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SOUVENIR ANNIVERSARY ISSUE July 2021 Issue No 579, Vol 49, No 7

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YEARS OF THE WORLD’S BEST AVIATION MAGAZINE

The controversies  The characters  The stories SPECIAL REPORTS

MOSQUITO MISSIONS From first to last

AIRSHOWS ARE BACK!

We report from 2021’s first burst of events 001 Covers AM Jul2021.indd 1

DEFENCE OF THE REALM

How Britain’s air defences were prepared for war

CACTUS STAFFEL

Learning to fly and fight in the Lockheed F-104

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Contents July 2021

See pages 26-27 for a g reat subscription offer

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FROM THE EDITOR NEWS • John Smith Mosquito and P-40 on show at Omaka • Westland Widgeon to fly again • Hawkinge Blenheim gets nose • Night scheme for BBMF Hurricane …and the month’s other top aircraft preservation news 18 HANGAR TALK Steve Slater’s comment on the historic aircraft world 20 FLIGHT LINE Reflections on aviation history with Denis J. Calvert

REGULARS 22 24 88

121 124 130

SKYWRITERS Q&A Your questions asked and answered BRIEFING FILE Under the skin of aviation technology and tactics — in a special edition this month, we examine how Britain prepared its air defence system for the onset of renewed war with Germany REVIEWS The latest aviation books assessed EVENTS Action from Shuttleworth’s and Duxford’s season-openers NEXT MONTH

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

60 FEATURES MOSQUITO SALUTE

Marking the 80th anniversary of the de Havilland legend’s entry into service 28 MOSQUITO PRI The story of the first operational Mosquito variant, the missions it flew and the airframe histories 36 PATHFINDER NAVIGATOR Fg Off Kenneth Oatley recalls his time on No 627 Squadron as the war in Europe drew to a close 42 ROYAL NAVY ‘MOSSIES’ The late Basil Nash brings us a firsthand account of flying the Mosquito in the Fleet Air Arm 46 LAST ISRAELI OPERATIONS It fell to the Israeli Air Force to conduct the Mosquito’s last front-line operational sorties

52 ‘CACTUS STAFFEL’ F-104s Learning to fly Lockheed’s fabulous Starfighter as a German Navy trainee pilot in Arizona 60 HARRIET QUIMBY The first woman to hold a US pilot’s licence was a person of great achievement outside the aviation world, too 68 JAGUAR M Why the naval variant of the SEPECAT Jaguar was the only flying derivative of this outstanding strike jet not to succeed

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PERMAN PARASOL Artist, London Underground map designer, aircraft-builder — E. G. Perman proved himself quite the polymath PIAGGIO P108 It was Italy’s attempt at building a Flying Fortress, but it didn’t enjoy anything like the same renown AEROPLANE MEETS… SIR CHARLES MASEFIELD Helping pioneer the UK warbird movement with his P-51 Mustang was just one achievement in a rich aviation career

103 DATABASE: THE AEROPLANE It’s 110 years since the first edition of a new weekly aviation magazine appeared. Arthur W. J. G. Ord-Hume, whose EPTH link to the publication goes IN-D PAGES back further than most, tells the story of The Aeroplane, its stories and personalities, aided by Matthew Willis, Ben Dunnell and Michael J. F. Bowyer

126 A DAY AT THE SHOW Hendon’s last airshow hurrah — the Daily Express 50 Years of Flying event COVER IMAGE: A very fine — specially colourised — late-1942 image of two then-new Mosquito BIVs, DZ353 and DZ367, from No 105 Squadron at Marham. AEROPLANE, COLOURISED BY RICHARD JAMES MOLLOY

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From the

Editor

nce in a while, it’s time for some of The Aeroplane’s legendary a magazine to celebrate names, the stories they broke and — and, for Aeroplane, this the controversies they sometimes is one of those months. It provoked. And no Aeroplane was in June 1911 that the first edition celebration would be complete of a new weekly, The Aeroplane, without a good dose of Wren’s made its appearance. In so doing, ‘Oddentifications’, or the splendid it’s no exaggeration to state that imagery that we can do better justice it revolutionised the way aviation to on modern paper than was ever was reported. Always opinionated, possible in period! sometimes waspish, the Temple Press We’ve carried the theme through into publication soon started getting under some of our other regular articles, too. the skin of industry and politicians Our ‘Aeroplane meets’ interview is with alike. Sometimes its views carried Sir Charles Masefield, long-distance much weight and continue to resonate DH Dragonfly flyer and Britain’s first down the years. On other occasions private P-51 Mustang owner — and son they were desperately of Sir Peter Masefield, wide of the mark. that leading light of Its long-time British aviation, who The Aeroplane editor, C. G. Grey, was The Aeroplane’s was always required technical editor from could be wilfully offensive, to put it 1939-43. ‘A Day at reading very mildly, allowing the Show’ revisits the his considerable Daily Express 50 Years personal prejudices on unrelated of Flying event at Hendon in 1951, matters to taint his written output which celebrated the Royal Aero Club’s in ways that can be decidedly first half-century. What’s the link there? uncomfortable. But The Aeroplane was Well, on the back cover of the souvenir always required reading. programme is a striking advert As Arthur Ord-Hume writes inside, heralding ‘40 Years of The Aeroplane’. those archive issues today represent These things have forever been worth an immense historical resource. celebrating. That’s one reason why, to mark this 110th anniversary, we decided to A quick note to our subscribers: give our monthly Database feature you’ll receive your free copy of our over to a detailed examination of this 2020 Index with the August issue. If magazine’s weekly ancestor; how you’d like to take advantage of this it came about, how it grew, how it benefit, or the other offers we’ve got carried on publishing from the heart going, have a look at our great-value of London even as bombs fell all subs deals on pages 26-27. around, how it met its end. Along the way, Arthur and other authors recall Ben Dunnell

“

ESTABLISHED 1911

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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 25 years until 1998.

CONNECT WITH AEROPLANE…

www.facebook.com/AeroplaneMonthly @HistoryInTheAir

CONTRIBUTORS THIS MONTH BASIL NASH

The late Basil Nash, who died in December 2020 aged 95, became a midshipman in the Royal Navy Reserve in January 1944 and went to Canada for flying training. Back in the UK from March 1945, he joined a Corsair squadron that was rapidly disbanded with the war’s end. Basil carried on flying under a short service commission, logging time in most then-current Fleet Air Arm types as a ferry pilot and unit test pilot. He was demobbed in 1950, bringing his flying career to a close.

ARTHUR W. J. G. ORD-HUME

Given that he believes he bought his first issue of The Aeroplane in 1941, and was certainly a regular reader by 1942, who better than Arthur to head up compilation of this month’s 110th anniversary Database? “As a schoolboy”, he says, “my money went on a strange mixture of periodicals — The Aeroplane and the comics Magic and Dandy. I remember being very distressed when, in 1941, Magic stopped production because it could no longer obtain a paper quota. I was glad to rely on The Aeroplane for a more intelligent input…”

ROLF STÜNKEL

Now 67, Rolf — a native of Hildesheim — joined the German Navy at the age of 18. After officer’s training, sea duty, fighter pilot training in the USA and Britain, and years on the Starfighter and Tornado fast jets, he joined Lufthansa and flew long-haul as an Airbus captain until retirement. The father-of-seven now runs seminars on relaxed flying and works as an instructor pilot and an author for aviation, naval and military history magazines. His latest book, Mach 2 — Flying the F-104 Starfighter, is published by tredition Verlag.

IAN THIRSK

Recently retired as head of collections and research at the Royal Air Force Museum, Ian maintains a lifelong interest in aviation history. In June 2013 Ian led the RAFM’s Goodwin Sands Do 17 recovery project and he has been responsible for other notable RAFM aircraft acquisitions in recent years, including the Hercules, Harrier GR9A, VC10 C1K and Predator drone. A self-confessed devotee of the Mosquito, Ian has been a voluntary member of the Mosquito restoration team at what is now the de Havilland Aircraft Museum for more than 40 years.

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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

Photographed outside shortly before going into the Dangerous Skies exhibition at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, Mosquito FBVI TE910/NZ2336 looks for all the world like another airworthy New Zealand ‘Mossie’ rebuild ready to take to the air again. GAVIN CONROY

John Smith Mosquito and P-40 go on display

wo of New Zealand’s most historic aircraft, de Havilland Mosquito FBVI TE910/NZ2336 and combat veteran Curtiss P-40N Kittyhawk NZ3220 Gloria Lyons, went on show in the Dangerous Skies exhibition at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre (OAHC) near Blenheim, South

Island during April, following an intensive nine-month period of restoration/conservation work. Saved by farmer John Smith from scrapping, the two aircraft were stored at his property in Mapua, 90 miles west of Omaka. Following his death in August 2009, the Smith family elected to work with the OAHC to get the

One of the world’s most attractively patinated, unmolested and perfectly conserved historic aircraft, P-40N NZ3220 Gloria Lyons sits in the Omaka sun before being rolled into the heritage centre. GAVIN CONROY

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aircraft onto public display in New Zealand, both being moved to Omaka during 2020. The former No 75 Squadron, RNZAF Mosquito was acquired by Smith at RNZAF Base Woodbourne in 1956 and roaded to his farm at Gardener’s Valley, Mapua. Fortunately, Smith coated the aircraft with pesticide-

laced paint, which has protected the wood from borer. The Mosquito has since undergone a conservation and refurbishment effort by members of the John Smith Mosquito Project Group, supported by several local businesses and enthusiastic members of the public, who have responded to what many

Inside the Omaka museum, TE910 now wears its original RAF serial, and the codes of a No 487 Squadron FBVI flown by New Zealand pilot Fg Off Ronald Beazer. GAVIN CONROY

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News July 2021 consider the most praiseworthy restoration project worldwide over the past year. The Mosquito has been finished with the EG-D codes worn on Mosquito FBVI NT131, a Thorney Island-based No 487 Squadron machine in which 29-year-old Fg Off Ronald Beazer and his navigator, Plt Off Andy Munro, died after being hit by anti-aircraft fire while strafing a freight train at Avord, central France, late on the night of 5 July 1944. Beazer was born in Feilding, 12 miles north of Palmerston North, and worked as a carpenter before joining the RNZAF during 1941, gaining his wings in Canada in June 1942. No 487 Squadron achieved lasting fame for two audacious low-level raids: the first, on 18 February 1944, was Operation ‘Jericho’, the precision attack on the prison at Amiens, in which hundreds of captured Resistance fighters and political prisoners were held. On 31 October 1944 the squadron attacked and destroyed the Gestapo headquarters at the University of Aarhus on the eastern shore of Jutland, Denmark, destroying German intelligence records and killing 59 German personnel, including 27 SS officers who were working for the Gestapo. Ronald Beazer flew a total of 37 ops, and a street, the Rue R C O Beazer Pilote RNZAF 1915-1944, is now named after him in Avord. The P-40N, NZ3220 Gloria Lyons, was delivered to the RNZAF in November 1943 and saw wartime service with No 18 Squadron in the Solomon Islands during 1944. It was the third P-40 to be named after a 19-yearold tuberculosis patient at Christchurch Hospital, who was a pen-pal with two armourers from No 4 Servicing Unit, RNZAF at Ondonga on New Georgia. The fighter still wears its original paint, including 55 yellow bomb strike mission symbols and two-and-a-half Japanese ‘kill’ flags, representing the combined achievements of the three Gloria Lyons P-40s, the first two having been written off in service. After the war the P-40 returned to New Zealand, ending up in the famous Asplin’s scrapyard at Rukuhia, just south-east of Hamilton, from where John Smith saved it in 1967.

