrived and
Royal on arrival in Freetown ordered that the seven Free
on 17 September. French be arrested, but not
As part of Operation before they managed to
‘Menace’, the plan was for the signal to Ark Royal that the
aircraft to land at Ouakam
airfield near Dakar and
determine the allegiance of
situation had changed and
not to send any
reinforcements. The seven
local French troops. If they Free French officers were
were ‘friendly’ a further 20 sentenced to death and sent
airmen were to be flown in by back to France. Fortunately,
Fairey Swordfish to help take after indicating they would
over the airfield. Piloted by
Sgt Jules Joire, a former
member of Groupe de
switch sides and serve the
Vichy regime, they received
an amnesty, following which
Chasse I/4 which was based they escaped to continue the
at Ouakam, accompanied by fight against the German
Lt Henri Gaillet, with Cne occupiers by joining the
Jacques Soufflet and Adj resistance. Joire, meanwhile,
Moulènes, the aircraft took off later served with the famous
from Ark Royal at around ‘Normandie-Niemen’
05.15hrs on 23 September. squadron in Russia. More
Guided by three Swordfish, details can be found at
the Lucioles landed at the www.france-libre.net/
French base at 06.00. All went fafl-dakar.
WANTED
examples of this famous machine. He is willing to
purchase and/or pay costs for copying or
scanning original material, and to share or
exchange items. Ultimately, all manuals and
material collected will be donated to the de
Havilland Aircraft Museum at London Colney,
Hertfordshire. David’s e-mail address is
djcoeshall@aol.com.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 23
03/03/2019 22:16
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 F
FUTURE O

BRINGING
T H E PA S T

ON THE
NEW BLOOD
To ensure the health of the UK warbird
M
“ y memories of the first
scene, a new generation of pilots is
just as important as the availability of
aircraft. Recent years have seen many
talented newcomers entering this
rarefied environment, but how do they
go about it, and what are operators
looking for? We found out from some
of the men and women involved
WORDS: JEANNE FRAZER
trip are a mix of emotions.
Terror — in terms of
being let loose in such
a potent piece of machinery, and
what the owner might do to me if
it all went horribly wrong — then
finally catching up with the aeroplane
and having the mental capacity to
look out at the iconic elliptical wing
and savour the experience. I recall
initially being surprised at the less-
than-thoroughbred performance on
take-off, but after absorbing what the
instrumentation was saying it became
apparent that I had left the ground

Richard Grace, here

climbing out of Anglia
Aircraft Restorations’
TF-51D Contrary
Mary — the former
Miss Velma — typifies
the new warbird
generation. HARRY MEASURES

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 with only slightly more than half
power. It was the noise that got me;
I just couldn’t get my head around
what a Merlin at take-off power
sounded like.”
Even if a century’s worth of combat
aircraft can be termed ‘warbirds’,
images conjured up by the word
auto-default to World War Two
classics, epitomised by the Spitfire
and its mighty Merlin. The journey to
becoming a warbird pilot follows no
set route, and the process of how the
glittering prize comes to be awarded,
to whom, when and why, can appear
mysterious. One way to not achieve
it, all agree, is to ask. Although corny,
being in the right place at the right
time plays a part, but only given the Twenty-five years on, Dave and by the time he flew his first fighter ABOVE:
right foundations. Puleston’s CV pretty well ticked the in 2010 he had displayed for around Pete Kynsey
same boxes, but he recalled an earlier 13 seasons. “It always felt as if other handling The
Fighter Collection’s
sense of awe. “Years before my warbird people knew more than I did about FG-1D Corsair at
Brian Smith, whose vivid description check-out with Pete Kynsey, I had where I was going and what I was Old Warden. His
of his first Spitfire flight introduced what was to me the surreal experience going to be offered to fly. At Duxford experience has
this piece, feels it was a combination of of flying in the same display you get strange nods, like some helped many new
having exhibited the correct qualities slot at Duxford with masonic thing.” entrants to the
in a variety of disciplines: Formula this god — he in the scene. DAVID WHITWORTH
One air racers, light aircraft aerobatics, Cosmic Wind and
some high-performance machinery me in a Cassutt. In
and a solid background of formation that era, flying next
and display flying near the ground. to people you’d admired
That aside, he was absolutely nailed on since you were a kid was akin
tailwheel aircraft and their handling to being asked to stand in with
characteristics, understanding why Eric Clapton at the Albert Hall”.
basic stick-and-rudder skills are a Much later, Dave joined forces
major factor in their safe operation, with Richard Grace in the Trig
and appreciating what makes them Aerobatic Team, in a Pitts S-1D
misbehave. Special he rebuilt with friends,

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 F
FUTURE O WARBIRD PILOTS
T H E PA S T
ABOVE: The invitation to fly Spitfire IXT
The Harvard/T-6 ML407 came unexpectedly when
family remains a Carolyn Grace dropped into a
crucial ‘stepping-
social conversation that she’d added
stone’ to the
heavier metal. Here, Dave to the insurance, and told him
Martin Overall in to ‘go fly the Spitfire with Pete’.
the ex-Boscombe Without Harvard time to his credit,
Down ‘yellow he anticipated a drawn-out process.
peril’ from the “Instead we did a couple of handling
Aircraft Restoration
flights before Pete asked, ‘Do you
Company fleet
and Mark Levy in want to go off now, or have a cup of
his own aeroplane tea first?’” Soon Dave found himself
get airborne in plunged into big warbird formations.
formation. “My first Legends [in ML407] was
BEN DUNNELL Stephen Grey’s last. I’d watched him
all my life and his swansong in the
Bearcat was flown as well as he always
had. As we walked out to do the Balbo,
I found myself
thinking, ‘now
I’ve got to do it
It can be a bit
myself ’.” awe-inspiring. It
Rewind to the
late 1980s and means a lot to get a
Pete Kynsey and
another ‘rookie’
pat on the back from
were asked to go a pilot you know has a
to Duxford, where
two fighters stood fine pedigree
on the flightline,
prepped by The Fighter Collection’s
ever-watchful engineers and ready to
go. “You’ve already flown a Spit”, said
‘Hoof ’ Proudfoot, “so you can take the
P-40”. Pete’s first warbird flight had
been just a few months earlier, with the
late Nick Grace in Spitfire ML407.
Later he was to inherit the mantle
of chief pilot for TFC, the largest
single-owner collection of warbirds in
Europe. Anyone who harbours a desire
to fly warbirds wants to put their finger
on the magic formula. So, what is an
owner or chief pilot looking for?
The role of checking out ‘new blood’
falls with some regularity on Pete’s
shoulders. “It’s tricky to explain how
you know which pilots will be right,
28 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
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but when you’ve seen enough wrong
people selected and asked yourself why
they were wrong, it usually boils down
to their not appreciating the aeroplane
in the way that they should. Instead
of being conscious of its history and
respectful of its age, they see it as a
vehicle for displaying themselves. That
doesn’t satisfy the requirement when
the most important consideration
is what spectators want to see”. His
list of basic essentials reiterates the
confection of abilities flagged up by
Brian Smith, and he went on to add,
“Experience in a formation aerobatic
team is perfect grounding. It enables a
pilot to fit in with the rest of the bunch
for a scenario, and helps them cope
with the briefing
environment.”
Carolyn Grace
blazed something
of a trail when
Dave Puleston
and Alex Smee
followed on her
son’s heels to
display ML407.
It’s now 10 years
since a 23-year-
old Richard Grace made his Spitfire
display debut, and he now directs
the engineering, passenger flights
and airshow work for Air Leasing at
Sywell. Its warbird ‘squadron’ runs
into double figures, so being at the
forefront in pro-active talent-spotting
is vital to ensure a sufficiency of pilots
under its umbrella.
Richard believes that flying warbirds
is all about attitude and aptitude. He
accepts that the Harvard is a good step
for those who’ve come from slow or
nosewheel types, but is firm about the
Pitts S-2A and Cassutt Racer being
perfect alternative launch platforms
for big piston warbirds. “Although”,
he adds, “there’s also a need to have
flown a complex type, and formation
competence is key”. Richard went on,
“ML407 is part of our family, so to
give it to someone else we need to have
confidence. We’ll put a new pilot in the
back so they can see what it’s all about,
and then in the front to fly it. Dual
will be less than five hours usually,
and once solo they’re encouraged to
consolidate quickly. New pilots are
allowed 10 hours for familiarity before
they display it — and they don’t have
to pay a penny.”
And Carolyn pointed out, “Keeping
pilots current is a good investment
in my aircraft’s safety. It might cost
thousands of pounds an hour, but
if that ultimately helps to protect a
valuable aircraft, and me worrying
about it, it’s economical. I don’t want
to feel there’s any need to have a hand-
held at the ready every time someone
goes flying in my precious aeroplane!”
Legislation that saw the advent of
Safety Standards Acknowledgment
and Consent (SSAC) has had
a dramatic impact on warbird
operations, escalating annual
utilisation and, in tandem, improving
currency for a larger number of pilots.
SSAC is the analysis framework that
allows operators who can comply
to offer passenger flights in certain
aircraft unable to meet modern
commercial security standards, such
as two-seat Spitfires and Mustangs.
Operators across the country find
themselves in need of a reliable pool
of suitably qualified pilots in order to
satisfy enthusiastic public demand,
which, serendipitously, helps render
a fresh generation of pilots justifiable
and affordable.
As SSAC turned two-seat warbirds
into a more desirable commodity, their
numbers and accessibility increased,
and initial exposure to the Merlin’s
roar for most of the newly chosen
comes in company with an experienced
hand. John Romain is convinced of
the benefits: “There’s enough financial
stability within SSAC to train pilots
for commercial flying in the Spitfire,
and to enhance them on to other types.
We use two-seaters because we can,
and exposure to the environment of
noise, energy, acceleration and heat is
useful; if you have the tool, why not
use it?” Others comment that putting
a pilot straight into a single-seater
validates their choice, but all concur
that no pilot would be in the back of a
two-seater being trained without being
thought capable in the first place.
Until relatively recently, a pilot’s
suitability to fly a more valuable and
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
04/03/2019 10:54
 potent piece of kit was frequently
judged on competent handling of
a Harvard. During the mid-1980s,
prior to jumping in to the Old
Flying Machine Company’s Spitfire
MH434, Brian Smith spent half an
hour in the back seat of one, “proving
to Ray Hanna that I understood the
mysteries of boost versus rpm and
could fly the aeroplane adequately
with virtually no forward visibility
during the take-off and landing
phases”. A few years later, Stu
Goldspink’s preparation for flying
a Spitfire consisted of three circuits
in the back of a Harvard with John
Allison. In 1989, ‘Hoof ’ Proudfoot
had anticipated recruiting a 30-year-
old John Romain to fly TFC fighters
on the strength of his T-6 aerobatic
routine, but coincidentally Lindsey
Walton threw his Corsair pilot notes
at John saying, ‘see you next Tuesday’.
“Knowing the F4U inside-out from
a mechanical perspective made a
massive difference”, says John. “All I
had to think about was the flying, but
after clattering off and thinking to
myself how incredible it all was, I then
had to get it back on the ground…”
In parallel with his own journey
since, John’s been instrumental in
encouraging a number of others,
among them one of his own Aircraft
Restoration Company engineers,
Martin Overall. “‘Mo’ loves doing
Dave Puleston’s first Flying
the whole package, so in that sense Legends in a warbird fighter: 2013,
flying has enhanced his engineering”, at the helm of Spitfire ML407 (top).
explained John. “He built the MkXI He flew in both a tailchase and, as
[PL983, which returned to flight last here, the Balbo. BEN DUNNELL
year] and was the first person to fly it
after me.”
As a corollary, ‘Mo’ found that,
“Flying these aeroplanes makes for
a better relationship with customer-
owners, who allow me to conduct
their test flights”. Twenty years as an
engineer has given him an invaluable
understanding of the mechanics, and
an ability to visualise what’s going
on inside the engine translates into a
handy in-flight instinct for the onset
of anything quirky.
From four or five hours in 2012,
his annual Spitfire time has now
ramped up to 50 hours, achieved
with a combination of air-to-air
photographic sorties, displays, transits
and test flights. Like his counterparts, to operating aircraft worth a fortune, that, but it can be a bit awe-inspiring. ABOVE:
‘Mo’ cited power and noise as the and suddenly someone’s letting me It means a lot to get a pat on the Putting his
major differences when making the have a go.” back from a pilot you know has a engineering and
flying experience
move into the Spitfire — aside, that He thought back to his initiation fine pedigree — especially if a couple
to work, Martin
is, from the inescapable knowledge into massed warbird formation flying: of years earlier he only knew you Overall takes off for
of how much what you’re strapped to “You sit in the cockpit and gaze along vaguely as someone who polished his a test flight in ARC’s
is worth. “Your brain’s trained up for the flightline at the other guys you’re windscreen — but it’s also nice to fly Spitfire PRXI PL983.
retractable gear and variable-pitch about to fly with, most of whom with people of my own age and newer BEN DUNNELL
propellers, so the biggest thing is the you’ve been watching from the ground to the warbird scene, like Jon
sheer value of the thing. I wasn’t used for 15 years or more. It’s a job to beat Gowdy and Andy Durston.”

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 F
FUTURE O WARBIRD PILOTS
T H E PA S T
Although you might have relatively
limited exposure to each type, they’re similar
enough to be manageable. In warbirds there’s
limited guidance and it comes from those
who’ve been doing it for decades
ABOVE: Both members of the Fireflies
Eleven Spitfires in team of Vans RV-4s were recruited by
formation as Flying
Richard Grace, initially to fly ML407
Legends 2018’s
opener. Martin for Air Leasing’s SSAC operation.
Overall, Phil Ansell Jon and Andy began their induction
and Jon Gowdy, with ‘hangar flying’, spending time in
respectively flying the cockpit with Richard to go over
MkIXTs PT462 the technical stuff, talking through
and ML407 and
the checklists and emergency drills
Vc EE602, were
newcomers to this for ‘what happens if ’, and generally
act. HARRY MEASURES exploring the undercarriage workings
and other systems. Each got airborne
for a short flight in the back with
Richard, and Andy remembers the
overwhelming feeling of being in a
family heirloom and an irreplaceable
piece of history. Immediately after
their successful check rides with Pete
Kynsey at Duxford, Andy returned
ML407 to Sywell with Jon in the rear
seat. “It was immensely rewarding, but
at that stage you’re so concerned to
get everything right that you end up
checking everything more times than
you need to. The ergonomics aren’t
like modern aircraft, so I wouldn’t say
I had lots of time to consciously relish
the experience.”
Andy acknowledges the hurdles an
owner has to overcome in nominating
a new pilot, in accepting the associated
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risk and financing training. “If the risk
is mitigated to a degree by a pilot’s
background, then sufficient SSAC
demand can stimulate an appetite
for the necessary investment”. He’s
also ended up flying a number of
TFC’s fighters. “Although you might
have relatively limited exposure to
each type, they’re similar enough to
be manageable. In warbirds there’s
limited guidance and it comes
from those who’ve been doing it
for decades, so it’s incredibly useful
listening to someone like John Romain
describing his thought processes
during an engine failure. You can learn
lessons from others’ misfortunes and
information-gathering conversations
help to bolster your own experience.”
His Fireflies partner, Jon Gowdy,
recalls the effective suggestion made
by Pete Kynsey when he went to solo
the Spitfire: “Park the name: if it was
called a ‘Throckmorton 3000’, how
would you feel?” Jon, who passed
through the doors of Air Atlantique
and its Classic Flight and built his
display skills on a huge variety of
old aeroplanes, ventured, “Someone
like Richard operates a lot of aircraft
and has to put his trust in others.
If you’re asked to fly a warbird, the
person asking is already satisfied that
you’re going to be able to do it, but a
good, solid airshow background with
tailwheel and aerobatics is absolutely
crucial — and formation needs to be
like breathing, you have to be able to
just do it. But there’s no room for ego,
and you mustn’t make the mistake of
showing off to your peers.”
If a stereotypical step on the
nursery ladder for warbird flying is
an aerobatic display team, it’s hardly
surprising that three of those who paid
their dues with the Aerostars squad of
Yak-50s also ended up on the radar of
Air Leasing. Mark Levy had always
promised himself that if he hadn’t
been invited to fly a big warbird, he’d
go somewhere and pay to do it. “No-
one tapped me on the shoulder, so I
went to Stallion 51 in Florida and did
three flights”. He then bought a T-6
and Richard Grace did the pre-buy
inspection. By this time there was talk
of Mark conducting SSAC flights but
then, and a bit out of the blue, Richard
asked, “Howd’ya fancy flying the P-51
at Legends?”
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
04/03/2019 10:54

His first day of warbird display
flying in TF-51D Miss Velma went
as planned, with an exhilarating
two-ship tailchase and the marvellous
sensation of being in the 21-ship
Balbo. Towards the end of the next
day’s Balbo, as Mark marvelled
at being in the midst of such an
incredible collection of machinery, he
rolled out downwind and the engine
began to misbehave. In his words,
“It ended badly, in a field outside the
airfield boundary.”
Talking frankly about an accident
which seriously damages a rare historic
aeroplane isn’t easy, even for an old
hand, but it was important to Mark to
share the lessons learnt. “Making the
move from smaller pistons, you need
to leave some things behind. When
the engine coughed the first time, I
should have departed the formation
straight away and sorted myself out.
Instead, my initial thought was that it
might just be a bit of water in the fuel
— in retrospect, an unlikely situation
given the volume needed to cause a
Merlin to splutter. Another lesson was
that a partial engine failure is more
difficult to cope with than a total one.
As it picked up, I switched back to
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 31
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fault-finding mode by scanning the
instruments. Then it coughed again
and I resurrected the exterior scan in
preparation to land. When it settled
again, I found my attention reverting
to the cockpit interior in a desperate
search for an answer. This scenario
repeated itself several times before
the engine finally stopped, when the
forced landing mode won.”
Not only did Mark receive huge
support from his fellow aviators, but
a month afterwards he was handed
pilot’s notes for the Hurricane.
Having bared his soul, he’d like it to
be known that he’s now flown the
Hurricane and Spitfire for 18 months
without bending them!
Another former Aerostar, Phil
Ansell, was a leader and also
choreographer of their stunning
routine which cleverly never left
spectators without a focus. He found
that the pressure in flying a Spitfire
was not its difficulty, but rather the
burden of responsibility to look
after a treasured aircraft. “Other
aeroplanes I’ve flown are far trickier
in handling terms. The XA-42 has a
frighteningly powerful elevator, and
the exaggeratedly reclined seating
position in the Su-29 renders visibility LEFT:
far worse than that from a Spitfire. Yet A new addition
I feel a massive responsibility to ensure to The Fighter
that the trust of Carolyn and Richard Collection’s pilot
roster for 2018,
is not misplaced, so floating around Andy Durston
the skies in carefree fashion is yet to moves the P-40F out
materialise for a newbie like me”. Phil’s from the Duxford
first taste of being part of an 11-ship flightline.
warbird scenario came at the 2018 HARRY MEASURES
Flying Legends, a year after Mark.
BELOW LEFT:
Norwegian Lars Ness’s entry into Mark Levy with his
warbird flying was on Anders Saether’s Stallion 51 instructor
twin-engine A-26 Invader back in Steve Larmore
1989. A year later he was offered the in front of the
Mustang, then named Old Crow. Kissimmee, Florida-
“I’d started and taxied it and knew based organisation’s
TF-51D Crazy
the pilot’s notes by heart. Often you Horse2. VIA MARK LEVY
have an uncomfortable feeling in
a new aircraft, but I never felt that
in the Mustang. I’d spent so much
time all my life imagining, reading
and talking to people about the most
famous fighters that the information
and focus fitted the real picture; the
aircraft behaved and did exactly what
I’d expected”. His tailwheel, formation
and aerobatic credentials were
excellent, and crop-dusting in a 450hp
Ag Cat satisfied more than a passing
acquaintance with heavy pistons.
In recent times Lars has mentored
the current owner of that P-51, now
known as ‘the Shark’, to fly it, and
supports the theory of Harvard time
in preparation. “A Harvard will slap
you hard, but won’t kill you unless
you mistreat it badly. If you can
fly it well from the back seat with
a bit of crosswind, you’re ready to
go solo in a fighter”. He has mixed
thoughts about using two-seat
fighters to check someone out: “You
should be good enough to be able
to be going off on your own. For
some, having an instructor in the
back can be a distraction, and others
have a tendency towards student-
think, whereby they lean on their
instructor. Two-seaters have become
like insurance to an owner, but I
hold the same ‘have a proper brief
and off you go’ view as Brian Smith”.
Lars recently put that into practice,
persuading the aforementioned
Mustang owner, who happens also to
have a two-seat Sea Fury, to solo that
beast without any dual.
It’s not just fighters that need a
fresh influx of pilots. Sourcing crew
to display a four-engined bomber
has proved a significant challenge
for B-17G Flying Fortress Sally B’s
operator, Elly Sallingboe, for more
than four decades. “Obviously, to be
a candidate a pilot must have heavy
piston and tailwheel time”, she
04/03/2019 10:55
 F
FUTURE O WARBIRD PILOTS
T H E PA S T

It definitely pays to have

sympathy with the mechanics of
what you’re flying

TOP: says, adding, “If they’ve flown the impressive range of types and plenty overhead the family home. “We were
In the most recent DC-3 or DC-6, then that’s perfect of hours under his belt. Elly believes in the bar after an airshow when Elly
Flying Legends because they know how to treat our that Mike Collett and his Coventry- first asked if I’d like to fly the B-17.
Balbo finale, the
particular engines”. based Air Atlantique operation I went straight back to my room to
arrival of so much
new blood was very Peter Kuypers, who regularly deserve recognition and praise for download all the B-17 flight manuals
notable, and not captains the aircraft, revealed that he bringing on a number of pilots such I could find, and started reading up
just from the UK hadn’t the remotest interest in flying as Jon, and giving them the necessary on them to be ready for whenever
but overseas, too “oily old things that smoked” until he hours on multi-engine types. it happened.
— Baptiste Salis, for found himself unexpectedly standing “Andrew Dixon is probably the most “I’m only a co-pilot at the moment,
instance, was flying
in as co-pilot on a transit flight for experienced display pilot in Europe so my job during displays is more to
his first British show.
Long may the trend the Duke of Brabant Air Force’s on heavy piston tailwheels, and he adjust power settings, operate gear and
continue. HARRY MEASURES B-25 Mitchell, and being surprised to began his career on Air Atlantique’s flaps, and help call the turns for best
discover it was fun! He got a DC-3 DC-3s”, she said. “Without them, positioning at a particular display site.
ABOVE: type rating, which led him eventually there would have been few out there It took a few trips to accustom myself
Angelo Cunningham to display for owners such as Paddy with the experience we seek.” to having a flight engineer on board
giving his first
Green with C-47 Drag-em-oot, and who looks after the engines, so I have
public display in the
Catalina captain’s rendered him an obvious choice for to take care not to tread on his toes.”
seat, at the Duxford the B-17. “You could teach people to Jon freely admits that the big Plane Sailing’s Catalina, another
show last May. fly it”, says Peter, “but we’re not an air attraction of Air Atlantique was the multi-engine, multi-crew warbird,
JOHN DUNNELL force and there’s no money to devote opportunity it offered to get multi- offers suitably qualified pilots who
to funding basic training, so you engine taildragger experience, which become a shareholder the rare
ABOVE RIGHT:
need to recruit pilots with the right he knew would make him eligible opportunity to rise to the ranks of
B-17G Sally B about
to head out on a experience to begin with.” for the B-17 should the prospect its display crew — and, given the
crew training flight. The most recent addition to the ever arise. It transpires that to fly it aptitude, to progress to the left-hand
DAVID WHITWORTH B-17 flight deck is Jon Corley, an had been a dream harboured since seat and a display authorisation. Rod
already seasoned display pilot with an childhood, when Sally B would pass Brooking qualified as a co-pilot on the

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 aircraft’s 2004 trans-Atlantic delivery
trip, and was keen to learn the art
of display flying. “I was fortunate
to fly with Keith Sissons and ‘Mac’
McKinney, both hugely experienced
and bursting with knowledge. It made
me feel quite jealous to watch them
handle it with no apparent effort.”
Rod has now handed over his
Catalina display baton, and Angelo
Cunningham is one of those he helped
mentor to replace him. As one who
remained loyal to private flying and
instructing throughout his commercial
flying career, Angelo had previously
displayed his Scottish Aviation
Bulldog. But he’d always thought
big aeroplanes looked impressive at
airshows and grabbed the chance to
train up on the Catalina. “It suffers
from adverse aileron yaw and can be a
little heavy, so a bit of muscle can be
called for, but if you use the energy,
the aeroplane will do what you need.”
Naturally, Angelo feels it’s a privilege
to fly an exotic aeroplane that’s such
an important piece of history, and is
adamant that you must always show off
the aircraft rather than your own skills.
With delightful Irish wit, he christens
Duxford “the high altar of airshows”,
elaborating, “It’s where all the top guys
are, and the great thing is that they’re
all approachable and willing to impart
knowledge and advice.”
The warbird world recognises
that a symbiosis between flying and
engineering is crucial when it comes to
best practice. “It definitely pays to have
sympathy with the mechanics of what
you’re flying. I’ve seen people abusing
engines, just because they wanted
to do something spectacular with
the aircraft, and that entailed them
busting the limits. The airframes are
pretty simple and very robust, but the
weak link is the 70-year-old engine,
so unless you have sensitivity to that
you’re not going to do a good job. You
won’t fly these old aircraft for long
before you have a technical problem,
and numerous times over a season
you’ll get back from a display and need
to tell the engineers about a snag.”
Pete Kynsey’s take on the pivotal
importance of appreciation and respect
for old engines and airframes is echoed
without exception by every chief pilot
and operator. John Romain emphasised
how it influences his judgement: “I
always look at how a pilot operates an
aircraft. My engineering brain kicks in
when they talk about their aeroplane,
and I listen out for anything that will
give me a steer as to whether they care
for the machinery”. Richard Grace
was clearly chuffed to relate, “When
Jon Gowdy flew a Spitfire back from
France and had a snag en route, he
landed and not only told me what was
wrong, but then proceeded to tell me
how to fix it!”
The last word on this goes to ‘Mo’
Overall. “I don’t take the privilege of
flying these aeroplanes for granted,
and it makes me shudder if I see
someone exhibiting what seems like a
lack of respect, either by handling an
engine badly or flying a particularly
aggressive display — although
they can be impressive to watch.
As an engineer, you get to see the
consequences of mishandling.”
Transfusions of new blood into the
veins of warbird flying have given
its complexion a healthy glow. The
picture looks relatively secure, thanks
to SSAC, and there’s no sign that the
public’s appetite for flights is waning.
The traditional eligibility framework
is unaltered, but opportunities have
exploded. Previously unimagined
year-round operation justifies their
number being grown, and the entire
community is showered with knock-
on benefits, one of which is illustrated
by Richard Grace. “It felt like a real
achievement that we were able to
send enough pilots to Flying Legends
last year to cover all the aircraft we
provided for the display, without them
having to fly more than one — and
that’s good for human factors, too.
Everyone needs to be bringing in
new pilots, for the good of the
industry as a whole.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The author thanks Phil Ansell,
Gabriel Barton, Rod Brooking, Jon
Corley, Angelo Cunningham, Andy
Durston, Jon Gowdy, Carolyn Grace,
Richard Grace, Stu Goldspink, Steve
Jones, Peter Kuypers, Pete Kynsey,
Mark Levy, Lars Ness, Martin Overall,
Dave Puleston, John Romain, Elly
Sallingboe, Brian Smith, Dave
Southwood and Al Wade.

A MAJOR MILESTONE
S
omeone who has passed on his vast current Spitfire pilot in the world to have
experience to many new warbird flown all single-seat marks available at
hands over the years realised a present. In addition, he has piloted a
personal ambition at the end of 2018’s number of MkIXT two-seat trainers.
Duxford display season. A conversation Col Pope
at the Aircraft Restoration Company
Cliff Spink’s Spitfire diary with first
discovered that Cliff Spink had flown
flight dates: 
every mark of single-seat Spitfire currently
flying except the MkVIII. This was to MkI — June 2014
change following the Battle of Britain Air MkII — July 1991
Show at Duxford in September, when
MkV — July 1991
Spitfire HFVIIIc owner Maxi Gainza kindly
offered Cliff the opportunity to carry out a MkVIII — September 2018
local familiarisation sortie in ‘MT928’ MkIX — May 1993 (IXT — April 2006)
(MV154)/D-FEUR prior to his own
MkXI — May 1994
departure back to base in Germany via
an event in the Isle of Wight. MkXIV — August 2002
Following a half-hour sortie with a MkXVI — August 2003
run-and-break before landing, Cliff was
MkXVIII — March 2014
COL POPE

ecstatic to have achieved the ‘full set’ in

his logbooks. It is believed he is the only MkXIX — September 1991 

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TESTING
TESTING CONCORDE

CONCORDE It was a select few who took the controls

of the Anglo-French supersonic airliner,
whether for testing or in service. The
challenge, and the experience, was
never to be taken for granted. To mark
the 50th anniversary of the type’s
maiden flight, the sole surviving
manufacturer’s Concorde test pilot
describes five memorable years at
the sharp end
WORDS: ALAN SMITH

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 EX
CL
US
C
oncorde was not an easy axis Concorde development simulator rehearsing London, New York and

IV
aircraft to fly. By that I don’t at Toulouse, practising four-engine Paris arrival and departure procedures.