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Westland Widgeon G-ANLW during its last outing into the public eye, at Sywell during 2015. DAMIEN BURKE

Graham Hill’s movie Widgeon to fly

n 15 May, Historic Helicopters at Chard, Somerset announced that it will be restoring Westland Widgeon G-ANLW, long owned by Sloane Helicopters at Sywell, to flying condition. A civilian development of the Westland WS-51 Dragonfly — itself a licence-built version of the Sikorsky S-51 — the prototype Widgeon first flew in August 1955, but just 12 examples of the five-seat utility machine were built, with a further three being converted from WS-51s. Powered by a 520hp, nine-cylinder Alvis Leonides 521 engine, the Widgeon had the Dragonfly’s rotor blades, gearbox and rotor-head replaced with the same units used on the Westland Whirlwind. G-ANLW was built as a Series 1A by Westland Aircraft at Yeovil in March 1954, and during 1957-58 was leased to Belgian flag carrier Sabena. Examples of the type were operated by the Royal Jordanian Air Force, the Brazilian Navy, the Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force and the Royal Ceylon Air Force, but a plan to convert 24 Fleet Air Arm Dragonflies into navalised Widgeons didn’t come to fruition, a decision that was to cause cancellation of the entire Widgeon project. However, one Widgeon — this one, G-ANLW — did go on to wear Royal Navy markings during shooting for the action feature film When Eight Bells Toll in Scotland during 1969. Written by Alistair MacLean and produced by Elliott Kastner — who had helmed the MacLean-penned Where Eagles Dare the previous year — the film starred Anthony Hopkins, who escapes from the submerged machine after it is shot down, the Royal Navy pilot, played by the Sunderland-born

actor Maurice Roëves, having already died from bullet wounds. Four years later G-ANLW added Caravan to Vaccarès — based on another Alistair MacLean novel — to its film business CV. Although the production ostensibly featured Charlotte Rampling in the lead role, the real star was Grand Prix legend Graham Hill who, rather unexpectedly, is seen piloting ’ANLW during the climactic final scenes, filmed over the Camargue area of southern France. During its film career the Widgeon was operated by Southend-based Helicopter Hire, and after retirement in 1979 it went to the Historic Aircraft Museum at Southend Airport. It was subsequently displayed at several museums before being acquired by Sloane Helicopters during 1992. The machine was loaned to the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton in 2002, returning to Sywell in 2015 for the Sloane Helicopters 20th anniversary celebrations. Even prior to its silver screen stardom, ’ANLW achieved fame on 8 April 1959 as the first helicopter to land at Battersea Heliport, just prior to its opening. With the cabin looking full, ’ANLW being operated as a demonstrator by Westland in the mid-1950s. VIA LEE HOWARD

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News July 2021

The Kent Battle of Britain Museum’s composite Blenheim IV restoration, following attachment of the newly restored nose. DAVE BROCKLEHURST

Hawkinge Blenheim project gets nose

n 24 April, the Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge took delivery of a freshly restored Bristol Bolingbroke IVT/Blenheim IV nose section from a workshop in Whitstable, where classic car restorer Julian Richardson had been working on it for inclusion in the museum’s composite Blenheim rebuild during lockdown. The nose, which was shipped to the UK from Canada during 2018, has now been

fitted to the centre-section of Bolingbroke RCAF 10038/G-MKIV, the ex-British Aerial Museum machine that was wrecked during a touch-and-go at Denham in June 1987, just a month after its first post-restoration flight from Duxford. The wings are also from G-MKIV and still bear the scars of its cartwheeling incident. The composite machine is being restored to represent a No 235 Squadron Blenheim IVc, L9446/LA-N, in which Fg Off Reginald

John Peacock shot down a Junkers Ju 87 ‘Stuka’ dive-bomber during the Luftwaffe’s attack on RAF Thorney Island on 18 August 1940. It was Peacock’s fifth kill in a Blenheim, making him the only Coastal Command Blenheim ace. Subsequently promoted to squadron leader, Peacock was killed while he was flying as a passenger in a Lockheed Hudson that suffered engine problems on take-off and crashed at El Adem, Libya on 5 February 1943.

REPAINT FOR SALLY B

The B-17 Preservation-operated Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Sally B was rolled out of its hangar at Duxford for the first time in 20 months on 12 May, sporting a new paint job. During the bomber’s enforced grounding due to COVID-19, a great deal of work was carried out by the Sally B volunteer engineering team, including the refurbishment of many vital items. In addition, says the B-17’s operator Elly Sallingboe, “All four engines were successfully run, including the new number three engine installed just before we went under cover in October 2019”. Pre-season test and training flights were scheduled to begin at the end of May. “The reason we are planning to fly this season is not for financial reasons”, says Elly, “as it will cost three times more to fly the aircraft than the income we will receive for the airshows we hope to attend — that is, if it all goes ahead. We just cannot leave the

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aircraft without being flown for another year. The same goes for training the crew”. To contribute, visit www.sallyb.org.uk/appeal. Ben Dunnell

ABOVE: Elly Sallingboe (front right) and members of the Sally B volunteer team in front of the repainted B-17G at Duxford on 12 May. DAVID WHITWORTH

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News July 2021

Hurricane IIc PZ865 arriving back at Coningsby in its newly applied No 247 Squadron scheme on 11 May. CORRENE CALOW

NEWS IN BRIEF

NAVY WINGS

NAVY WINGS SEA FURY CRASHES

BBMF Hurricane gets night intruder scheme

he Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Hawker Hurricane IIc PZ865 arrived back at its RAF Coningsby base on 11 May following a major overhaul by the Spitfire Company at Biggin Hill. It now wears an all-black night intruder scheme. The half-size ZY-V codes and roundels

represent those seen — and documented photographically — on BE634 of No 247 Squadron, based at Predannack and Exeter during 1942. That aeroplane was operated on defensive night fighter patrols, primarily over Plymouth and Exeter, and night intruder operations over northwestern France.

HURRICANE MOVING TO CZECH REPUBLIC

Hurricane IV ‘KZ321’/OO-HUR, owned since 2018 by Belgian businessman and pilot Bernard van Milders, has been acquired by a group connected with the Točná Aviation Museum at Točná, just south of the Czech capital Prague. In preparation for its move the aircraft was repainted at Braaschaat, Belgium as BE150/JX-E, the first Hurricane to be flown by Sqn Ldr Karel Kuttelwascher,

the top-scoring Czechoslovak pilot in the wartime RAF, after he joined No 1 Squadron. It was due to fly to Točná before the end of May. The aeroplane had been finished in desert camouflage as a No 4 Squadron machine, ‘KZ321’, ever since Hawker Restorations completed its restoration to airworthiness for The Fighter Collection in 2003. Ben Dunnell

After encountering problems with its Bristol Centaurus engine, the Navy Wings Hawker Sea Fury T20, VX281/G-RNHF, was wrecked during a forced landing in a field near Yeovilton on 28 April. The two crew members were not seriously injured. The accident came just five days after the aircraft from the now disbanded Royal Navy Historic Flight — Swordfish I W5856, Swordfish II LS326, Swordfish III NF389, Sea Fury FB11 VR930, Sea Hawk FGA6 WV908 and Chipmunk T10 WK608 — had been officially handed over by the Fleet Air Arm to Navy Wings.

WHIRLWIND TO MORAYVIA

After many years as a ground instructional airframe with Air Service Training at Perth, Scotland, ex-Fleet Air Arm Whirlwind HAR9 XL875 was transported to the Morayvia museum at Kinloss on 21 May. There it joins an impressive array of other Westland-built helicopters including examples of the Dragonfly HR3, Whirlwind HAR10, Wessex HU5, Wessex HC2 and Sea King HAR3. Morayvia is due to reopen for 2021 on 3 July. BEN DUNNELL

BERLIN BOEING SCRAPPED

Boeing 707-458 ‘D-ABOC’, really 4X-ATB with Israeli carrier El Al, was scrapped at Berlin’s now closed Tegel Airport in mid-May. It had been flown in as N130KR in November 1986, following presentation to the city’s Museum für Verkehr und Technik, and spent many years on display near the terminal complex in fake Lufthansa colours, but more recently was moved to the far side of the airfield and abandoned. BEN DUNNELL

TURBINE DC-3 ON MOORS SURVEY

Aviation Antarctic Logistics Centre International’s Basler BT-67 C-GEAJ departed Southampton Airport on 5 May following maintenance work and flew to Humberside, where it is currently undertaking survey tasks over the North Yorkshire Moors.

TIGER TRIBUTE Following its repaint into No 1 Squadron markings by FAST Aero, which has looked after the aircraft during its time in Belgium, Hurricane IV OO-HUR awaits delivery to the Czech Republic. TOČNÁ AVIATION MUSEUM

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Three Tiger Moths from the Sherburn in Elmet-based Tiger Moth Squadron flew a ‘missing man’ flypast over York in tribute to the late Duke of Edinburgh on 17 April, the day of his funeral at Westminster Abbey.

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News July 2021 One of the three B-17 replicas at Abingdon in mid-May, displaying 100th Bomb Group markings on the tail. DAMIEN BURKE

100th BG series cameras rolling at Abingdon

uring May, shooting for a new Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanksproduced television series, Masters of the Air, was under way at Dalton Barracks, Oxfordshire, the former RAF Abingdon. The series, said to be destined for broadcast on Apple TV, focuses on the Eighth Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group, the

STEARMAN IMPORT ARRIVES AT OLD WARDEN

so-called ‘Bloody Hundredth’, based during the war at Thorpe Abbotts, Suffolk. Three specially built, full-size Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress replicas are being utilised on a large set which features many replica buildings, including a period control tower and extensive areas devoted to domestic quarters and Nissen huts. No

airworthy B-17s are being used in Masters of the Air; the aerial sequences are due to be made using the latest, much-improved developments in CGI. One of the B-17s is understood to have been fitted out with an authentic wartime interior. There are hopes that at least one will find its way into a UK museum once filming is completed.

Shuttleworth Collection pilot Stu Goldspink gets airborne in Tim Manna’s newly arrived Stearman at Old Warden on 7 May. ASHLEY STEPHENSON

Boeing Stearman B75N1 N2JS made its first flight in the UK at Old Warden on 7 May, a couple of weeks after arriving from its previous base at Kissimmee, Florida. The former US Navy trainer is owned by Bedfordshirebased ex-USN pilot Tim Manna, and will be a welcome addition to the Old Warden scene.

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News July 2021

Tangmere tributes to SOE pilot McCairns

The Tangmere Military Aviation Museum’s Lysander replica, now wearing the markings of the ‘Lizzie’ flown by Flt Lt Jimmy ‘Mac’ McCairns from the Sussex base. TMAM

he Tangmere Military Aviation Museum reopened on 17 May, giving visitors the first chance to see a new touchscreen display in the museum’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) exhibit detailing each of the 34 pick-up operations flown by Flt Lt Jimmy ‘Mac’ McCairns

from the Sussex base between November 1942 and December 1943. The museum’s highly accurate Westland Lysander III (SD) replica — built for the 2015 Brad Pitt film Allied — has now been repainted in the markings of the No 161 Squadron aircraft McCairns flew on the majority of his missions, V9822/MA-E.

EXPERIMENTAL L-29 RESTORED

Restoration of the eighth production Aero L-29 Delfín trainer, of 3,665 built, has recently been completed by the Letecké Muzeum (Aviation Museum) of the Czech Republic’s Military History Institute at Kbely, north-eastern Prague. The machine, c/n 290108, made its maiden flight during July 1962, and after use by the Czechoslovak Air Force as a trainer was assigned to research work. During 1975 it was coated with specially designed synthetic paints intended to reduce the heat radiation signature of the aircraft and thus limit the extent to which it could be detected by weapons with infra-red guidance. It was the only L-29 ever painted in this unusual green and dark grey colour scheme. At the end of these trials the aircraft appears to have been little used, making its last flight in March 1977 with 1,520 hours on the clock. It was donated to the Letecké Muzeum, and spent many years in storage. Still in good condition, the Delfín was recently passed to specialist aviation maintenance company LOM Praha, which carried

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This replaces the V9875/MA-J scheme it had previously worn, which represented the machine flown by Sqn Ldr Hugh Verity, commander of the unit’s ‘A’ Flight at Tangmere during 1943. Verity, McCairns and another pilot, Peter Vaughan-Fowler, undertook No 161 Squadron’s first ‘treble’ Lysander spy-

dropping/collection mission to France during September 1943. After returning to Tangmere McCairns reported that, while flying at low level along the Loire river awaiting his turn to land, he had heard an unusual ‘phitt’ sound in the cockpit. The following morning the groundcrew showed him circular holes punched in the windows on each side of the cockpit. A bullet had entered, its trajectory passing about 3in from where McCairns’ nose would have been. He was eventually killed following an engine failure while flying a No 161 Squadron Mosquito NF30 from Finningley during June 1948. His medals were presented to the museum by his son, Christopher, during 2013. Gp Capt Peter VaughanFowler retired from the RAF in 1975, after which he devoted his time to fundraising for hospitals and medical research. He died in April 1994, and 10 years later his son James donated the Irvin flying jacket worn by his father during the Lysander pick-up flights to the museum. The Shuttleworth Collection’s airworthy Lysander IIIa, V9552/ G-AZWT, currently wears the markings of Vaughan-Fowler’s ‘Lizzie’, V9367/MA-B.

Resplendent in its unusual colour scheme, L-29 Delfín 290108 just before being placed on indoor display at Kbely. MIROSLAV KHOL VIA MALCOLM V. LOWE

out some refurbishment on behalf of the museum including a general reworking of the aircraft’s still original paint finish. It was then placed on indoor public display at Kbely in time for the museum’s 2021 season opening on 15 May. Malcolm V. Lowe

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News July 2021

Army Chipmunk back on show for 75th anniversary

everal exhibits that had been off display since the Army Flying Museum at Middle Wallop closed for a £2.59-million refurbishment and redesign in 2018 were back on show for the museum’s reopening on 17 May, including DHC Chipmunk T10 WG432, whose reappearance came just five days before the 75th anniversary of the type’s first flight. Originally delivered to the RAF on 22 October 1951, it was subsequently transferred to the Army Air Corps, and was part of the 15ship Chipmunk formation from the Basic Fixed-Wing Flight that performed a farewell flypast at Middle Wallop on 28 March 1997 to commemorate the type’s retirement from British Army service. The Chipmunk first entered service at Middle Wallop in the training role during February 1953. It was also operated by 651 and 657 (AOP) Squadrons at Wallop, with examples frequently being detached to Detmold, West Germany for the training of forward air controllers in the field.