E!
mean it was difficult, just flame-out procedure. Much more All of this was fine but it wasn’t

E
that it was rather better importantly, I was given a spare seat on getting me airborne in a Concorde. So,
flown by an above-average pilot. The 002 observing Brian Trubshaw flying a I hit upon the idea of volunteering to
real issue was getting onto the beast in period of circuits and bumps. fly our Canberra. If successful, I would
the first place. With only one or two At that time flying clothing was at least get onto the flying programme.
exceptions, unless you worked either an important issue, for this was no The Canberra was used for chase
for the manufacturer or the customer champagne and caviar enterprise. duties, continuation flying and, as
you stood little or no chance. Over What I call the ‘A’ crews flew with a I was to find out, delivering flight
a period of some seven years there combination of immersion suits, partial recorder tapes back to base for analysis,
were six prototypes involved: three pressure-breathing suits, bonedomes, which was to be my role. My fellow
with the British Aircraft Corporation oxygen systems (plus emergency training pilots were not interested, so I
at RAF Fairford and three with Sud oxygen), lifejackets, parachutes, had a clear field, should I be approved.
Aviation/Aérospatiale at Toulouse. dinghies and so forth. It was very, John Cochrane, my immediate boss as
The Fairford trio notched up just very expensive kit and, as I recall, only the deputy chief test pilot, went along MAIN IMAGE:
short of 3,000 hours between 1969 five full sets were readily with my An underside
view of Concorde
and 1976, and to play a part in that
was a highlight of my career.
available. This
was necessary to
With no request and set
about seeing that
002/G-BSST,
the first British
I had flown for 20 years before I enable the crew instruction I would have a prototype, sporting
joined BAC in 1968 as a One-Eleven to bail out of proper conversion. black and white
training and test pilot, based at the the aircraft in a whatsoever, I found It was, after all, calibration markings
below the nose.
Wisley flight test centre but flying
globally. Special memories of Wisley
dire emergency
via two escape
myself in a dreadfully a Ministry of
Defence aircraft
BAE SYSTEMS

include seeing ‘Dizzy’ Addicott with hatches, fitted archaic three-axis rather than a BELOW:
the Vimy replica in 1969 and David to the first two BAC one. That historic day:
Lockspeiser’s first flight in his self- British aircraft, simulator Canberra 9 April 1969, and
designed and built LDA-01. They which were blown WH793 was the maiden flight
both shared an office next to mine explosively out of the fuselage. Early in an oddball. Ex-RAE Aero Flight, of 002 comes to
a successful end
and we often flew together in the the programme, if any of this kit didn’t ex-Farnborough, the prototype PR9 — as it approaches
company DH Heron or Beagle 206 fit you, you couldn’t fly. there wasn’t another quite like it. Those Fairford with its
communications aircraft. Unforgettable Water ingestion trials were to play who knew more than I said it was a Canberra B2 chase
characters, superb pilots. a big part in my life during 1973. ‘Mk7/8/9’. From that I gathered it had aircraft (WJ627)
With the closure of Wisley in The flight test department created a more powerful engines and a larger in attendance.
1972, and by dint of good fortune in trough on the stand-by runway/parallel centre wing section. Well, maybe. All At the time, the
Gloucestershire
surviving numerous redundancies, taxiway at Fairford, which was then I knew was that, as a much-developed airfield was home
I found myself at Fairford in 1973 filled with various depths of water. We prototype, the cockpit was a mess. to RAF Hercules
— close to Concorde but not yet would drive Concorde 002 through I duly went to Boscombe Down transports. It was
flying it. The first Concorde to arrive at speeds ranging from 30 to 130kt to for aeromedical lectures, the considered a far
at the Gloucestershire base was see if the engines would ingest water decompression chamber and other more suitable
002/G-BSST, at the conclusion of its and surge — they did. A suitable spray tortures. It was all very necessary and location for
Concorde flight-
maiden flight from Filton on 9 April deflector was eventually produced but overseen by a delightful gentleman testing than the
1969. It wasn’t until 17 December only after further extensive trials on who would start the day with a BAC factory
1971 that the second, 101/G-AXDN, 101 in 1974. Apart from this, I took friendly greeting and a champagne aerodrome at Filton.
followed. Eventually there were part in simulator exercises at Toulouse, cocktail. Memorable! ADRIAN M. BALCH
11 test/training pilots to fly those
aircraft, plus 202/G-BBDG, which
joined the fleet on 13 February 1974.
Brian Trubshaw, flight test director
and chief test pilot, himself flew
almost half of the total test hours.
No problem there, as responsibility
for the programme lay on his able
shoulders, but it left the other 10 of us
scrambling for the remaining half of
the flying time. I was very pleased to
be invited to join the team at Fairford,
becoming the youngest of the pilot
line-up. Five flight engineers and three
navigators made up the rest of the
aircrew, complemented, I must say, by
a very professional and capable team
of flight test engineers backed by a
superb flight test department under
the leadership of Bob McKinlay.
In April 1973 things changed. With
no instruction whatsoever, I found
myself in a dreadfully archaic three-

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 TESTING CONCORDE

RIGHT My conversion included a course

TOP TO BOTTOM: at the School of Combat Survival
002 on the ground and Rescue at RAF Mount Batten.
at Johannesburg’s
Jan Smuts Airport There were lots of interesting lectures,
during ‘hot and culminating in our sailing out of the
high’ airfield trials harbour and into open waters where
in January-February we went off the back of the boat.
1973. VIA ALAN SMITH Sometimes we would jump, sometimes
we were towed on the end of a strop;
The second
Concorde to join eventually we ended up in a dinghy.
BAC’s test fleet Both single and multiple crew drills
was 101/G-AXDN, were covered. My overriding memory
delivered — again is that the emergency locator beacon
on its maiden flight device in the Mae West, so amply
out of Filton — to covered in the lectures, was now a piece
Fairford on 17
December 1971. of yellow-painted wood.
It is pictured in For the flying part, I went off to
September 1974, Boscombe Down and completed
performing a three dual sorties in a Canberra
practice display in T4 before going solo. Then it was
the hands of John back to Fairford to fly WH793. My
Cochrane prior
to participation introduction to ’793 was near-farcical.
in that month’s Having kitted-up, established myself
Farnborough show. in the cockpit with a brave volunteer
ADRIAN M. BALCH navigator, strapped in and started
engines, all I had to do was transmit
The view from the for taxi clearance. Could I find the
Concorde cockpit
as A&AEE Canberra transmit button? No way. It certainly
B(I)8 WV787 sprays wasn’t where it was in the T4. After
water during icing lots of hand-waving, eventually I heard
trials. ALAN SMITH a click, so it was there somewhere. In
fact, it was out of sight on the front of
the control yoke. A mess, as I said.
A week after that I had my first
Concorde flight as second pilot to my
friend Peter Baker in 002, conducting
icing trials. What a Christmas present
— two famous types in one week. I
was now an MoD test pilot to boot!
Flying 002 was quite an experience.
For a start we had to wear most of
the safety kit; happily, I managed to And then there was the metal enduring many engine surges. My
fit into enough of it. There were four visor, which streamlined the nose job was to fly the recording tapes
crew on that flight deck, for unlike and shielded the windscreen from back to Fairford in the Canberra for
later aircraft 002 had a navigation overheating in flight. As the state- analysis and then return to Tangier.
station. This was necessary because the of-the-art glass was not sufficiently In general, this took an hour longer
preferred inertial navigation systems advanced for the two prototypes, in flight time than in Concorde. After
were not ready in time for the pilots’ metal was used. This meant that a week — from which I still have my
and flight engineer’s positions. The when the nose and visor were raised Moroccan fez — I was allowed to
navigator had a dated inertial system after take-off at, say, 250kt, forward ride on board ’DN as we went back to
and a non-directional beacon under visibility almost vanished, though Fairford in one hour 40 minutes. The
his control, and a lot of responsibility. a basic periscope device gave some exercise was repeated in April. My
Much of our initial testing was forward vision. Happily it always next few weeks were spent on icing
carried out over the Bay of Biscay retracted for landing, otherwise trials in 002. We picked up a lightning
with London Military radar keeping things would have been interesting. strike but not much ice, perhaps
a watchful eye. We communicated via It goes without saying that the unsurprisingly for me, as in my flying
a specially allotted radio frequency. arrangement was totally unacceptable career I was ‘struck’ 13 times.
There were specific flights down the for certification and airline use. By far the biggest event of February
west coast of the UK and other areas 1974 was the arrival at Fairford of
for the purpose of monitoring sonic aircraft 202, G-BBDG. With a small
booms and attendant complaints, 1974 started off well, as on 9 group of people I watched her land,
genuine or otherwise. Some sorties January I flew to Tangier as assistant and we were immediately struck by
went further afield and occasionally crew member with John Cochrane her beauty. The long production-
we flew as far as 40° west, into Gander and Eddie McNamara in G-AXDN. standard fuselage, of nearly 205ft,
airspace and back, simulating a full Flight level 540, Mach 2.06, two added grace to an already beautiful
trans-Atlantic crossing. Of course, hours 15 minutes — this was the life. aeroplane. I didn’t have too long to
much earlier 002 had flown a world This aircraft was to fly an extensive wait for my first flight in her, either. I
tour, but not with me. period of intake development, even flew her three times in one day.

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 LEFT:
Canberra WH793
parked at Fairford.
This uniquely
configured machine
aided BAC’s
Concorde test
efforts, both in
chase and support
roles. ADRIAN M. BALCH

BELOW LEFT:
Four Concordes
in the Filton final
assembly facility
during 1974.
Nearest completion,
already painted
in British Airways
colours, is first
production-standard
example G-BOAC,
which made its
maiden flight on
27 February the
following year.
BAE SYSTEMS

On 17 July John Cochrane and I
flew ’DG to abeam the Canary Islands
and back in three hours 35 minutes,
reaching FL570 and Mach 2.12 —
and all of this in shirtsleeves. In my
logbook I commented, “simply the
greatest”, and it was. This Concorde
was a delight to fly. The flying controls
matched the flight instruments in
terms of precision and one could quite
easily fly it to a knot, a foot or a kilo.
With three inertial systems and a glass
visor, you also knew and could see
where you were going.
A welcome variation to testing
was a seat next to John Cochrane
when we flew an air display at the
Filton Families Day in ’DN. Equally
excitingly, I was given some chase
flying in the Canberra on ’DG. To
fly Concorde was, of course, the best
thing, but to sit on its wingtip was
something else. In a word, awesome.
Not a lot of people have done that
and, believe me, it was special.
I did quite a lot of formation flying
during my time in the RAF: Meteors,
Venoms, that sort of thing. Providing was capturing the water flowing from
you know what you’re doing, it’s no the drain mast, while his colleague on
big deal. But with Concorde it was ’DG was pouring soapy water down
something else. For a start, there was the galley sink. It sounds trivial but it
its sheer elegance, and then the noise. was important that fluids cleared all
In the Canberra you could clearly hear sensitive areas of the aircraft, such as
the four Olympus engines screaming those used for instrumentation.
at you. Most For me, 1974
of all, you had
the feeling that
The flying controls was the greatest
and perhaps the
the Concorde matched the flight most memorable
was drawing of my 50 years of
you in towards instruments in terms flying. It finished
it, so holding
station was very
of precision and one off back on the
ground with more
demanding. I
remembered the
could fly it to a knot, a water ingestion
trials in 002.
North American foot or a kilo A different
XB-70 which sort of icing test,
was destroyed when an accompanying meanwhile, involved flying behind a
F-104 drifted into a collision, partly specially modified Canberra B(I)8,
due to the Starfighter being affected by WV787, from Boscombe Down.
the Valkyrie’s wingtip wake vortex. It sprayed water from a large pipe
The amazing thing was that with connected to a tank in its bomb bay,
all this power, beauty and drama while we positioned the intakes on
close at hand, the flight test engineer Concorde’s number one and two
sitting next to me and filming ’DG engines into the spray and looked for

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 TESTING CONCORDE

TOP: engine icing. It was a bit like doing checklists and so on. It all seemed to There was a two-pronged solution.
A go-around at long-distance in-flight refuelling. work. The BA pilots were exceptional Firstly, our training pilots, who had
Fairford by G-BSST 1975 brought a lot of mixed flying chaps and a pleasure to fly with. A licences equivalent to those of the
in August 1974
produces a thick
for me on ’DN and ’DG, plus the dose of mutual goodwill resulted in a BA pilots, were given training on the
smoke trail from all-important start of British Airways satisfactory conclusion, at least from aircraft. Yes, that’s right: after two
the four Olympus crew training. In the spring, BA BAC’s point of view. years of testing it, we finally received
593 engines, produced a nucleus group of crew Interestingly, an increased awareness type training, which we obviously
characteristic of for type instruction on the Toulouse of the disparity between the salaries enjoyed. Secondly, the senior test
the prototype simulator, basic as it was. of the two bodies of aircrew resulted pilots were given ex gratia licences by
Concordes. Modified
combustion
These pilots in BAC paying the CAA under the proviso that they
chambers solved the were eventually
to take part in
Disappointingly, a Concorde
allowance. Mine
could only be used while in the service
of BAC. This effectively put the most
issue on production
machines. ADRIAN M. BALCH the route proving we heard BA had was an extra £500 experienced pilots on the aircraft and
flights prior to per annum — I kept the training pilots, including me,
ABOVE: the granting of criticised the standard would have done off it. As I had spent the whole year
Pre-production
aircraft G-BBDG,
a certificate of
airworthiness.
of training. The 30 it for nothing.
Another
of 1959 studying for these licences
while on the dole at £6 a week, I was
photographed from
the accompanying With our five per cent failure rate difficulty then understandably miffed, and far from
Canberra. ALAN SMITH training pilots reared its head. alone in that.
having been was a shame The pending However, I did get a small
ABOVE RIGHT: denied a lot of route proving had consolation prize. I was allowed to
‘Delta Golf’ in
Casablanca, the
aircraft time, and hardly any left-hand to be carried out with a mixed crew fly and captain the first production-
ideal location, as seat captain’s time, this presented a bit composed of BA and BAC captains. standard aircraft, G-BOAC, to
it turned out, from of a dilemma. The solution was that a No problem, except that the senior Heathrow for the start of the trials,
which to conduct training pilot would accompany a test test pilots didn’t have the necessary with my wife sitting on the jump-seat
intake trials. pilot to see that the simulator training CAA licences to match the BA behind me. By and large I believe the
ALAN SMITH
progressed along near-conventional captains. Of course, neither did the route flying went off well, but resulted
airline lines — proper briefings, BA captains have test approval. in a very senior BA captain being

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 taken off the fleet. I remember him
most kindly.
There was a range of flight-testing
to do that year on ’DG, ’DN and now
’AC. Memorable missions included a
trip to Beirut with Gordon Corps, the
CAA’s Concorde project pilot, who
was responsible for the certification of
the aircraft. As BA’s examples started
to come off the Filton production
line, I also flew G-BOAA on its
second production test flight with
John Cochrane.
The big event of 1976 was the
coming on-line of the Concorde flight
training simulator at Filton. Under
the supervision of test/training pilot
Johnnie Walker, many hours were
spent on perfecting this magnificent
device, a modern — and expensive —
full-blown six-axis simulator. Sadly
it was without a computer-generated
visual system and suffered somewhat
as a result. Rather like 002, it was
both a little behind and ahead of its
time in some areas. However, it was
ready for the contractual training of
BA crews, which would result in their
taking over the production aircraft
in due course. I always thought
Johnnie Walker never received full
credit for the work he put in to the
commissioning of simulator AC19.
My friend and colleague Paddy
Cormican, a popular test/training
pilot, and I spent many hours devising
the training programme necessary
to meet the requirements of the
CAA licensing department and
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BA. Eventually our planned course
involved 85 hours of shared simulator
time between captain and co-pilot,
followed by nine hours on the aircraft.
The aircraft time was very necessary
because the simulator wasn’t really up
to teaching the final stages of landing.
Training BA was a challenge to us
all, not helped by the disappearance of
Trubshaw and Walker on an overseas
trial to South Africa. ‘Mr T’ didn’t
like simulators. The task fell to the
remaining test pilots, aided by the
training pilots. I personally found it
most stimulating. Happily for me, my
principal students were Senior First
Officer Christopher Orlebar and Capt
Leo Budd. Chris was, quite frankly,
exceptional. I didn’t have to train him
— I just set up the simulator and off
they went, with Chris training himself
and keeping a good eye on his captain.
Sadly no longer with us, Chris was
the author of what I consider to be
the finest book on Concorde.
Rather disappointingly, we heard
BA had criticised the standard of
training. I suppose, to be fair, it was
an expected result of all that had gone
before with the varied crewing. For
my part, I knew I was training some
exercises I hadn’t seen before. The
resulting 30 per cent failure rate was
a shame, particularly after a five-
month course, but when BA took
over training we heard the rate was
comparable. To us it all pointed to
the initial selection system. Any such
system based on seniority will not
necessarily produce the best results.
The choice of crew for the route
proving trials nucleus group was proof
of this, with no failures.
With the certification of the
aircraft, prospects of future Concorde
flying for our pilots were going to
be limited, if they would exist at all.
However, I did manage a short tour
to Casablanca with Peter Baker in
’DG flying contingency power tests.
Contingency power could be used in
an emergency during take-off and
increased engine power with a fuel
flow of some 85 tonnes per hour. We
did have a problem during one test
flight, when we dumped 40 tonnes of
fuel and landed.
Worried about a possible lack
of flying I took the radical step of
signing up for the RAF Volunteer
Reserve. I joined No 6 Air Experience
Flight at Abingdon and flew air
cadets in Chipmunks whenever I
could. A contrast to Concorde, for
sure. Quite what ‘Mr T’ thought I
have no idea, as we never had the
conversation.
After a few production test flights
in G-BOAB and ’AD, as well as the
faithful ’DG, our world changed. The
future of the Fairford flight test centre
BELOW:
was in question, but I was saved
G-AXDN and
from redundancy by being seconded G-BBDG parked
to Monarch Airlines to fly Cyprus together on
Airways One-Elevens out of Larnaca. Fairford’s north-side
There were four Concorde training ramp. BAE SYSTEMS
04/03/2019 10:51
 TESTING CONCORDE

of Mach 0.50. This was achieved by

a system of moveable ramps and spill
doors in the intake, fully automatic
but capable of being controlled by
the flight engineer. These basically
reduced the speed of the air in the 12ft
intake by nearly 1,000mph, one of the
many miracles of Concorde.
Just short of the equator we would
turn about and head back north. I
often wondered if we boomed the
Canaries. I remember quite well
when I was based in Cyprus that the
BA flight to Bahrain would regularly
boom the island, enough to make you
jump off your sun lounger.

ABOVE: pilots in our party and we did a lot of Aerospace, I was sent to Casablanca For the intake tests, once on
All three Concordes flying, both training their pilots and to assist with intake trials on ’DG. station the flight engineer would
on the BAC test plying the line routes. When our time Gordon Corps from the CAA also take control of the intake ramps/
and development
was up in 1977, two of my colleagues took part. Eight months later, in early doors and open them slowly until the
fleet made
regular overseas remained in Cyprus full-time. 1978, I was the only qualified pilot engine surged. Sometimes this would
deployments, like I returned to the UK to find the available to crew ’DG with Brian trigger off a sympathetic surge in the
G-BBDG to the facility at Fairford closed and my office Trubshaw on a fortnight’s trial, again adjacent engine. It is not pleasant,
Middle East. packed up in a cardboard box at Filton. in Casablanca. Eight months’ time off and a four-engine surge was all hell
BAE SYSTEMS With the aircraft having received the world’s fastest passenger aeroplane let loose. In a bad case there could
its C of A and now in service, there — no problem there, then… be severe mechanical consequences,
wasn’t going to be much test-flying. Why Casablanca? In order to get as the French found with an intake
G-BSST had been taken to Yeovilton the maximum power, height and destroyed and engine damage on 001.
and G-AXDN speed out of the As conditions changed during
was bound for
Duxford, both for
I returned to the aircraft you had
to fly high and in
the flight, further surges would be
induced. Information received would
museum display.
For flying at
UK to find the facility cold air. Near the
equator is where
eventually be programmed in to the
digital control system to ensure safe,
Filton there was a at Fairford closed and the cold upper smooth, automatic operation in airline
well-used HS125, air is. We were service. Intake testing took place
G-AVPE, plus my office packed up testing a revised over many years, as the success of the
the much-altered
prototype One-
in a cardboard box thin lip to the
engine intake
aircraft depended upon it. Our last
tour at Casablanca was in 1978, and
Eleven, G-ASYD, at Filton offering improved the return leg to Filton marked the
and — happily – performance. end of my Concorde flying.
Concorde G-BBDG. Casablanca was an ideal base for this For the next decade I continued
Several redundancies and with its relatively quiet airspace. With to do occasional work on the Filton
retirements meant I was now one of a team of some 50 engineers and two Concorde simulator, in-house
only four Concorde test pilots, an flight engineers, Brian Trubshaw and instrument ratings on the whole, with
improvement on number 11. I also I positioned out there. some training of CAA, Accidents
became the in-house instrument A typical flight would be to turn Investigation Branch and US Federal
rating examiner, which further south when airborne and pass between Aviation Administration pilots. On
strengthened my position, for even the Canary Islands and the African Christmas Eve 1981 I witnessed
the boss needed an annual instrument coast while accelerating. We were ’DG’s last landing at Filton, quite a
rating to preserve the validity of his normally supersonic in nine minutes sad occasion. After a time standing
licence — power at last! and climbing to find the conditions alone like a beached whale, it was
In the summer of 1977, by which required. The coldest I ever saw was an bought by BA for spares and housed
time BAC had become British outside air temperature of -83°C, with in its own exclusive hangar. Eventually,
a skin temperature of +118°C. The of course, it was taken to pieces by
maximum permitted skin temperature an excellent team from Air Salvage
was +127°C. On one sortie we International and transported down
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? achieved Mach 2.21 and FL620, not
far off the fastest Concorde speed of
the M4 to Brooklands Museum where
it now rightly stars, a huge attraction
002/G-BSST Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton all, which stands at Mach 2.23 and was alongside its much-modified flight
(owned by Science Museum) achieved by G-AXDN. simulator. With its sister test aircraft
It is important to realise that a jet now superbly displayed at Yeovilton
101/G-AXDN Duxford Aviation Society British Airliner engine will not accept supersonic and Duxford, there are many
Collection, IWM Duxford air and operate normally. While opportunities to recall probably the
Concorde was flying at speeds of up to most extensive flight-test
202/G-BBDG Brooklands Museum, Weybridge 1,400mph/Mach 2.2, say, the air in the programme ever undertaken
intake has to be subsonic, in the order on a commercial airliner.

40 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2019

34-40_AM_Concorde_Apr19_cc C.indd 40 03/03/2019 22:24

 ¨ I enclose a cheque/postal order made
out to Buckingham Covers for £_________
OR
¨ Please debit my credit/debit card with
the sum of £__________

Transport
Auction
9 April
81 Greenham Business Park
Newbury RG19 6HW

This auction will include a fine collection of early Concorde test pilot’s memorabilia, a Sopwith Pup
cylinder mounted as a trophy, 1918, aircraft models, wind tunnel test pieces and other items.
Whether buying or selling we hold regular auctions of aviation, motoring, maritime and military interest.
Please contact: Robin O’Connor or Dominic Foster on
+ 44 (0)1635 580595 or mail@specialauctionservices.com

041_AM_APR19_ad.indd 1 26/02/2019 09:56:56

 MOSQUITO PZ474

Given an often chequered career, it is

incredible that de Havilland Mosquito FBVI
PZ474 should even have survived, let
alone that it is flying again —
but flying again it is

THE ONE
THAT ALMOST
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY:
GAVIN CONROY

GOT AWAY…
42-50_AM_Mosquito_Apr19_cc C.indd 42 04/03/2019 10:57
 Steve Hinton flying Rod Lewis’s utterly
glorious Mosquito FBVI, PZ474, near
Ardmore on 16 January.

42-50_AM_Mosquito_Apr19_cc C.indd 43 04/03/2019 10:57

 MOSQUITO PZ474
N
ABOVE: o wonder a crowd gathered
Cut in half at Ardmore, New Zealand,
behind the wing, on 13 January to see Rod
the derelict
Mosquito made an
Lewis’s DH Mosquito
increasingly sorry FBVI PZ474 taking to the air in
sight at Whiteman the hands of Steve Hinton and
Air Park as the Warren Denholm. Quite apart from
1970s progressed. the fact that it represents the latest
VIA WARREN DENHOLM
magnificent ‘Mossie’ restoration to
be completed, there was a good deal
of added excitement among those of
New Zealand descent, because PZ474
served with the Royal New Zealand
Air Force before being put on the
civilian register as ZK-BCV.
PZ474 was built at de Havilland’s
Hatfield plant in early 1945. It was
allocated to No 19 Maintenance Unit
on 19 April that year before going
to No 132 Operational Training
Unit at East Fortune, Scotland. This
was a Coastal Command OTU for
long-range fighter and anti-shipping
strike crews bound not just for
the Mosquito but also the Bristol
Beaufighter. With the war over, ’474
ended up with another maintenance
unit during 1946, but a different air
arm now entered the story.
The RNZAF had shown
considerable interest in the
capabilities of the Mosquito, and it
placed an order for 90 of the type to
be delivered to New Zealand. These
were not new aircraft but overhauled
RAF examples. It took some 18
months to get them all to their new
44 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
42-50_AM_Mosquito_Apr19_cc C.indd 44
Still carrying its long-range drop
tanks, installed prior to the
ferry flight from New Zealand,
Mosquito N9909F sat for many
years at Whiteman Air Park,
California. Its former New
Zealand civil registration ZK-BCV
is visible on the rear fuselage.
VIA MARSHALL WAINWRIGHT
home, only for time to have marched
on. By now the type was showing
its age. PZ474 was one of the last
to leave Britain, arriving at RNZAF
Base Ohakea on 5 April 1948 in the
hands of an RAF/RNZAF crew. It
was allocated to No 75 Squadron
as NZ2384, but is not believed to
have been flown actively. Not long
afterwards it flew to an outdoor
storage facility in Taieri, where it
awaited the axe.
During 1952 two Americans,
Richard Loomis and Lewis Leach,
arrived on the scene. Their objective
was to buy four Mosquitos and
fly them to the USA for potential
contract work there. The aircraft
were purchased from the New
Zealand Aircraft Stores Board in
1953 by Aircraft Supplies NZ, based
at Milson airfield in Palmerston
North and owned by Harry Rolfe.
This company was given the task
of bringing the aircraft back to
airworthy standard for export.
They built a hangar at Milson that
could accommodate one complete
Mosquito, and there they intended
to perform the wood repairs on each
Fast forward to mid-
airframe prior to flying them to the October 2016, and PZ474’s
USA. Each machine was ferried from wing and fuselage, newly
Taieri to Milson by Bob Scott. completed by Glyn Powell,
It was found that, of the six aircraft were able to be mated.
purchased by Rolfe, four could be
04/03/2019 10:57
 During 1952 two Americans,
Richard Loomis and Lewis Leach,
arrived on the scene. Their objective
was to buy four Mosquitos and
fly them to the USA for potential
contract work there

PZ474’s original Merlin 25s,

overhauled by Vintage V-12s at
Tehachapi, California, fitted to
the airframe in September 2018.