Chipmunk T10 WG432, back on show at the Army Flying Museum at Middle Wallop just in time for the type’s 75th birthday. AFM

Stampe stalwart killed at Headcorn Stampe Display Team pilot Angus Buchanan died in his Stampe SV-4, G-AWEF, near Headcorn on 9 May during a practice display prior to the start of the 2021 season. Fellow team member Richard Ward says, “Angus was born on 20 February 1964 in Sydney, his father being a submariner. They moved to Singapore, and then the UK when he was three. Angus served an apprenticeship from university with Yarrow shipbuilders, and while there learned to fly at Angus Buchanan with his Prestwick. former Tiger Club Stampe, “On moving south, G-AWEF. RICHARD WARD Angus involved himself with vintage aeroplane rebuilds and joined the Tiger Club to fly more interesting aircraft. He rapidly entered the spirit of the club, learning aerobatics, and I had the pleasure of teaching him formation flying. He, Bill Merry and Roger Bishop were the embryonic Stampe Display Team, especially when he bought G-AWEF from the club in 2004 and then

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set off on a round-France solo tour. He was a brilliant engineer, building a Stelio Frati-designed Sequoia Falco F8L over 27 years, which then won the Prince Michael of Kent Trophy for the concours d’elegance at the 2019 Light Aircraft Association fly-in, along with a commendation in the best build-fromplans award. His skill as a woodworker extended to building a clavichord, which has the most beautiful inlay in the lid. His business sense also enabled him to design and build a new form of milking machine, which achieved international sales.” Angus Buchanan was a leading light in the Stampe Club, being secretary for many years. Stampe G-AWEF, in its yellow and red sunburst scheme, is fondly remembered as half of the Tiger Club’s Stampe duo team from the 1970s and ’80s, pilots Pete Jarvis and Carl Schofield displaying at countless events all over the UK.

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Advertisement Feature

MuseumGuide A

Get back to some of the finest aviation museums with this handy listing

s the world’s aviation museums gradually reopen, we present a guide to some of the best, in both the UK and Malta. Many collections have been forced to close for a long time due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic — they, their staff and volunteers will be delighted to welcome you back as they resume operations, and to receive your support. There will often be new exhibits or displays to enjoy, as the aviation museum sector seeks to rebuild, renew and look to the future. Enjoy your travels, and spread the word! Ben Dunnell

display hangars feature nearly a score of civil and military aircraft, jet and propeller engines, rocket engines and air-to-air missiles, all designed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company Ltd.

Dumfries & Galloway Aviation Museum

The Avro Heritage Museum has reopened to the public. Deep cleaning has been completed and restrictions up to 21 June will be implemented. Visitors will need to pre-book through the museum website and numbers will be restricted within two-hour segments. Cockpits and simulator and VR experiences will not be operational, although the cafe will be. The museum has several new attractions, the most important of which is a Typhoon simulator, which will be unveiled in July. Almost certainly the only one in the world, the simulator will be a major attraction.

Dumfries & Galloway Aviation Museum offers a very different day out to most places in the region. Based in the control tower of the wartime RAF Dumfries, it houses a huge array of aircraft and aviation memorabilia. The jewel in the museum’s extensive aircraft collection is its Supermarine Spitfire. This actual aircraft flew during the Battle of Britain and was lost on a training flight over Loch Doon in 1941. Recovered by the museum in 1982, it has been restored and holds pride of place in the collection. Other aircraft include the iconic English Electric Lightning, as well as the graceful Hawker Hunter and a Gloster Meteor flown by an astronaut. The new Airborne Forces exhibition holds a huge array of memorabilia, uniforms and weapons used by our airborne fighting forces. The building also houses the glider collection, including sections of Horsa, Hotspur and Hadrian gliders.

de Havilland Aircraft Museum

Croydon Airport Visitor Centre

Avro Heritage Museum

From its secret design office in a Tudor mansion, the idea of a fast, high-altitude, uncatchable, unarmed photo reconnaissance aircraft took shape in 1939, and in special buildings in the grounds of Salisbury Hall, London Colney, the prototype de Havilland Mosquito, W4050, was built. It is one of three Mosquitos on display there at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum, the world’s largest collection of the type. The three

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Visit the Historic Croydon Airport, hosted at Croydon Airport Visitor Centre. Guided tours explore the history of the magnificent Grade II*-listed air terminal and control tower. Learn about the pioneering days of international air travel, Britain’s part in developing air traffic control, and Amy Johnson and record-breaking pilots. Limited opening hours. Historic Croydon Airport Open Days are on the first Sunday

of every month — booking required via Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/ historic-croydon-airporttrust-8213300449 Further details on our website: www. historiccroydonairport.org.uk/ opening-hours/ Donations appreciated to help fund the museum.

Kent Battle of Britain Museum

The Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge is housed on the original Battle of Britain airfield and holds the largest collection of Battle of Britain artefacts on show anywhere in the world. The museum contains original aircraft as well as some replicas — Spitfires, Messerschmitt Bf 109Es, Hurricanes, Boulton Paul Defiant, Heinkel He 111H-16, Bristol Blenheim, Tiger Moth, Harvard, Magister and more. At the core of the museum are the recovered remains of more than 700 Battle of Britain aircraft, all displayed together with detailed research on the pilot, on occasions the crew, and those who shared in their destruction. It is a living commemoration of all things Battle of Britain.

Malta Aviation Museum

The Malta Aviation Museum, based at the former RAF base at Takali (now Ta’Qali), is again open to the general public and would also like to welcome back Aeroplane and other Key Publishing readers. Visitor health safety is of the utmost importance to us and we observe all the current regulations issued by the health authorities. In the meantime visitors can enjoy classic aircraft like Spitfire IX, Hurricane IIa, C-47 Dakota, Meteor F8, Meteor NF14, Sea Hawk F2A, Vampire T11, Fiat G.91R/1B, T-6G Texan, the Maltese Air Wing’s Bell

47G2 and Bird Dog, and lots more. You might even spot the museum’s airworthy Tiger Moth and Piper Cub flying overhead at times!

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre

The largest Bomber Command museum in the country! Relive a World War Two bomber airfield here at East Kirkby. Experience the sights and sounds, smells and atmosphere of a bomber airfield. The only place in the country to see a Lancaster bomber on an original wartime airfield, and ride in it! (Pre-booked only). Including the original control tower, welcoming NAAFI and an emotionally evocative Memorial Chapel containing the 848 names of personnel who gave their lives from this airfield.

Solway Aviation Museum

Solway Aviation Museum at Carlisle Lake District Airport is open to the public again, and visitors this year will notice significant changes. Over the past 19 months we have acquired a Fairey Gannet ECM6, the fuselage of a Jetstream T1 and two ex-RAF vehicles: a Douglas tractor which saw service at Kandahar in Afghanistan, and a Bedford crew bus which served the V-bomber force during the Cold War (and which has featured recently on the ‘Bangers and Cash’ TV show). Our Meteor NF14 has been lovingly restored, and a new Avro Lancaster exhibit has been installed which recreates a section of the famous bomber’s crew compartment. There are significant structural changes to the museum as well. These include toilet refurbishments and new staff rest facilities, extensive redecoration inside and out, and building work to make the museum COVID-secure.

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25/05/2021 10:42:46

To Advertise Call : Gemma on 01780 663011 Ext. 153 ~ Email: gemma.gray@keypublishing.com

We are opening Saturday May 22nd Bookings online through our website

AVRO HERITAGE MUSEUM Woodford Aerodrome, Chester Road, Woodford, Cheshire SK7 1QS

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Museum Guide

HISTORIC CROYDON AIRPORT Come and experience the glamour of air travel at London’s first intercontinental airport. Open on the first Sunday of every month from 10am Guided Tours and Control Tower visits Family Friendly On-line booking required via Eventbrite Search for ‘Historic Croydon Airport’

Visit our website for more details:

www.historiccroydonairport.org.uk Croydon Airport Visitor Centre, Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon CR0 0XZ

LANCASTER & MOSQUITO LIVE EXPERIENCE DAYS & TAXY RIDES

Ride in the aircraft and take part in an experience day with us that you’ll never forget as you step back in time on our wartime airfield. Lincs Aviation Heritage Centre…. where the emotions and exhilaration of warbirds await.

Now booking 2021 and 2022 dates!

We are restoring the Lancaster to airworthy condition, get in touch for details on how you could support the project!

www.lincsaviation.co.uk enquiries@lincsaviation.co.uk

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01790 763207

East Kirkby Airfield, East Kirkby, PE23 4DE AEROPLANE JULY 2021

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ADULT Adult SENIOR CITIZEN Senior Citizen

£6.00 £6.00 £4.00 £4.00

CHILDREN Children (6-16(Aged yrs) 6-16 years) £4.00 £4.00 FAMILY (Max 2 Children) £15.00 Family (max. 2 children) £15.00 The Museum will be open at 10:30am until 5:00pm every

Open 10:30am 5:00pm entry 4:15pm) weekend from 28 until May 2021 until (last the 31 October 2021. 3rd 2020—1st 2020 We April are open on Friday,November Saturday, Sunday and every UK Bank Holiday Monday. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and English Bank Holiday Last entry to the museum is at 4:15 pm. Mondays Solway Aviation Museum, Aviation House Carlisle Lake District Airport, Crosby-on-Eden Cumbria CA6 4NW what3words: blurs.relishes.wire @solwayaviation @solwayaviationmuseum

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Comment

STEVE SLATER

HangarTalk I

Comment on historic aviation by the chief executive of the UK’s Light Aircraft Association

don’t normally include obituaries in Hangar Talk, but for Lewis Benjamin it’s right to make an exception. Lewis, who died peacefully at the age of 95 at his home in Leicestershire on 9 April, was an adventurous aviator, an entertaining writer — not least in the pages of this magazine — and an all-round good chap. And he certainly could spin a good yarn. Like many of his generation, Lewis was taught to fly by the RAF, but when civilian flying restarted in 1946 he was one of the first to claim a post-war private pilot’s licence. Given his military flying experience, he was able to gain his certificate after just an interview with Col ‘Mossy’ Preston, the secretary of the Royal Aero Club. Those were the days. For many, the return to leisure flying was led by formally structured clubs. Many of them, though, were exclusive in their membership and rental costs were high. Those of more restricted means sought another route. In 1947, Benjy helped establish the Brookside Flying Group. He and fellow members raised the £325 necessary to buy a freshly overhauled Miles Magister from Rollason Aircraft at Croydon, to share and operate it from a small blister hangar formerly occupied by a Free French squadron at Shoreham. “In those heady days there were no radios and an atmosphere of self-sufficiency”, Benjy later recalled. “In my mind’s eye I can still see us

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Just one of the exploits that marked the career of Lewis Benjamin (right): the 1959 Blériot anniversary race across the Channel, in which he and Tiger Moth G-ACDC conveyed a competitor who otherwise travelled by lawnmower. VIA LEWIS BENJAMIN

pushing the Maggie out of her tatty blister hangar, her silver sides wet with dew. Then flying before the flying club on the other side of the airfield had even opened. The stillness and innocence of those early morning flights are the sort that memories are made of.” Benjy later went on to join the legendary Tiger Club at Redhill. Its story is chronicled in his two-volume history of the club, as well as in myriad magazine articles. However, whether it was aerobatics, air

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racing, display flying or just aviating for fun, his passion shone through. Typical were his exploits to develop the ‘standing on the wing’ routine, which became a part of the Tiger Club’s regular touring air displays. Even with his slim wife on the upper wing, the performance of the Tiger Moth was marginal, with the 130hp Gipsy Major barely able to overcome the added drag. Benjy one day nearly came to grief when he took to the top wing

He could spin a good yarn, right to the very end

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himself of a Tiger which, for good measure, had unintentionally had its fuel tank filled to the brim. According to Benjy, the aircraft lifted off in ground effect but refused to climb above 15ft. After “weaving between trees and washing lines”, the combination regained the airfield, but the aircraft was now so low that the Tiger’s tailskid snagged the top wire of the perimeter fence, doing “a fair imitation of an arrested carrier landing.” It wasn’t his only narrow escape. At Sywell in the 1960s, Benjy made national headlines after a ‘crazy flying’ routine went wrong. His out-of-control Tiger Moth was photographed, poised just a few feet from impact. Both he and the aeroplane flew again, although Benjy was unimpressed when a copy of the picture appeared on the noticeboard at Redhill with a caption bubble stating, “If this doesn’t kill me, the boss will!” At another Tiger Club show, Benjy at the helm of one of the club’s ‘Super Tigers’ completed a stall turn at the top of a climb, only to find Neil Williams in the Arrow Active II still climbing vertically behind him. As Williams, who’d assumed Benjy was looping, hastily stall-turned in the opposite direction, the two aircraft passed feet apart. It clearly made an impression on Lewis — a painting of the incident was still on his wall half a century later. As I said, he could spin a good yarn, right to the very end. Blue skies, Benjy.

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Comment

DENIS J. CALVERT

Flight FlightLine Recollections and reflections — a seasoned reporter’s view of aviation history

ick up a daily paper and you’ll quite likely read discussions on the wisdom — or otherwise — of the Royal Navy’s bringing into service two new 65,000-tonne aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. Along with questions such as whether we can really afford them comes the awkward matter of numbers. Will we ever have sufficient F-35B Lightnings of our own to provide the backbone of a suitably potent carrier air group on even one carrier, let alone two? It was all so different in 1981, when HMS Invincible (R05) was completing its operational work-up. Invincible, the first of three small, ski jump-equipped aircraft carriers, was the target of a quite different set of questions. At half the tonnage of the Royal Navy’s recently retired ‘last’ conventional carrier HMS Ark Royal (R09), would it be able to embark sufficient aircraft to defend itself and to carry out all its assigned roles? A one-day facility aboard Invincible was organised for the benefit of Her Majesty’s Press on 1 June 1981, while the ship was operating off the coast of Cornwall. Fortunate in being on the list of invitees, I travelled westwards on the night sleeper from Paddington, to be met by navy vehicle and driven to RNAS Culdrose. Our onward transport to the carrier was by ‘Junglie’ Sea King, the short flight being accomplished in fine weather. The carrier’s air group establishment was five multi-role Sea Harrier FRS1s of 801 Naval Air Squadron and nine Sea King HAS5s of 820 NAS; just 14 aircraft, each adorned with the ship’s tail code ‘N’. 801 NAS, with seven pilots, was commanded by the soon-to-be-legendary Lt Cdr Nigel ‘Sharkey’ Ward.

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801 Naval Air Squadron Sea Harrier FRS1 XZ495 about to take off from HMS Invincible on 1 June 1981. DENIS J. CALVERT

As press visits go, this one was particularly well-organised and successful. (Thanks, Michael.) A full morning’s flying programme was planned to demonstrate the capabilities of this new, revolutionary ‘Harrier carrier’. We were given the chance to fly in the plane guard Sea King, which positioned itself at a respectful distance off the port side of the carrier to witness Sea Harriers making their short take-off run along the flight deck and off the 7° ski jump. Despite the newness of the Sea Harrier and

Pilots spoke glowingly of their new mount

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the fact that 801 NAS had only re-formed on 28 January, the work-up was going well. During the first eight days of the cruise, 96 Sea Harrier sorties had been generated, serviceability was proving excellent and pilots spoke glowingly of their new mount. ‘Sharkey’ Ward offered, “It’s a great fighter weapons system, which can out-fly any aircraft in the world at low speed”. Despite this confidence, the fact remained that the Sea Harrier was decidedly subsonic and carried only two underwing AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs plus two 30mm ADEN cannon for the air defence role. How would it fare, some wondered, against more heavily armed, supersonic types that equipped the navies (and air forces) of potential enemy nations, should it ever have to go to war? The Falklands War that started just 10 months later would provide the conclusive, positive answer. Invincible deployed to the South Atlantic with its complement of Sea Harriers stretched to eight and at one point to 10, as one of two carriers at the centre of the task force. And the Sea Harrier, ‘the last British fighter’, acquitted itself impeccably, with 20 confirmed kills and no losses in airto-air encounters. Point proven. As to the rest of the press day, things didn’t go completely to plan. At the end of the morning, we were taken down a few decks to Invincible’s wardroom, there to be victualled in the best navy traditions. Meanwhile, and unbeknown to us, the weather ‘up top’ had taken a sudden turn for the worse. A combination of high winds, rain and a low cloudbase had forced a premature end to the day’s flying programme and, worse, our return trip to Culdrose was very much in doubt. Salvation, though, came in the shape of a radar-equipped Sea King HAS5, which took off ahead of us and accompanied our Sea King in extremely close formation all the way back.

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Skywriters

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

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.

White-knuckle ride What a sorry sight, even in 1968: Beverley XH123 on the Bicester dump. CAZ CASWELL/AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM

The ‘Bevs’ of Bicester

future. Eventually, they were R E Regarding the Blackburn placed in short-term storage. The T T E L Beverleys at Bicester (Personal talk was that BP wanted to buy f the o Album, Aeroplane August 2020), them to fly oil rig components H MONT around in Iraq. As any fitter I was on No 71 Maintenance Unit involved with them will know, the when these were flown in. The camouflaged aircraft were ex-No 84 aircraft needed its own personal oil Squadron at Khormaksar, and probably well to operate. arrived via Abingdon for customs. The A lasting memory was of the group silver aircraft I think was from Abingdon, captain’s face when, after my people had as was one other which was taxied straight marshalled the first one to its parking into the dump as it had a broken rear spot, a small, tanned flight engineer spar. It had an engine change for the leapt out waving a large No 84 Squadron trip, all of 20 minutes, and I tried to sell flag, shouting “Hoot and roar, it’s 84!” the replacement Bristol Centaurus on The reception committee of three senior behalf of the RAF (as it had zero hours) to officers was noticeably unimpressed with someone in the USA who had a Sea Fury this unseemly, ‘un-British’ behaviour by a and was desperate for a motor. Nowadays sand-happy SNCO. the RAF might bite a sensible customer’s The Beverley was the biggest aircraft arm off! It did not happen as the stores ever to land at Bicester. The senior air officer told me the RAF actually made traffic controller had, until then, only quite a lot of money from the insurance handled Chipmunks and gliders, and the companies as a result of clearing up all group captain remarked to me that when the crashed civil aircraft in UK as well as he was flying he used to land in the same the service wrecks. The other problem length as the fuselage took up! was that as the aircraft was taxied into Incidentally, my team from No 71 MU the dump, it was officially Category 5 and also cleared up the wrecked Andover. As I therefore scrap. recall it had made it across a road and into I used the aircraft as a ground-running an old wartime dispersal. Some bits were trainer for some weeks. It was my job to quite good still. It had about five airframe run all of these every Friday afternoon hours on the clock. while a decision was made about their John Sawyer MRAeS

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I was reading your article on parachuting Rapides (Aeroplane March 2021) and the inset on ‘Gerry’ Schellong brought back a flood of memories. As an ATC cadet I was on summer camp at RAF Abingdon in 1972. On 26 July (I still have my ATC logbook) we cadets were waiting around for a C-130 flight when a tall eastern European gentleman — I now know it was ‘Gerry’ Schellong — offered us a flight in a Rapide. Our officer concurred, without looking inside, and nine or 10 of us climbed into G-AGSH. As there were no seats or straps, we were told to brace ourselves sideways across the fuselage, sitting on the floor. All went well, and we departed and climbed to about 2,000ft where we performed a number of steep turns, to the extent that one poor lad sitting opposite the door hole was looking vertically down towards the ground, held in by nothing except positive g and his legs braced against the door sill. After 10 minutes we were back on the ground and our officer strolled over to meet us. He took one look inside and went a distinctly whiter shade of pale when he saw the seating arrangements! He clearly had no idea it was a bare fuselage and I suspect could see the news headlines if we had come to grief. Needless to say, that was the one and only Rapide flight for the ATC cadets that week. Ah, the innocence of youth… I was reunited with G-AKIF when I validated as a flight information safety officer in the tower at Duxford in the mid1990s. It was still painted in blue with two white stripes, exactly as I remembered it! Mark Burch, Thetford

‘Johnnie’ and ‘Annie’

Reading the excellent article about AVM ‘Johnnie’ Johnson in the February issue reminded me of our brief encounter in 1958. At that time I was OC Station Flight at RAF Stradishall and very happy with 13 aircraft of five different types to fly when I liked, or as directed, including two Anson C21s of which I was particularly fond. On 14 May 1958 I was tasked to fly to Tangmere and pick up Wg Cdr Johnson to take him to Wildenrath in Germany. If my memory is right, I believe he was wing commander flying at Tangmere at that time. I duly arrived at Tangmere via Duxford and Odiham, picking up fellow travellers for the journey. When I eventually left for Germany I had a full load of officers plus their luggage.

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

Once airborne and turning on an easterly course, I levelled off at 2,000ft in good visual conditions, but not for long as severe vibrations alerted me to a problem with the number two engine. A quick scan of the instruments didn’t identify any engine problem, so I kept it running and partially throttled back because I knew we could not maintain height. As a seasoned Meteor pilot, I was wellversed in the art of asymmetric flying and had some practice on the Anson 21, which with a light load could actually climb to a few thousand feet on one engine, but today was different. We were heavy and going down. I remember the pilot who checked me out on the Anson the previous year made sure we were over the airfield at generous height before we practised the shut-down and feathering drills, and not with five passengers! Ideally we should have returned to Tangmere, but that wasn’t going to happen as we were losing height fast and skimming over the Sussex Downs, which in themselves are a few hundred feet above sea level. I turned for the coast and soon spotted Shoreham airfield alongside the dominant Lancing College chapel. That would do us fine, so, totally unannounced, I plonked us right on the field. A radio exchange was not possible because the Anson did not have the right frequencies and, quite simply, I was rather busy. My senior passenger, Wg Cdr Johnson, immediately took control of the situation and was soon telephoning Tangmere for a replacement Anson. Without too much delay, WJ556 arrived and we continued to Wildenrath, leaving VV328 to be serviced. After Wildenrath I flew onto Ahlhorn and then Brüggen, eventually night-stopping at Wahn (Cologne) where I had flown a tour with No 68 Squadron a few years earlier. Back in the UK I returned ’556 to Tangmere, but was very pleased when it joined my Station Flight permanently two months later. I believe it was one of the last batch made of an aircraft I always enjoyed flying. Alan Smith

Flats in formation — and flat-out

Many thanks for the article on the Beverley (Aeroplane April 2021) — quite fascinating to see a ‘flying block of flats’ held in such high regard. When I was in Aden from 1965-67, No 84 Squadron was still hard at work doing a sterling job ‘up-country’ and elsewhere. I managed to hitch a lift in a Beverley from Sharjah to Masirah on one occasion, I think after having done the desert survival course at Sharjah. The co-pilot was an old mate and I spent the trip on the flight deck, ‘deck’ being the operative word. A number of thoughts spring to mind. Firstly, was the great big tiller that sat between the

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

“Break, break, go!” — but in slow time. Four ‘Bevs’ split, gradually, into the Khormaksar circuit. Marvellous. ROD DEAN

pilots directly connected, as I was told, to the nosewheel for steering on the ground? Secondly, when having a go at hand-flying the thing in the cruise at a few thousand feet, I found it impossible to hold heading within 10° until the captain suggested that I use the footrests (the rudders) to damp out any oscillations! That worked, much to the relief of the pax sitting in the boom, no doubt. Being through and through a jet man, the sole use of the rudder pedals in a Hunter, other than footrests, was for turning on the ground. Finally — and, remember, this was in the days when smoking was OK — I was impressed with the manner in which the co-pilot got rid of his cigarette end. We were at quite low level — 3-4,000ft or so — and it was fairly warm, so the DV (direct vision) panel on the co-pilot’s side window was open. To get rid of his butt-end he flicked it, from some distance, in the general direction of the DV panel, whereupon it was sucked rapidly out and away! Fascinating. On a familiarisation flight to Beihan from Aden I had the ‘pleasure’ of going there and back in the boom of the Beverley, which was significantly unpleasant despite the ample supply of fresh (but hot) air. The accompanying photo shows a really good formation of four No 84 Squadron Beverleys doing a flypast at Khormaksar some time in 1966 or ’67. They had been assisting the army with an operation, I believe in Socotra, and on their return all four were serviceable so this ensued. This was actually their run-and-break after the first flypast — the lead has just started his break into the circuit. Between the two I had plenty of time to walk to the officers’ mess, about half-a-mile away, get my camera and walk back to the Hunter line, such was the time the stately Beverley took to complete a circuit, particularly with four of them in close formation. Just think of the number of sleeves valving and the number of plugs sparking in that lot? The oil consumption doesn’t bear thinking about.