AEROPLANE APRIL 2019 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 45

42-50_AM_Mosquito_Apr19_cc C.indd 45 04/03/2019 10:58

 MOSQUITO PZ474

Reports have
suggested that
the Mosquito was
used by the CIA in
North America

bought back to airworthy status with

quite a bit of work. NZ2384 was one
of them. It was a huge job for a small
team to return the aeroplane to flying
condition, but, fortuitously, Harry’s
son Bill Rolfe was serving in the
RNZAF as an engineer and had some
knowledge of the Mosquito. Time
was tight to get the first aircraft off to
the USA, so Bill spoke to his CO and
was given two weeks of special leave
to help make it ready.
NZ2384 was registered ZK-BCV
on 2 September 1953. As it was now
on the New Zealand civil register,
it had to comply with the local civil
aviation rules. When inspector Fred
O’Leary got to look over ZK-BCV
he came up with a long list of work
that needed to be done before the
aircraft would be given a certificate of
airworthiness. This did not impress
the captain for the ferry flight to

46 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2019

42-50_AM_Mosquito_Apr19_cc C.indd 46 04/03/2019 10:58

 the States, Elgen Long. He was so
outraged by the requirements that
he asked to borrow a car, drove to
the American embassy and placed
the aircraft on the US register, so
ZK‑BCV was now N9909F. That
took care of the matter, as the
Mosquito was no longer under New
Zealand jurisdiction. O’Leary turned
up the next day to check on progress,
and was told in no uncertain terms
that he was to stay away from it from
now on.
Part of the work being done
involved having a 400-gallon fuel tank
installed in the bomb bay. This was
made by an engineer in Feilding, not
far from Palmerston North. Access
to the filler cap was through the top
of the canopy, which was awkward to
say the least, but the extra range was
appreciated. Long-range wing tanks
were installed as well.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 47
42-50_AM_Mosquito_Apr19_cc C.indd 47
Bill Rolfe was able to fly with
Lewis Leach on a test flight to
measure fuel burn rates for the trip
to the USA. He thus became the last
Kiwi to fly in this Mosquito until
Warren Denholm did so during
January 2019’s test flights. In fact,
Bill was most likely the last New
Zealander to get airborne in the type
until KA114 took to the air in 2012.
With Elgen Long and Lewis Leach
at the controls, N9909F departed
from Milson in March 1955. It
went via Auckland to Fiji, and on
to Honolulu, Hawaii using only
dead-reckoning navigation. Despite
a reported in-flight fire that was put
out by the crew, the aircraft made
it to the USA, but the other three
never got a chance to follow. The plan
was for Long and Leach to return to
New Zealand and fly them out one ABOVE:
at a time, but once news broke that PZ474 over a rather
a former RNZAF aircraft had been different maritime
environment from
flown out of New Zealand to another those the Coastal
country and more were to follow, Command aircraft it
the government imposed a ban on represents operated
exporting former military types in in during wartime.
case they were to be put into foreign
military use. Although they were ABOVE LEFT:
A delighted team,
being ferried to a country which was including pilot Steve
an ally, there was no information to Hinton and Avspecs
suggest that they would not then be boss Warren
flown on to another country and used Denholm, following
in combat. As a result, the remaining the maiden flight on
three Mosquitos were scrapped. 13 January.
Once in the USA, N9909F was to LEFT:
be flown by a company called Trans It is planned that
World and used for an upcoming the aircraft will
contract which included geographic be flown with the
surveys of northern California and newly fabricated
Nevada. It was duly fitted out with rocket rails in place
once it gets to the
the necessary camera gear, but its USA.
sister ship, N9919F, reportedly did
04/03/2019 10:58
 MOSQUITO PZ474
the flying. This aircraft was an ex-
RAF Mosquito B35, formerly
serial VR801.
Trans World was in trouble
financially. In order to keep the other
aircraft flying, N9909F was sold to
the Insurance Finance Corporation
(IFC) in 1956 and leased back to
Trans World, but again not much
is known of its flying activity.
When he and Steve Hinton landed,
Rod Lewis said he loved flying in the
Mosquito, that the workmanship was
amazing, and that he can’t wait to get
it home and fly it himself
Unknown to IFC, N9909F had run
up substantial sums in rent and other
bills as a result of sitting at Whiteman
Air Park in Los Angeles. Once these
were paid by IFC the Mosquito
was repossessed from Trans World.
N9919F, meanwhile, met an unusual
fate in July 1957 when it ended up
being crashed in order to cash in on
the insurance, causing the death of
MOSQUITO SUMMER
As recalled by Rod Lewis’s example, No 235 Squadron flew the
Mosquito successfully as part of the Portreath Wing through the
momentous summer of 1944 WORDS: DAVID NICHOLAS
48 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
42-50_AM_Mosquito_Apr19_cc C.indd 48
the pilot (see ‘Murder by Mosquito’,
Aeroplane March 2008).
Reports have often suggested that
N9909F was used by the Central
Intelligence Agency in North
America, but no real proof has come
to light. Some people in New Zealand
suggested it was to be employed by
the CIA even before it left for the
States. Perhaps the reason Elgen
Long was able to get the aircraft
moved on to the American register
overnight was due to a connection
with the CIA, and the so-called
photography work that it was
supposed to be employed on was the
original intention for the aircraft.
Remember, it is thought that N9919F,
rather than N9909F, performed the
photographic/survey tasks. There is
little doubt that N9909F did some
flying in the USA, so what was it
doing? It has even been rumoured
that it was used to shoot down drug-
smuggling aircraft, but this seems
unlikely as no images from the time
show the ‘Mossie’ with any weaponry.
Despite being purchased by
California Air Charters in 1958, just
over a year later N9909F was back
Finished in the special coastal duties scheme A of extra dark sea grey
upper surfaces and sky undersides, No 235 Squadron Mosquito FBVI
HR118/3-W was flown from Portreath by Fg Offs Noel Russell and
Tom Armstrong to escort frigates on 18 July 1944. TOM ARMSTRONG
at Whiteman Air Park under the
ownership of Marvin E. Whiteman
and gradually rotting away. The
registration was cancelled in 1970.
Well-known warbird collector
Ed Maloney looked to put a deal
together for PZ474, and the airframe
was cut in half behind the wing for
transportation, but the sale was never
finalised. The airframe was sold to
James R. Merizan, who had the idea
of bringing it back to static display
status, but this never happened. By
now the remains were in storage at
Chino, and in 2012 photos surfaced
that appeared to show them in a very
bad condition.
The real possibility of saving
PZ474 came along in 2014 when
the project was purchased by Warren
Denholm of Avspecs on behalf of
Rod Lewis from Lewis Air Legends.
Rod has had several aircraft restored
by Avspecs including his Spitfire V,
P-40C Tomahawk and DH Rapide.
Having seen KA114 being bought
back to life by the company, he had a
real interest in a Mosquito.
Some parts from PZ474 had gone
missing when it was parked, derelict,
at Whiteman Air Park. With the help
of Matt Jackson and Simon Brown
04/03/2019 10:58

T
o help counter Luftwaffe long-range
fighters over the Bay of Biscay, the
RAF stationed several long-range
fighter squadrons of its own at bases
in west Cornwall. Among these was the
Beaufighter-equipped No 235 Squadron,
which had been based at Portreath alongside
No 248 Squadron. In early June 1944, under
the command of Wg Cdr J. V. Yonge, it was
re-equipped with Mosquitos. Along with 248
under Wg Cdr Tony Phillips, which had been
flying the DH type since late 1943, it formed
the Portreath Wing — the first Mosquito
strike wing in Coastal Command.
While 235 was fully equipped with the
Mosquito FBVI, 248 had a flight of Mosquito
XVIIIs fitted with the 57mm ‘Molins’ gun,
known as the ‘Tsetse’, one of which Phillips
used to destroy a Ju 88C in March 1944.
Yonge’s squadron was still converting through
the invasion period, though 248 was busy,
bringing down a number of German aircraft
and being involved in several successful
attacks on surfaced U-boats as they tried to
reach the Normandy area.
No 235 Squadron became operational with
the Mosquito on 16 June, when Sqn Ldr P. K.
Barnes flew its first patrol on the type. It
ceased flying the Beaufighter on the 22nd.
Despite the hiatus caused by re-equipment
the squadron still managed to fly 32
operational Mosquito sorties by the end of
June. Missions were planned as a wing,
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
42-50_AM_Mosquito_Apr19_cc C.indd 49
The extra dark sea grey over sky scheme,
together with D-Day invasion stripes, makes
PZ474 an especially distinctive example of the
modern airworthy Mosquito breed.
usually comprising around 18 aircraft, and was hit by flak and he had to return on one
were flown without fighter escort. Six engine for a belly landing at Portreath.
Mosquitos from 235 joined nine from 248 in Another shipping escort led by Yonge in
providing escort for an anti-shipping attack by HR127/D on 21 June brought a flurry of
Beaufighters of Nos 144 and 404 Squadrons action. At 13.20hrs the joint patrol
from Davidstow Moor on 27 June, though in encountered a formation of Do 217s,
the event no strike was possible due to the probably from KG 100, carrying Hs 293
unfavourable positioning of the ships. anti-ship guided missiles. Yonge immediately
Two days later came 235’s first successful led the Mosquitos in to attack, and he
Mosquito operation as part of the wing. combined with Fg Off Green flying ‘J’ to
Two-dozen Mosquito VIs and two MkXVIIIs shoot one down. Fg Off Collins in ‘A’ and
attacked a convoy made up of a tanker and Flt Lt Passey in ‘F’ of 248 bagged another,
six escorts, leaving the tanker on fire. The
next day, 30 June, 21 Mosquitos again
escorted rocket-firing Beaufighters in a strike
on four naval vessels off Concarneau on the
Brest Peninsula, which resulted in the 530-ton
submarine-chaser UJ-1408 being sunk.
As Allied forces pushed deeper into France
there was a reduction in German naval
activity around the Channel and the Bay of
Biscay, but the hazards of anti-shipping
attacks were brought home on 4 July when
Wg Cdr Tony Phillips, believed to have been
in a ‘Tsetse’, was killed along with his
navigator Fg Off R. W. (Bob) Thomson off
Finistère in western Brittany. Wg Cdr Bill Size
succeeded him as OC No 248 Squadron. A
combined sweep on 15 June saw 235 and
248 sinking the 268-ton flak ship Mars off
Mosquito FBVI HR137/3-S of No 235
Belle-Île-en-Mer, west of St-Nazaire. A day Squadron with two (sadly unidentified) crews
later, Flt Lt Stan Nunn was leading a section at Portreath during the summer of 1944.
on a strike off St-Nazaire when his Mosquito TOM ARMSTRONG
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 49
04/03/2019 10:59
 MOSQUITO PZ474

scheme, which had been a well-kept

secret. The Avspecs team researched
this in depth and, as described in last
month’s news pages, finished it as a
Mosquito that would have flown in
the D-Day period. It really does look
the part in its colours of extra dark
sea grey over sky, and wearing the
requisite invasion stripes.

PZ474 flew again at Ardmore on

ABOVE:
At rest at Ardmore
with the dummy
Mk3 rocket rails
and accompanying
projectiles in place.
the team tracked down someone
there who had the spinners and side
cowlings hanging as decoration in his
hangar. They purchased them, loaded
them into a container with the rest
of the project, and dispatched it to
New Zealand for restoration, with
the exception of the engines. Warren
met up with Jose Flores of Vintage
V-12s, who took the Merlin 25s away
to be overhauled. Remarkably, these
are PZ474’s original powerplants,
which were installed on the aircraft
from new.
Of the three Mosquitos fitted
out by Avspecs to date, PZ474 was
the most challenging to rebuild,
given the number of missing items.
Nevertheless, rapid progress was
made. It seemed almost as if a
production line had formed in the
Avspecs hangar when, on being
present for the last test flight of
Mosquito TIII TV959 in October
2016, the wing arrived for PZ474.
It was soon attached to the fuselage,
both having been constructed by
Glyn Powell’s company Mosquito
Aircraft Restorations, located not far
from Ardmore. Work on components
and the engines had begun well
beforehand, so the team was in a great
position to advance the Mosquito
quickly. Indeed, just over two years
later PZ474 was airborne.
Towards the end of 2018 the
aircraft was rolled outside wearing
its No 235 Squadron, RAF colour
13 January after more than 75,000
hours of restoration work. Following
five flights totalling 2.15 hours, it
landed in New Zealand for the final
time on 16 January, and should be
on a ship heading to the USA by the
time these words are read.
Steve Hinton carried out the test
flying and had nothing but praise
for the team that put this aircraft
together. On its last flight in New
Zealand, it was photographed air-
to-air, and on board with Steve was
owner Rod Lewis who had come out
to see his new aeroplane. When they
landed, Rod said he loved flying in
the Mosquito, that the workmanship
was amazing, and that he can’t
wait to get it home and fly it
himself. Who can blame him?

ABOVE: Flt Lt Stan Nunn brings FBVI LR347/T of No 248 Squadron back from an anti-shipping attack on 16 July, after it had been hit by flak
that damaged the fin and required the shut-down of the port engine. He belly-landed successfully at Portreath. STAN NUNN
ABOVE RIGHT: An FBVI bears the scars of a mid-air collision at Portreath in late June 1944. STAN NUNN

while a third was claimed as a probable. It is
believed that the Germans in fact lost three
bombers. A further patrol arrived to continue
the escort, and in mid-afternoon they
encountered some missile-equipped
He 177s. The attack was disrupted, 248’s
Flt Lt Stan Nunn and Flt Sgt W. W. Scott
claiming one probably destroyed.
Matters then quietened down, but the
Portreath Wing rounded off July with another
success. A No 248 Squadron patrol by Fg Off
Yeates with Fg Off Scott and Flt Lt Rollitt with
Fg Off Blanchard found a reconnaissance
Ju 88H of 3.(F)/123 that they shot down,
along with Fw Paul Gruner and his crew.
August proved busier. Between them the
two squadrons flew 339 sorties on 35
operations during the month, mainly on
Biscay patrols and shipping attacks off the
Gironde estuary. A notable success for 235
came on the evening of the 9th when, shortly
before dusk, a dozen of its Mosquitos led by
Sqn Ldr Barnes — joined by a pair of 248’s
‘Tsetses’ — were engaged in a shipping recce
in poor visibility. Initially, little was seen
except some light flak, but near the mouth of
the Gironde they spotted four Do 217s
carrying glider bombs. Barnes promptly led
an attack, during which two of the Dorniers
were shot down and the other two damaged.
In the same area on the 12th, the wing’s
Mosquitos sank the minesweepers M-370
and M-4204. They followed this up on the
14th by damaging the 3,370-ton tanker
Schwarzes Meer off Le Verdon-sur-Mer in an
effective wing attack. A week later the
squadrons combined to sink the 637-ton
minesweeper M-292 in the same vicinity.
The latter attack was just about the
swansong for No 235 Squadron’s Cornish
sojourn. With the lack of trade in the Biscay
area, on 6 September it moved north to Banff
on the Moray Firth, followed four days later
by 248. Another Mosquito legend was about
to be born.

50 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2019

42-50_AM_Mosquito_Apr19_cc C.indd 50 04/03/2019 10:59

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

W
elcome to something new for
Aeroplane: our guide to the UK’s
burgeoning vintage aircraft flight
experiences scene. Listed inside are
the different operators of passenger flights in
historic aeroplanes, from trial lessons in light
trainers to rides in Spitfires and Mustangs. This
rapidly expanding industry shows no signs of
slowing down — at one end of the spectrum, there
have probably never been more chances to go
flying in a Tiger Moth; at the other, the Safety
Standards Acknowledgement and Consent (SSAC)
rules brought in a few years ago by the Civil
Aviation Authority have permitted paid rides in
types that were previously out of reach, and that
range is still expanding. So, if you want to go flying
in a piece of aviation heritage, there’s probably
never been a better time.
NOTE: This information has been compiled from a variety of
sources. Aeroplane accepts no responsibility for any errors that thus
arise. Readers are advised to contact or otherwise check with
operators for the latest details.

Aerial Collective uses these two

well-known P-51Ds, Miss Helen
and ‘the Shark’. RICHARD PAVER

John Romain flying the recently

restored Lysander IIIa V9312, in

AERIAL COLLECTIVE which Aerial Collective hopes

to offer a limited number of
passenger flights.
LOCATION: IWM Duxford, Duxford. It carried out its first passenger GEORGE ROMAIN

Cambridgeshire ride on 18 January this year, using Shaun

AIRCRAFT: Bristol Blenheim IF,
Hawker Sea Fury T20, North American
P-51D Mustang, Supermarine Spitfire
IX Trainer, Westland Lysander IIIa
This new, and very exciting, entrant into
the historic aircraft flight experiences
market is closely associated with the
Aircraft Restoration Company and
operates from its facilities at IWM
Patrick’s RAF-schemed P-51D Mustang
‘KH774’/G-SHWN, better known as ‘the
Shark’ on account of its No 112
Squadron, RAF ‘sharkmouth’ markings.
This aircraft, Robert Tyrrell’s USAAF-
schemed P-51D G-BIXL Miss Helen, and
the ARC-operated pair of two-seat
Spitfire IXTs, PV202 and PT462, form the
core of the fleet as far as customer
flights are concerned.

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

Plans are under way

for Aerial Collective to
undertake paying flights
in the ARC’s Blenheim IF.
GEORGE ROMAIN

Towards the end of February, a further regulations. Whether in the Spitfires, Lysander and the Blenheim into our
two-seat fighter was added to the roster, Mustangs or Sea Fury, 30 or 50-minute offering”, says Aerial Collective’s Hannah
when approval was given flights are available, Juggins, “and there’s another couple that
by the CAA for passenger “This very exciting including the opportunity we’re working on”. Details of the Lysander
rides in Sea Fury T20 entrant into the market for the passenger to take and Blenheim flights are still to be
WG655 Invincible, also the controls at the pilot’s confirmed as discussions continue, but
owned by Shaun Patrick.
is closely associated discretion, and the option will be publicised when available.
The Pratt & Whitney with the Aircraft to fly aerobatics.
R-2800-powered beast Restoration Company” Still rarer machinery will PRICES, BOOKING AND
thus becomes the first hopefully join the line-up INFORMATION:
example of the Hawker naval fighter to in due course. “We’re currently working Telephone 01223 653830,
operate such flights under the SSAC with the CAA on hopefully bringing the www.aerialcollective.co.uk

Sea Fury T20 WG655 will

be operating customer
rides for the first time this
year. GEORGE ROMAIN

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

Aero Legends’ Spitfire HFIX, TD314,

on a flight near the white cliffs of
Dover with Devon VP981. RICHARD PAVER

AERO LEGENDS
LOCATIONS: Headcorn, Kent and
Sywell, Northamptonshire
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A
Tiger Moth, de Havilland Devon C2,
North American T-6G Texan,
Supermarine Spitfire HFIX and IX Trainer

This very busy, forward-looking company

has steadily expanded its operation since
being established by Keith Perkins a few
years ago. While its main base is still at
Headcorn, a full range of flight
experiences is also offered from Sywell.
Aero Legends says its mission is to
provide “the opportunity to relive the
flight training and flying experiences of
wartime pilots using authentically restored
aircraft of that era”, and to that end it
makes available trial lessons in two of the
main Allied training types from World War
Two — the Tiger Moth, in the form of
K4259/G-ANDE and G-PWBE, and the
bright yellow T-6G Texan, 49-2309/
G-DDMV — as well as flights in two-seat
Spitfires, comprising the recently rebuilt
IXT NH341 Elizabeth and the Aircraft
Restoration Company’s PV202.
Single-seat Spitfire IX TD314 operates
the ‘Fly with a Spitfire’ trips, on which it
On board the Devon,
flies alongside Devon C2 VP981/G-DHDV. currently the only
Aero Legends offers several different example of the DH104
experiences of this type: flying around offering passenger flights
Leeds Castle or the Battle of Britain in the UK. RICHARD PAVER
Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne, the white

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

Classics from the Aero Legends fleet in formation: T-6G Texan The two Aero Legends Spitfires, IXT NH341 and HFIX TD314, in the
G-DDMV and Devon C2 VP981/G-DHDV. RICHARD PAVER hands of Martin Overall and Antony Parkinson. RICHARD PAVER

cliffs of Dover, or Eyebrook Reservoir in
Leicestershire, used by No 617 Squadron
as a practice location for the Möhne Dam
raid. The ex-Battle of Britain Memorial
Flight Devon is an excellent platform for
these formation flights, its large windows
affording good photographic
opportunities — something that comes
into its own on the fighter duo formation
sorties. Back on the ground, customers
have the chance to sit in the ‘Spit’. The
Devon gives pleasure flights of its own,
over Leeds Castle and London.
“The Devon is an excellent
platform for formation flights
with its large windows”
These aircraft aside, Aero Legends also
operates D-Day veteran C-47A Skytrain
Drag-em-oot, which makes regular round
canopy parachute drops, Prentice T1
VR259 and Thruxton Jackaroo G-AOIR.
PRICES, BOOKING AND
INFORMATION: Telephone 01622
812830, www.aerolegends.co.uk

AIR FREEDOM
LOCATION: Enstone, Oxfordshire
AIRCRAFT: Boeing Stearman N2S-3

A family business, Air Freedom is a

newcomer to the scene — its 1941-vintage
ex-US Navy N2S-3, BuNo 4280, only made
its maiden post-restoration flight on 26
November last year. Half-hour flights take in
Warwick Castle, 45-minute trips Warwick
Castle and Blenheim Palace, and the
hour-long rides both of those locations plus
Bliss Mill near Chipping Norton. Those
times are from take-off to touchdown rather
than chock-to-chock, and you can take the
controls if you wish. Discounts are always
given to service personnel past and present;
there will also be special offers on certain
occasions, such as Father’s and Mother’s
Days, and it is planned to arrange 1940s’
days with re-enactors, period vehicles and
entertainers. Heading up the operation is
flying instructor Gareth Bliss, who often
co-pilots Plane Sailing’s Catalina at airshows.

Air Freedom’s newly restored PRICES, BOOKING AND

N2S-3, resplendent in period INFORMATION:
US Navy markings. VIA GARETH BLISS
Telephone 07388 248171,
airfreedom.co.uk

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 The unique Spitfire VIII Trainer,
MT818, leads IXT MJ627 in this
Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar
two-ship. RICHARD PAVER

BIGGIN HILL HERITAGE HANGAR

LOCATION: London Biggin Hill Airport, the Heritage Hangar’s public relations With the opportunity to view the other
Kent man Robin Brooks, “If a client is flying in aircraft in the Heritage Hangar’s much-
AIRCRAFT: Supermarine Spitfire VIII the two-seat Spitfire then the Airvan expanded facilities, including numerous
Trainer, IX and IX Trainer option to fly alongside for four people is Spitfire restoration projects (see Aeroplane
£395 (whole aircraft, not per person). We February 2019), a very wide-ranging
The illustrious former fighter station in also offer individual seats for Fly with a Spitfire experience is offered at Biggin Hill.
Kent is now one of Britain’s foremost Spitfire where you can ride in the Airvan
centres of Spitfire activity, and the alongside a single-seat Spitfire for £399 PRICES, BOOKING AND
programme of customer rides offered by per person”. The single-seat Spitfire in INFORMATION:
the Heritage Hangar is a big part of that. question is HFIX TA805. Telephone 01959 576767, flyaspitfire.com
This year it will be able to offer flights in
three different examples: fleet stalwart IXT
MJ627, and unique two-seat MkVIII Spitfire HFIX TA805
Spirit of Kent operating
MT818, will be joined by newly restored
a Fly with a Spitfire
IXT MJ772, which returned to the air sortie from Biggin
towards the end of February. Both of the Hill with the Heritage
MkIXs are D-Day combat veterans, and Hangar’s Airvan.
wear invasion stripes in this 75th RICHARD PAVER
anniversary year of the Normandy
landings, while MJ772 will take part in
June’s commemorations. The MkVIII,
meanwhile, is the only Spitfire prototype of
any sort to still be flying — it was the
original prototype two-seat trainer,
converted post-war by Supermarine.
There are three different Spitfire rides to
choose from: the half-hour Weald of Kent
Experience, the 45-minute Beachy Head
Experience, and the hour-long White
Cliffs and Capel Experience. In addition, it
is possible to fly alongside a Spitfire in a
high-wing GippsAero GA8 Airvan. Says

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

BOULTBEE FLIGHT ACADEMY

LOCATIONS: Goodwood, West Sussex — formerly HMS Daedalus, RNAS
and Solent Airport, Hampshire Lee-on-Solent — from April to May
AIRCRAFT: Supermarine Spitfire IX and August to November there are
and IX Trainer half-hour solo and formation flights
out to the Needles, naturally taking in
The UK’s pioneering operator of the white cliffs, and a 50-minute
Spitfire flight experiences and provider single-aircraft trip.
of training on the In addition to the
Supermarine fighter passenger flights and
continues to mount an
“Boultbee’s new this year’s round-the-
extensive passenger Spitfire simulator aims world flight in the
ride programme using to offer the closest IWC-sponsored ‘Silver
its MkIXT, SM520. thing to a Spitfire flight Spitfire’, MkIX MJ271,
From its main base at without actually leaving Boultbee is launching
Goodwood in June a new Spitfire
and July, Boultbee the ground” simulator at
puts on half-hour Goodwood. Making
flights over the Channel and use of original wartime MkIX parts and
50-minute sorties to the white cliffs of very advanced simulation technology, it
Dover; both are also offered as aims to offer the closest thing to a
two-ship trips with Martin Phillips’ Spitfire flight without actually leaving
single-seat MkIX, RR232, giving the the ground.
opportunity to experience a variety of
formations and tailchasing. An PRICES, BOOKING AND
HA-1112-M1L Buchón can be added INFORMATION:
in to give an even more authentic feel Telephone 01243 531147,
of air combat. From Solent Airport www.boultbeeflightacademy.co.uk

Spitfire IXT SM520 of the Boultbee

Flight Academy. TONY CLARKE

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 CW General Advert 185mm w x 130mm h 2-19.qxp_Layout 1 12/02/2019 15:07 Page 1

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

BROOKLANDS
FLYING CLUB
LOCATION: Sywell, Northamptonshire
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A
Tiger Moth

Rarely in the long history of Sywell

Aerodrome has there not been a Tiger
Moth based there. The connection
between airfield and aircraft dates back to
the 1930s — in fact, to 1934, when no less
a figure than Amy Johnson made a visit in
one of de Havilland’s demonstrator
examples. The following year, Brooklands
Aviation opened No 6 Elementary and
Reserve Flying School there with a fleet of
Tigers, and it continued to train many RAF,
RAF Volunteer Reserve and overseas pilots
from Sywell right through wartime, not
relinquishing the type until 1951. The
Brooklands Flying Club perpetuates that
link by offering pleasure flights in the type.
They last 30, 40 or 60 minutes, and use
RAF-marked, yellow-liveried example
R5172/G-AOIS.

PRICES, BOOKING AND

INFORMATION: Telephone 01604
491112, www.flybrooklands.com or
sywellaerodrome.co.uk

A veteran of the ‘Phoney War’

in France, Tiger Moth G-AOEI
is a Cambridge Flying Group
stalwart. BEN DUNNELL

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

Tiger Moth R5172/

G‑AOIS is operated
by the Sywell-based
Brooklands Flying Club.
DAVID WHITWORTH

CAMBRIDGE FLYING GROUP

LOCATION: Cambridge Airport,
Cambridgeshire
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A
Tiger Moth
Best-known for its many years of providing
ab initio instruction on Tiger Moths, the
Cambridge Flying Group also offers
half-hour trial lessons, in which you are
able to take the controls of the biplane
trainer, and introductory flights, where you
just go along for the ride. All are carried
out with one of the group’s seasoned
instructors. The two Tigers are the same
examples as have formed the CFG fleet for
many years: G-AHIZ and G-AOEI, the latter
being especially historically notable as a
1939-vintage example that served with
No 81 Squadron, RAF in France prior to
the Dunkirk evacuation. Who knows — like
many before you, a trial lesson might lead
to your being bitten by the bug, and
deciding to start flying training on the
Cambridge-based Tigers.
PRICES, BOOKING AND
INFORMATION:
www.cambridgeflyinggroup.co.uk

“Like many before you, a trial lesson might lead to your being
bitten by the bug, and deciding to start flying training on the
Cambridge-based Tigers”

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

The Classic Wings fleet of Tiger

Moths and Dragon Rapides
lined up on the Duxford
flightline. DAVID WHITWORTH

CLASSIC WINGS
LOCATION: IWM Duxford, Rapide with Spitfire and Hurricane or
Cambridgeshire Spitfire and Buchón, or the ex-Royal
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A Tiger Canadian Air Force Harvard joined in
Moth, de Havilland DH89A Dragon formation with the same combinations of
Rapide, Noorduyn Harvard IIb, multiple fighters.
Supermarine Spitfire IX Trainer With four Tigers, three Rapides and the
Harvard on strength, Classic Wings
Classic Wings has now been operating operates throughout the week from March
pleasure flights from IWM Duxford for to October. Flights of different duration
nearly three decades. It continues to fly are available in each type — and this goes
Tiger Moth trial lessons for the Spitfire, too.
and Dragon Rapide “It continues to fly Classic Wings uses a
sightseeing trips over Tiger Moth trial lessons MkIXT for this purpose,
Cambridge, Ely, and Dragon Rapide with sorties of 30 and 50
Newmarket and London, minutes on offer. And for
as it has for so long, but sightseeing trips, but those of suitable means
these are now augmented these are augmented — and ability — wishing
by a very wide range of by a wide range of to take things still further,
other experiences. The other experiences” there is a full pilot training
‘de Havilland Double’ programme, which can
package features consecutive flights in take the student from taildragger
the two DH classics, each of them lasting conversion through to flying the Spitfire. One of Britain’s
quintessential pleasure
about a quarter of an hour. And, notably, flying experiences:
there’s a variety of ‘Wing-to-Wing’ flights: PRICES, BOOKING AND airborne in a Classic
Rapide with Spitfire (generally the Imperial INFORMATION: Telephone 01223 Wings Rapide. RICHARD PAVER
War Museums-owned MkIa, N3200), 837453, www.classic-wings.co.uk

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 ABOVE: Spitfire IXT PT462 about to
operate a Classic Wings flight.
DAVID WHITWORTH

A busy day of Classic Wings Rapide

operations, with G-AKIF (right) and
G-AIDL in action. BEN DUNNELL

The IWM’s Spitfire Ia

N3200 eases alongside
Classic Wings’ Rapide
TX310/G-AIDL. RICHARD PAVER

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES
SNJ-5 G-DHHF runs in for
a flypast at the end of a
passenger flight at Compton
Abbas. HOWARD J. CURTIS
COMPTON ABBAS AIRFIELD
LOCATION: Compton Abbas, Dorset
AIRCRAFT: Boeing Stearman PT-13D
Kaydet, de Havilland Canada Chipmunk
T10, North American SNJ-5
Compton Abbas is a very picturesque
place from which to take a flight in a
vintage aeroplane. The based operator,
DH Heritage Flights, offers rides in three
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classic trainers: its PT-13D Kaydet, SNJ-5
and Chipmunk. Trips last between 20 and
60 minutes, taking in many local
landmarks and, naturally, the chance to
sample the controls if you so desire.
Available too is the Military Flying Training
Day, where you fly in the Chipmunk
during the morning and step up later to
the SNJ; this includes lunch for two
between flights, and champagne at the
day’s conclusion. It should also be
mentioned that airborne experiences in a
range of modern light aircraft are
available from Compton Abbas as well.
PRICES, BOOKING AND
INFORMATION: Telephone 01747
811767, www.comptonabbasairfield.co.uk
Chipmunk T10 WK585 about to depart
from Compton Abbas. HOWARD J. CURTIS
04/03/2019 16:17
 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

The very fine pair of

Finest Hour Tiger Moths
airborne above Bicester
Heritage. VIA CHRIS THOMPSON

FINEST HOUR EXPERIENCES

LOCATIONS: Bicester, Oxfordshire and mounted from Cotswold Airport (Kemble) which debuted at Farnborough 70 years
Cotswold Airport, Gloucestershire during this summer. ago. “Our longer-term plans”, says Chris,
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A Tiger Around mid-year, a third Tiger is due to “are to move into larger and heavier
Moth, de Havilland Canada Chipmunk T10 join the fleet after restoration; by then, “in aeroplanes”. Watch this space…
a couple of months’ time”, says Chris, the
At Bicester, Finest Hour Experiences has a line-up will also have been augmented by PRICES, BOOKING AND
lovely location from which to fly its pair of a very historic Chipmunk. This is WB549/ INFORMATION: Telephone 07415
RAF-camouflaged Tiger Moths, T7109/ G-BAPB, the first British-built example, 735683, www.finesthourexperiences.co.uk
G-AOIM and DE971/G-OOSY. “We are
very pleased”, says Finest Hour chief pilot
Chris Thompson, “to have been selected
by Bicester Heritage as its chosen
heritage and aerobatic aeroplane
operator”. The core activity is hands-on
trial lessons in the two Tigers, all with
professional pilots who are qualified
aerobatic instructors — indeed, aerobatics
can be included in your sortie if you so
wish. Different flight experiences include
tours of locations used in Inspector Morse
and Midsomer Murders, aviation heritage
tours overflying Bomber Command
training airfields situated in the vicinity,
Tiger Moth formation flights, and many
Finest Hour’s Tiger Moth T7109/
more. At the more modern end of the G-AOIM served in wartime with Nos
spectrum, there are aerobatic experiences 19 and 24 Elementary Flying Training
in the sublime CAP 10. Aside from the Schools. VIA CHRIS THOMPSON
main base at Bicester, operations will be

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES
GOODWOOD FLYING SCHOOL
LOCATION: Goodwood, West Sussex
AIRCRAFT: Boeing Stearman N2S-3
Last year, the Goodwood Flying School
in West Sussex launched two new
historic flying experiences with its
recently acquired, 1943-vintage, ex-US
Navy Boeing Stearman N2S-3. The
Stearman Aviation Experience
involves 40 minutes in the aeroplane,
including half an hour over the Sussex
coastline and countryside. The
Stearman Fly & Dine experience
The Goodwood-based N2S-3
on a very scenic flight over the
Sussex countryside. MIKE CALDWELL
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provides 50 minutes in the aircraft,
with a flight time of 40 minutes,
followed by a champagne lunch for
two at the members-only clubhouse,
The Kennels. In both cases there is
informal tuition on the basics of flying
the Stearman and the chance to plan a
personalised route. Aerobatic
manoeuvres can be flown if you wish.
PRICES, BOOKING AND
INFORMATION: Telephone 01243
755066, www.goodwood.com
04/03/2019 16:18
 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

MSS HOLDINGS
LOCATION: Wesham, Lancashire
AIRCRAFT: Bell UH-1H Iroquois

The very welcome news came last summer that

the CAA had given approval to MSS Holdings
for passenger ride operations under the SSAC
rules in its Bell UH-1H Iroquois, a US Army
veteran of the Vietnam War. It thus became the
first helicopter and the first turbine-powered
aircraft to be permitted to undertake such
flights. Details of when the ‘Huey’ will begin
customer rides are yet to be confirmed; check
the operator’s website for further details.

PRICES, BOOKING AND INFORMATION:

Telephone 01772 687775, www.huey.co.uk

MSS Holdings’ Vietnam veteran

Bell UH-1H will be a very
exciting addition to the roster of
ex-military aircraft available for
customer flights. BEN DUNNELL

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

PERRY AIR
LOCATION: Shoreham Airport,
West Sussex
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A
Tiger Moth, Piper PA-18-90 Super
Cub, Stampe SV4C
Apart from several modern light
aircraft, Perry Air gives trial lessons
from Shoreham in three historic
machines. The Tiger Moth, G-AMNN
Spirit of Pashley, is the airport’s oldest
based aeroplane; after many years as
a ground instructional airframe at
Northbrook College it was restored by
them to fly. An interesting contrast
comes in the form of the Gipsy
Major-powered Stampe. Flights of
varying lengths are available, and
aerobatics in the Tiger and Stampe
can be added for a small extra cost.
The Tiger is also available for
taildragger conversion.
PRICES, BOOKING AND
INFORMATION:
Telephone 01273 463081,
www.perryair.co.uk

Perry Air’s Tiger Moth G-AMNN

Spirit of Pashley rolls for take-
off from Shoreham, with the
chapel of Lancing College as the
characteristic backdrop. BEN DUNNELL

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 Unforgettable T6 HARVARD
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Tiger Moth Themed Tours:
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www.finesthourexperiences.co.uk
and other airfields by apointment
info@finesthourexperiences.co.uk Book online www.T6Harvard.com
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071_AM_APR19_ad.indd 1 27/02/2019 10:54:32

 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

T-6 HARVARD
AVIATION
LOCATIONS: Conington, Cambridgeshire
and Eshott, Northumberland
AIRCRAFT: CCF Harvard IV

This very distinctive Canadian-built

Harvard, painted in wartime RAF desert
camouflage with the name Wacky Wabbit,
is based at Duxford but operates
experience flights out of Conington near
Peterborough and Eshott in
Northumberland. A list of dates for 2019
can be found on the operator’s website.
Andy Goodall from T-6 Harvard Aviation
reports that two more locations may be
added to the list soon. Furthermore, says
Andy, the aircraft is available for
conversion training. “We are currently
training the owners of a Spitfire and a
Hurricane”, he says, “so they can go solo
at some point.”

PRICES, BOOKING AND

INFORMATION: www.t6harvard.com

N2S-4 G-BTFG of TG
Aviation operating from
Pent Farm. VIA SUE GIRDLER

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

T-6 Harvard Aviation’s

Harvard IV G-BJST
Wacky Wabbit is a
notably distinctive
example. BEN DUNNELL

TG AVIATION The Tiger Club’s Tiger Moth

LOCATION: Pent Farm, Kent G-ASKP at Damyns Hall.
AIRCRAFT: Boeing Stearman N2S-4 PAUL CARPENTER

Long-time Manston-based flying school

operator TG Aviation now offers flights
from Pent Farm near Hythe with its
wartime-vintage ex-US Navy Stearman.
Half-hour trial flight trips generally take in
the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-
Ferne, while hour-long flights allow the
chance to overfly more of Kent. TG
Aviation’s Sue Girdler says all flights are
carried out with an instructor, allowing
them to count towards PPL training if THE TIGER CLUB
required. Operations for the 2019 season
will recommence during April. LOCATION: Damyns Hall, Essex These last 20, 30 or 40 minutes. Also on
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A offer are aerobatic experiences in a
PRICES, BOOKING AND Tiger Moth CAP 10. Tailwheel training is undertaken
INFORMATION: on the Tigers and a Piper Super Cub for
Telephone 01843 823656 or The illustrious Tiger Club has introduced those wishing to add to their flying
07511 526529, www.tg-aviation.com countless people to flying ‘as it should repertoire — and then, who knows where
be’ — open-cockpit and taildragger involvement with the Tiger Club may
— down the decades. It now has an lead you?
“Half-hour trips generally take in excellent new home at Damyns Hall, and
the Battle of Britain Memorial at offers air experience flights in its two PRICES, BOOKING AND
Tiger Moths, G-ACDC (in the club’s INFORMATION: Telephone 01708
Capel-le-Ferne, while hour-long ownership since the 1950s) and G-ASKP. 524633, www.tigerclub.co.uk
flights allow the chance to
overfly more of Kent”

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

TIGER MOTH
FLIGHT EXPERIENCE
LOCATION: Sherburn-in-Elmet,
Yorkshire Tiger Moth G-ALUC on
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A approach to land.
SUSAN AND ALLAN PARKER/ALAMY
Tiger Moth

The Tiger Moth used for these flights,

G-ALUC, is distinctive in its appearance
— it wears the roundel of the RAF
Benevolent Fund, because the
so-called Tiger Moth Squadron raises
funds for that charity through its
operations. Half-hour and hour-long
trips are offered, flights being
undertaken daily from April to
September inclusive. All are carried out
from the historic airfield at Sherburn-in-
Elmet near Leeds.

PRICES, BOOKING AND

INFORMATION: Telephone 0800 085
0196, www.tigermothexperience.co.uk

Tiger Moth G-ALUC wearing the

RAF Benevolent Fund roundel.
CHRIS PROCTER/AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES
Tiger Moth Training’s immaculate
trio of DH82As, all in wartime
camouflage. VIA KEVIN CRUMPLIN
TIGER MOTH TRAINING
LOCATION: Henstridge, Somerset
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A
Tiger Moth
Three beautifully restored Tiger Moths, all
returned to their original wartime
camouflage schemes, form this operator’s
fleet. Tiger Moth Training was set up as a
professional training organisation,
providing instruction on the famous
biplane. Mostly this takes the form of
tailwheel conversion training for pilots
who already hold PPLs, though it has
trained a small number of ab initio
students. However, founder Kevin
Crumplin says that pleasure flights, in the
form of trial lessons which require the
buyer to become a temporary member of
the training facility, have become the
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biggest part of the business. These can
involve anything from one to all three of
the Tigers, and last between 20 minutes
and an hour. “When we started”,
Crumplin says, “it tended to be
singletons, but we now find that more
people want to do formations, with family
members and friends”. The Blackmore
Vale area in which Henstridge is situated
provides some delightful landscapes over
which to enjoy an open-cockpit trip.
Those having the trial lesson are, of
course, encouraged to take the controls,
and can have the flight count towards a
PPL if they wish.
PRICES, BOOKING AND
INFORMATION:
www.tigermothtraining.co.uk
04/03/2019 16:21
 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

The Grace Spitfire, IXT ML407,

is among the UK’s best-loved
warbirds. RICHARD PAVER

Ultimate Warbird Flights

plans to offer trips in
T-28S Fennec G-TROY
before too long.
DAVID WHITWORTH

Ultimate Warbird Flights’

two-seat fighter trio: Spitfire,
Mustang and Buchón. AIR LEASING

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 Pete Kynsey taxiing at Sywell after a sortie
in the two-seat Buchón. DAVID WHITWORTH

Twin.stick Buchón chases

twin-stick Spitfire across
the Northamptonshire
countryside. THE BLADES

ULTIMATE WARBIRD FLIGHTS

LOCATION: Sywell, Northamptonshire controls of the Spitfire, Buchón and
AIRCRAFT: Hispano HA-1112-M4L Mustang under the pilot’s guidance.
Buchón, North American TF-51D Mustang, However, as Ultimate Warbird Flights’
Supermarine Spitfire IX Trainer Richard Grace says, “We’re able to fly
them together, which is particularly nice”.
Thanks to the activities of Air Leasing, Only recently, he reports, the company has
Sywell aerodrome has become one of the sold its first so-called ‘Battle over Britain’
UK’s leading warbird experience, “where three
locations, and its “Three people can go people can go up, one in
Ultimate Warbird Flights up, one in each each aeroplane, and have a
business is a big part of jolly good time in a three-
that. Its fleet includes aeroplane, and have a ship doing all the stuff that
three truly legendary jolly good time doing we get the pleasure of doing
machines: Spitfire IXT all the stuff we get the most weekends at airshows.”
ML407, otherwise pleasure of doing most The fighter trio aside,
known as the ‘Grace Ultimate Warbird Flights
Spitfire’, TF-51D weekends at airshows” hopes to add North
Mustang Contrary Mary, American T-28S Fennec
and HA-1112-M4L Buchón ‘Red 11’. They G-TROY, recently acquired by Air Leasing,
respectively represent a decorated D-Day to the passenger flights line-up in 2019.
combat veteran, the only dual-control “We’re yet to have the final nod from the
Mustang in the UK, and the sole remaining CAA”, says Richard, but he sees no reason
two-seat example of the Spanish-built, for this not to be forthcoming. The
Merlin-engined Messerschmitt Bf 109 — a company will also be offering Tiger Moth
Battle of Britain film veteran to boot. flights in examples already based at Sywell.
Most flights involve an individual fighter,
a total 35-minute experience including 25 PRICES, BOOKING AND
minutes of flight time, and the chance to INFORMATION:
sample aerobatics and combat Telephone 01604 642058,
manoeuvres. It is possible to take the ultimatewarbirdflights.com

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

Vintage Flying’s Tiger Moths,

G-ADPC and R5136/G-APAP,
near the Derwent Dam on their
‘Dambusters Run’. IAN BRACEGIRDLE

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 VINTAGE FLIGHT EXPERIENCES

Tiger Moth DE992/G-AXXV

operates flights from White
Waltham. JOHN DUNNELL

WEST LONDON AERO CLUB

LOCATION: White Waltham, Berkshire
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth, de Havilland Canada
Chipmunk T10, North American SNJ-5, Piper PA-18 Super Cub

One of the UK’s great centres of general aviation, it is no surprise to find

flight experiences in vintage taildraggers being offered from the grass
expanses of White Waltham. Trial lessons are flown in the Tiger Moth —
the specific example being former RAF Phantom pilot Robin Russell’s
1943-vintage, camouflaged ex-RAF and French Air Force aircraft DE992/
G-AXXV, a regular member of the Tiger Nine display team — Chipmunk
and Super Cub, while it is hoped to have the SNJ-5 back on line soon.
There are also experiences in more recent aeroplanes, including
aerobatics in a Pitts Special.
In addition to this, the Tiger Moth is available for pilot training courses
for both qualified and student pilots, thus perpetuating the grand
tradition of training on Tigers at White Waltham that began with the de
Havilland School of Flying in 1935.

PRICES, BOOKING AND INFORMATION: Telephone 01628 823272,

www.wlac.co.uk

VINTAGE FLYING
LOCATION: Egginton, Derbyshire
AIRCRAFT: de Havilland DH82A
Tiger Moth

With a pair of Tiger Moths, G-ADPC and

R5136/G-APAP, Vintage Flying carries out
pleasure flights from Egginton near Derby,
covering scenic areas of Derbyshire and
Staffordshire. The highlight is the
‘Dambuster Run’, through the lowlands of
south Derbyshire and up into the beautiful
Peak District, taking in locations used in the
run-up to No 617 Squadron’s Ruhr dams
raid such as the Derwent, Ladybower and
Howden dams. You can take the controls
for a time at the instructor’s discretion.
Operations manager Jamie Darlington-
Walters says a third Tiger currently under
restoration will join the fleet soon.

PRICES, BOOKING AND DE992 is a regular airshow participant with the Tiger Nine display team.
INFORMATION: Telephone 01283 STEVE FLINT/AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM
585803, vintageflying.co.uk

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Jasta_FP.indd 1 26/02/2019 10:04:11
 VULTURE ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT

“Beaten in the
end by fog alone”
To remember the final stages of her grandfather’s round-the-world flight
attempt in 1924, Vanessa Ascough made a truly sentimental journey to
see the propeller of his Vickers Vulture in the officers’ mess at Canadian
Forces Base Esquimalt, British Columbia WORDS: VANESSA ASCOUGH

M
y grandfather, Sqn Ldr
Archibald Stuart Charles
Stuart-MacLaren
OBE MC DFC AFC,
was one of the most distinguished
and promising RAF officers of his
generation. Born in 1892, after World
War One he completed many long-
distance flights, including the first
from England to Egypt and another
from Ipswich to India in a Handley
Page V/1500, as well as laying down a
number of the earliest air mail routes
across the world.
It was on the basis of all that
experience — and a great sense of
adventure — that in 1922 MacLaren
started planning to make the first
flight across the world, after Maj
Wilfred Blake’s attempt had just
ended in disaster. He recruited two
other crew members, Fg Off William
Nobel Plenderleith as pilot and Sgt
William Herbert Andrews as flight
engineer and fitter/rigger. The full
story was written up by the late John
Washington-Smith and appeared in
the August 2011 issue of Aeroplane.
I have been researching my
grandfather’s world flight for the
past 25 years and have made the
most wonderful discoveries over that
time — photographs, connections,
archives and, most important of
all, meeting the grandchildren of
both Plenderleith and Andrews, to
whom I am indebted for a great deal
of the information I have accrued.
We have all stood together on the
slipway at the former RAF Calshot in
Southampton Water, from where the
Vickers Vulture biplane amphibian
G-EBHO took off at the start of
their adventure on 25 March 1924.
Two identical machines were built
by Vickers, the second having been
shipped to Tokyo in packing cases just
in case it was needed.
Sadly, however, the flight never
completed its planned journey from
west to east. After starting from
Calshot, MacLaren and his crew
headed down through France, Italy
and the Mediterranean to Cairo,
then on through India, Burma and
China. Flying up through Japan and
Kamchatka in Russia, they reached
the Commander Islands — where,
five months on from their departure,
the voyage came to an end.
The Royal Canadian Navy
had been instrumental in helping
MacLaren to prepare for the most
treacherous and dangerous part of
the flight over the desolate Russian,
Alaskan and North Pacific waters.
Lt Col L. E. Broome OBE, late of
the Royal Engineers, was a logistics ABOVE:
expert who had previously been a Vickers Vulture
G-EBGO on
cameraman on Blake’s 1922 attempt the water at
at a round-the-world flight, but had Petropavlovsk,
left only a few days after they set out. Kamchatka.
He was now responsible for the ALL PHOTOS VIA VANESSA ASCOUGH

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 VULTURE ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT

CLOCKWISE supply organisation on the Pacific leg therefore committing them to only
FROM RIGHT: of MacLaren’s effort. Broome and the being able to land on water.
G-EBHO was the crew of HMCS Thiepval, a 135-ton They set off on the next leg, up to
primary Vulture for
minesweeper destined for west coast northern Japan, via the Kuril Islands
the round-the-world
flight, but it was patrol duty in British Columbia, to Kamchatka and across the Bering
damaged at Akyab, provided the gasoline dumps Sea to Alaska. This was one of the
Burma, en route. throughout the route from Japan via hardest parts of the flight as the
the Aleutian Islands to Alaska. islands were mainly volcanic and the
Sqn Ldr Archibald On 6 July, in perfect weather, terrain was desolate and fog-bound.
Stuart Charles
the Vulture arrived at Kasumigaura There was also a great risk of running
Stuart-MacLaren
with his medals. naval air station in Tokyo. This into flocks of large, slow-moving
was, however, the second machine, birds, which could easily break the
Arriving overhead G-EBGO; the primary aircraft had aircraft’s propeller.
the Japanese ditched into the water at Akyab, MacLaren and his colleagues left
naval air station at Burma, after numerous problems, on 12 July but encountered terrible
Kasumigaura near
and the spare had been brought in to weather conditions, having to land
Tokyo on 6 July
1924. use. Greeted by and ride out force
Admiral Komatsu,
commander of
There was no nine winds and
torrential rain.
the Japanese base, means of contact There was no
the crew was very means of making
well received. with anyone, and a contact with
Each man was
presented with
British newspaper anyone, and on
14 July a British
a gold medal, a reported, ‘British newspaper was to
made-to-measure report, “British
black leather airmen overdue — airmen overdue
flying suit and a — lost among the
silver rose bowl. lost among the islands islands north of
Col Broome
now joined the
north of Japan’. Japan”. However,
they were safe,
crew and was However, they having managed
taken on board to land as they
to help navigate were safe approached Urup,
and locate the a volcanic island
supply dumps that he had provided in the south of the Kuril chain.
throughout the chain of the Kuril After many difficulties the
Islands, the next stage of the journey Vulture managed to take off again
en route to Alaska. They had on 24 July and reached its next stop,
completed 10,770 miles since leaving Petropavlovsk in west Kamchatka,
Calshot, and with 12,484 miles still to where HMCS Thiepval was waiting
go, MacLaren was keen to be on his for it. The ship’s crew was having
way again. tea when the distant drone of an
The Vulture was now to be aero engine began to be heard. In an
carrying a crew of four, Andrews instant wardroom and mess deck,
BELOW: having Broome with him in the bow galley and stokehold were emptied
Vulture G-EBHO in
flight. The aircraft cockpit. Because of this extra weight, of their occupants and the rail of the
was powered by a they had to off-load all but essential little ship was lined with anxious,
450hp Napier Lion equipment. This included leaving upturned faces. For some time the
engine. behind the wheels and undercarriage, engine hummed from the heart
of a low-hanging cloud. Then the
aeroplane burst into view and, circling
the harbour, settled easily onto the
water not far from the Thiepval.
They were forced to stay there
for a week because of the incessant
bad weather. Life must have been
miserable with the cold, wet fog,
but at least they had plenty of
company from the Thiepval’s crew.
Unfortunately, Andrews had to
abandon the next part of the flight,
due to sickness and a temperature of
104°. He was left behind to be looked
after on the Thiepval.
Eventually, MacLaren, Plenderleith
and Broome flew off from
Petropavlovsk at 09.00hrs on

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 VULTURE ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT
ABOVE:
The stricken
G-EBGO on board
the HMCS Thiepval,
which transported
the damaged
Vulture to Esquimalt
naval base on
Vancouver Island.
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4 August, but little did they know
that this was to be the final day of
their journey. What happened next
was covered by my grandfather’s
wireless message. They had managed
to contact a Russian wireless operator
and had their message of distress
radioed to HMCS Thiepval at St
Paul Island.
“The weather was hazy but not
foggy. After passing an unnamed
Cape and flying at 3,000 feet, we
encountered fog banks, but there was
clear water visibility for the first two
thirds of the 119 miles between the
point of Kamchatka and the west side
of Bering Island. The fog then became
solid ahead, and we descended to 100
feet, finding visibility again under the
fog bank.
“When nearing Bering Island the
fog dropped to the surface of the sea
all around us. The wind was 20 miles
an hour on the port quarter. With the
plane travelling at 100 miles an hour
100 feet above a rough sea, in blinding
rain and fog, Plenderleith swerved
suddenly to avoid hitting a cliff by a
margin of about two feet; the island
vanishing again in seconds.
“As the distance and time for
Bering Island had run, there was
imminent danger of dashing against
the cliffs of the island, and visibility
was now nil. Plenderleith made a
desperate landing along the swell, but
being across a short, confused sea,
both wing-tips were shattered and
wrenched off. The plane swerved right
round and the fabric was torn off the
lower port wing.
“My first order was for life belts,
which were under Colonel Broome’s
seat in the forward cockpit; my next
was to examine the hull, for there was
no sign of taking water. There was
dense fog all around.
“The clock stopped at 10.55 — the
time of hitting the water. Hundreds
of puffins flying in two steady streams
passed us. We presumed that they
were heading for the open sea for
fishing and would be returning to
feed their young. This tallied with
my calculation that land should be
to the east-south-east and close. We
started the engine and attempted to
taxi, but it was
almost impossible
to steer the plane,
We did our
as the wing-tips best and failed this
buried alternately,
swerving the time... But I will
plane around.
Broome and I
never say anything
spent two hours disrespectful of a
running back and
forth alternately London fog again
along the lower
wings as the plane seesawed and the
weight of the engine threatened to
capsize us. We had to stop the engine
repeatedly as the cooling-water
boiled, and the plane threatened
to dive bodily under when the tail
plunged, and as this happened the
wings started to break up.
“During the last desperate minutes,
Broome pointed to the eastwards as a
small patch of fog lifted. The engine
was started again with difficulty, as
everyone was now getting exhausted
with cold and wet, Plenderleith
leaving the pilot’s seat to help. We
saw a sandy beach ahead, about two
miles off, and ran in close to the
breakers. The engine was now useless
with a broken sprocket. The wind was
north-west and blowing straight on.
“Everyone jumped into the bitterly
cold surf and held the plane head
onto the sea. As the sea dropped, we
beached the plane and Plenderleith
and I unloaded the gear up towards
the edge of the surf.
“The fog lifted and the afternoon
was bright, warm and clear. The islet
first seen momentarily in the fog and
which we had so narrowly escaped
hitting, proved to be Sea Lion rock,
150 feet high, 7 miles north west of
Nikolski [Nikolskoye]. Our course
from Kamchatka to the Island had
been laid off on the map, and Broome
interpreted it. I had allowed 5 degrees
for drift on the passage, which shows
that both navigation and steering
were faultless.
“Broome set out along the beach,
having recognised our position as
being Buckeye rock. On his arrival at
Nikolski two boats were manned and
pulled round the coast to the plane,
and rendered the greatest assistance in
hauling it out of reach of the surf.
“A Russian wireless operator
made contact with the Thiepval
immediately. She started from
Petropavlovsk, and, arriving at
daylight next morning, took us on
board. The aircraft’s engine and hull
were salvaged and we left for Dutch
Harbour at midnight.”
So ended the flight of the Vulture.
The aircraft had achieved a total of
13,100 miles in
130 days, with
a flying time of
195 hours and
15 minutes. My
grandfather’s
words at that
time were, “I am
not ashamed to
say that I wept
bitterly. We have
failed but we did
our best — we were beaten in the end
by fog alone.”
HMCS Thiepval took on board
the hull of the Vulture and the
propeller. Having taken the British
flyers to Vancouver, she sailed back to
Esquimalt naval base on Vancouver
Island. One of the discoveries I made
was that the aircraft’s four-bladed
pusher propeller, given to the Royal
Canadian Navy by my grandfather as
a ‘thank you’ for the service’s efforts,
still hangs on the wall of the officers’
mess at Esquimalt. It has the flyers’
signatures inscribed in the hub.
04/03/2019 11:01
 I contacted the Royal Canadian
Navy and they were enthusiastic about
my visit. So it was that I set off on
19 May 2018 to see one of the only
parts of the Vulture that still exists,
although I have also located the
thermometer, which resides in the
British Columbia Aviation Museum
in Sidney, Vancouver Island.
I could well imagine how difficult
it must have been to approach this
wilderness on the 1924 journey.
Navigating was aided by a compass
and a Reid and Sigrist turn and bank
indicator, which had actually failed
to operate soon after they had left
Southampton, while they also had
some maps. But much of the trip was
flown purely by instinct.

I made journeys to and from

Vancouver Island, one on the
ferry and the other on a Harbour
Air floatplane, so I could try to
understand the terrain and what
my grandfather must have seen as
they neared the Aleutian Islands.
Unfortunately, it proved rather too
difficult to get out to Nikolskoye,
where they ended the flight. It is
reputed to be the oldest continuously
occupied community in the world,
and in 1920 there was a boom in
fox farming there. But I did spend
many hours walking coastal routes on
the west coast of Vancouver Island
and looking out over the seas to
the snow-capped mountains on the
horizon, attempting to get in touch
with how they must have felt as they
approached those desolate places.
As I entered the wardroom of
HMCS Naden at Esquimalt, there on
the wall was the propeller, looking so
much larger than I had thought. It
took pride of place. The signatures of
the three crew were visible, although
a clock which has been placed in the
middle of the propeller covers part of
them. It was a great privilege to be
there, to remember my grandfather
and his crew.
When they arrived back in
England, they attended a luncheon
hosted by the sponsors of the flight —
Vickers, Napier, Shell-Mex — and a
number of dignitaries from the RAF
and other authorities. The final words
go to my grandfather, given in an
address to the assembled audience.
“That is our story — we would not
have missed the adventure for the
world. We did our best and failed this
time — I will say nothing of our luck; TOP: The page from MacLaren’s logbook in which he describes the incident that ended the flight.
that is all in the game. But I will ABOVE: Vanessa Ascough with the propeller from her grandfather’s Vickers Vulture on the officers’
never say anything disrespectful mess wall at HMCS Naden, Esquimalt, Vancouver Island — and the three crew members’ signatures,
of a London fog again.” namely those of MacLaren, Plenderleith and Andrews.

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 S T
LAST RAF HUNTERS

LA
HU N TIN G
GR OU ND

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 A quarter of a century ago, the RAF retired its final Hawker Hunters
from one of the roles the type was never intended for, but
performed anyway — that of surrogate trainer for the Buccaneer
WORDS: GP CAPT TOM EELES

A memorable formation mounted in March

1993 as the Lossiemouth-based Hunters
headed for retirement. T8B XF995 leads T7As
XL616, XL568 and WV318. DUNCAN CUBITT/KEY

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 LAST RAF HUNTERS

artificial horizon, rate of climb and

descent indicator and compass, each
suffering individual errors and fed
by a range of electrical and pitot
static data, the IFIS would display
all flight and navigation information
in a standardised format. It received
the necessary data from an air data
system which converted pitot/
static pressure signals into electrical
signals and passed them to an air
data computer and a master reference
gyro which provided pitch, roll and
heading information. Many of the
errors suffered by traditional flight
instruments would be eliminated.
Indicated air speed and the
Mach number were displayed on a
combined strip speed indicator with
two moving horizontal tapes. Air
speed figures were at the top of the
instrument, a tape in the centre of
the display moved from left to right
as speed increased, and the Mach
number was given by a tape moving
from right to left at the bottom of
the display, thus giving the pilot a
combined IAS/Mach indication. It
was somewhat reminiscent of the type
of speedometer fitted to some cars
of the period, and was not generally
liked by pilots. Altitude and vertical
speed were shown on a height and
rate of climb/descent display, height
by a single pointer and digital display,
and vertical speed by a traditional
pointer. These instruments were all
fed from the single air data computer.

The master reference gyro provided

pitch and roll inputs to the attitude
indicator, which was in the form of
a roller-blind. The blind was half
grey and half black, the dividing line
representing the natural horizon.
When the horizon was not visible
on the display at high climbing or
diving angles a zenith or nadir star
was shown, the long tails of which
pointed in the direction of the nearest

N
TOP: ot building a dual-control was where the Hunter came in as horizon. Looping manoeuvres which
The author in the trainer version of the a surrogate trainer. Back in the late passed the zenith or nadir resulted in
foreground of No Blackburn Buccaneer 1950s an operational requirement a rapid rotation of the blind through
237 OCU’s staff and
students during his
might seem a strange (OR) was issued for a new, 180°. Roll markings were provided at
1984-87 tour as move. The heavy maritime strike standardised flight instrument display 10, 20, 30, 60 and 90° left and right.
commanding officer. aircraft was a complex beast, with that could be used in all the RAF and The navigation display was
VIA TOM EELES certain characteristics and systems RN’s fighter and strike aircraft. It was situated beside the attitude display
that needed time to master. However, to equip the designs that became the in an identically sized instrument.
ABOVE: the bottom line was that the Buccaneer and the Lightning, as well It combined the functions of a gyro
A beautiful spring
day at Honington in
budget for the original Royal Navy as the cancelled TSR2 and P1154. magnetic compass indicator, an
April 1978, as T8B programme did not stretch to a twin- The requirement was numbered instrument landing system (ILS)
XF995 goes about stick derivative. Another means of OR946 and the system it produced display, a tactical air navigation
its business with training would have to be found. was known as the integrated flight (TACAN) range and bearing display
No 237 OCU. While no other aeroplane could instrument system, or simply IFIS. and an offset TACAN display. The
ADRIAN M. BALCH
truly replicate all the Buccaneer’s Instead of groups of round-dial master reference gyro provided the
flying qualities, some of its systems instruments such as the altimeter, necessary heading information. The
were a different matter, and this Mach meter, air speed indicator, compass heading was displayed on the

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 outer circumference of the instrument,

VIA TOM EELES

and TACAN, offset TACAN or ILS
in the centre. To show offset TACAN,
the range and bearing of the desired
point was set on the offset TACAN
computer and the navigation mode
switch set to TAC. For direct TACAN
the mode switch was set to DL. This
was an excellent facility, enabling easy
navigation to any point within 200nm
of the selected TACAN beacon.