Without doubt it was a great aircraft in places like Aden, and despite the attractions of the Hercules, I doubt it would have lasted too long doing what the ‘Bev’ did out there. Rod Dean

Party trick

Your Database on the DHC-1 Chipmunk (Aeroplane May 2021) brought back many happy memories of G-AOSY at Elstree Flying Club in the 1950s. There was one capability of this charming two-seater that I have never seen recorded anywhere and it was, in my experience, a unique feature. It was a looping technique that has all the trappings of the impossible. The technique was to set the aircraft trimmed for straight-and-level flight at normal cruising engine rpm, then pull up sharply to initiate the loop. At the vertical, one put on one notch of flap to get ‘over the top’. As one entered the dive from the inverted position, you closed the flap and made a normal recovery. Executed properly, it was possible to gain 100ft extra in height in this manoeuvre, all without touching the throttle. I might add that this could only be done solo: with two up you never even got over the top! I also think pilot dry weight was probably a function — and in those days I weighed just over 10 stone. On 3 March 1957, G-AOSY took me to Fairoaks for the Tiger Moth’s 25th anniversary party and I performed this stunt over a rather soggy grass field for the benefit of the great Wg Cdr Arthur. In those days, Fairoaks was distinguished by its central hill, which caught out a few fliers who attempted take-offs from opposite corners at the same time — and only spotted each other as the summit was crowned! Arthur W. J. G. Ord-Hume The editor reserves the right to edit all letters. Please include your full name and address in correspondence.

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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 Hurricane I P3428 with the early war black-and-white undersides adopted by Fighter Command.

Black-andwhite fighters

Ran Boasson would like to know the origin of the black-and-white undersides applied to RAF fighters — Spitfires, Hurricanes and Blenheims — at the beginning of World War Two. What was the scheme’s purpose, and why was it so short-lived?

AEROPLANE

White Liberators of Tripoli

Roger Freeman’s late uncle was a gunner with the Royal Artillery’s 30 Regiment, Light Anti-Aircraft, stationed in North Africa and Italy in 1941-45. He diligently recorded events in a diary throughout his war service until being demobbed in Austria in 1946. Among the entries are references to a “white Consolidated Liberator” seen in June 1943 at Castel Benito. Curiosity prompted the gunners to ask the RAF groundcrew what its

purpose was, to be told that it was “a mail plane” flown on a route between the UK and Tripoli, with stops in Algeria and Morocco. Of greater interest to the gunners was the chance for an illegal flight back to RAF Brize Norton for the princely sum of £10 — the limiting factor being that the stay was limited to 48 hours before the return trip. One gunner made the journey successfully without his absence being noted, but a few weeks later a second man left on the aircraft

and never returned. Nor did the Liberator. The unfortunate individual was eventually reported AWOL with the aircraft believed shot down. A week or so later, 30 Regiment moved on to El Azizia. Roger’s uncle related the story in his book Tobruk to Trieste — Life of a Bofors Gunner 1941-45, but can anyone confirm that such a mail service was operated by the RAF, and could the ‘white’ Liberator have been a Coastal Command example? DC-3s were prey to German fighters on the Lisbon-Whitchurch route around mid-1943 and other unarmed commercial aircraft were reported as shot down by both sides, so could the ‘missing’ Liberator have been one of these?

Col Jarrett’s Bf 109

Randall Volpe was perusing the January-March 1958 issue of the American Aviation Historical Society Journal and came across an article written by Col G. B. Jarrett, a collector of military equipment from both world wars. In it, he said, “In 1948 I added an Me 109”. He went on to mention that some time later, when he took the hard decision to dispose of the collection, he couldn’t give the Messerschmitt away, so ended up scrapping it! Does any reader remember the Jarrett collection? If so, which Bf 109 was it and from where did it originate?

Bombing the Shadows: Do 217 identities

The article ‘Bombing the Shadows’ appeared in the May issue, and its author Steve Richards has since discovered further details of an attack mentioned concerning houses bombed in the Solihull area. Steve says the attack that took place at 06.30hrs was flown by a Dornier Do 217E-4 belonging to 5./KG 2, coded U5+?N. He continues, “Bombs had fallen near to the Solihull gasworks and the Rover factory. The German crew misreported having attacked the Windsor Street gasworks in Birmingham, which was a key target and allocated the target number L5216. I am assuming that the latter was the intended target as it had been bombed a number of times previously”. The machine-gunning of Wilmcote railway station, north of Stratford-upon-Avon, at 06.36 was also

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misreported, the actual attack taking place at Milcote, near RAF Honeybourne, with the raider being identified as a Do 217. Another aircraft from KG 2 bombed Cheltenham at 06.52. Steve wonders if

anyone has either aircraft’s individual identity letter and acknowledges the help of Glyn Warren, author of Worcestershire at War, and Colin Barrows for providing a history of KG 2.

Home for an X-Eleven Following the article ‘X Marks the Spot’ in the February issue, Brian Dunlop e-mailed to say that gathering dust in the basement of his house in Helena, Montana, is this BAC model of the X-Eleven with stand produced by Space Models. He is keen to pass it on — if interested parties would like it, perhaps they would e-mail Brian on speedbird1@bresnan.net.

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Q&A

THIS MONTH’S ANSWERS Sky Devils at Guildford

In the April edition, Barry Williams asked if anyone had an aerial photograph of the Sky Devils Air Circus at Stoke Park, Guildford, on 28 April 1934. Contrary to details in the answer given in the May issue, Frank Phillipson says the Sky Devils did hold an air display at Stoke Hill Park on that day and sent numerous confirmatory items including a (sadly unpublishable) photograph of the mayor meeting pilot Jock Bonar in front of an Avro 504. Frank has researched air events around Guildford, collecting cuttings and reports of displays and events from the period. The photograph accompanying the response in May showed a group of

The damaged blade from Hurricane BN731, but what happened to the aircraft?

Hurricane BN731

Howard West has acquired a propeller blade from Hawker Hurricane BN731 and would like some details on the aircraft, its history and its fate, to include alongside the blade. He understands the airframe was one of a batch destined for Russia (BN720-758), but has also found that it could have been attached to No 401 (Meteorological) Flight. Howard is intrigued by the bent tip on the blade and wonders how it occurred. Any help would be appreciated.

Burpham’s low-level enemy

A vivid memory of seeing at closehand a German bomber flying over Burpham, near Guildford, Surrey, remains with Trevor Andrews to this day. He believes the type to have been a Heinkel He 111, but the date is slightly hazy — Christmas 1942, within three weeks either side, is the period. Trevor wonders if the target could have been the Dennis factory in Guildford. Any clues would be useful.

‘Tante Ju’ in wartime

Following the ‘Wartime Workhorses’ article in the May issue, Warwick Banks e-mailed to ask how Deutsche Lufthansa managed to navigate its commercial services with its largely Ju 52/3m fleet. If radio beacons were used, surely these would have been picked up by the Allies? It couldn’t all have been VFR, and what happened on night flights? Were civil aircraft shot down in transit to and from neutral destinations? Marauding night fighters, he contends, were unlikely to only select Luftwaffe-operated Ju 52s, while allowing civil-registered examples to go about their business.

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A period newspaper advert proving the Sky Devils Air Circus show was held in Guildford’s Stoke Hill Park.

Cobham-operated aircraft, but not specifically at Stoke Hill Park. Can anyone identify the actual location?

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS • Thanks to those readers who pointed out that the superb colour shot of Frank Whittle at his desk on pages 28-29 of the June issue was reversed; the giveaway is the side of his uniform on which his wings and ribbons are worn. This wasn’t for design reasons — rather, Getty supplied the image in this form and we didn’t pick up on it. • It would appear that the ATC glider shown on page 36 of June’s magazine is not a Cadet, but maybe a Falcon. Can any reader confirm? • A couple of corrections to last month’s ‘Aeroplane meets…’ on Carl Scholl. Aero Trader overhauls Wright R-2600 and R-1820 engines, not R-1830s. And the caption to the lead image is incorrect, since Mike Pupich’s B-25 was not in Hawaii for the 1995 commemorations. The camouflaged machine shown is N3155G, owned by Wally Fisk at the time. • Inevitably in a work of such size, there were a few errors and omissions from our Database on the Chipmunk in the May issue. Two countries, Ireland and Israel, were omitted from the list of military operators: the Irish Air Corps had 12 new-build machines and, later, two secondhand replacements which it operated off and on for nearly 30 years, while Shlomo Aloni writes to say that Israel had just one, on strength from 1949 or ’50 to 1954 or ’55. The Database’s author, Richard Wilsher, also provides a couple of amendments: G-AKDN no longer has the dual elevator trim tabs, having been brought up to T10 standard in that regard, while the g limit for the type is 6.0,

according to the manual supplied by de Havilland Support at Duxford. • Following on from the article about the Fokker D.XXI reconstruction/replica in the April edition, Alan F. Crouchman adds that the Danmarks Tekniske Museum in Helsingør also holds the fuselage frame of a D.XXI, the serial being given as J-49 (c/n 109). The Danish Air Force acquired two from Fokker and had a licence to build others, 10 being completed before the German occupation. The fuselage frame is stored off site, but Alan viewed it in 2006.

The Fokker D.XXI fuselage frame preserved in Helsingør. ALAN F. CROUCHMAN • Paul Robinson informs us of a caption error on page 63 of the February edition. “The lower picture says the Harrier is on the wing of a supporting VC10”, he says, “but the wing belongs to a Tristar. The outermost flap fairing on a VC10 has the fuel jettison outlet pipe incorporated into it and the VC10 wing does not have vortex generators on it.”

To help make up for our omission in the May issue, here’s a period colour shot of Irish Air Corps Chipmunk T20 serial 172 at Baldonnel in 1961. GRAHAM SKILLEN

• Richard Wilsher says the Kalamazoo Air Zoo was not the first non-governmental museum recipient of a Lockheed F-117A, as stated in the May edition; rather, this honour fell to the Palm Springs Air Museum, which received its ’117 in September of last year.

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MOSQUITO SALUTE PRI histories

UNARMED UNSURPAS

Eighty years ago this summer, on 13 July 1941, Mosquito PRI W4051 became the first example delivered to the RAF when it joined No 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit at Benson. In all, 10 PRIs were produced, pioneering the type’s operational career. To commemorate this anniversary, we begin our special section on ‘Mossie’ operations by examining the PRI’s development and use, and detailing the history of each of these aircraft WORDS: IAN THIRSK

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AND SED

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he photographic reconnaissance role, of course, played a significant part in sustaining the Mosquito project and ensuring it could be realised. As is wellknown, shortly after the outbreak of war, de Havilland submitted a proposal to the Air Ministry for a wooden high-speed bomber capable of carrying 1,000lb of bombs over a 1,500-mile range. Its performance was predicted to be so high — some 405mph with two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines — that little defensive armament would be required. Additionally, if Napier Sabre engines could be employed, de Havilland estimated a 4,000lb load-carrying capability within the same performance range. The Air Ministry was not wholly convinced and stipulated that a defensive rear gun turret should be included, leading to a further DH design proposal for a twin-RollsRoyce Griffon-powered bomber with a four-gun tail turret and a maximum speed of 400mph. It was consequently decided to order two prototypes, although the ministry still had its doubts. Meanwhile, the Air Member for Research and Development, Air Marshal Sir Wilfrid Freeman — in accordance with Bomber Command’s air officer commanding-in-chief, ACM Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt — foresaw the need for a small number of highperformance light bombers to undertake ‘nuisance’ attacks in the aftermath of large raids on enemy territory. In view of this, the latest DH proposal greatly interested Freeman. He persuaded the firm’s design team to consider removing all defensive armament, thereby increasing its performance to meet this light bomber need. It was fully realised that any performance ascendancy over enemy fighters would be short-lived, making the concept uneconomic, so Freeman suggested producing updated versions powered by the forthcoming Sabre and Griffon as they became available, thereby maintaining a maximum speed advantage of well over 400mph for at least 12 months. The Air Ministry was committed to the heavy bomber programme, so only a small number of each ‘nuisance’ version would be produced, 50 at most, limiting the risk if they proved unsuccessful. However, to attain the highest

LEFT: A fine image of prototype Mosquito PRI W4051 in service with No 1 PRU during its relatively short assignment to the unit in 1942. The initial sky-blue under-surface finish has given way to PRU blue or ‘Titanine Cosmic’. KEY COLLECTION

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MOSQUITO SALUTE PRI histories CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: W4051 during a photographic sortie from Boscombe Down in July or August 1941. AEROPLANE Sqn Ldr Rupert Clerke of No 1 PRU at Benson in September 1941. The Mosquito in the background is PRI W4056/LY-S. In addition to the first operational flight by a Mosquito PRI, Clerke later conducted the inaugural Mosquito day combat sortie, flying No 157 Squadron FII DD607, when he shot down a Junkers Ju 88 off the Dutch coast on 30 September 1942.

RAF MUSEUM

On 13 September 1941 the Secretary of State for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair, made an official visit to No 1 PRU at Benson. While there he received a 15-minute flight in a Mosquito PRI flown by Sqn Ldr Rupert Clerke. He was photographed about to board the aircraft, which was probably W4056.