In the event of the IFIS failing a

set of stand-by flight instruments
was provided, consisting of a small
artificial horizon, altimeter, air speed
indicator and direction indicator. In
having the system fitted, the Hunter’s
rpm gauge was changed from one
showing engine rpm in hundreds and
thousands to one showing percentage
rpm. The rpm in thousands was
multiplied by a factor of 12; thus, the
normal maximum permitted rpm of
8,100 became 96 per cent, and idling
rpm of 3,000 became 36 per cent.
The Hunter’s electrical system was
modified to enable a supply of 115-
volt AC to be provided for the IFIS.
The RAF is known to have
modified four Hunter T7s to what
was designated T7A standard:
WV318, XL568, XL614 and XL616.
All these aircraft appear in my
logbook. They were probably used
initially as trials aircraft for the IFIS,
prior to being employed by the RAF’s
Lightning squadrons for instrument
flying practice and instrument rating
tests before the Lightning T5, fitted
at last with the full IFIS display,
entered service. They then languished
at test establishments or in storage at
maintenance units until the Buccaneer
ADRIAN M. BALCH

entered RAF service with No 12

Squadron, based at Honington, in
October 1969.
Three T7As were initially allocated
to No 12 Squadron as dual-control
surrogate trainers for instrument
flying, instrument rating tests, and
day and night currency checks. They
proved to be very useful as squadron
‘hacks’, carrying out numerous
communications activities, and they
served as in-house ‘bounce’ aircraft for
Buccaneer tactical training sorties.
In late 1970, No XV Squadron
re-formed at Honington and moved
to RAF Laarbruch in West Germany,
taking one of the T7As. When No
237 Operational Conversion Unit
was established in March 1971 the
A diagram of the cockpit layout of a Hunter T7A, and the real thing, WV318 being pictured in 1993.
The key to the numbers on the graphic relating to the IFIS is as follows: 4 — ILS frequency selector; 10
— height and rate of climb/descent display; 11 — attitude display; 14 — IAS/Mach number display; 15
— navigation display; 17 — TACAN beacon selector; 18 — TACAN offset selector; 19 — stand-by flight
instruments; 22 — per cent rpm indicator; 30 — master reference gyro fast erect button.
remaining T7As, XL568 and XL614, Laarbruch in 1972 saw another IFIS-
were allotted to it, much to the equipped Hunter being transferred to
chagrin of No 12 Squadron which the German base.
now had to pre-book its Hunter In parallel with the T7A conversion
sorties with the OCU. Unsurprisingly, programme, a number of Fleet Air
inter-unit rivalry meant its requests Arm Hunter T8s were modified to
were often accorded a low priority! T8B standard. This was identical to
The formation of No 16 Squadron at the RAF’s T7A, but had no facility

When the OCU was established the remaining T7As were allotted to it, much to
the chagrin of No 12 Squadron which now had to pre-book its Hunter sorties

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 LAST RAF HUNTERS

ABOVE: for ILS as front-line FAA aircraft did It would appear from most sources Singapore. It returned home, probably
The crews for what not have ILS, there being at that time that there were four T8Bs: certainly, by ship, and was one of the first
was probably the no carrier-based ILS capability. It WV322, XE664, XF967 and XF995 T8Bs to be transferred to the RAF,
last RAF Hunter
would have been quite a challenge to are listed as such in my logbook. repainted in camouflage and issued
display team,
mounted for co-ordinate the ILS glidepath signals The T8B was used solely in support to No 237 OCU at Honington. The
Lossiemouth’s Open with the carrier’s pitching motion of the RN’s Buccaneer squadrons other T8Bs remained at Lossiemouth
Day in 1986. The in a choppy sea. and most were until the RN left in 1972 and the
author is fifth from
left. VIA TOM EELES
An airstream
direction detector
The Hunters based at RNAS
Lossiemouth,
station reverted to the RAF. They too
went to Honington and Laarbruch,
TOP RIGHT:
(ADD), which were very useful for maintained by but would end up back on the Moray
The classic gave audio and 764 Naval Air Firth once more.
Lossiemouth visual indication doing lots of little Squadron, the The principal users of the Hunter
pairing, pictured in of the aircraft’s resident Hunter-
September 1986: angle of attack, tasks and fast taxi equipped outfit,
T7As and T8Bs were the Buccaneer
conversion units, No 237 OCU
Hunter T7A WV318
leads Buccaneer S2B
was fitted. A
similar system
services, a typical one but flown almost
exclusively
and, until 1972, 736 NAS. Students
flew the Hunter before their first
XX894, both from
No 208 Squadron. equipped the being to fly a piper by pilots on Buccaneer flight to familiarise
Buccaneer and 736 NAS, the themselves with local area procedures
PETER R. FOSTER
was an essential and his bagpipes Buccaneer and the instrument display, which
RIGHT:
Present in a
aid for the
constant-speed/
from Lossiemouth to operational
training squadron.
was unfamiliar to many of them. At
the outset, all had flown the standard
supporting capacity,
T7A XL614 heads
angle of attack Yeovilton for Burns XF967 found Hunter previously so there was no
a massed line-up final approach its way out to problem converting to these sub-types.
of Buccaneers at technique used Night the Far East and Instrument flying practice and
Manston on 10 June for carrier was based at instrument ratings were also flown as
1993, ready for the landings. The gunsights were retained RAF Changi with the Naval Aircraft the course progressed. The instrument
Queen’s Birthday and theoretically weapons might have Support Unit (NASU). It was flown rating profile consisted of a take-off,
Flypast. DENIS J. CALVERT
been able to be dropped or fired from occasionally by aircrew from the climb to height, steep turns, a fast
the wing pylons, but never were. As in embarked Buccaneer squadrons descent to medium level, unusual
the T7A the single Aden cannon was during periods ashore at Changi while position recoveries, a descent to 500ft,
not incorporated, but it did have an their parent carrier was undergoing recovery from simulated toss attacks,
arrester hook, solely for airfield use. maintenance at the RN dockyard in and a return to base for instrument

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 approaches, one of them being made
on the stand-by instruments. The
front-line squadrons did not employ
the Hunters as much, but still had to
use them for their routine currency
checks, instrument flying and
instrument rating tests.
After the withdrawal of the
Hunter from the tactical weapons
units in 1980, first-tour student
pilots would arrive on No 237 OCU
with no previous Hunter experience.
To remedy this shortfall some
conventional T7s were allocated to the
unit to give handling experience in
the Hunter before specific Buccaneer-
related flying took place in the T7As
and T8Bs. The Hunters were also very
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useful for doing lots of little tasks and With a now much-reduced Buccaneer ABOVE LEFT:
fast taxi services, a typical one being fleet the two squadrons at Laarbruch A standard T7,
to fly a piper and his bagpipes from re-equipped with the Tornado GR1. XL573 joined No
237 OCU in 1980
Lossiemouth to Yeovilton for the Nos 12 and 208 Squadrons and 237
and stayed with the
wardroom’s Burns Night celebration, OCU moved from Honington to unit when it moved
there being no piper at Yeovilton. Lossiemouth, so by 1984 all T7As to Lossiemouth. It
and T8Bs were located there. also spent time on
As a qualified flying instructor the strength of No
In January 1980 the inner wing of with four tours in the instructing 12 Squadron, hence
the fox’s head
a Buccaneer failed in flight during a role on the Buccaneer — with 736
emblem on the
‘Red Flag’ training exercise at Nellis NAS from 1969-71, and No 237 nose. IAN BLACK
AFB, Nevada. Consequently, the OCU in 1971-72, 1977-80 and
fleet was grounded while repairs were 1984-87 — I flew virtually as many ABOVE:
instigated. A considerable number hours each month in Hunter T7As Two of the four
of Hunter T7s and F6s were sent and T8Bs as I did in the Buccaneer, aircraft painted
black in 1991 were
to Laarbruch and Honington to accumulating more than 1,000 hours
T8B XF967 and T7A
supplement the T7As and T8Bs and on these types. Never once did I XL568. KEY COLLECTION
enable crews to retain flying currency. suffer a major unserviceability, the
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 LAST RAF HUNTERS

BETTER THAN THE GNAT?

I
t does seem strange that when the RAF was looking for an
advanced jet trainer to replace the Vampire T11 in the early
1960s it chose the Gnat T1 instead of the Hunter T7A. The
Hunter offered many advantages: it had side-by-side seating,
the RAF’s preferred option at that time; Hunter F4 airframes
suitable for conversion to T7 form were available in large
numbers, and the modification from T7 to T7A was neither
complex nor expensive. The Hunter could accommodate a much
wider range of pilot sizes and was a far more reliable and less
complex aircraft than the Gnat. It is said that Folland claimed IFIS
could not be fitted into a Hunter, but nor could the complete
package be squeezed into the Gnat, which only had the IFIS
attitude and navigation displays.
Ironically, a Hunter squadron had to be formed at No 4 Flying
Training School to cater for those too tall to fit in the Gnat, to offer
extra training capacity needed because of Gnat unserviceability
and to train foreign and Commonwealth students. However, the
aircraft used were all conventional T7s and F6s.

TOP: worst being a total hydraulics failure T8Bs for the 1986 Lossiemouth brought to a close nearly 40 years of
To mark the out over the Hebrides, resulting in a Open Day. We did not carry out Hunter operations by the air force.
phasing-out of the long haul back to Lossiemouth with formation aerobatics as such; rather, In retrospect, the Hunter T7A
Buccaneer, XX894
was painted in 809
the controls in manual. The IFIS a few low flypasts and wingovers in was the better sub-model of the two,
Naval Air Squadron was remarkably reliable and gave an front of the crowd. As far as I am having the full IFIS suite including
markings in March excellent presentation of attitude, aware this was the last time an RAF ILS. The cockpit illustration shows
1994. Joining it for height, vertical velocity and location. Hunter team performed in public. a very neat installation, with all the
a fine formation is On the T7A, it also provided the To mark the type’s 40th anniversary controls and instruments nicely
Hunter T7A XL614. ability to carry out an instrument in 1991 and the retirement of ACM located in front of the student in the
DENIS J. CALVERT
approach at any ILS-equipped Sir Patrick Hine as commander-in- left-hand seat. Nevertheless, both the
ABOVE: airfield. The combined IAS/Mach chief of RAF Strike Command, four T7A and T8B gave sterling service to
Going vertical with number strip display was less popular, examples were painted all black in the Buccaneer squadrons. None were
T7A XL614. Sold especially as all Buccaneers had an the same scheme as worn by No 111 written off in accidents although there
into civilian hands, additional, ‘traditional’ precision Squadron’s Black Arrows, of which were on occasion a few close calls,
this aircraft was lost ASI, fitted for carrier approaches and Hine was a member. They were still especially when they were being flown
in an accident in the
USA during 2003.
retained in air force service. on the fleet when the Buccaneer, and by pilots normally used to
DENIS J. CALVERT No 237 OCU put together a thus the Hunter, was finally taken the twin-engine capabilities
formation of five Hunter T7As and out of service on 31 March 1994. It of the Buccaneer.

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Cosford_FP.indd 1 27/02/2019 16:31:04
 Les’s
LOCKHEED 12A

Lockheed
limousine

Few pilots can boast such an elegant family transport as

Les Whittlesey with his Lockheed 12A Electra Junior
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: FRANK B. MORMILLO

W
ABOVE: hen Les Whittlesey the finest, whether flying or non- beginning with aerial reconnaissance
Les Whittlesey decided that he wanted flying. Manufactured by Lockheed pioneer Sidney Cotton’s Aeronautical
flying his Electra a safe and comfortable at Burbank, California in 1939, and Industrial Research Corporation
Junior over Lake
Matthews, a few classic aeroplane in constructor’s number 1277 was — in 1960 c/n 1277 found a measure
miles south-east which to fly his family — wife Susan delivered to car maker E. L. Cord of stability as F-BFUD with the
of Chino Airport in and daughters Lindy and Allison, for use as his personal transport. Chapeau family in France, which used
southern California. named respectively after Charles During 1942 it was obtained by it for short-haul air taxi operations.
RIGHT: Lindbergh and the Allison aircraft the US Treasury Department to be Subsequently obtained by an
Les and Susan engine company — he selected included among the aircraft delivered American buyer, the aircraft was fitted
Whittlesey, together the twin-engine Lockheed 12A to Britain under Lend-Lease. It was with three 550-gallon fuel drums in
with their daughters Electra Junior. It has proved to be an operated by No 24 Squadron, RAF the fuselage and ferried in 1984 to
Lindy and Allie, outstanding choice. as serial LA621 for utility and liaison Greenville, Maine, being displayed at
posing in period About 35 examples of this missions until 1945, some reports airshows by Lou Hilton.
attire — and with
vintage luggage scaled-down version of the Model suggesting Winston Churchill was By then a bit long-in-the-tooth,
— by the family’s 10 Electra are believed to still be one of its passengers. c/n 1277 was sent to Florida to be
Lockheed 12A. in existence. Whittlesey’s example, Flown by a number of different refurbished, and wound up being
VIA LES WHITTLESEY NC18906, is noted by many as being owners in the post-war years — sold to Dave Swanson. Swanson

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 finished the restoration and flew
the Lockheed for a few years before
succumbing to cancer. His widow
tried to hold on to the machine for a
few years, but finally decided to sell
the family’s prized possession. It was
spotted for sale in an advertisement
by Les Whittlesey’s father Neil, who
suggested that his son might consider
purchasing the aeroplane.
Les had seen c/n 1277, then
registered as N112LH, at a fly-in near
San Diego, California during 1996.
He says he put it in the back of his
mind as an aircraft he would like to
buy someday. A pilot since the age of
17, Les was introduced to aviation

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 LOCKHEED 12A

RIGHT: by his father, a former military and

The Electra Junior airline pilot. A land broker and
taxiing on the ramp developer by profession, Les has
at the Pioneer
a particular affinity for aviation-
Airport complex
that Les designed related real estate, aircraft storage
and built at Chino hangars and fixed-base operations.
Airport. He built the luxury Pioneer Airport
hangar complex — eight 70-by-70ft
landscaped hangars with a vintage
theme — at Chino Airport in
southern California and retained two
of them for his personal use, one for
the display of his own classic aircraft
and the other for restoration projects.
Although Les already owned a
classic Cessna 140A, a stunning
tandem-cockpit Waco ZPF-7 and a
four-seat cabin Waco EGC-8, none
could match the Electra Junior for
classic family-style flying in safety
and comfort. Essentially, he was
looking for a flying limousine. In
November 2002 he purchased the
Lockheed from Kathryn Saunders of
New Hampshire with the intention
of flying it to his home base at Chino
Airport, installing new radios and
doing some cosmetic work to the
interior and exterior of what appeared
to be a pretty decent machine.

However, the need to annual the

aircraft first and the winter weather
in New Hampshire delayed the move
for months. Being preoccupied with
other business when the opportunity
came about, Les had his father
Neil and a friend, ‘Captain Kirk’
McQuown, ferry the Electra Junior
BELOW: to Chino. During the trip, Kirk and
Although the Neil began to get the impression that
instrument panel
has an original-style
63 years of almost continuous service
look, the aeroplane might call for some additional work.
is equipped with Les soon decided that he wanted
modern avionics. to do a more extensive job to make
the aeroplane both safer to fly and a
genuine showpiece.
About 80 per cent of the fuselage
and the outer wing panels were
reskinned and polished. In the
process, Les and his restoration
team discovered some repaired flak
damage, attributed to friendly fire
over Belgium during World War Two.
The undercarriage was rebuilt, and
the electrical wiring, fuel system and
control cables all replaced. Although
Les wanted to maintain complete
originality, the tyres, wheels and
brakes from a Beech 18 had already
been adapted for use on the Lockheed
because they are easier to service
than the original doughnut-type
‘Airwheels’ that are extremely difficult
to find and maintain these days.
In conjunction with the Yanks Air
Museum at Chino, which operates
a military C-40 version of the
Lockheed 12, new engine cowlings
were manufactured for the project.
In total, five sets of cowlings were
made for the two Chino-based
aircraft and three other owners.
Internally, in the interests of
durability, the original floorboards
were replaced with floorboards
made up of aluminium over a balsa
core. However, the upholstery and
headliner were replicated in true
1930s fashion. Using original photos
for guidance, the headliner was made
of mohair and the lower half of the
sidewalls was covered in leather, with
a wooden belt strip running under the
windows. All the seats, which were
not identical, were rebuilt, complete
with hat nettings in the backs.
The Yanks Air Museum provided
plans for the seats and the fabric
was obtained from a company that
produces material for classic cars. Still
functional, the aircraft’s original toilet,
complete with an ashtray — though
Les discourages smoking — was
retained. Since Les discovered that
the aircraft’s door handles were not
original, he searched through an
automobile swap meet for hours to
discover a pair of the genuine articles,
still in their original bags.
Although the instrument panel
looks as-new, complete with period-
style instruments, for safety and
ease of operation new avionics were
incorporated. In the space occupied by
the original autopilot, a Garmin GPS
489, an MX-20 with satellite weather,
a Mode S transponder, an SL-40
secondary radio and an audio panel
with marker beacon were installed.
A cover from an old 1939 autopilot

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 Owner-pilot
Whittlesey
praises the flying
characteristics
of the Lockheed
transport highly.

can be placed over the modern radios

when the aircraft is put on display
Whittlesey’s Electra Junior was
rebuilt in his restoration hangar at
the fence and get stopped in a short
distance. I have taken her to the Santa TROPHY
at airshows.
To finish it off, every logo and
stripe was carefully researched and
Chino, which has been nicknamed
as the ‘Lockheed Stink Works’.
Referring to the dairy farms that
Paula Airport in southern California
and only used less than half of the
2,700ft runway. It’s a lot easier to land
CABINET
Soon after its
painted, calling for as many as surround Chino Airport (but which than the Twin Beech.” restoration, Les
seven attempts to get them correct are gradually being replaced with Whittlesey’s Lockheed
according to new housing 12 scooped a number
Whittlesey’s
exacting
She handles developments),
Whittlesey says,
According to Les, you have to put
the wheels down at a specific speed to
of America’s most
prestigious historic
requirements. well, with no real “The ‘Stink get the right amount of air pressure aircraft awards.
When c/n 1277 Works’ is the on the gear when it extends. Too slow
rolled off the bad attributes. The place where and it thumps against the front stop,
2006 EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh:
assembly line on
27 December great thing is that airplanes are
restored to udder
too fast and it may not go far enough.
It is an over-centring gear, so where
Antique Grand
Champion Award
1939, it carried
the registration
the ailerons droop perfection”. His
crew even had a
it ends up is very important. “The
Achilles tendon on the airplane is the
2006 National
Aviation Heritage
NC18900. when you put the cartoon character landing gear; if you don’t have that Invitational:
Searching dairy cow logo set up correctly she can collapse on
through the flaps down, which drawn up, similar you”, he says.
Paul E. Garber Trophy
2006 Copperstate
Federal Aviation
Administration’s
was pretty advanced to the Lockheed
‘Skunk Works’
Although Whittlesey finds the
Electra Junior pretty straightforward
EAA Regional Fly-in:
Best Antique Aircraft
N-number technology back in skunk emblem. to fly, it is hard to see out of the right-
2007 Arizona
website, Les As for flying hand side, so it is more of a challenge
discovered that 1936 the Lockheed when being flown solo. “At night”, he Antique Airplane
Association Cactus
N18900 was 12A, Whittlesey says, “to see the instruments you need
Fly-in:
being used on another aircraft and says it is really quite docile for its size. to turn up the panel lights, and with
People’s Choice
N18906 was the closest still available. “She handles well, with no real bad the front window being so close there
Award
So, his Electra Junior now flies attributes”, he reports. “The great is a reflection in the glass. But when
with NC18906 painted on its tail thing is that the ailerons droop when you turn the lights down you can’t 2007 EAA
Sun ’n Fun:
surfaces. The FAA doesn’t use the NC you put the flaps down, which was see the air speed indicator,
Antique Grand
registration series today, so technically pretty advanced technology back in making landing approaches
Champion Award
it is registered as N18906. 1936. That lets you drag her over at night interesting.”

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 meets
WALLY
EPTON
VIA WALLY EPTON
M
any people have gone on to
great things from being an
RAF apprentice at Halton.
Given the quality of
training received by the ‘Halton Brats’,
that’s no wonder. In the case of Wally
Epton, it was the way in to a career as
an RAF pilot, a very rewarding life in
the civilian flying world and, amongst
many other things, the chairmanship
of the Historic Aircraft Association.
Having grown up in Kent and seen
Spitfires flying overhead as a child,
knowing they were some of the last in
service, to have become a Spitfire pilot
— and in the RAF, at that —
was quite an achievement.
We talked over afternoon tea at
the RAF Club in London, a very
suitable venue given how much of our
interview concentrated on Wally’s time
in the air force. While that part of
his life didn’t go down the single-seat
fast jet route he’d once desired, the
experiences it gave him were second to
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Canberras,
Hercules, the Battle
of Britain Flight,
Dominies — RAF
careers don’t come
much more diverse
than that of the
Historic Aircraft
Association’s
chairman
WORDS: BEN DUNNELL
none. His descriptions of them, quite
apart from being very insightful, came
with an uncompromising honesty.
“Joining the RAF, I had the aim of
being able to fly. I wasn’t successful at
first, and the reason for that was quite
straightforward: I wasn’t selected.
So, I volunteered to undertake
an apprenticeship, to get close to
aeroplanes. I got to Halton in 1959.
That three-year apprenticeship as an
electrical fitter (air) was the stepping-
stone towards achieving a scholarship
to the RAF College Cranwell to train
as a pilot.
“I had to hold for about three or
four months before the course at
Cranwell started, so the air force, in
its wisdom, sent me to Henlow to
get two A-levels in eight weeks. I did
physics and mathematics. Looking
The young Jet Provost
back, I don’t know how I managed T3 student, near the
it. But I still found time to go down outset of his RAF flying
to the flightline, where they had career. VIA WALLY EPTON
Chipmunks to give engineering cadets
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
04/03/2019 14:14
 A memorable — and first-time — six-
ship formation of Battle of Britain Flight
fighters, staged on 25 October 1973.
Leading is Pete Gostick in Spitfire Vb
AB910, followed by Bill Gambold in
Spitfire IIa P7350, Wally and Ernie Jones
in Hurricane IIcs PZ865 and LF363, and
Harry Martin and the CO, Dave Seward, in
Spitfire PRXIXs PM631 and PS853.
VIA WALLY EPTON

The air The time Wally

spent captaining
force, in its Hercules C1s with
No 48 Squadron in
wisdom, sent the Far East was a
very happy one.
me to Henlow VIA WALLY EPTON

to get two
A-levels in
eight weeks.
Looking back,
I don’t know
how I managed
it. But I still
found time to fly
Chipmunks

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 AEROPLANE MEETS… WALLY EPTON

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 the experience of practical flying. One
of the instructors there, John Law, took
me under his wing and started to teach
me how to fly a Chipmunk.
“When it came to the end of term
and we were all going home to mum,
he said to me, ‘If you like, come back,
stay with me and my wife in our
married quarter — I’d like to finish off
your training and get you solo’. I duly
did, and I went to Cranwell having
soloed on the Chipmunk. It would
never have been in the military budget
for me to do so, but he did it out of
the kindness of his heart, and I’m very
grateful to him forever.
“The first year at Cranwell was
academics and discipline, training as
an officer. We did get some Chipmunk
flying on a Wednesday afternoon,
when the weather was fine. The
January, February and March of
1963 was a very bad winter, and we
were flying from the north airfield at
Cranwell off snow, under blue skies. It
was fairly easy to navigate because all
the roads were black, and the towns
were black, and everything else was
white. But then the spring came,
the snow melted, and I remember
leaving Cranwell in a Chipmunk to go
flying towards Boston and becoming
hopelessly lost, because all the fields
were green and I couldn’t navigate…
“Then it was Jet Provosts, of course,
Mk3s and Mk4s. Very good training,
excellent. After something like 135
flying hours — which seems an
enormous amount these days — we
graduated, we were presented with
our wings, and then came advanced
flying training on the Gnat [with No
4 Flying Training School at Valley].
That course was 90-odd hours of
flying, which prepared us for our
operational aircraft. I was assigned
to Canberra B15s, so I went to the
operational conversion unit [No 231
OCU] at Bassingbourn. It had been a
boyhood ambition to fly the Hunter,
and everyone wanted to fly Hunters.
Looking back on it, I can see that
some of my colleagues were definitely
good single-seat pilot material.
Probably I was a little bit more steady
— I don’t know. That was given to me
as the reason: because I appeared to
be more mature they could entrust me
with a crew on a Canberra. I’m sure
they were wrong!
“My first squadron after the OCU
was No 6 Squadron at Akrotiri. I was
very proud to go to 6 — they were
known as ‘Shiny Six’, but regrettably
I didn’t really shine. I don’t know how
to explain this, but when you’ve been
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in the training system for as long as I
was, nearly seven years, the release of
getting out on a squadron and being
entrusted with a 10-tonne, twin-
engine attack aircraft meant I probably
didn’t behave in as disciplined a fashion
as I should have done. I was always
getting into trouble with the squadron
boss or the flight commander, so I was
a marked man. I was considered to be a
troublemaker and, therefore, someone
to be watched very carefully because I
could be an accident statistic. Looking
back now, I appreciate that supervision
from above was necessary. In my case
it was absolutely vital, because I’m
here to tell the tale. But there were
incidents, and when I came towards
the end of that tour I’m sure my annual
reports reflected it, and didn’t exactly
send me on my way skywards.
“When I go to reunions now and
talk with fellow No 6 Squadron
members, we exchange experiences,
and I realise that everybody else was in
the ‘dwang’ all the time, just as I was.
I never bent an aeroplane, but there
were people who did, and regrettably
some who died. Some years later this
was well explained to me when I met
my former squadron boss, who — very
kindly, in a way — said, ‘We came
down very heavily on you, Wally,
because we thought you were a danger
and we needed to make sure you didn’t
have an accident’. I appreciated that.
Then he said, ‘The problem was, we
took our eye off the very guy who was
the danger and
who ended up
having an accident
I got excellent
on the squadron rocketry results,
and killing his
crew’. In a way, because I pressed
I felt guilty
for taking the
home the attack to
attention off him, about 600 yards,
but that’s life —
and, sometimes, which was illegal
death.
“Mission planning was heavily a
responsibility of your two navigators,
the nav/plotter and the nav/observer. It
was all part of the machinery that got
the bomber to the target. Our target
was in Ukraine, and the battle plan
was that we should depart Akrotiri
with our weapon and full fuel, fly high
initially and then descend low. Before
descending low we would use the fuel
from the tip tanks and blow those off.
We would attack at low level, deliver
the weapon, and depart back out under
the radar. Then we would go high-
level again to our diversion airfield,
which for me was Tehran. We knew
that, if we had to go to war, Akrotiri
was likely to have been obliterated and
there wouldn’t be a base there to return CLOCKWISE
to. We also knew of ‘overkill’: that FROM FAR LEFT:
the target would have been targeted About to climb in
to a No 6 Squadron
by other systems as well — ICBMs, Canberra B15.
perhaps B-52s. Usually anything up VIA WALLY EPTON
to three or four weapons would be
delivered to the target. With Battle of
“I think rocketry was the most Britain veteran
challenging, from the point of Spitfire P7350, quite
an aeroplane on
view that we didn’t really have any which to carry out
sophisticated equipment in the cockpit your first Battle of
of that aeroplane to accomplish the Britain Flight — as it
30° dive angle and acquire the target. was then — solo.
We used to end up marking on the VIA WALLY EPTON
windshield with a chinagraph pencil
Wally banks away
the best position for the target to be from the camera in
placed in, and releasing the weapons Hurricane PZ865,
based on judgment, but helped which had only
enormously by the nav/plotter, who recently been
would be counting out the heights as delivered to the
you descended. Battle of Britain
Flight by Hawker
Siddeley’s Duncan
Simpson. KEY COLLECTION
“The principle was that you should
fire the weapon before you reached In charge of the
1,000 yards from the target. That Dominie squadron
was one of the reasons I was always within No 6 FTS at
Finningley.
getting into trouble. I got excellent VIA WALLY EPTON
results, because I pressed home the
attack to about 600 yards, which was
illegal. But we were young, we were
learning. I certainly had some pretty
frightening little incidents, which
could have resulted in something
nasty, but all pilots of that era could
tell you similar stories.
“As the Canberra was retired, there
were others who got postings to things
like Phantoms and
to CFS. But it was
considered that
I was very good
at looking after a
crew, and a multi-
crew aeroplane
was what I should
be doing. This was
towards the end
of 1968 now, and
the new aeroplane
on line was the Hercules. They were
quite short of crew, pilots particularly,
and pilots who could adapt swiftly to
the manoeuvrability, the speed and
the versatility of the C-130 compared
with the Blackburn Beverley and
the Handley Page Hastings, which
had been the mainstays of the RAF
transport fleet.
“I arrived at Thorney Island
on what was the co-pilots’ course,
because Transport Command only
took co-pilots from outside. I enjoyed
it immensely, and at the end of the
course the chief instructor of [No 242]
OCU played a very nasty little game
on me. He called me in to the office
with senior officers — the station
04/03/2019 14:15
 AEROPLANE MEETS… WALLY EPTON

RIGHT: commander, the wing commander

There were many flying, the senior navigator, my
happy days flying instructor — all standing behind the
for Lindsey Walton
desk. I was marched in, hat on, and
in his Nord 1002/
Bf 108, G-ATBG. the squadron leader started to berate
VIA WALLY EPTON me for my performance on the course.
He said it was a total waste of time to
BELOW RIGHT: send me to Lyneham on a squadron
The six ex-RAF as a co-pilot, and that they were going
Dominies that flew
to give me another chance. I was very
to Kemble in 2011,
having been ferried upset at this stage, because I thought
in by Wally and I’d failed the course. He told me, ‘We’ll
friends. PETER R. MARCH give you another flight this afternoon
with your instructor, the nav leader,
the engineering leader and the wing
commander flying. If you do all right
on that you’ll get some more training’.
My God, I need more training? ‘Yes.
You’ll sit in the left-hand seat and we’ll
upgrade you immediately to captain.’
“I did nearly three years on the
Hercules, an aeroplane I really loved.
I started out on No 36 Squadron at
Lyneham for a short period. It was a
very exciting, interesting time with a
new aeroplane, trying to develop new
techniques, new procedures for the
delivery of force onto a target. Some
worked, some didn’t. Then they asked pinnacles and tore the bottom out of and his lady on top of the hill in the
for volunteers to go to Singapore to the boat. Luckily, the tanker didn’t Seychelles. That was very nice indeed.
join No 48 Squadron, because they have much oil on it. It had delivered “Prince Charles went to Fiji to
needed people to complete a two-year the oil, turned around and was going act as the Queen’s representative
tour. I volunteered, was selected, and out. But there was oil spillage, and on the occasion of their gaining
did the rest of my Hercules flying out it could have affected the Seychelle independence. We were tasked out
in the Far East. islands. A plan was devised to send of Changi with flying a Hercules to
out a naval diving team to blow the deliver to three other islands in the
tanks and let time, tide and winds Gilbert and Ellice group, as they were
“Not only were we training for the take it away from the Seychelles. then — Kiribati now — Land Rover
military requirement of delivering But how to get in to Mahé island? fire tenders with a two-man crew
weaponry, troops and all that sort of There was no airport, not like there to augment what little fire services
thing into battle areas — and we did is today. At the time, Costain was were available, in preparation for the
quite a bit of training for that, at semi- surveying an area on the beach to see prince to fly his Andover in on a royal
prepared airfields and so on — but we whether or not visit. We went
also had a responsibility around the
theatre for Commonwealth flag-
infill could be laid
to establish an
The district officer to Tabiteuea,
Butaritari and
waving, if you like. We had training airport. Our wing asked if I would act Kiribati, and
flights which took us to all sorts of leader, Sqn Ldr stayed the night
interesting places: Japan, Thailand, Roger Sweatman, as Prince Charles at on Kiribati. On
Australia and so on.
“Some tasks came up which
who’s no longer
with us, went and a practice ceremony arrival there I
was met by the
were very, very interesting. One of
the biggest cyclones ever to hit the
did a survey with
his California
at Kiribati’s one and district officer,
and he asked me
Ganges Delta area hit what is now Bearing Ratio only hotel if I would act as
Bangladesh, but in those days was east stick and Prince Charles
Pakistan. It was a terrible disaster, and established that the surface was at a practice ceremony in the evening
we supported the relief efforts. I did sufficient to take a Hercules. He came at the one and only hotel, where the
some low flying over the area about across to Gan on a navy boat and met following week when Prince Charles
two weeks after it occurred with some me there. I sat in the right seat while visited they would be carrying out
senior officers on board to take a look he flew the aeroplane, and we landed this ceremony of dancing, singing
at the extent of the damage. That was on the beach in the Seychelles and and so on. I found myself sitting in
quite moving. delivered the naval diving team. this modified chief ’s throne, with my
“A lot of people will remember “A month later, I was the captain navigator on my left and my co-pilot
the Torrey Canyon disaster. Well, the to go back and pick them up. We on my right, and the rest of my crew
Torrey Canyon had a sister ship, the went back to the same beach, but acting as the royal party in a dress
SS Ennerdale, and that sank off Mahé unfortunately darkness fell so we rehearsal of the Kiribati islanders’
island in the Seychelles, the result had to stay the night. We were not presentation. It was absolutely superb.
of a drunken pilot who went in the cleared to take off at night. We had to Where on earth could you experience
wrong direction, hit some underwater be entertained by the district officer something like that?”