WG CDR J. H. WEAVER VIA RAF MUSEUM

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performance, Freeman remained determined that the aircraft should be unarmed. He worked very closely with DH to ensure this, officially instructing the firm to liaise only through him. At a meeting of the Air Staff on 12 December 1939, Freeman eventually obtained approval for 50 unarmed Merlin-powered DH98s, making it clear that two distinct variants would have to be produced: a high-speed bomber, to be re-engined each year to maintain its performance ascendancy over contemporary fighters, and a photo-reconnaissance version. That same day a draft specification was communicated to DH chief designer R. E. Bishop and a mock-up conference set for 29 December, an Air Ministry letter of intent for 50 aircraft subsequently being despatched to DH on 23 January 1940. It speaks highly of Freeman’s foresight that he was able to persuade the Air Council to back this project.

The initial contract, for 50 aircraft, was issued on 1 March 1940. Such was the over-riding importance now being attached to longerrange photo-reconnaissance that 20 were originally switched from bomber to PR fit, although this was later changed to 10. The other 10 reverted to bombers, as PR/Bomber Conversions or BIV Series Is. The batch would be further modified to include fighter variants but, nevertheless, this first production order would probably not have proceeded had there not existed a clear operational requirement for a fast, long-range PR aircraft. Of these first 50 aeroplanes, Freeman proposed, “to place no separate order for prototypes but to arrange for the first 6 of an order for 50 to be regarded as research/ development in the sense that they will be produced under relaxed control, such as would have been used in an experimental order to save time on construction”.

These airframes — serials W4050, W4051, W4052, W4053, W4057 and W4073 — were inspected by the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate for workmanship only, subsequent examples being subject to normal AID inspection control during construction.

❖ Powered by Merlin 21s, the PRIs were based on the original first prototype Mosquito, W4050. They retained the latter’s ‘short’ engine/ undercarriage nacelles and full-span one-piece flaps, its short-span, 19ft 5.5in ‘No 1’ tailplane, and ducted engine exhaust system. The engine/ undercarriage nacelle arrangement caused aerodynamic tail buffeting problems on W4050, this issue being overcome by extending the nacelle line rearwards, necessitating splitting the flaps down the centreline and joining the two halves either side of the extension. In the interests of hastening production, the original

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nacelle layout remained a feature of all PRIs and BIV Series Is. The only visual difference between W4050 and the PRI was the slightly increased wingspan, W4050 featuring ‘clipped’ wingtips for a total span of 52ft 5in, compared to the standard production span of 54ft 2in. W4051 and the first production PRI, W4054, bore the brunt of initial development trials during the summer of 1941. The PRI could be equipped with three vertical cameras, two positioned at the forward end of the ventral compartment and one in the aft lower section of the rear fuselage. This was later increased to four cameras including an obliquely mounted unit on the fuselage port side, immediately aft of the wing root. Of the 10 aircraft built, four — W4060, W4061, W4062 and W4063 — were completed as long-range machines with a 151-gallon overload fuel tank (the PRI’s normal fuel load was 536 gallons) installed in the fuselage, its contents being supplied to the main system by electrically operated immersed fuel pumps. W4062 and W4063 were tropicalised and featured altered radiator flap settings in comparison to earlier production airframes. PRIs boasted a maximum speed of 384mph in high supercharger gear at 22,000ft and their loaded weight came in at 19,360lb. The Mosquito PRI admirably met requirements for a long-range platform to supplement No 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit’s Spitfires. Aside from increased range, it offered other advantages including the ability to carry two additional cameras, its navigational radio — plus operator — and the security offered by twin engines, especially on long-distance flights over water. Of the 10 PRIs produced, seven were lost during operational flights, the remaining three going on to serve with No 8 Operational Training Unit at Dyce. They ranged far and wide with the PRU, photographing the Franco-Spanish border, Norway and the Baltic ports, and even operating from Vayenga (now Severomorsk) in north-eastern Russia. Aside from being the prototype PRI, W4051 was significant for being the initial Mosquito delivery to the RAF, arriving at Benson for No 1 PRU on 13 July 1941. W4054, the first production aircraft, arrived nine days later, augmented by W4055 on 7 August. During these early weeks,

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crews familiarised themselves with the new aircraft, taking to it well. In preparation for its operational debut, much time was expended in ensuring the camera installations were satisfactory, including the substitution of metal mountings for wooden units which cured a problem with vibration. Issues were encountered with the deformation of the oil tanks, these tending to foul the main undercarriage units. Modifications were hurriedly

“

The first order may not have proceeded without a requirement for a fast, long-range PR aircraft

”

undertaken, and the problem solved by mid-September. The Secretary of State for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair, paid an official visit to Benson on 13 September and took a 15-minute flight in W4055 flown by Sqn Ldr Rupert Clerke. He and Flt Lt Alastair Taylor were No 1 PRU’s leading pilots, both instrumental in proving the Mosquito PRI’s operational

effectiveness. The unit informally christened its PRIs after varieties of liqueur, W4055 being named Benedictine and W4059 Curacao. Others are believed to have included Whisky, Vodka, Drambuie, Cointreau and Crème de Menthe, although it is not known precisely which aircraft these were assigned to. The Mosquito PRI’s maiden operational flight took place on 17 September 1941 when W4055, flown by Rupert Clerke and navigated by Sgt Henry Sowerbutts, took off from Benson at 11.30hrs on a reconnaissance flight to Brest and the frontier between Spain and France. W4055 returned early at 17.45 due to what the squadron operations record book described as “technical trouble”, caused by an overheating generator as a blank had not been removed from a cooling duct. This caused the cameras to cease working, but not before images of Bordeaux had been captured. The first completely successful operation occurred on 20 September when W4055, in the hands of Flt Lt Alistair Taylor DFC and navigator Sgt Sidney Horsfall, photographed the Sylt-Heligoland region of northern Germany. During October 16 sorties were flown over Norwegian targets including Stavanger, Oslo and Kristiansand by three aircraft temporarily detached to Wick, Clerke conducting a record-breaking one-hour 32-minute return flight from Benson on the 15th.

BELOW: Bordeaux photographed on 17 September 1941 during the first operational sortie by a Mosquito PRI, W4055. Shortly after this image was captured the cameras ceased to function. IAN THIRSK COLLECTION

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MOSQUITO SALUTE PRI histories

“

W4051, W4055, W4059 and the first long-range PRI, W4060, were permanently transferred to Wick the following month under the command of the newly promoted Sqn Ldr Alistair Taylor. He and Horsfall were shot down on 4 December during a reconnaissance flight to Trondheim and Bergen in W4055, this being the initial loss of a PRI. Shortly afterwards the Wick detachment moved to Leuchars, and on 5 January 1942 Flt Lt John Merifield flew to Gdynia and Danzig in long-range PRI W4061, the first time these targets had been reached by a Mosquito. Due to cloud cover, the flight was unsuccessful. During February, W4051 operated to the Franco-Spanish border. Crewed by Flt Lt Victor Ricketts and navigator Sgt Boris Lukhmanoff, it photographed the German battlecruiser Gneisenau in dry dock at Kiel and on the 22nd of that month. Images of the latter’s sister-ship, the Scharnhorst, were captured at Wilhelmshaven by W4060 on 2 March. Planning for Operation

The PRI’s high performance enabled it to evade enemy fighters on several occasions

”

‘Chariot’, the British commando attack on the Normandie dry dock at Saint-Nazaire, also benefitted greatly from photographic coverage of the French coast obtained during early March by W4051 and W4060. W4051 was further employed by Ricketts and Lukhmanoff on 4 March when low-level photos were taken following the Bomber Command attack on the Renault works at Billancourt just outside Paris (see Aeroplane November 2015). Ricketts recounted his experiences of this flight to workers at DH’s Hatfield factory: “The job came to our unit, and it was just about weather like today, and it was considered for a time that we could not cope. However, the Mosquito as we use it is equipped with wireless, whereas most PRU aeroplanes are not. After talking things over with my observer, I decided that we could probably get home safely using wireless, so we offered to have a stab at this job. At the time of leaving [Benson] we could not see across the aerodrome.

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I thought, ‘Are you a sucker to take this on?’ but it was too late to turn back then, as we had lost sight of the ground, and we did not see ground again until my observer, Boris, who is a Russian and a very keen type, said, ‘Well, I think we are somewhere near Rouen, not very far from Paris, and it is time we came down’. We found the River Seine and, as it was quite obvious we could not navigate to Paris by that weather, we decided to fly along the twisting river. Finally Boris said, ‘There it is’ and just caught a glimpse of roofs full of holes 500ft below. We had not time to take a picture, so Boris got his cameras ready and we hurried back, found the river and Boris said, ‘Here’s the factory’, started his camera and said, ‘Oh boy, oh boy did they give that place the works!’ We went over it once, across the middle, and then it vanished into the mist again.”

❖ Norway continued to be the focus of Mosquito operations, the second PRI loss taking place on 2 April 1942 when W4056 was shot down by Messerschmitt Bf 109s over Stavanger. By this time No 1 PRU desperately required additional examples, several converted FIIs and BIVs supplementing the PRIs at Benson. On 24 April, Ricketts used W4059 to capture photos of the damage caused during the low-level attack by No 44 Squadron Lancasters on the MAN diesel engine plant at Augsburg. As predicted, the PRI’s high performance enabled it to evade enemy fighters on several occasions, as recounted by No 1 PRU pilot John Merifield: “We were flying in W4061 on 30 March 1942 over Trondheim at 18,000ft in FS [full supercharger] gear at 2,400 revs at the time. I noticed an Me 109 in my mirror about half a mile behind and 500 feet above. It was making a trail of black smoke, presumably because it was at full throttle. I increased revs to 3,000, switched over to MS [medium supercharger], pulled the cut-out and dived gently. My observer reported another 109 on our starboard quarter about the same distance behind. We levelled off at 14,000 feet but did not seem to draw ahead. After a quarter of an hour, they were no longer to be seen, so boost was reduced to 6lb and revs to 2,700.” Meanwhile, the long-range PRIs were more than proving their

worth, W4060 obtaining photos of the battle-cruiser Scharnhorst and the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin in dock at Gdynia on 2 June 1942. The RAF’s PRU Detachment in North Russia was despatched to Vayenga in August 1942 with the objective of obtaining photographic coverage of the battleship Tirpitz at anchorage. Sqn Ldr Young flew the second long-range PRI, W4061, to Vayenga on 23 September 1942, the aircraft returning home a month later. No 540 Squadron was formed on 19 October 1942 from H and L Flights of No 1 PRU at Leuchars, and as newer marks arrived the last surviving PRIs continued to serve on photoreconnaissance operations with 540 until well into 1943. The last MkIs on active service were W4051, W4059 and W4061, all of which were passed to No 8 OTU between July and August 1943. The PRI paved the way for subsequent Mosquito operations, proving the design’s spectacular performance and development potential, and forcing the Air Ministry to realise the need for this great all-rounder. More generally, the Mosquito was instrumental to the success of RAF photoreconnaissance operations. Fourteen years later it ended its first-line career in this role, being replaced in homebased squadrons by the Canberra PR3 in 1953 but continuing in service in the Far East until December 1955. That, of course, is another story.

MOSQUITO PRI HISTORIES W4051 (c/n 98003) Manufactured at the Salisbury Hall site, W4051 served as the prototype PRI but its original fuselage was diverted to W4050 after the latter was damaged during Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment trials at Boscombe Down. W4051 was subsequently fitted with a production PRI fuselage and final assembly was completed at Hatfield on 24 May 1941. DH test pilot George Gibbins carried out the maiden flight on 10 June 1941 before Wg Cdr Geoffrey Tuttle of No 1 PRU at Benson, desperately keen to get his hands on W4051, test-flew it from Hatfield two days later. On 25 June, the aircraft was delivered to the A&AEE at Boscombe Down to commence official

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LEFT: Later in its career with No 1 PRU, W4051 wears unit code letters LY-U. By this stage it featured an oblique camera installation on the port side, visible just forward of the fuselage roundel. IAN THIRSK COLLECTION

acceptance trials, but three days after that it bounced on landing at the Wiltshire airfield due to the rough ground, causing the tailwheel to collapse. Following repairs, W4051 was delivered to No 1 PRU before returning to the A&AEE in October for cabin and camera temperature monitoring trials, by which time three cameras had been installed. W4051 operated to Cherbourg and Le Havre on 6 January 1942 in the hands of Plt Off Kelly. Flt Lt Victor Ricketts and Sgt Boris Lukhmanoff photographed the Franco-Spanish frontier on 20 February and completed sorties throughout February and March to Kiel and Emden, Paris and Tours, and the Saltee Islands off south-eastern Ireland. Upon conversion to long-range PRI configuration, W4051 was issued to No 521 Squadron on 20 September 1942, but it was transferred to the newly formed No 540 Squadron 10 days later. Two sorties were flown in November 1942, the first to the eastern border between France and Spain in the hands of Plt Off M. A. Mortimer and Flt Sgt M. Pike on 2 November. The same crew took off in W4051 for Toulon and Genoa on 7 November but made an early return due to fuel problems. At 17.20hrs Mortimer landed at Fairoaks, but W4051 skidded sideways on the wet grass and collided with parked Blenheim I K7118. Repaired, W4051 returned to No 1 PRU, but on 16 April 1943 Sgt J. Parkinson swung off the Benson runway, causing the undercarriage to collapse. Repairs were finished by late August 1943, after which the Mosquito was transferred to No 8 Operational Training Unit at Dyce near Aberdeen. It provided a full photo-reconnaissance training

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syllabus with courses of threemonth, and up to 50-flying hour, duration. While parked at Dyce on 22 November 1943, W4051 was hit by Mosquito PRIV DK314. The damage was extensive, so repairs were undertaken at Hatfield and the aircraft returned to service in March 1944. W4051 suffered two more undercarriage collapse incidents, the last on 19 July 1944. The veteran PRI was not repaired, remaining in storage until being struck off charge on 22 June 1945.