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After the Far East, being posted
to Coltishall as officer commanding
General Duties Flight might have
been a come-down. “As you can
imagine, general duties encompassed
everything that wasn’t designated
as something specific. I used to
keep the station charity accounts, I
allocated orderly officer duties, I was
responsible for general discipline
and administration that could not
be allocated to someone else. I was
also in charge of the police flight
— both criminal investigation and
basic security — and I was really the
station commander’s PA, filling in his
logbook for him while he was flying
Lightnings. But I had realised before
taking up my post that Coltishall
was the home of the Battle of
Britain Flight…”
At the time, Wg Cdr Dave Seward
was the flight’s CO. “They only had
two pilots for the five aeroplanes, but
he expanded the pilot complement
quite quickly to six pilots, and I was
fortunate enough to be selected after
a little trial on the Chipmunk. He
said, ‘If you can fly the Chipmunk
better than I can, you’re in’. After we
climbed out of the aeroplane on the
grass at Coltishall he just said, ‘You
bastard. Go down to Boscombe Down
and fly the Harvard. If you master
that you can have a go’. The guy who
checked me out on the Harvard was
a Flt Lt Wackett, and I got to learn
about old aeroplanes, their wing
shapes, what they did at the stall, how
they spun and things like that.
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“I went back to Coltishall, but
the airfield was closed for a runway
refurbishment programme and the
flight had moved down to Wattisham
temporarily, so I went there to
get checked out. The check-out
comprised Peter Gostick, who was
the lead pilot and very experienced,
doing a thorough briefing with me
in the hangar with the aircraft on
jacks, a hydraulic rig working the
undercarriage up and down, operating
the flaps with the air, making sure we
knew precisely what to do.
“Ordinarily it’s good BBMF policy
that the first flight you make is on
the wide-track Hurricane, because
it’s simpler on take-off and landing.
But unfortunately for me — or maybe
fortunately, I don’t know — the
one Hurricane we had, LF363, was
without a propeller. I was told I’d have
to make my first flight on P7350, the
‘baby Spit’. Every moment of that
first flight I can recall. It was exciting
not so much on take-off, but certainly
on landing, and also in the air doing
your first stall in a Spitfire.
“It was an interesting first flight,
and Pete Gostick was quite caustic
after I landed. His first comment to
me was, ‘Now, I want you to cut out
these big transport circuits. I want you
to fly closer to the runway downwind
and make sure it’s a curved approach
to landing — none of these long,
straight-in approaches like you used to
do on your C-130’. It soon came, and
I proceeded from there with a work- LEFT:
up for the co-ordinated pairs display As of now, Wally has
routine. Brian Weedon was also on more than 11,000
flying hours on the
the flight, and I did my first display HS125, BAe 125
with him. Everything progressed from and successors,
there, and I did three seasons in all.” like Hawker 800XP
On promotion to squadron leader N444MG here.
in 1974, Wally took command of VIA WALLY EPTON
the Dominie T1 element of No 6
FTS at Finningley. It was primarily
a navigation trainer, but Wally was
instrumental in reintroducing training
for signallers and flight engineers in
the aircraft, which had looked like
being lost with the Varsity’s retirement.
Becoming acquainted with this HS125
variant was to be very important for his
future career. From there he went on
to a tour at the RAF’s Inspectorate of
Flight Safety, but he remained current
on the Dominie and Hercules, and
there was still airshow flying to do, but
now on the civilian side.
Wally became involved with the
Duxford Aviation Society, flying
Dragon Rapide NF875/G-AGTM
— loaned to the DAS by its owner
Martin Barraclough — and, as
co-pilot to Hugh Field, Varsity T1
WJ945/G-BEDV. Indeed, having
converted to the Varsity with the
College of Air Warfare at Manby prior
to his Hercules posting, he was on the
delivery flight of ’945 to Duxford after
its retirement from No 6 FTS. Then
there was another opportunity to get
involved with older aeroplanes.
“One of the most significant
people I met — and he’s still a very
good friend — was Lindsey Walton.
Whilst at Coltishall on BBMF I’d met
Lindsey because we put together a
cameo at the Finningley airshow with
him flying his Bf 108” — really a Nord
1002 — “which he’d been persuaded
to decorate into camouflage and Nazi
colours by the show organiser. I was
shooting Lindsey down. Afterwards
we got to know each other. Lindsey
invited me to his farm, and there I
flew the 108 for the first time. He
invited me to display it for him, and
that proceeded for the next six years.
That was fun, always being shot down,
disappearing behind the hedge and
having to creep in later so nobody saw
you. I also flew his Stearman, and his
MS733 Alcyon, which was dubbed
the ‘Cambodian Gunship’. It flew like
a brick, it had no performance at all.
“I’d taken my option and left the
air force in ’78. I followed my selected
career path of going on to business
jets and continuing with the HS125
— that was the aeroplane I really did
enjoy flying. I took a job with a private
company in Switzerland and flew for
them for two-and-a-half years, until
04/03/2019 14:15
 AEROPLANE MEETS… WALLY EPTON
ABOVE: they sold the aeroplane. I then moved
Setting to work to Shell, and in 1982 they asked if
on the return to somebody would like to go to Australia
flight of Tiger Moth
T5879/G-AXBW.
to set up a new flight department there
VIA WALLY EPTON for Shell’s Australian division. Off I
went with the family and moved to
Melbourne. That brought to a close
the historic aircraft flying and display
flying, though I did reacquaint myself
with the RAAF Historic Flight
Chipmunk at Point Cook.
“I moved from Shell to fly for the
big retail giant ‘down under’, Coles
Myer, but they got to the point after
four years where retail trade wasn’t
doing as well as it should. The decision
was that they had to down-size, and
the aeroplane had to go, so I was out
of a job. In Australia for a further 18
months, I did some very interesting
freelance work. I did a global search
and a job came up back here in the UK
with Ready Mix Concrete, so I became
chief pilot there in 1991 and flew for
them for 13 years, until — technically
— retirement. But since retirement I’ve
been busier than ever.”
A big part of that has been to do
with the Historic Aircraft Association.
Wally became a member when he
started flying civilian aeroplanes at
displays, at which time the HAA —
under the auspices of Darrol Stinton,
Duncan Simpson and other luminaries
— ran the forerunner to the system
of display authorisations under a pilot
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register, which was later taken over by
the CAA. When he returned to the
UK to work for Ready Mix, he became
reacquainted both with Pete Thorn,
another ex-BBMF pilot, and Rapide
G-AGTM, then being returned to
flight at Farnborough for owner David
Geddes. Pete checked Wally out on
the Rapide after it re-flew in 1996,
persuaded Wally to join the HAA
council and later suggested that he
be made chairman of the HAA as
successor to Cliff Spink. He’s been in
the role ever since.
There have
been many
Substitute parts
challenges, but can be manufactured,
many would agree
that the HAA they can be tested,
has found new
voice, not least
and they can be fitted
in representing to aeroplanes to keep
the interests of
engineers and them flying
maintainers in
what Wally calls, “their continuing
dialogue with the CAA”. He cites
the issue of substitute parts and the
liability concerns relating to original
equipment manufacturers, “which
is still not resolved”, as a major one.
“Substitute parts can be manufactured,
they can be tested, they can be proven
as reliable, and they can be fitted to
aeroplanes to keep them flying. There’s
no question of that.”
The overriding aim, he says, is
to have an environment in which
owners and operators are able to fly
historic aeroplanes in the UK on
a sustainable footing. Ultimately
the HAA would like the CAA to
delegate oversight responsibility
through a risk-managed system of
self-administration in a similar manner
to the Light Aircraft Association,
which, under specific airworthiness
approvals, currently enjoys safety
management responsibilities. One
potential route Wally identified, and
the HAA has certainly had an effect
in, was adventure flying. The self-
administration system pioneered in
Australia by Stephen Crocker included
details of how passengers could be
carried in historic aircraft. Responding
to industry, the CAA wrote the Safety
Standards Acknowledgement and
Consent (SSAC) regulations, which
have permitted paid passenger rides
in types such as Spitfires. “That, if you
like, is an industry initiative that was
adopted by the CAA to make it work.”
Wally himself has kept flying. In
2011, when the last RAF Dominies
had been retired, he was reacquainted
with the type when six were sold to a
friend — whose father was a pilot on
the Dominie squadron at Finningley
when Wally commanded it — and
needed ferrying from Cranwell to
Kemble. A couple of years later, he
flew two of them to BAE Systems’
apprentice school at Humberside. He
still pilots all sorts of business jets on a
freelance basis, most notably the most
modern members of the 125 line, the
Hawker 800, 900XP and 1000 family.
He calls himself a “journeyman pilot”,
which fits well with his activities in the
City of London where, as a member
of the Honourable
Company of
Air Pilots, he
was recognised
with the award
of a Master Air
Pilot Certificate
and served the
company in
various roles,
rising to become
master in 2011-
12. He keeps in touch with historic
aircraft through his membership of
a Tiger Moth syndicate, while at the
same time restoring another of his
own as a private project. That kind of
hands-on experience is invaluable.
“One of my favourite mantras”,
Wally says, “is, ‘If you think things are
not changing in aviation, you’ve been
left behind’”. He’s seen a lot of change
in the last 60 years, and will no
doubt be witness to plenty
more in the years ahead.
04/03/2019 14:16
 The Eastern Front was not only the
largest military confrontation in
history but also the deadliest – and
it ultimately led to the downfall of
Hitler and the end of the Third Reich.

Total casualties numbered in

excess of five million German and
Axis troops, with the Soviets losing
possibly twice that figure. This 116-
page special magazine tells the
dramatic story of the War in the East.

Features include:

HITLER’S INTENTIONS
When Germany invaded Soviet territory in
May 1941, it may have been a shock, but it
was hardly a surprise.

OPERATION BARBAROSSA
In the early hours of 22 June 1941, the
invasion of the Soviet Union was launched
with devastating results.

GENERAL WINTER
The German Army stood at the gates of
Moscow, but Hitler’s troops were faced
with a winter war in conditions
they had not expected

THE END IN THE EAST

Hitler had started the war in Eastern
Europe. Stalin was determined to end it in
the same theatre.

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 HOOKS’
Mike Hooks began his aviation photography career in 1945
with a simple box camera, moving on to an Ensign folding

TOURS
camera in about 1948, and later to a Voigtlander Vito B. He
converted to colour in the 1950s, and went on to build one of the
UK’s most extensive archives of Kodachrome transparencies

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY:

MIKE HOOKS

DHC-2 BEAVER
Rugged and versatile, the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver first flew on 16 August
1947 and is still going strong. More than half of the 1,692 built are still flying

1 Initially delivered to Malaya in September 1951 as VR-RBV,

c/n 144 moved to Malayan Airways in 1958 as 9M-ALV.
Two years later it was with Aerial Agriculture in Australia as
VH-AAS before returning to Canada as CF-BPC in late 1971
with Cargair at Saint-Zenon, Québec, where it was pictured
in June 1972. In recent years it has been on the strength of
Wabakimi Air at Bonnet, Manitoba.
4 The silver-and-dayglo CF-BJY was one of 980 L-20As
ordered by the USAF, being delivered to Elmendorf AFB,
Alaska in January 1952. Eight years later it was with the Civil
Air Patrol at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, as N4792C. It became a
Canadian-registered floatplane.
5 N5147G of the Rockford Corporation, an industrial pipe
company, in a slushy Canadian backwater during April

2 N9999U (c/n 1315) parked at Toussus-le-Noble in mid-

1961. A former military L-20A, it was flown by the US
Air Force Flying Club at Evreux in 1962 as N3064F but was
cancelled from the US register in August that year.
1982. It was an L-20A delivered in September 1952 and flew
with the Civil Air Patrol as N6593D. As N5147G, it suffered
accidents in September 1983 and June 1990, but with no
casualties, and is still extant.

3 Two batches of Beaver AL1s

totalling 42 aircraft were
ordered by the Army Air Corps,
all built at Downsview but
assembled in the DH plant at
Hawarden, Chester. Seen in July
1967, XV271 was part of the
second tranche. From the circular
marking on the fuselage it was
probably engaged in trials
dropping underwing stores.
Today this aircraft flies from
Washington State
as N985P.

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 2 3

4 5

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 D-Day Guide is your
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 DATABASE

Development
Technical Details
15
IN-DEP
Colourfully schemed H75A-3 serial
298 of the 2ème Escadrille, Groupe PAGESTH
de Chasse I/5, while serving with the

In Service
Armée de l’Air d’Armistice — the air
force of Vichy France. CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY

Insights

CURTISS
P-36/HAWK 75 WORDS: THOMAS McKELVEY CLEAVER

September 1939’s National Air Races

at Cleveland, Ohio, were attended by a
number of 1st Pursuit Group/27th Pursuit
Squadron P-36Cs in various experimental,
washable camouflage schemes. NASM

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 DEVELOPMENT

The P-36 was the first truly modern fighter for

the US Army Air Corps. A typical pre-war P-36A
is represented by serial 38-038, on the strength
of the 1st Pursuit Group at Selfridge Field,
Michigan. AVIATION HISTORY COLLECTION/ALAMY

It was hardly revolutionary, but the Curtiss Model 75 was America’s first truly
modern fighter to appear in the mid-1930s

T
he mid-1930s saw a
revolution sweep
through many leading
air forces, as the
all-metal, low-wing fighter
design eclipsed all others. The
US Army Air Corps (AAC),
though among the weakest
and least-developed air arms
of the period, was an active
participant. However, as with
contemporary Italian designs,
US aeroplanes suffered from
the lack of a really good,
high-powered, aero engine
like the outstanding Rolls-
Royce PV12, later to be known
as the Merlin, or the Daimler-
Benz DB600 series.
The Curtiss-Wright
Corporation of Buffalo, New
York, had been created in
1929. It merged the Curtiss
Aeroplane and Motor
Company, founded in January
1916 by American aviation
pioneer Glenn Hammond
Curtiss, and the Wright
Aeronautical Corporation,
established as Wright-Martin in
1919 by Orville Wright and
Glenn L. Martin. Both firms
were well-known suppliers of
aircraft and engines for US
military aviation. The Curtiss
Hawk series of biplane fighters
The first prototype of the Model 75, registration X17Y, took to the air
from the Curtiss factory airfield at Buffalo, New York, on 6 May 1935.
had equipped both the AAC
and the US Navy, starting with
the P-1/F6C series in 1927
and finishing with the P-6/
F11C of 1932.
Curtiss was aware of new
developments in aircraft
structures that made its current
products obsolete for future
development. The American
company that was most
advanced in this respect was
Northrop Aviation of Burbank,
California. It was founded in
1929 by John K. ‘Jack’
Northrop, one of the true
geniuses of aviation history,
and had blazed the way for
successful all-metal, low-wing
commercial aircraft. These
started with the Northrop
Alpha, a seven-seat, single-
engine fast mail/passenger
transport with innovative wing
fillets researched at the
Guggenheim Aeronautical
Laboratory of the California
Institute of Technology, and a
multi-cellular stressed-skin wing
of Northrop’s own design. The
Alpha flew cross-country at
177mph, and when it entered
service with Transcontinental &
Western Air (TWA) in April,
1931, a flight from San
Francisco to New York took just

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over 23 hours. Such
performance was then
astonishing.
Northrop followed the Alpha
with the Gamma, introducing a
fully enclosed cockpit canopy.
It twice set speed records from
Los Angeles to New York. The
Gamma design would later be
developed into the AAC’s A-17
attack bomber, and a civilian
offshoot, the Delta, introduced
in 1933, which mainly saw use
as a high-speed mailplane.
In 1934, Curtiss-Wright
president Ralph Damon hired
Jack Northrop’s most promising
young designer, Donovan R.
‘Don’ Berlin, bringing him to
Buffalo as chief engineer.
Damon’s brief was to create the
AAC’s next fighter, which would
cement the company as the
army’s leading aircraft supplier.
Berlin had graduated with a
degree in mechanical
engineering from Purdue in
1921. Five years later he went
to work for Douglas Aircraft as
a project engineer, where he
met Jack Northrop. When
Northrop left Douglas, Berlin
went with him and was
intimately involved in the
design and development of the
Alpha, Gamma and Delta.
Northrop, however,
disagreed with Berlin over the
design of the wing for a
proposed fighter. The
argument was over Berlin’s
advocacy of a retractable
landing gear configuration
created by Boeing in which the
gear leg retracted backwards
while the mainwheel rotated
through 90° to lie flat in the
wing. Northrop felt this was
unnecessarily complex, and he
was unwilling to pay Boeing a
royalty to use it. The next
Northrop design would feature
retractable landing gear that
did not have the wheel
rotating, with the gear
enclosed in massive, drag-
inducing nacelles; it was
arguably the one big
aerodynamic mistake Northrop
ever made. After Berlin was
fired, Curtiss-Wright came
calling, and Berlin took his
wing ideas with him to Buffalo.
In 1933, the AAC fighter
force was still primarily based
around Curtiss P-6E Hawk and
Boeing P-12E biplanes. The
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DATABASE CURTISS P-36/HAWK 75
aware that the design was too
conservative. While there was
Development
no way for the service to fund
fighter development in the
depths of the Great
Depression, men like Maj
Claire Chennault, the leading
AAC advocate of pursuit
aviation, were more than open
to hearing ideas from the
aircraft manufacturers.
In 1934, the Curtiss-Wright
Technical Details
board of directors agreed to
A P-36A allocated to an AAC Air Materiel Division (hence the ‘MD’ in privately finance the
the tail code) test unit at Wright Field, Ohio, in 1939. development of a new fighter
that would bring together all
the recent advances in aircraft
The Curtiss-Wright board agreed to privately technology. The project was
known as the Model 75. The
finance a new fighter that would bring together all prototype was designed that
the recent advances in aircraft technology year and first flew on 6 May
1935 from the company airfield
at Buffalo, New York. The initial
year before, the Boeing Model December. The P-26 was powerplant was a Wright
In Service
248, an all-metal monoplane comparable in performance to Aeronautical Division
with an open cockpit and the French Dewoitine D500 GR‑1670A1 two-row
externally braced wings, had series, which differed in having 14-cylinder radial engine rated
been adopted as the P-26, with internally braced wings. at 775hp, driving a Curtiss-
deliveries beginning that However, the air corps was Electric three-bladed
Insights
VARIANT BY VARIANT
CURTISS MODEL DESIGNATIONS
H75A: Export version with a retractable undercarriage
H75B: The 850hp Wright Cyclone-powered prototype for the April 1936 contest
75D: A retrospective designation given to the prototype in its first configuration
75E: The Y1P-36 pre-production aircraft
75H: Simplified version with a non-retractable undercarriage for the export market
75I: Curtiss designation for the P-37
75J: A Model 75A demonstrator, NX22028 (c/n 12931), when fitted with an external supercharger
75K: A study for a version to be powered by a 910hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Hornet engine
75L: The P-36A to P-36F
75M: Fixed-undercarriage development of H75H, some built in China
H75N: Export version sold to Thailand
H75O: Fixed-undercarriage export version sold to Argentina
75P: Re-engined to become the XP-40, prototype for the P-40 Warhawk
75Q: Two fixed-undercarriage demonstrators
H75R: The 75J with a different supercharger
75S: Curtiss designation for the XP-42
US ARMY DESIGNATIONS
Y1P-36: Three pre-production machines, Pratt & Whitney engines, one .30in and one .50in
machine gun in the nose
P-36A: Main production version, similar to Y1P-36
P-36B: One aircraft used to test supercharger gearing
P-36C: The final 30 machines, built with two additional .30in machine guns in the wings
XP-36D: One aircraft with standard nose armament and four .30in wing guns
XP-36E: One aircraft with six 0.30in wing guns
XP-36F: One aircraft with two 23mm Madsen cannon carried under the wings
P-36G: Thirty H75A-8s taken over from Norwegian contract
03/03/2019 15:28
 DATABASE CURTISS P-36/HAWK 75

The sole XP-42 on a test flight

during 1943. NASA

THE XP-42: WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN…

T
he fourth production P-36A (serial 38-004) became a
development platform for a direct successor, designated
as the XP-42 by the AAC. The most striking difference was
a longer, streamlined nose cowling and a propeller
mounted on a shaft, features that were added in an attempt to
improve the aerodynamics of the air-cooled radial engine. The
XP-42 therefore superficially resembled an aircraft equipped with
an in-line liquid-cooled engine.
On its first flight in March 1939, the XP-42 proved faster than the
P-36. However, the new cowling caused engine cooling problems
which proved unresolvable, despite 12 different modifications. The
XP-42 prototype was retained as a testbed and was later fitted with
an all-moving tail, or ‘stabilator’, for research purposes. Operated by
the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) from
Langley Field, Virginia, it made its last flight in April 1947 and was
scrapped that July.

constant-speed propeller. The
airframe was of all-metal
stressed-skin construction with
fabric-covered control surfaces.
It was intended to carry the
standard AAC armament of
one .50in (12.7mm) and one
.30in (7.62mm) machine gun
mounted in the forward
fuselage, firing through the
propeller disc. Further test
flights revealed the Model 75
was able to reach a top speed
of 281mph at an altitude of
10,000ft (3,000m).
Curtiss was not the only
company trying to design the
next-generation fighter. In
1935, the AAC announced a
fly-off contest to determine
which machine would be
ordered. Seversky entered the
fixed-undercarriage, two-seat
SEV-2XD. The other entrants,
the Curtiss Model 75 and the
Northrop 3A, were both
single-seaters equipped with
retractable landing gear. The
Model 75 was flown to Wright
Field on 27 May 1935, but the
Seversky entry had not yet
arrived. While being ferried to
the Ohio airfield for the
competition on 18 June 1935,
the SEV-2XD was damaged in a
landing mishap, with
subsequent claims that the
‘accident’ was deliberate.
Then, the Northrop 3A crashed
into the sea on a test flight in
California in July 1935, and the
following month the AAC
delayed the final fly-off until
April 1936.
Even by 1938 the type was obsolescent, with a
lower service ceiling, top speed and weaker
armament than the Spitfire or Bf 109
The delay allowed Seversky
to change its entry to the
single-seat SEV-1XP, which
also had retractable landing
gear; it was designated as the
SEV-7 for the purposes of the
competition. With the
destruction of the Northrop
3A, Vought Aircraft purchased
the rights to the design and
submitted a rebuild of the
prototype as the V-141.
Additionally, Consolidated
Aircraft submitted a single-
seat version of its PB-2A
two-seat fighter, which had
entered service in limited
numbers in 1934 as the P-30.
Curtiss had taken the time to
modify the Model 75 with a
new and more reliable Wright
XR-1820-39 Cyclone engine of
950hp, with a more
aerodynamically refined
cowling and distinctive
scallops in the fuselage behind
the cockpit to improve
visibility to the rear.
Unfortunately, the new engine
failed to produce its rated
power and the aircraft only
reached 285mph (459km/h).
The Model 75 was the
fastest of the competitors, but
in April 1936 Seversky was
announced as the winner of
the contest, and an order was
placed for 77 aircraft
designated as the P-35. This
was in spite of it being more
expensive than the Model 75.
Curtiss was, however, awarded
a contract in July for three
Model 75Es, powered by a
derated Pratt & Whitney
R-1830-13 Twin Wasp radial
providing 900hp, for test and
evaluation, under the
designation Y1P-36.
The three Y1P-36s were
delivered in March 1937 and
won that year’s fighter
competition. Curtiss came
away with a contract for 210
P-36As, the largest US Army
order for fighters since World
War One. Unfortunately, even
by 1938 the type was
obsolescent, with a lower
service ceiling, top speed and
weaker armament than the
Supermarine Spitfire or
Messerschmitt Bf 109, which
had been its design
contemporaries in 1934.
The P-36 was arguably at its
peak, while both the British
and German fighters were at
the outset of their
development.

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 TECHNICAL DETAILS
T
he P-36 was the first
all-metal monoplane
developed and
manufactured by
Curtiss-Wright. Throughout its
service, the fighter was
underpowered, due to the
inability of American engine
manufacturers to develop a
reliable high-powered radial
while the P-36/Hawk 75 was in
production. As Finnish ace
Kyösti Karhila recalled, “it
wasn’t fast enough”. The
Wright R-1820 Cyclone used in
the H75A-4/A-8/Mohawk IV
sub-type was troublesome and
unreliable, with no two units
putting out the same power,
added to which were problems
of oil loss in flight. The Pratt &
Whitney R-1830, employed in
the P-36 and the other H75
sub-types, was the superior
engine; the Finns ultimately
replaced the Wright engines in
their H75A-8s with R-1830s
obtained through the Germans
from French spares, despite the
fact that the Wright-powered
aeroplane was slightly faster.
The fighter also suffered from
its light armament, the AAC
standard at the time being one
.50in and one .30in machine
gun, both firing through the
propeller disc. This was
increased in the last 35 aircraft,
delivered as the P-36C, by the
addition of one .30in weapon
in each wing outboard of the
main gear and firing outside
the propeller disc. Hawk 75
models after the H75A-1 were
armed with an additional .30in
weapon in each wing for a total
of six. Sgt Chuck Baisden, who
worked as an armourer on both
the P-36 in the air corps and
the later P-40/Tomahawk II as a
member of the American
Volunteer Group, remembered
that servicing the nose-
mounted guns on the P-36 was
difficult due to the radial
engine, in comparison with the
later liquid-cooled, in-line
engine of the P-40/Tomahawk
II. “You almost always busted a
knuckle at least once servicing
a P-36. That never happened
with the P-40. That might
sound like a minor detail, but it
was important when it was your
knuckle being busted.”
In construction, the P-36
employed Northrop’s multi-cell
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As this P-36A banks away, it any of its design
provides an excellent view contemporaries. When the UK’s
Development
of the Model 75’s distinctive Aeroplane and Armament
undercarriage arrangement. Experimental Establishment
tested a French Hawk 75 in the
autumn of 1939, it found that
the aircraft bettered the Spitfire
I on every count other than top
speed and weight of fire. Steve
Hinton, the only modern pilot
to have flown every sub-type of
P-36, Hawk 75 and P-40 now in
Technical Details
airworthy condition, stated that
the P-36 has the best control
lightness and manoeuvrability
of any of the series.
However, it was
underpowered, affecting its
acceleration and top speed,
and it did not accelerate in a
dive as well as the later P-40
Curtiss’s new
would. High-altitude
performance was seriously
design included handicapped by the lack of a
In Service
two-stage supercharger.
some of the latest But despite its limitations,
technology
given its record in the Battle of
France, and in service with the
Finns on the Eastern Front and
the British in the China-Burma-
design for the wing, with the extremely low wing loading of India (CBI) theatre, the P-36/
Boeing-designed main gear just 23.9lb per square foot Hawk 75 is an aircraft deserving
Insights
that rotated 90° during gave it outstanding turning of better memory than the
retraction to lie flat in the wing. performance. The P-36 also dismissiveness of earlier
This was a considerable had extremely favourable chroniclers. It was the first
improvement over the high-speed handling. The thoroughly modern US fighter
retractable undercarriage used ailerons were light and design of its era, and it led
by contemporary Northrop powerful, giving it the best roll the way to important aircraft
designs and the Seversky P-35, rate and turning capability of that followed.
in which the mainwheel
remained vertical when SPECIFICATIONS
retracted and was partially Model 75 (First Y1P-36 P-36A
enclosed in a large nacelle on prototype, initial
the lower wing surface. configuration)
Northrop quickly exchanged POWERPLANT
this system, which it had used One Wright One Pratt & One Pratt &
on the BT-1 dive-bomber, for SCR-1670-G5, 900hp Whitney R-1830-13, Whitney R-1830-13
inward-retracting gear that 1,050hp or -17, 1,050hp
allowed the wheel to lie flat in DIMENSIONS
the wing without needing the Length: 28ft 3.5in 28ft 10in 28ft 6in
rotation system, when the A-17 Span: 37ft 0in 36ft 3.5in 37ft 4in
and the Model 3 fighter were Height: 9ft 1in 9ft 0in 9ft 0in
conceived. WEIGHTS
Designer Don Berlin adopted
Empty: 3,760lb 4,267lb 4,567lb
Jack Northrop’s philosophy Gross: 4,843lb 5,414lb 5,470lb
that an aeroplane should be as
PERFORMANCE
light as possible,
commensurate with the design Maximum speed: 281mph at 10,000ft 293mph at 10,000ft 313mph at
10,000ft
strength necessary to Cruising speed: 250mph 261mph n/a
accomplish the mission. Thus, Service ceiling: 30,000ft 31,500ft 33,000ft
the P-36/Hawk 75 had a very Range: 537 miles 790 miles 825 miles at
good power-to-weight ratio of 270mph and
10,000ft
0.186hp/lb that allowed an
excellent climb performance ARMAMENT
for the time, and was Two machine guns One 0.50in and one One .50in and
responsible for the aircraft’s 0.30in machine gun one .30in machine
guns in nose
fine manoeuvrability. The
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 DATABASE CURTISS P-36/HAWK 75

HAWK 75A-1

HAWK 75A-1

P-36C

HAWK 75A-1

HAWK 75A-8

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 IN SERVICE
Although outmoded by the outbreak of war, the P-36/Hawk 75 family
acquitted itself very well in combat
US ARMY
AIR CORPS
P
-36s began arriving in
AAC pursuit groups in
1938, replacing the
ancient P-26
‘Peashooter’. In 1939, the P-36
accounted for one quarter of
the first-line strength of the air
corps, an air force then ranked
as the 13th most powerful in
the world. The first unit to
re-equip completely was the
20th Pursuit Group at
Barksdale Field, Louisiana.
The type’s initial service was
marred by numerous teething
problems with the engine
exhaust, skin buckling above
the landing gear, and weak
points in the airframe that
severely restricted the
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performance envelope. By the
time these were resolved, the
P-36 was considered obsolete,
being relegated to training
units and overseas
detachments at Albrook Field
in the Panama Canal Zone,
Elmendorf Field in Alaska, and
Wheeler Field in Hawaii.
In the 8th Pursuit Group, 2nd Lt Erik Shilling
found the new fighter ‘delightful’ to fly with its
excellent manoeuvrability
In the 8th Pursuit Group, 1st
Lt Hubert L. Zemke later
remembered how much he
liked the P-36, while 2nd Lt Erik
Shilling found the new fighter
“delightful” to fly with its
excellent manoeuvrability. The
1st Pursuit Group at Selfridge
Field, Michigan had its 17th
and 94th Pursuit Squadrons
equipped with P-36s while the
71st squadron flew the P-35.
The 1st, 8th and 20th Pursuit
Groups all used the P-36 in the
United States until they began
re-equipping with newer
fighters in 1940-41. The 1st PG
became the initial AAC unit to
fly the Lockheed P-38
Lightning, while the 20th
received new P-40Bs in early
1941 and the 8th became the
first to equip with the Bell P-39
in the summer of 1941. The
18th PG in Hawaii exchanged
An 18th PG P-36A flying near
Development
Oahu, Hawaii, on a sortie from
its Wheeler Field base. USAF
Technical Details
In Service
Insights
its P-26s for the P-36 in 1940,
and had re-equipped with the
P-40C by December 1941. The
15th PG brought 31 P-36s to
Hawaii in February 1941
aboard the carrier USS
Enterprise, and in December
was still equipped with some
P-36s alongside more modern
P-40Cs. The 16th and 32nd
PGs both operated the P-36 in
the Panama Canal Zone, while
the 35th and 36th flew P-36s
while they were training after
being formed, but replaced
them before moving overseas.
After Pearl Harbor, the P-36
rapidly went out of service. By
the summer of 1942, VII
Fighter Command on Hawaii
had 28 P-36s, of which 22 were
serviceable, as against 101
P-40s serviceable out of a
total of 134.
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 DATABASE CURTISS P-36/HAWK 75

Some pilots who claimed victories at Pearl Harbor
pose for the press on 8 December 1941 in front of
the P-36 said to have been flown by 2nd Lt Harry
Brown (left) to claim his two victories. Brown aside,
they comprise, from left to right, P-36 pilots 1st Lt
Lewis Sanders and 2nd Lt Philip Rasmussen,
and 2nd Lts
Kenneth Taylor
and George
Welch who had
flown P-40s. USAF
P-36s AT
PEARL HARBOR
The only time US Army Air
Forces — as the Army Air
Corps was redesignated on 20
June 1941 — pilots flew the
P-36 in combat was during the
Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor, on 7 December 1941.
At the time, the AAF fighter
squadrons on Hawaii were in
the process of re-equipping
with the P-40C that had
superseded the P-36, but there
were still some P-36s on their
strength.
That morning, 2nd Lt Philip
M. ‘Phil’ Rasmussen of the 15th
Pursuit Group’s 46th Pursuit
Squadron was awakened in his
barracks at Wheeler Field by
the sound of aircraft flying low
overhead. Going to his window,
he saw a formation of Japanese
aircraft dropping bombs on the
airfield. He strapped his
.45-calibre pistol to the outside
of his pyjamas and ran to get
an aeroplane.
When he got to the flightline,
he found most of the aircraft
had been destroyed, though
two P-36s and four P-40s had
managed to take off at
08.35hrs. Rasmussen found an
unscathed P-36A, still in its
peacetime natural aluminium
finish — one of the last not to
have received camouflage. He
started up and taxied it to a
revetment where groundcrew
loaded it with ammunition. At
08.50 Rasmussen, 1st Lt Lewis
M. Sanders, 2nd Lt Gordon H.
Sterling Jr, and another 46th
squadron pilot managed to
take off in their P-36s. They
A small number of 47th Pursuit Squadron
pilots were able to fly numerous sorties,
alternating between the P-36A and P-40C
were ordered to fly to Kaneohe
Bay on the north-east side of
the island. Rasmussen recalled,
“We climbed to 9,000ft and
spotted Japanese ‘Val’
dive-bombers”. There were 11
enemy aircraft including Zero
fighter escorts. “We dived to
attack them.”
Rasmussen, Sanders and
Sterling attacked the enemy
formation while the fourth pilot
became separated in the
clouds. Sanders got behind one
of the D3A ‘Val’ dive-bombers
and shot it down. Rasmussen
followed. When he charged his
two guns, he found the
.30-calibre gun was jammed
while the .50-calibre weapon
started firing on its own. A
moment later, Sterling shot
down a ‘Val’, but then was
caught by the escorting Zeros
and was shot down over the
ocean. He got out of his aircraft
but drowned.
While Rasmussen struggled
to stop his faulty gun firing, a
Zero flew in front of him,
directly into a burst of gunfire.
and exploded. Shaking off the
two Zeros coming in on his tail,
Rasmussen got his gun under
control and raked another
enemy aircraft with gunfire as it
flashed past. Suddenly, he felt
himself taking hits. “There was
a lot of noise. He shot my
canopy off”. Zero pilot Iyozo
Fujita then tried to ram him.
Both aircraft survived the
glancing hit and Fujita
managed to return to his ship,
the carrier Sōryū. Rasmussen
lost control of his P-36 as it
tumbled into the clouds that
covered the mountain range
below, its hydraulic lines
severed and the tailwheel shot
off. Emerging from the clouds
at 5,000ft, just above the
wooded mountains, Rasmussen
managed to regain control of
his P-36 and returned to
Wheeler Field, where he landed
with no brakes, rudder or
tailwheel. Once down, the
groundcrew counted more than
500 bullet holes in the wrecked
P-36, including two 20mm
cannon shells that had buried
themselves in the bulky radio
behind the pilot’s seat, saving
Rasmussen’s life.
The 47th Pursuit Squadron
— which had fortunately
moved to Haleiwa airfield,
some 15 miles from Wheeler
Field, where it was not subject
to attacks — was the 15th PG’s
most successful unit on the day.
A small number of its pilots,
equipped with both P-36As and
P-40Cs, were able to fly
numerous sorties, often
alternating between the
different Curtiss fighters. Most
successful were P-40 pilots
George Welch, who shot down
four attackers, and Ken Taylor,
who got two. Once the attack
was over the surviving P-36s
took part in the unsuccessful
attempts to locate the
Japanese fleet.
The three enemy aircraft shot
down by Rasmussen, Sanders
and Sterling were the only
victories ever scored by AAF
pilots in the P-36. Visitors to
the National Museum of the
United States Air Force at
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio,
will find that the opening
exhibit features a mannequin of
a pyjama-clad pilot climbing
into a P-36A in the markings of
Rasmussen’s airplane. The
exhibit (which is pictured on
page 95) is informally titled
‘The Pyjama Pilot’.

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 DATABASE CURTISS P-36/HAWK 75

Development
Technical Details
In Service
The bright markings denote the fact that these two H75A-2s, serials 203 and 88, of GC I/5 are in Vichy French service. The unit was stationed
in Morocco when this shot was taken in late 1942. VIA CHRISTIAN-JACQUES EHRENGARDT

FRENCH AIR FORCE Dewoitine D520 a year from

Curtiss had always been known
production, the Armée de l'Air
was forced to consider the
purchase of foreign fighters at
the delivery of 300 aircraft. The
negotiations were very
drawn-out, due to the high cost
quoted for the fighters by
the AAC, unhappy with the
rate of deliveries to that service
and believing that fulfilling
export orders would slow

Insights
for maximising the export the time of the Munich crisis. Curtiss, which was double that things down even more,
potential of its products, and Even before the P-36A entered of the MS406 and MB150, actively opposed the sale to
the Hawk 75 was no exception. production, the French entered while the delivery schedule was France. President Franklin
The largest export order went negotiations with Curtiss for deemed too slow. Additionally, Roosevelt was finally forced to
to the French Armée de l’Air intervene directly in order to
just before the outbreak of the give the French test pilot
Second World War. Michel Détroyat a chance to fly
Numerically second only to
The Armée de l’Air’s Hawk 75As accounted the Y1P-36.
the Morane-Saulnier MS406, for almost a third of the air-to-air victories claimed To satisfy the AAC concerns,
the Hawk 75 equipped four during the Battle of France Curtiss convinced the French
Groupes de Chasse at the time government to invest in a
of the German invasion on 10
May 1940. During the ‘Phoney
War’ of 1939-40 and the Battle
of France in May and June
1940, French pilots flying the
H75A claimed 230 air-to-air
victories of the total 1,009
notched up by the Armée de
l’Air, with an additional 81
probable victories, against only
29 aircraft lost in aerial combat.
While making up only 12.6 per
cent of the French single-seat
fighter force, the H75A
accounted for almost a third of
the air-to-air victories claimed
during the Battle of France. Of
the 11 French pilots to qualify
as aces by the time of the
surrender, seven flew the
Hawk 75.
With the disappointing
performance of the MS406 and A pre-war colour view of H75A-1 serial 75 in service with GC I/4, possibly taken at Wez-Thuisy near Reims.
Bloch MB150, and the superior VIA CHRISTIAN-JACQUES EHRENGARDT

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 DATABASE CURTISS P-36/HAWK 75

second factory in Buffalo to 1940, the Armée de l'Air pilots

ensure the promised delivery
dates. While the prices quoted
by Curtiss were nearly twice
what the French thought the
fighter was worth, it had the
distinct benefit of being proven
and available.
Détroyat’s enthusiasm for the
fighter once he flew it, the
continuing unsuccessful
attempts to deal with the
problems of the MB150, and
the pressure of expanded
German rearmament finally
forced France to purchase 100
aircraft and 173 engines. The
first Hawk 75A-1 arrived in
France in December 1938 and
the rest began entering service
in March 1939. A few months
later, H75A-1 number 1 was
part of Groupe de Chasse II/5
‘La Fayette’, heir of the
American-manned Escadrille
Lafayette that fought in France
during World War One, with
the famous Sioux head
emblem on its fuselage.
After the first few complete
aircraft were delivered, further
airframes were delivered in
pieces and assembled in
France by the Société
Nationale de Constructions
Aéronautiques du Centre
(SNCAC). Officially designated
as the Curtiss H75-C1 (‘C1’
immediately discovered that
PORTUGAL the H75 was inferior to the
Bf 109E on all counts other
While Portugal was officially neutral during World War Two, the than manoeuvrability and
Allies were allowed to use or establish ports and airfields on airframe strength. The
various Portuguese territories. One result of these friendly Messerschmitt was able to
relations was the transfer in 1941 by the British government of break off combat at will due to
12 Mohawk IV fighters to the Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP), its higher speed, though the
which assigned them to air defence duties in the Azores. Hawk proved able to take
punishment and still return to
base. Czech ace František
indicating ‘1 place chasse’, or sub-types had an expanded Peřina, who flew the Hawk
‘single-seat fighter’), the armament of two guns in each 75A-3 with GC I/5 during the
fighters were powered by Pratt wing for a total of six. Battle of France, remembered,
& Whitney R-1830-SC-G The H75A evolved through “It was not as fast as the
engines of 900hp, with the several modifications, the most Messerschmitt, but it could
instruments calibrated in significant change being the outmanoeuvre any German
metric, a seat modified for installation of the Wright aircraft. If one got on your tail,
French dorsal parachutes, and R-1820 Cyclone engine in the in one 360° turn you were
a French-style throttle which H75A-4 variant. The behind him.”
By November 1942, the
H75A-3s of GC II/5 were
Czech ace František Peřina remembered, ‘It among three Hawk 75 units
was not as fast as the Messerschmitt, but it could based in Morocco, outside
outmanoeuvre any German aircraft’ Rabat on the Atlantic coast,
with Vichy French forces. On 8
November 1942, American
operated in reverse from US H75A‑4-C1 saw no operational forces invaded French
and British aircraft, with full use by the Armée de l’Air due Morocco, and the Hawks
throttle to the rear rather than to its late delivery and the engaged in combat with US
to the front. For the H75A-1, unreliability of the Wright radial Navy Grumman F4F-4 Wildcats
the armament was four 7.5mm engine. In all, 316 H75s were of VF-9 and VF-41 for two days.
FN-Browning machine guns delivered to France between Fifteen H75s were lost in
— two in the nose and one in December 1938 and the combat while the French shot
each wing — aimed with a French surrender in June 1940. down seven Wildcats.
French-supplied Baille-Lemaire When the Germans invaded Following the armistice, the
gunsight. The H75A-2 and later western Europe on 10 May French units re-equipped with

EDMOND MARIN LA MESLÉE: THE TOP HAWK 75 ACE

L
t Edmond Marin la Meslée of
Groupe de Chasse I/5 was the
French ‘ace of aces’ during the
Battle of France. With 16 victories
and four probables, he is the highest-
scoring ace in the Curtiss Model 75 of any
pilot in any air force.
Born in Valenciennes on 5 February
1912, Meslée entered law school in 1931
to please his family. Taking advantage of a
government aviation programme, he
Lt Edmond Marin la Meslée in his GC I/5 Hawk.
learned to fly at the Morane-Saulnier
flying school, obtaining his pilot’s licence
on 11 August 1931. Shortly thereafter, he volunteered for two
years’ service and entered the Armée de l’Air flight training
school at Istres. After graduation, he was sent to the 2ème
Régiment de Chasse in Strasbourg with the rank of second
lieutenant. In 1934, with his enlistment about to expire, he
re-enlisted for two more years, but had to take a reduction in
rank to sergeant.
Meslée was admitted to the French Air Force Academy in
October 1937, and promoted again to second lieutenant upon
graduation in 1939. Assigned to GC I/5,
commanding officer Cne Jacques Accart
recognised his potential as a fighter pilot.
GC I/5 was based in northern France
near the Belgian border, and thus did not
see action as did the fighter units to the
south-east based opposite the Siegfried
Line. However, during the ‘Phoney War’
period, Meslée shot down a Dornier
Do 17 on 11 January 1940.
Meslée next entered combat on 11
May, the day after the German attack in
the west began, when he shot down three
German aircraft. He downed one aircraft each on 13, 15 and 16
May, three on 18 May, and six more by 10 June. On 11 June
1940, Accart was wounded in combat and Meslée took his place
as the leader of the 1ère Escadrille.
GC I/5 remained in combat until 25 June, when the unit
evacuated to North Africa. During the Battle of France, GC I/5
downed 117 German aircraft, losing only four pilots, one of
whom died of blood poisoning while in hospital, and had the
best record of any fighter unit in the Armée de l’Air.

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 more modern aircraft, GC II/5
exchanging its Hawk 75s for its

Development
descendant, the P-40F.
Some H75s found
themselves back in
metropolitan France, and back
in Allied hands, during 1944
following the D-Day invasion.
They were flown, presumably
as ‘hacks’, by the commanders
of fighter groups; others may
have formed part of the

Technical Details
Groupe Patrie, a unit that
fought against German forces Mohawk IV BJ456/OQ-O of No 5 Squadron at Akyab on 16 March 1942. This aircraft was lost a couple of
holding out in the so-called months later, on 24 May, during a sortie to Fort Hertz. C. V. BARGH
Atlantic Pockets. The last H75s
remained in service as fighter
trainers at Cazaux, with the
4ème Escadrille, until 1947.

THE RAF’S
MOHAWKS

In Service
Following the Franco-German
armistice, almost all of the 200
Cyclone-powered H75A-4s on
order for the French were taken
on charge by the RAF, since
they had not yet been
delivered. While the previous
H75s had been powered by

Insights
the Pratt & Whitney R-1830
Twin Wasp, the H75A-4 used
the Wright GR-1820 Cyclone 9.
The Cyclone-powered H75 was
the fastest of all, with a top No 155 Squadron Mohawk IVs BS798/B, BT470/F and AR661/V near Agartala, India, in August 1943. H. BISHOP
speed of 323mph, though the
Cyclone was a much more
troublesome engine than the
Twin Wasp, suffering constant
CHINA
problems with oil pressure. The
H75A-1, A-2, A-3 and A-4 A Hawk 75H demonstrator for a low-cost, fixed-undercarriage Model 75 was sent to China in 1937
variants transferred to the UK and purchased by the Chinese Nationalists for advisor Claire Chennault as his personal aircraft. It
were designated Mohawk I, II, was flown in combat by Chennault and other volunteer pilots against Japanese forces until it was
III and IV respectively. written off in May 1938. On the strength of the 75H’s performance, 30 H75s were ordered,
The 200 ex-French H75A-4s, designated as the 75M, with further aircraft to be produced by the Central Aircraft Manufacturing
along with 12 similar H75A-8s Corporation (CAMCO). The 75Ms arrived in May 1938 and went into action in August over
that were originally sold to Hengyang with the 25th Pursuit Squadron. Attrition was high, with many lost in accidents, though at
Norway and 12 H75A-9s least two remained in 1942 and were used for scouting out landing sites for the ‘Doolittle Raiders’.
bought by Iran, were all known
in the RAF as the Mohawk IV.
After assembly in the UK, they
were kept at maintenance
units while there was the
danger of a German invasion.
Once this had passed, the
Mohawks were sent overseas,
beginning in late 1941.
Seventy-two Mohawk IVs
were used as fighter trainers in
South Africa, though at least
one South African Air Force
squadron used them for the air
defence of Cape Town until
Fixed-undercarriage Hawk 75H demonstrator NR1276 was the aircraft used by Claire Chennault
1943, when the likelihood of an
during his time as an advisor to the Chinese Nationalists. KEY COLLECTION
Axis air attack was remote.

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 DATABASE CURTISS P-36/HAWK 75

The remaining Mohawk IVs

were sent on to India, where
No 5 Squadron, RAF began
equipping with the fighter in
December 1941, providing the
sole air defence of north-east
India until May 1942. In March
that year, No 146 Squadron
was equipped with Mohawks,
while No 155 Squadron took
them on in September. The
three squadrons formed the
Mohawk Wing.
The Mohawks were used for
bomber escort, standing
patrols and close support over
the eastern India front and
Burma. In January 1943, the
squadrons began ‘Rhubarb’
operations, sending flights of
two to four fighters free-
ranging over enemy territory at
low altitude in bad weather,
strafing whatever enemy A flight of H75A-7s from the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force.
activity they came across. The
type’s manoeuvrability was put
to good use on these Japanese Ki-43 fighters were cowl with two .303in machine Most Dutch Hawks were
operations, which frequently shot down by Mohawks during guns in the wings. After assigned to the 1e
constituted the only offensive escort and ‘Rhubarb’ missions, delivery, the .50 weapons were Jachtvliegtuig Afdeling —
RAF sorties mounted during including two credited to the replaced with a .303 machine Vliegtuig Groep IV (1e JaVA
the monsoon season, Mohawk IV named Joe Soap II gun to standardise parts and — 1-VlG IV or 1st Fighter
beginning in May and lasting (serial BS374), which was ammunition. Squadron — Flying Group IV)
through October. operated by No 155 Squadron. The fighters were shipped in of the Militaire Luchtvaart van
The Mohawk Wing was 1940 and almost rerouted to het Koninklijk Nederlands-
heavily engaged in ground
support operations during the
THE NETHERLANDS the Netherlands when
Germany invaded. But as the
Indisch Leger (ML-KNIL, or
Royal Netherlands East Indies
fighting following the Japanese EAST INDIES mainland surrendered, the Army Air Force), although
invasion of Imphal in February- aircraft went to the colonies some flew with 1-VlG V. These
March 1943. No 5 Squadron In October 1939, the where they were used aircraft saw action over
turned in its Mohawks for Netherlands ordered 24 Hawk extensively against the Malacca, Sumatra and Java,
Hurricanes in June 1943, 75A-7s for the Dutch East Japanese attack on the far successfully bombing railways
followed by 146 that October. Indies. These aircraft were eastern part of the kingdom. and intercepting bombers, and
No 155 Squadron was the last powered by the Wright By that time, the aircraft had participated in dogfights over
to fly the fighter, exchanging its GR-1820 Cyclone 9. Factory flown so many hours that the Surabaya in company with AAF
Mohawks for Spitfire VIIIs in armament was one .50in and engines were showing serious and RAF fighters until the
January 1944. At least six one .303in machine gun in the wear and tear. Dutch surrender in March 1942.
Imperial Japanese Navy ace
Saburō Sakai considered the
Hawk easy prey.

FINLAND’S FINEST
FIGHTER?
At the end of the Winter War,
Finland was in need of more
modern equipment than the
Fokker D.XXIs that had been its
first-line fighter. Forty-four
Brewster B-239s (F2A-1s) were
obtained from the United
States in the summer of 1940.
Following the fall of France, the
Germans had come into
possession of a considerable
Different pilots notched up 10 aerial victories in this Finnish Air Force H75A-3, CU-503, here being number of H75As formerly
operated by LeLv 32 over the Olonets Isthmus in the summer of 1942. J. SARASTO operated by the French, and

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 DATABASE CURTISS P-36/HAWK 75

Development
Technical Details
Among 30 H75A-8 models flown by the Norwegian Army Air
Service as advanced trainers at the ‘Little Norway’ facility in

HAWK 75 EXPORT VARIANTS Canada was serial 447. CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY

Hawk 75A-1: First production batch for France, four 7.5mm
(0.295in) machine guns, R-1830-SC-G of 900hp; 100 delivered
Hawk 75A-2: Second production batch for France, either 900hp
R-1830-SC-G or 1,050hp R-1830-SC3-G, six 7.5mm machine
guns; 100 delivered
Hawk 75A-3: Third production batch for France, similar to Hawk
75A-2; 135 built, 133 delivered
Hawk 75A-8: Export version for Norway; 30 examples flown as
advanced trainers at the so-called ‘Little Norway’ training facility
at Toronto Island Airport in Ontario, Canada; later redesignated
P-36G
Hawk 75A-9: Ten aircraft delivered to Persia, captured while still
in crates and used by the RAF in India as Mohawk IV
Hawk 75M: Simplified version with fixed landing gear and

Hawk 75A-4: Last production batch for France, Hawk 75A-2 with
Wright R-1820-G205A Cyclone radial of 1,200hp; 285 built, 81
delivered to France; others to Great Britain as Mohawk IV
Hawk 75A-5: Similar to Hawk 75A-4. Built under licence in China
(production later moved to India), absorbed into RAF as
Mohawk IV
In Service
Wright R-1820 Cyclone for China, built by both Curtiss and
Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company in China
Hawk 75N: Simplified version for Siam (Thailand) with fixed
landing gear and wheel spats
Hawk 75O: Simplified version for Argentina, 30 built and
delivered by Curtiss with additional 200 to be built under licence
locally by Fábrica Militar de Aviones; only 20 completed

Hawk 75A-6: Produced for Norway; aircraft captured during the
German invasion were eventually sold to Finland
Hawk 75A-7: Produced for Netherlands East Indies; 1,200hp
Cyclone, one .50in (12.7mm) and one .303in (7.7mm) in cowling
and two .303in guns in wings; later four .303in, two in nose, one
in each wing, and six 50lb (23kg) bombs
Insights
Hawk 75Q: One or possibly two additional demonstrators for
China; at least one reputed to have been given armament similar
to that of the XP-36F and to have engaged in combat over
Shanghai during the Japanese attacks in September 1937,
reportedly shooting down several bombers before being
brought down with the loss of the American pilot

they were willing to sell the H75s included Twin Wasp- who called the type ‘Sussu’ of 15 Hawks. The secret of
fighters to the Finns as part of powered H75A-3s and (‘Sweetheart’). After the 1944 their success was the high level
their campaign to strengthen Cyclone-engined H75A-4s. armistice, the surviving Hawks of pilot training maintained
ties with the country in Additionally, some H75A-6s remained in service with HLeLv throughout the war by the
preparation for the coming war with Twin Wasps and H75A-8s 11, HLeLv 13 and the LeSK (Air Finnish Air Force, a standard
with the Soviet Union. In using Cyclones that had initially Fighting School) until 1948. considered better than that of
October 1940, Germany been sold to Norway and were While the Hawk 75 was the pre-war Luftwaffe. While
agreed just such a deal. captured in their wooden considered obsolete by many they were pitted in combat
These crates were before it first saw European against poorly trained Soviet
negotiations acquired by combat in 1940, 58 Finnish pilots, they were vastly
were almost as The secret of the Finland as part pilots scored 190.33 victories outnumbered, which makes
one-sided as Hawks’ success was the of the first on type between 16 July 1941 their achievement all the
had been the high standard of pilot purchase. and 27 July 1944, for the loss more impressive.
original talks After
by the French training maintained originally
with Curtiss in throughout the war by being
1938; the the Finnish Air Force assigned to THAILAND
Germans sold Lentolaivue
the fighters to (Fighter A few fixed-gear Hawk 75Ns were used by Thailand during the
the Finns for an even higher Squadrons, or LeLv) 14 and 16 Franco-Thai War. They also fought at the Battle of Prachuab
unit price than the French had to be used for high-speed Khiri Khan against Japanese forces during the Japanese
complained about. Forty-four reconnaissance, the Hawks invasion of Thailand. On 28 January 1941, the Royal Thai Air
captured aircraft of five were eventually flown by Force (RTAF) dispatched nine Mitsubishi Ki-30 bombers,
sub-types were sold over three Lentolaivue 32 throughout their escorted by three Hawk 75s, to bomb Pailin and Sisophon in
deliveries between 23 June wartime service and were French Indochina.
1941 and 5 January 1944. The popular with Finnish pilots,

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 INSIGHTS
interception missions, but I did
What Finland’s top- not see a single enemy. Our
task was to defend the town of
scoring Hawk 75 Kotka and its harbour, and also

ace thought of the

the railway crossing at Kouvola.
However, we found our Fokkers
American mount were totally obsolete. Our
squadron leader, Maj
Ehrnrooth, complained to the
air force headquarters that our
squadron could not fulfil our
task”. In mid-July, Lentolaivue
32 traded its Fokker D.XXIs for
the Curtiss Hawk 75s that had
been flown by Lentolaivue 14
and 16.
Karhila had good memories
of the Hawk 75. “The CU [the
Ilmavoimat’s abbreviation for
the Curtiss type] was 50km/h
faster than the Fokker, and had
a retractable undercarriage,
along with a better armament.
Performance — agility, climb
— was better than the Fokker
and the CU was
manoeuvrable. Technically, it
was the state of the art in
those days, in our opinion.”
A flight of Ilmavoimat H75s, drawn from both LeLv 12 and 36, during a patrol on 18 October 1943. SA-KUVA Karhila finally saw combat on
31 July 1941. “Maj Ehrnrooth
was going sightseeing and