W4054 (c/n 98005) The second PRI and the first production example, W4054 made its maiden flight on 20 June 1941 in the hands of Geoffrey de Havilland Jr. It required an engine change prior to acceptance, and on 28 June reached No 51 Maintenance Unit at Lichfield where it was prepared for service. W4054 was flown to A&AEE Boscombe Down on 22 July before passing through Rolls-Royce at Hucknall for an investigation into engine cut-outs at 30,000ft. The latter problem took time to overcome, the situation being exacerbated by the extremely high summer temperatures. No 1 PRU received W4054 on 30 July 1941, but it returned in October to Boscombe where both engines were changed. Fuel consumption trials were undertaken by the A&AEE, the results indicating, “that at a weight of 17,000lb the best ASI [air speed indicated] to aim at for optimum range is 210mph, except at very high altitudes where it would seem that better results may be obtained at a slightly lower speed. The minimum comfortable speed for continuous cruising is 190mph ASI.” W4054 photographed the Gnome-Rhône engine works in

Paris on 30 May 1942, flown by Flt Lt Victor Ricketts and Sgt Boris Lukhmanoff. During this sortie they also photographed the Renault plant at Billancourt and ‘met’ a Heinkel He 111! W4054 moved to Leuchars on 23 June, Flg Off O. Higson operating to Bergen three days later. Attached to No 540 Squadron’s ‘A’ Flight from 13 September, W4054 underwent repairs between 5 December 1942 and 14 January 1943. Operational sorties recommenced on 2 February when Flt Sgt P. J. O’Neill and Sgt A. Lockyer photographed Kristiansand, the Skagerrak strait and Copenhagen. Sorties to Norway and the Baltic ports continued until 28 March 1943 when Flt Lt Norman Denys Sinclair and Fg Off Wilfred Nelson operated W4054 to Trondheim. They did not return. At 13.20hrs the Mosquito was shot down by the Bf 109 of Ofw Theo Stebner from 10./JG 5, who attacked W4054 twice, initially over the fjord and lastly over Skatval. W4054 crashed and burned in a field. Sinclair abandoned the aircraft and survived as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III at Sagan, but Nelson was killed. W4054 was officially struck off charge on 31 March 1943.

BELOW: An unidentified PRI, probably W4055, undergoing maintenance at Benson. Note the complex ducted exhaust system with its exit in line with the top rear section of the engine. This was a feature of all PRIs and BIV Series Is and proved extremely troublesome, being replaced on later variants by a flamedamping ‘saxophone’ system or separate stubs. RAF MUSEUM

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MOSQUITO SALUTE PRI histories to Genoa, La Spezia and Livorno on 10 June, but the escape hatch blew off during take-off. After landing safely the hatch was replaced and they continued the sortie, flying for eight hours and taking in Lyon, Vienne, Valence, Avignon, Marseille, Toulon, Nice, Monaco, Livorno, Pisa and La Spezia. On 17 October 1942 Fg Off Donald Higson and Sgt John Douglas Hayes took off from Leuchars at 09.30hrs for operations over Norway but failed to return.

W4059 (c/n 98010)

ABOVE: Among the notable missions notched up by long-range PRI W4060 was a sortie to the Renault plant at Billancourt on 8 March 1942, Flt Lt Victor Ricketts and Sgt Boris Lukhmanoff following up their low-level post-strike PR mission covering the same objective four days earlier. KEY COLLECTION

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W4055 (c/n 98006)

W4056 (c/n 98007)

W4055’s first flight was carried out by DH test pilot George Gibbins on 22 July 1941, the aircraft being delivered to No 51 MU at Lichfield shortly afterwards. It briefly returned to Hatfield prior to entering service with No 1 PRU on 7 August and being christened Benedictine. This aircraft carried out the inaugural Mosquito PRI operational sortie, when Sqn Ldr Rupert Clerke and Sgt Henry Sowerbutts set out for Brest and the Franco-Spanish frontier on 17 September 1941. Due to technical problems which stopped the cameras working, W4055 returned early, but not before images of Bordeaux had been captured. Two days later, Flt Lt Alistair Taylor photographed shipping near Bordeaux, thus completing the first completely successful mission by a Mosquito. Taylor flew W4055 to Heligoland and Sylt on 20 September; on 6 October, while operating from Wick, it photographed Stavanger, Egersund and Voss. At 10.15hrs on 4 December 1941, Taylor and Sgt Sidney Horsfall took off from Wick, heading for Trondheim and Bergen. W4055 crashed into the sea off Stavanger, the first loss of a Mosquito by No 1 PRU. It is believed the aircraft was damaged by German high-level anti-aircraft fire and then shot down by Fw 190 pilot Uffz Rudolf Fenten of 1/JG 77 (his first victory) at 15.20hrs. W4055 is recorded as having flown 15 operational sorties but the actual tally was probably higher.

Geoffrey de Havilland Jr took W4056 into the air for the first time on 11 August 1941. It was cleared for delivery on 24 August and flown to No 1 PRU at Benson the next day. Assigned code letters LY-S, W4056 served until 2 April 1942 when it went missing during a reconnaissance mission to Trondheim. Flown by Plt Off Ian Hutchinson with Plt Off Basil Allen as navigator, it was attacked by two Bf 109s of JG 1, Oblt Herbert Huppertz of 12./JG 1 claiming W4056 which made a forced landing on the German-occupied airfield at Ørland. Hutchinson and Allen set fire to their mount before being captured by the Germans.

W4058 (c/n 98009) No 1 PRU’s second operational PRI, W4058’s maiden flight was completed on 14 August 1941 by George Gibbins. Delivered to No 1 PRU on 6 September, W4058 was ferried to Leuchars that day. On 11 October Fg Off McEwan took off from Leuchars for a sortie to Bergen, Herlo and Trondheim. McEwan flew W4058’s next mission to Ålesund, Herlo and Bergen on 29 October, 12 operations in total being notched up by W4058 in 1941. Long-range tanks were installed at Hatfield in early February 1942, W4058 returning to Leuchars and later operating to Trondheim on 20 April. Flt Lt Victor Ricketts and Sgt Boris Lukhmanoff departed Benson on a reconnaissance flight

John de Havilland conducted W4059’s maiden flight on 1 September 1941, the aircraft being delivered to No 1 PRU at Benson on 13 September. Sqn Ldr Clerke damaged W4059 while landing on 23 September, but repairs were completed by December. Assigned the codes LY-N, W4059 transferred to Leuchars on 17 December and operated to Ålesund plus Haugesund, Bergen and Stavanger on 22 December, piloted by Flt Lt John Merifield and Fg Off W. Whalley. W4059 had completed 44 sorties when it was transferred back to Benson on 4 July 1942, operating to El Ferrol, A Coruña and Santander on 14 July crewed by Flt Lt Wooll and Sgt Fielden. ‘B’ Flight, No 540 Squadron received W4059 on 19 October 1942, the Mosquito returning to Leuchars prior to joining ‘A’ Flight. Transferred to No 8 OTU on 29 July 1943, W4059 landed heavily at Dyce on 28 November when a loose screw jammed the aileron controls and the aircraft swung, causing the port undercarriage to collapse. It underwent repairs but was eventually written off and struck off charge on 20 September 1944. During its operational career W4059 is believed to have flown 59 sorties.

W4060 (c/n 98011) W4060 was the first long-range PRI, DH test pilot George Gibbins conducting its maiden flight on 5 September 1941. Declared ready for acceptance on 25 September, W4060 was delivered to A&AEE Boscombe Down for trials including oil-cooling, cabin and camera heating, tailwheel shimmy, extended aft centre of gravity limits and the overload fuel system. Allocated to No 1 PRU on 8 January 1942, W4060 flew its first operation on 2 March to

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Wilhelmshaven and the French coast, capturing images of the German battle-cruiser Scharnhorst. Its undercarriage failed to lock down on arrival at Leuchars on 6 July and the starboard unit collapsed during landing. Following repairs, the machine passed to No 540 Squadron and on 30 January 1943 Flt Sgt J. Mair and Plt Off D. George flew to Trondheim, photographing the battleship Tirpitz in the Lofjord. Flt Sgt David O’Neil, RCAF and Sgt Alfred Lockyer took off for a reconnaissance flight over Bergen and Stavanger on 20 February 1943, but failed to return. The cause of their loss is not clear, but both were killed, being laid to rest in Bergen’s Møllendal cemetery. This was W4060’s 14th operational sortie, the aircraft being struck off charge on 21 February 1943.

W4061 (c/n 98012) George Gibbins made W4061’s maiden flight on 21 September 1941, the aircraft — a very longrange PRI — entering service at Leuchars with No 1 PRU on 15 October. Exactly two months later it operated to Oslo and Horten, but was damaged on 2 April 1942 in a take-off accident at Leuchars. On 23

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August it was detached to Vayenga, being ferried there by Sqn Ldr Young for operations to photograph the Tirpitz. On returning to Leuchars W4060 was transferred to No 540 Squadron’s ‘A’ Flight. It operated to Trondheim on 30 October, flown by Flt Lt D. Vandamm and Sgt H. Evans, and located the Tirpitz in Tromsø on 5 November. Allocated to No 8 OTU on 27 July 1943, W4061’s career ended in February 1944 when Flt Lt J. Tasker crashlanded into a ploughed field near Dyce following engine failure on take-off. W4061 was struck off charge, having accumulated 622 hours 35 minutes’ flying time.

W4062 (c/n 98013) The first of the tropicalised longrange PRIs, W4062’s maiden flight was carried out by John de Havilland on 27 September 1941, the aircraft being declared ready for acceptance a week later. Delivered to No 1 PRU at Benson on 19 October 1941, W4062 was flown to Malta in January 1942 where it appears to have been attached to No 69 Squadron. Flown by Plt Off J. Kelley with Sgt Sowerbutts as observer, W4062 was damaged by flak over Pantelleria

on 13 January 1942, crash-landing on its return to Luqa after an engine cut caused the aircraft to stall on approach to land. The Mosquito was badly damaged and was struck off charge a week later.

W4063 (c/n 98014) Another tropicalised long-range example, W4063 was taken into the air for the first time by Pat Fillingham on 10 October 1941. Ready for acceptance on 22 October, it was received by No 1 PRU at Benson eight days later. Flown out to Malta via Gibraltar in January 1942, its career — like W4062’s — was short-lived. Attached to No 69 Squadron at Luqa, it was badly damaged by bombing on 29 January, DH representative Adrian Maule travelling from Egypt to supervise repairs. Flown by Plt Off J. Kelley with Sgt Pike as observer, W4063 took off for a photo-reconnaissance mission to Tripoli on 31 March but was recalled 15 minutes after departure. While preparing to land the Mosquito was badly damaged by a Bf 109, believed to have been flown by Ofw Rudolf Ehrenberger of 6./JG 53, and made a wheels-up landing at Luqa. W4063 was struck off charge on 31 March.