W
ith 13.5 victories In April 1940, Karhila was was sent home on 4 June asked for a volunteer wingman
attained while posted to Lentolaivue 34, 1941. Two weeks later, on 20 and he selected me. We set off
flying the Hawk equipped with Fokker D.XXIs June, he was recalled to active to the air base at Suur-Merijoki,
75, Kyösti Karhila that had been handed down service and posted to which was now in enemy
was the top-scoring Finnish from Lentolaivue 24, the unit Lentolaivue 32. On 21 June, hands. When we crossed the
Hawk pilot and the second that had flown them in the the squadron flew its Fokkers front, we were shot at by heavy
highest-scoring Model 75 pilot anti-aircraft fire, which was the
of the war after France’s first time for me. He was flying
Edmond Marin la Meslée (see I always liked the way the Hawk flew. The a Cyclone-powered aeroplane,
page 90). Messerschmitt was faster and had heavier and suddenly his oil
Karhila followed his father, armament, but the Hawk was a better flyer temperature went up and he
who had fought during the had to decrease power. We
Liberation War of 1918-19 that didn’t have radios and I
founded modern Finland, into Winter War, after that squadron to Hyvinkää, where they were wondered why he flew so
the Finnish military. Aged 16 in re-equipped with Brewster assigned to the air defence of slowly. I kept a sharp look-out
1937, he joined an aero club B-239s. He completed his 18 Helsinki and the Riihimäki and spotted two dots behind
founded by the country’s months of compulsory service railway crossing. Karhila us. I kept watching, and they
national aviation association with a promotion to ensign and recalled, “I did fly some were Russians — two ‘Chaikas’,
and obtained his A and B
glider licences over the course
of a month. During the summer
of 1939, he completed 35
hours of powered flight training
and became a reservist in the
Ilmavoimat, the Finnish Air
Force, where he began
advanced flight training that
autumn, starting his military
service on 6 December 1939,
Finnish Independence Day.
With 84 other students, he
trained while the Winter War
raged, completing his training ABOVE: Pilots of LeLv 32, including Karhila and unit CO Capt Lauri Bremer, with an H75 at Nurmoila in
and receiving his wings just too July 1942. SA-KUVA
late to see combat service. ABOVE RGHT: Capt Kyösti Karhila in June 1942, in service with LeLv 32 on the Curtiss machine. SA-KUVA

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 DATABASE CURTISS P-36/HAWK 75

[Polikarpov] I-153s. Since our

radios weren’t working, I added

Development
power and went ahead of the
major and signalled to him,
‘follow me.’
“I turned against the enemy
as they were diving on us from
higher altitude. We turned
against them head-on and
fired. That is the most
unpleasant situation, since
neither pilot knows which

direction to dodge. If you do
not dodge, you will be
rammed, but if you dodge too
early, they will get a chance to
shoot at you. My Russian did
not dodge and the ‘Chaika’
nearly rammed me. We both
banked around and came back
at each other. After the third
turn he was gaining on me and
I knew I was going to be in
trouble. At about 2,000m, I
Andy Durston getting airborne from La Ferté
Alais last year in The Fighter Collection’s
H75A-1, 82/G-CCVH. BEN DUNNELL
SURVIVORS
T
wo complete examples can be found
on static display in museums. The
first P-36A delivered to the Army Air
Technical Details
Steve Hinton puts TFC’s gleaming P-36C,
38-210/G-CIXJ, through its paces over Duxford
during 2015. BEN DUNNELL
experimental camouflage, and in the War
Games at Maxwell Field. After use for
flight-testing at Wright Field in 1940 the

pushed over and dived. I
looked behind to see that the
‘Chaika’ tried to follow, but he
was left behind. Then I
returned to find my leader.
“Maj Ehrnrooth had shot
down the second ‘Chaika’. I
joined on his wing, thinking I
Corps, 38-001, is on display at the
National Museum of the US Air Force in
Dayton, Ohio. The aircraft was donated to
the museum by Edward S. Perkins of
Anniston, Alabama, in April 1959, and is
painted to represent the P-36A flown by 2nd
Lt Philip Rasmussen during the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor, on 7 December 1941.
In Service
aircraft served with several different squadrons
on the US east coast. In 1942 the P-36 was
designated obsolete and flown to Buckley
Field, Colorado. A Pratt & Whitney technical
instructor moved the P-36 to Canada until it
was sold to a Florida collector who passed it
on to The Fighter Collection. Chino-based
Matt Nightingale supervised the restoration,

was in trouble, that I had
abandoned my leader in the
face of the enemy. When we
landed, I went to him and
attempted to report. He
slapped me on the shoulders,
and said, ‘That’s the way! You
saved us both!’ He had no idea
those Russians were near ’til I
saw them, and he praised me
to the heavens.”
On 10 August 1941, flying
Hawk CU-560 — which became
‘his’ aeroplane, and in which he
scored eight of his 13.5 Hawk
victories — Karhila
remembered, “We met a
two-plane patrol of [Polikarpov]
I-16s. The leader opened fire
as he turned toward us with
20mm cannon — the muzzle
flashes were tremendous. We
both turned for a second
head-on pass, after which I got
behind him. He dived vertically
and I followed. I got off a burst
and realised we were too low. I
pulled the stick back so hard I
passed out. When I came to, I
didn’t see the I-16 anywhere. It
was likely he crashed, but I did
not see that.”
By early 1943, Karhila was an
experienced flight leader. On 9
February, while based at
Insights
The Royal Thai Air Force Museum, which was completed in time for the P-36C’s
meanwhile, has a fixed-gear Model 75N, first public appearance at the 2015 Planes of
sometimes quoted as c/n 12763. Fame Airshow. It then moved to Duxford.
Hawk 75A-1 number 82/G-CCVH is owned
by The Fighter Collection at IWM Duxford.
The aircraft was originally issued to the 1ère
Escadrille, Groupe de Chasse II/5 ‘La Fayette’
and was the personal aircraft of Cdt Murtin,
CO of GC I/5 and II/5. After post-war service
as a trainer, the aircraft was saved from
scrapping in the 1950s and placed in storage
in France until being acquired by TFC during
1995. Following restoration by Matt
Nightingale at Fighter Rebuilders in Chino,
California, the Hawk first flew in 2004 and
made its UK debut in 2005.
P-36C 38-210 was the last P-36 off the
production line, and was delivered to the 17th
Pursuit Squadron at Selfridge Field, Michigan The ‘Pyjama Pilot’ exhibit in the National
in May 1939. The aircraft participated in the Museum of the USAF, featuring P-36A 38-001.
1939 Cleveland Air Races that September with USAF
Nurmoila west of Lake Ladoga, the cockpit and two men By the time of the armistice on
he took part in the ambush of bailed out while the Pe-2 27 July 1944, Karhila had
a Petlyakov Pe-2 light bomber. crashed in a bog.” scored 34 victories. After flying
The twin-engined Pe-2 was so In March 1943, Karhila was for Finnair until he retired in
fast that a Hawk 75 could only transferred to HLeLv 34, 1973, and as a charter pilot
catch one if it had an altitude commanded by Maj Eino until he quit at age 65 in 1986,
advantage sufficient to build Luukkanen, and transitioned to Karhila recalled, “I always liked
up speed in a dive. “I the Bf 109G. At the end of the way the Hawk flew. The
managed to surprise the lone June 1944, he was posted to Messerschmitt was faster and
Pe-2. I hit a fuel line in the command HLeLv 24 after had heavier armament, but the
cockpit area, a fire broke out in ‘Hasse’ Wind was wounded. Hawk was a better flyer.”

AEROPLANE APRIL 2019 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 95

109-123 (81-95)_AM_Database_Apr19_cc C.indd 95 03/03/2019 15:33

 Reviews
The latest books and products for the discerning aviation enthusiast
Junkers Ju 52/3m:
Success beyond
the Luftwaffe
by Lennart Andersson,
Günter Endres and
Rob J. M. Mulder
published by EAM Books
This latest in the publisher’s
series of books on Junkers
transports examines in great
B ook
depth the most important of of the
them all. In so doing, the MONT
authors deliberately avoid
covering the Ju 52/3m’s German
military career, pointing out that
other titles have already done this. They
are also at pains to stress the originality
of their archival research, and this
becomes obvious when you delve into
the volume. The type’s origins are
discussed concisely, for this is primarily
an account of the ‘Tante Ju’s’ operational absolutely excellent, and the image
employment, and an extremely good
one. Naturally, much space is devoted to and white until a final colour section with
Ju 52 use by Lufthansa and the German
government — the section on wartime
Lufthansa activities being especially
interesting — but the sheer extent of its
worldwide service means there’s a great
deal else to cover, chapters being
devoted to different regions.
Lots of boxed items help break up the
text, and are fascinating in themselves.
To give you an idea, subjects include
incidents on pre-war flights carrying
The All-
British
Marendaz
Special
by Graham Skillen
published by
Fonthill Media
If you published
anything about
Donald Marcus
Kelway Marendaz during his lifetime, a
missive was all but guaranteed. As the
author of this new biography points out,
he was “an inveterate correspondent in the
columns of the motoring press”, his letters
seldom being “of a benign or conciliatory
96 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
124-125 (96-97)_AM_Reviews_Apr19_cc C.indd 96
Göring and Hitler, a prison
break by a USAAF B-24
Liberator crew involving a
Ju 52 seized from Tulln-
Langenlebarn in Austria, and
the downing by Japanese
bombers — and subsequent
remarkable survival — of a
Eurasia example on a
scheduled service from Hanoi
to Kunming. Copious fleet
lists are provided, too, for both
civil and military operators.
H While laden with information,
the text is extremely readable,
and it’s as up-to-date as to
mention the tragic loss of Ju-Air’s
HB-HOT last summer.
The odd minor aspect of the layout
could do with improvement, but it is
generally clean and tidy. Most
importantly, photo reproduction is
selection itself superb. It’s all in black
side-view artworks, pictures of survivors,
period posters, and even Ju 52
depictions on air mail stamps. All in all, if
you’re interested in the ‘Tante Ju’, you
must have this in your library.
Ben Dunnell
ISBN 978-0-9573744-3-0; 11.25 x
8.75in hardback; 416 pages, illustrated;
£35.00 from www.eambooks.com
★★★★
nature”. Skillen is both an aviation and
motoring enthusiast, and thus the ideal
person to pen a history of Marendaz the
man, the car manufacturer and racing
driver, and the pilot and aircraft-builder.
Some of this we covered in our March
2017 issue, but there is naturally a great
deal more here, and extremely
entertaining it is too. Skillen’s account of
the correspondence he endured with
‘Captain’ (the rank was never actually
bestowed) Marendaz, having bought a
Marendaz Special car, is indicative. The
majority of the text naturally concentrates
on motoring and motorsport matters, but
the accounts of his First World War flying
exploits, his time as an inter-war private
pilot with a DH Moth, his development of
REVIEWS RATING
REVIEWS RATING
★★★★★ Outstanding
★★★★★ Excellent
★★★★★ Good
★★★★★ Flawed
★★★★★ Mediocre
Enough said
his own aeroplanes — only one of which,
the Marendaz Trainer, actually flew — and
his establishment of the Bedford School of
Flying are just as detailed. Skillen is at all
times fair in his assessment of Marendaz,
but does not shy away from exploring the
negative sides of his character. The result is
a delightful book, and a thoroughly
excellent read. BD
ISBN 978-1-78155-702-0; 9.75 x 6.75in
softback; 192 pages, illustrated; £25.00
★★★★
Bristol Scout
1264
by David Bremner
published by
Fonthill Media
If your first reaction
to the sub-title
‘Rebuilding
Granddad’s Aircraft’
is, ‘Please, not
another book in the
‘Grandpa Flew Spitfires’ genre’, worry not.
This volume is an altogether more original
and more specific proposition. It is based
around the serendipitous find in 1983 by
the author of three airframe parts of a
Bristol Scout in his late grandfather’s
workshop. These items — the stick, rudder
bar and magneto — were assumed to
have been from Scout 1264 which, from
‘Granddad’s’ (Flt Sub-Lt F. D. H. ‘Bunnie’
Bremner’s) logbook, was his favourite
example of the type that he flew with No 2
Wing of the RNAS in 1916. Out of this
discovery came a long-term plan to build a
Scout C around these pieces and to get
the aircraft, which is described as a
reproduction rather than a rebuild, into the
air — an aim finally achieved in 2015.
This is the story of the intervening 32
years and much else related to the Bristol
Scout’s design, its armament and ‘Bunnie’
Bremner’s flying career. Illustrations, all
contained in a 32-page photo section, are
well reproduced, and the photo-montage
opposite page 96 deserves special
mention for its ingenuity. Denis J. Calvert
ISBN 978-1-78155-101-1; 9.5 x 6.4in
hardback; 192 pages, illustrated; £25.00
★★★★
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
03/03/2019 22:26

Holding the Line: The Naval
Air Campaign in Korea
by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
published by Osprey
US Navy and
Marine Corps air
power was a major
contributor to the
success of United
Nations operations
in the 1950-53
Korean War, yet the
sheer scale of that
contribution
— rather like the
conflict itself —
remains, perhaps, rather unsung. This is
the subject of Aeroplane contributor
Thomas McKelvey Cleaver’s latest book for
Osprey, throughout which the excellence
of his writing is again apparent.
Deployments and operations are
chronicled well, of course; there are many
excellent first-hand accounts, too. But
Cleaver sets this against the wider context
of the Korean campaign, and likewise
developments in US naval aviation. As he
points out, new aircraft and other
technology arrived just in time, while the
war also changed the way in which aircraft
carriers were employed, using them more
as “floating airfields” for long-distance
deployment purposes.
The book’s design is attractive, and the
photos — contained in two sections —
generally well reproduced. One
unfortunate error, however, perpetuated at
various points in the text, concerns the
spelling of the Douglas F3H’s name: it’s not
Skynight, but Skyknight. BD
ISBN 978-1-4728-3172-9; 9.5 x 6.25in
hardback; 320 pages, illustrated; £20.00
HHH
ON THE MARKET
LATEST UPDATES FROM DEALERS AND AUCTIONS
Concorde documents
Documentation relating to
the flight-testing of
Concorde will go under the
hammer with Special Auction
Services in Newbury, Berkshire,
on Tuesday 9 April. The lots include
flight manuals, crew manuals, pilots’
handbooks and checklists for Concorde
G-BSST/002, the first British prototype,
and more unusually a flight manual for
French pre-production test aircraft
F-WTSA/102. Several of the documents
include notes made by BAC test pilot
Peter Baker.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 97
124-125 (96-97)_AM_Reviews_Apr19_cc C.indd 97
Electric Airplanes and Drones:
A History
by Kevin Desmond
published by McFarland and Company
Here’s a subject
that’s rather off the
beaten track, but
one that’s only
becoming more
important as
environmental
concerns mount.
The history of
electrically powered
flying machines
goes back a long
way — the author recounts how there are
depictions in ancient Egyptian mythology
and the Bible — but only relatively recently
has it come into its own. Desmond
describes the subject entertainingly,
whether in recalling early experiments with
kites and balloons, or the marvellous
success of the Solar Impulse project in
2016. In between there is plenty for him to
get his teeth into, chapters covering such
topics as the use of electricity to benefit
wartime aviation, electric scale models,
solar and battery-powered aircraft, and of
course the proliferation of drones.
Some aspects of the text betray the fact
that the book has not been written by a
specialist aviation author — references to
“the Lockheed YP-38 1940 twin engine
bomber”, for example, or the “Boeing-17E
Flying Fortress”. Nor is photo
reproduction, all in black and white, the
best. But this is still an interesting, and
surprisingly enjoyable, volume. BD
ISBN 978-1-4766-6961-8; 10 x 7in
softback; 306 pages, illustrated;
$49.95 from mcfarlandbooks.com
HHH
The top lot is a Concorde
test pilots’ personal training
notebook (1967-72), a vinyl
album containing 92 pages
of printed schematic and
diagrammatic depictions, all
with detailed handwritten annotations; it
is estimated to reach £1,000-1,500.
Other highlights include a 1971-73
Concorde flight manual, and (as shown)
a checklist for Concorde 01, both
expected to fetch £100-150 each.
For further information, visit
specialauctionservices.com
Reviews
MODELS
Bravo Delta Concorde
G-AXDN
Today exhibited at IWM Duxford as
part of the Duxford Aviation Society’s
British Airliner Collection — and
featured heavily in our article on pages
34-40 — Concorde G-AXDN, or 101,
is the subject of this attractive 1/100th-
scale model in the Bravo Delta range,
now offered by Littledart. As with all
models from this range, it is made
from sustainable kiln-dried Philippine
mahogany. The many logos and
inscriptions worn by the aircraft are
hand-drawn. Note that the G-AXDN
model is available in two
configurations — undercarriage down
or up. Also on offer from Littledart are
models of first British Concorde
prototype G-BSST, and a variety of
in-service British Airways and Air
France examples.
£299.00 (£289.00 with undercarriage
up) from www.bravodeltamodels.com
Staples and Vine MB5
To mark the 75th anniversary of the
maiden flight of Martin-Baker’s MB5
fighter, which occurs on 23 May,
Staples and Vine has released this
splendid 1/48-scale model, cast in
pewter and bronze. A limited edition
of 50, it has a detailed cockpit with
four instrument panels. The MB5 is
depicted as it flew at the RAE
Farnborough exhibition in June 1946,
in the hands of Jan Żurakowski. The
two optional figures are of Żurakowski
and designer James Martin.
£185.00 plus shipping (optional
figures £15 each) from
www.staplesandvine.com
03/03/2019 22:26
 Classified
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ANGUS Further details...The Griffin Trust

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 Archive
CALL of the
CURLEW
Pretty, advanced and good to fly it may have been, but the CLW Curlew
trainer of 1936 remained a one-off — and its maker a footnote in history
T
he history of British aviation
is littered with light aircraft
that looked promising —
some of them, very promising
— but failed to go anywhere. In
certain cases, this can be put down to
a fundamental flaw. Others were good
enough to succeed, but fell victim to
circumstances as much as anything
else. The CLW Curlew probably falls
into the latter category. This very
pretty tandem two-seater was, by all
accounts, a fine machine, and notably
nice to fly. But it appeared at a time
when there was a surfeit of designs
competing for the training market,
and against opposition from far bigger
players this offering from a veritable
minnow of aircraft manufacturing was
doomed to fail.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
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Established in January 1935, CLW
referred to the surnames of three
of its creators. Mr S. Wilding Cole
was the firm’s chairman, described
in The Aeroplane as “a business
man of eminence, particularly in
the radio trade”. That eminence
he had built up in the family firm,
Ekco. Mr A. Levell, meanwhile,
“spent eight years in the RAF, and
has been on the draughting and
design staffs of aircraft firms since
then”. And Mr F. S. Welman, joint
designer with Levell, “has had some
18 years’ experience of manufacture
and design”. From those initials, the
name Curlew was chosen for the new
trainer, known hitherto simply as
the T.1. This was “very appropriate”,
according to The Aeroplane, and “aptly
Ben Dunnell explores The
Aeroplane’s outstanding archives
to cast new light on past stories
chosen” in Flight’s words, though
what it had in common with the
long-billed wader is difficult to see.
Rather more obvious was the
fairly advanced nature of the Curlew.
Based at Gravesend, Kent, the CLW
Aviation Co patented a type of
single-spar wing design made from
duralumin that attracted a good deal
of attention. Flight for 19 March
1936 said it was, “said to possess ABOVE:
abnormal qualities of lightness and The sole CLW
simplicity and, at the same time, to be Curlew, G-ADYU,
very stiff in torsion. Broadly speaking, being shown to the
this type of wing, which tapers both press at Gravesend
in plain form and thickness and has a on 10 September
1936. Very
single main spar, consists of an open apparent here are
box-like structure, the front and rear the notably large
members being inter-connected and cockpits.
affixed to the spar with cantilever ALL PHOTOS AEROPLANE
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 99
03/03/2019 22:27
 Archive
ABOVE: ribs. Diagonal cross-bracing is
CLW’s intention was provided on both upper and lower
that trainee pilots surfaces.”
would sit in the
Ground testing of the wing proved
front of the Curlew.
its qualities. The Aeroplane reported
that it was “tested to destruction with
very good results […] and the firm
got down to building a complete
aeroplane. The main idea was to build
a training machine which should be
similar in construction and general
characteristics to the more modern
Service types and be suitable for
ab initio training with such craft
in view”. It was launched in March
1936, Flight calling it, “a type which
should be particularly suitable for
instruction preparatory to flying
modern high-performance military
and other machines”. CLW also
foresaw potential for sales to private
buyers looking for a reasonably potent
mount. At that stage, it was expected
to fly during April.
The Aeroplane’s subsequent
technical description stated that the
100 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
127-129 (99-101)_AM_AeroArk_Apr19_cc C.indd 100
machine was, “an all-metal affair
except for fabric on the wing panels.
The fuselage is a metal monocoque
with stressed duralumin skin, some
hoop bulkheads but no stringers. The
tail surfaces are cantilever structures in
which also the duralumin skin takes
loads and gives extraordinary rigidity.
The centre-section is similarly built,
and the separate under-carriage legs,
each with a small safety strut near the
top, are mounted at its outer ends.
In due course the fuel tanks will be
housed in this centre-section.”
Power could come from either a
90hp Pobjoy Niagara III radial or a
130hp DH Gipsy Major. “It is the
contention of the manufacturers”,
Flight went on, “that it is advisable to
put the pupil in the front cockpit, as
this more closely simulates conditions
in normal Service machines to which
he will graduate. The rear cockpit is
of sufficient diameter to permit the
installation of any normal gun ring.
When provision is made for gunnery
training and similar duties the Gipsy
Major engine is recommended, due to
its greater power.”
Registered G-ADYU, the Pobjoy-
engined Curlew ended up taking
to the air from Gravesend on 3
September 1936. At the controls was
Capt A. N. Kingwill, former chief test
pilot for Beardmore and chief pilot
of Northern Air Lines. A week later
it was presented to the press, albeit,
Flight recounted, “flying under a
restricted licence, which permitted no
aerobatics”. “The only departure from
standard”, The Aeroplane added, “was
a temporary tank in the front cockpit
because the wing-tanks did not fit.”
Both publications were fulsome
in their praise for what they saw of
the Curlew’s qualities. “Its behaviour
was a tribute alike to the talent of
the designers, who were working
independently for the first time
and using what was to them a new
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019
03/03/2019 22:27

Kingwill’s exhibition of fast
and slow flying left little to the
imagination in assessing the
qualities of control at both ends
of the speed range
type of construction”, opined The
Aeroplane. “Mr Kingwill showed off
fast and slow flying, stalling and rapid
manoeuvres in a way which proved
ample control. The clean lines of the
Curlew were very reminiscent of the
Junkers Junior.”
To quote Flight, “its performance
promised quite exceptionally well”.
Kingwill’s “exhibition of fast and slow
flying left little to the imagination
in assessing the qualities of control
at both ends of the speed range”,
and the ailerons allowed the Curlew
to move “from one bank to another
with commendable smoothness and
celerity”. The stalling speed with flaps
down was given as circa 38mph, “and
the measure of control which persists
at speeds of that order evoked plenty
of favourable comment”. By contrast,
CLW reported a top speed of
125mph with “an airscrew of unduly
fine pitch”. The aircraft went on to
AEROPLANE APRIL 2019 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 101
127-129 (99-101)_AM_AeroArk_Apr19_cc C.indd 101
achieve a terminal velocity of 305mph
in diving tests.
The maker seemed to have avoided
some of the regular pitfalls of a new
design. “That a first specimen will
come out overweight is almost routine
and a considerable displacement of
the Centre of Gravity causes less
surprise, the older the designer”, The
Aeroplane said. “What the weight
of the Curlew was to have been we
do not know, but its empty weight
of 964lb seems enough. But the
C of G must have come out precisely
as ordered, as well as all the control
surfaces”. Flight commented on a
“seemingly longer take-off than one
might have imagined”, but put this
down to the 3in compression and
6in travel on the undercarriage legs,
meaning “the machine is actually
air-borne before the wheels leave the
ground.”
But all this was for nought.
Cole pulled out of the firm, and
with no orders forthcoming CLW
Only the cowling for the Niagara spoils the Curlew’s elegant
lines to any extent. The Aeroplane likened it to the Junkers
A 50 Junior, and there is perhaps a superficial resemblance,
though the Curlew was a somewhat cleaner design.
rapidly went under. Its design for a ABOVE LEFT:
twin-engined low-wing transport This is the only
remained on paper. The Curlew had known shot of the
Curlew airborne.
gained its certificate of airworthiness Why the aircraft
after evaluation by the Aeroplane was fitted with a
and Armament Experimental tailskid rather than
Establishment at Martlesham a tailwheel is not
Heath in November 1936, and went known, though CLW
as part of the company’s assets to wanted to keep the
aircraft relatively
another Gravesend-based firm, Essex simple for training
Aero. Having “not been designed purposes, hence
particularly for cheapness”, as The also the lack of
Aeroplane put it, CLW had intended wheel brakes.
to offer a fully equipped Curlew for
£1,200. In the 14 July 1938 issue ABOVE:
A close-up of the
of Flight, Essex Aero was selling nose, showing the
G-ADYU for £300. Curlew inscription
Broken up a decade later, having on the Pobjoy
not been flown for years, the engine’s cowling.
Curlew perhaps deserved a better
fate. Unfortunately for CLW, if
understandably with hindsight,
proven trainers from bigger
manufacturers held sway. They left
many forgotten aeronautical
curiosities in their wake.
03/03/2019 22:27
 IN NEXT MONTH’S

ISS UK o ents s
the Co

M goe AP t to ch
Th 201 sal 20 e
UE n 1 ubje
AY s o R an
e 9 e i 19
nt
COLD WAR SPECIAL

1 c
n IL g
n
BUMPER
132
SUE
PAGE IS

• Flying the RAF’s Canadair Sabres

• Czechoslovak MiG-21 ‘red on red’ revealed
• USAF ‘Silk Purse’ command post missions
VIA DAVID BREMNER

…and much more

PLUS… UK museums — looking to the future DATABASE BRISTOL SCOUT

• Luftwaffe Ju 88 fighters over Norway
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 75th Anniversary

Limited Edition Commemorative Watch

Limited to just 4,999 editions

– engraved with the individual edition number
IN 2015 we remember the Battle of Britain’s 75th anniversary
– a major campaign that was fought entirely by Allied pilots
including Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader. Lauded by Sir
Winston Churchill as ‘The Few’, these pilots and their planes
are commemorated by a limited edition heirloom watch.
A prestigious tribute to The Few, this watch features a gold-
plated casing complemented by a genuine leather strap. The
champagne-toned dial showcases a tribute to the Battle of
Britain, in addition to a golden schematic of a Spitfire, the laurel leaves of victory,
precision chronograph dials with stop-start function and Roman numerals. The
precision Quartz movement watch’s reverse is etched with Churchill’s quote; ‘Never
in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few’, Sir Douglas Bader’s
replica signature and a depiction of both the Spitfire and the Hurricane.
Only 4,999 of these handcrafted watches have been produced and, to validate this, each
is accompanied by an individually-numbered Certificate of Authenticity. This heirloom
collector’s issue is endorsed by the Douglas Bader Foundation.
Applications are now open and this offer is likely to attract considerable interest, not just Watch bezel (inc. crown) measures
from watch collectors, so please apply promptly. 1.8 inches (4.65 cm) in diameter.
Strap (inc. buckle) measures
KEY DETAILS HIGH SPECIFICATION: Intended as a 10.11 inches (25.7 cm) in length..
collectors’ timepiece this watch features a richly
EVENT: Battle of Britain 75th anniversary.
gold-plated casing, a genuine leather strap, precision The rear of the casing
LIMITED RELEASE: Only 4,999 of these watches chronograph dials and Battle of Britain tributes. features an expertly etched
have been handcrafted. Each is accompanied by an YOURS FOR ONLY £25.99 (plus £9.99 S&S*) Churchill quote in addition
individually-numbered Certificate of Authenticity. followed by four further interest-free instalments of to a depiction of both the
Earliest orders will receive lowest watch numbers. £25.99 each. Pay nothing now. Spitfire and the Hurricane

FORMAL APPLICATION: THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN 75TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE WATCH

DO NOT SEND ANY PAYMENT WITH THIS APPLICATION: if successful, you will be notified in writing within 7 days
YES, I wish to apply for ______ (Qty) of the ‘Battle Of Britain’ Send this coupon to: FREEPOST BGE
75th Anniversary Limited Edition Commemorative Watch for just
Order reference: Offer closes: Apply by telephone on Apply online at
£25.99 (plus £9.99 S&S*), followed by four further interest-free
monthly instalments of just £25.99 each. Limited to just 4,999 P366129 28/03/2019 0333 003 0019 www.bradford.co.uk
watches, each one is accompanied by an individually-numbered Title Mr Mrs Ms Miss Other ____________
Certificate of Authenticity. A custom-designed presentation case
is included free of charge. Name
I do not need to send any money now. If my application is
successful I will be notified in writing within 7 days. I understand Address
the watch is covered by your 120-day money-back guarantee.
I confirm I am 18 years or over.
To apply now, send the coupon below. For priority, call now, on Postcode Telephone (0 )
0333 003 0019 Email
Lines open Mon-Fri 9.00am -8.00pm and Sat 9.00am-5.30pm. Please note, we may contact you via email with information about your order

Applications should be received no later than 28/03/2019 Signature

Endorsed by the Douglas Bader Foundation
(charity number 800435)

Endorsed by the Douglas Bader Foundation (charity number 800435) © The Bradford Exchange. * S&S - Shipping & Service. Offer applies to UK only. A credit check may be carried out by a licensed
Credit Reference Agency. Please note, we may contact you via mail, email and mobile with information about your reservation and other relevant offers. For details of our privacy policy, please go to
www.bradford.co.uk/privacypolicy or contact us at the above address or phone number. From time to time, the Bradford Exchange may allow carefully screened third party companies to contact you.
526-FAN07.01

Bradford_FP.indd 1 25/02/2019 10:49:16

Pxxxxxx BOB WATCH_INSPIRE NCA MASTER.indd 1 21/02/2019 10:45
Thunder_fp.indd 1 14/01/2019 09:36