ABOVE: No 1 PRU had W4059 on strength from 13 September 1941 until a landing incident and subsequent transfer to No 540 Squadron. CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY

BELOW LEFT: German soldiers inspecting the remains of W4056’s tail surfaces following its forced landing at Ørland, Norway on 2 April 1942. IAN THIRSK COLLECTION

BELOW: A rare image of W4063 immediately after its crashlanding at Luqa on 31 March 1942. ANTHONY ROGERS COLLECTION

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MOSQUITO SALUTE No 627 Squadron

OUT IN FRONT

A No 627 Squadron group photo with one of the unit’s Mosquitos, during Kenneth Oatley’s time on this Pathfinder Force unit. VIA KENNETH OATLEY

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In some measure forgotten by comparison with its illustrious dam-busting sister unit at RAF Woodhall Spa, No 627 Squadron was nevertheless instrumental in many a Bomber Command raid through its Mosquitoequipped role with the Pathfinder Force. We talked to one of its navigators for a unique first-hand account WORDS: ROGER R. BROWN

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MOSQUITO SALUTE No 627 Squadron in a shed with a row of taps down one side. No privacy there. The officers fabricated themselves a mess from one end of a Nissen hut. Basic, yes, but a place to go for a drink, to relax and play cards. One night Guy Gibson walked in when the mess was busy and was ignored. Obviously unhappy about his lack of recognition, he said very loudly, “Do you know who I am?” He was promptly debagged by some Australian pilots and dumped outside the mess. 617’s mess, of course, was in the rather grand Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa. Having spent the late summer of 1944 practising 627’s trademark of dive bomb-marking, Ken and Jock quickly formed a tight, efficient unit in the cockpit. On 18 August 1944 they were tasked with their maiden operational sortie, flying Mosquito FBIV DZ635/AZ-N.

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ABOVE: Having learned to fly on Tiger Moths with No 19 Elementary Flying Training School at Sealand from July-October 1941, Kenneth Oatley moved on to the multi-engine phase as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, flying the Oxford with No 35 Service Flying Training School at North Battleford, Manitoba. However, he was failed as a pilot, thus retraining back in Britain as a navigator. VIA KENNETH OATLEY

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AF Scampton, July 1944. One morning, while waiting for his next posting, Plt Off Kenneth Oatley recalls being woken by a strange officer and told to grab his things. “Are you Oatley?” the man asked. “Yes”. “You’re to report to the station adjutant’s office and join me. We’ve just been posted to RAF Woodhall Spa to join No 627 Squadron on Mosquitos!” “The chap who woke me that day ended up being my pilot, Fg Off ‘Jock’ Walker”, Oatley says. “He was new to Mosquitos at the time as well. A real Scot if there ever was one — he loved his whisky”. He was fond of his new mount, too. “The Mosquito was a wonderful aircraft”, continues Oatley. “You simply couldn’t do better. Everyone wanted to be on Mosquitos. It was that simple: you

were masters of your own destiny. At least, you felt that way.” However, No 627 Squadron played second fiddle to 617, who considered Woodhall Spa was theirs and resented the appearance of these little wooden aeroplanes on their hallowed airfield. In fact, one night a boldly painted sign materialised on the door of 627’s hangar saying, ‘627 Model Aeroplane Club’. In return, there appeared on one of 617’s hangar doors ‘No 617 Operational Training Unit’. Thus, honour was satisfied on both sides. Living conditions for the ground and aircrews were extremely primitive. The only accommodation on offer comprised Nissen huts on the far side of the base. All 627’s personnel, whether NCOs, officers or aircraftsmen, washed and shaved

“Our first op was a daylight sortie, targeting Forêt de l’Isle-Adam, a forest to the north of Paris. If you’ve ever looked at a map of northern France, I can tell you there are woods everywhere! I was confident as we’d had a few test flights and they had all gone smoothly. It was a beautiful day and we’d been tasked with marking a road junction next to this wood. I think my nerves got on top of me and my navigation went out of the window. How we got there, I have no idea, but we arrived on-target on time, more by luck than judgement. “Experience led Jock to mark simple markings with a chinagraph pencil on the inside of the windscreen. He was certainly one of the best markers on the squadron as far as accuracy [was concerned]. We perfected the art of approaching the target at about 1,500ft, before descending to 300ft; sometimes as low as 200ft. “A typical load included target indicators, TIs, in various colours — reds, greens and yellows. If the Germans guessed what we were using, they would often place dummy markers away from key sites to confuse an incoming raid. We had to have the ability to mark a target with a different colour. “We were first on site, so Jock called out, ‘Tally ho’ and we dived onto the junction from about 1,500ft. We dropped to about 300ft. As we dived down, I can still remember seeing it: this figure on a bicycle coming down the road, pedalling like the clappers. What he was

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thinking I have no idea, but I just hoped he wasn’t engulfed by our 30ft circle of TIs we placed on that junction. “I’ll never forget that day — my first operational sortie in a Mosquito. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The perfect flying day. There were so many aircraft overhead: British, American, German. Bombers and fighters duelling above, parachutes coming down. We had some view from down on the deck. We flew home and I was quite relieved to touch down safely.” Apparently, the site was used as a storage for V1 ‘flying bombs’ and several hundred tons of ordnance were dropped on it by Bomber Command. As Ken points out, despite having taken off approximately two hours after the Lancasters which comprised the main force, Mosquito crews often landed back home, completed the intelligence debrief, had eaten supper and were just heading to bed when the Lancasters returned from the same raid. Despite a ‘cosy’ cockpit arrangement, operating the Mosquito for hours on end wasn’t something that fazed Ken. “It didn’t bother us. On the Lancaster you had a navigational table about 6ft by 3ft, which was ideal. You had all your charts laid out in full and all your instruments to hand to make sure that you were on track. We didn’t have that in the ‘Mossie’ — we had a folding table to the side, but we never used it. We just got a bit of plywood cut to 18in square and screwed the computer on one corner, with maps strapped to it with rubber bands. All our instruments — pencils, rubbers, protractors — were tied on with string. “Generally speaking, we were a little carefree. When we climbed on board, we threw our parachutes into the nose of the aircraft. We flew in battledress and shoes. I rarely needed a flying jacket as we never flew above 15,000ft — I think we were supposed to operate above 20,000ft but we never saw anyone else. We had no contact with other aircraft on the squadron.” Ken recalls an event in early September 1944 that puzzles him to this day. On 1 September he and Jock were ordered to fly in their Mosquito to RAF Wyton where No 1409 Flight, a meteorology flight, was based. There they undertook two weeks’ comprehensive training on weather forecasting.

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There was a requirement for a Mosquito to fly 200 miles ahead of a main bomber force and assess the weather conditions over the target. If conditions were good, they would give the go-ahead by radio. If not, they would have the raid aborted. At Wyton the procedure was to fly to 30,000ft, taking note of external temperatures as they flew up through the clouds and log them as they climbed. Having completed the flight, either Ken or Jock had to telephone the Air Ministry with their temperature readings. They flew two weather forecast flights, and Ken remembers one

“

Everyone wanted to be on Mosquitos. You were masters of your own destiny

”

of them very well. “We climbed to 30,000ft, leaving a big hole in the cloud, and at 30,000ft it was clear blue sky. Having completed our task of recording the temperatures, we dived down and headed back to our base. Unfortunately, the cloudbase had dropped to below 1,000ft, making the airfield almost invisible. I switched on Gee [the radio navigation system] and got the usual picture of an uncut lawn. The trick was to pick the longest piece of ‘grass’; to get the wrong one would be a disaster. I made my choice and applied the reading to the chart. It seemed reasonably OK, so when

we arrived at the chosen graticule, I turned onto it. Following the strobes, I gave [as few] changes of direction as possible so as not to upset Jock. We then made an almost blind landing on the airfield. After that nerve-wracking experience, we then had to phone the Air Ministry with our ‘logged’ temperature readings.” At the end of the week Ken was due some leave. He and an RAF mate travelled by train to Ken’s home in Frome, Somerset, with the intention of ‘borrowing’ his father’s car and driving back to Woodhall Spa. The car was a rather splendid one-and-a-half-litre Jaguar. It was a long, tiring journey, so they set out at seven o’clock in the morning to get back on time. In 1944 there were no road signs, as they had been taken down in the event of an invasion, and neither Ken nor his colleague had any road maps. Consequently they were very late returning to No 627 Squadron. They arrived at the camp’s main gate and were greeted by an irate voice from the tannoy saying, “Flt Sgt Oatley to report to operations immediately”. This summons followed them through the camp until Ken parked his Jaguar alongside the CO’s ‘Green Label’ Bentley and the flight commander’s Alvis and reported in. They were on operations that evening. He was briefed on his own. They were to fly to Manston to refuel, then depart over to mainland Europe to assess the weather for the bombers en route to their target. Manston was fogged-in, but they were able to land there. However, the forecasting operation was called off. Ken was puzzled for two reasons. For one, he was the newest navigator on No 627 Squadron, so why pick

BELOW: Black-painted Mosquito IV DZ518/AZ-F of No 627 Squadron at Oakington in January 1944. The unit had been formed at the Cambridgeshire station on 12 November the previous year. D. GARTON

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MOSQUITO SALUTE No 627 Squadron based navigational aid developed by experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “When we were tasked to Dresden on 13 February 1945, I wasn’t worried. I thought I’d try the new system as my Gee wasn’t working particularly well that night. From the Dutch border I was able to tell my pilot to correct left and right, all the way down the track. Never having used the system before, I was thinking, ‘God knows how this is going to work’. I knew what time we should arrive on the target, and, as it happened, LORAN indicated we had reached the bisecting signal.

❖

ABOVE: Four stills from a very rare colour film of 627’s ‘Mossie’ operations from Woodhall Spa after the D-Day period, hence the invasion stripes visible on some of the aeroplanes. It was shot by one of the squadron’s navigators, Brian Harris DFC.

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him? Secondly, the radios in the Mosquitos were short-wave. They simply did not have enough range to fly 200 miles ahead of the main bomber force and send radio reports back to them. The raid on Mönchengladbach, when Guy Gibson was lost, also sticks in Ken’s memory. “It was the night of 19-20 September. Everything went smoothly; we marked the target and, as we were coming off, Guy Gibson — in his role as master bomber — called up on the radio to say that we weren’t marking the correct location. He ordered us off the target and then insisted on running in to re-mark the target himself. “Number one had already marked. We’d followed up right behind him and our TIs landed inside the engine sheds, precisely on the aiming point. They were burning inside the sheds, but Gibson insisted we’d marked the wrong site. He ordered us off the target and went down to mark it himself, and that was the last transmission anyone heard from his aircraft. “Our number one realised something had gone wrong and called the markers back so we could complete the job before calling the main force in. Guy Gibson had never done the job of marking before. “That was the only mission in which I encountered significant flak in the 22 ops I flew. We were so low as we left that night. We flew below the tree-tops and light flak tracer could be seen passing overhead and past my window, almost within reach.”

As a pathfinder, Ken’s job was to keep his aircraft on track using Gee until the system’s maximum range was reached. Thereafter, employing wind speed calculations gathered during the North Sea crossing — corrected with the aid of Gee — Ken was able to plot a predicted course across Germany. “However”, he says, “the system wasn’t foolproof as weather patterns would shift the deeper you penetrated into enemy airspace. The goal was always to be on target

“

I hoped he wasn’t engulfed by our 30ft circle of TIs we placed on that junction

”

precisely three minutes before the Lancaster pathfinders arrived on the scene and 10 minutes before the arrival of the main force. The ‘Lancs’ dropped flares for us to see. Then we went in under them to mark a specific area.” The new year brought a further technological development. “I had been on leave in early February 1945, and when I got back, I could see this new box on a ledge behind my head. I wasn’t instructed on LORAN at all”. The LORAN (long-range navigation) system was a radio-

“I told my pilot to conduct a rateone turn, which would shave three minutes off our estimated time of arrival. At that precise moment the first two squadrons of Lancasters dropped thousands of illuminating flares over the city. We were orbiting just to the outskirts and it worked perfectly, perhaps helped by a little luck. We started our approach onto the target and Jock was about to commence our marker run when number one called ‘Tally ho’ on the target as well. We had to wait for him to clear before we ran in.” No 627 Squadron dispatched seven aircraft on that infamous night. The Mosquitos were tasked with marking one of three football stadiums, specifically the middle one, in central Dresden. “We placed our markers on the aiming point perfectly and then orbited the city for approximately 10 minutes at a height of about 500ft. Just as we were ordered off the target, the first of the 4,000lb bombs began to land. The explosion was tremendous — you could feel the concussion in the Mosquito. It was enough to throw us violently in the air as we started our track home.” Just after his promotion to pilot officer, at Woodhall Spa Ken met his future wife Irene, with whom he was to spend the next 55 years. Irene used to work in the parachute section, behind the station head office. “I got to know her well and she used to prepare hot chocolate and toast for us at 11 o’clock”, says Ken. “I used to go there regularly to get that. We were married before I finished operations, so sometimes I was able to come and join her in bed after a sortie. I remember one morning asking her, ‘Don’t you know where I’ve been?’ and she replied, ‘Oh, I know where you have been.

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You’ve been to Dresden’. So much for security!” On 25-26 April 1945, the final operation on which Ken Oatley flew was also the last strategic Bomber Command raid of World War Two. The target was an oil refinery at Vallø, part of the Tønsberg municipality in southern Norway, which was still under German occupation. It supposedly supplied oil to U-boats which remained at large in the Atlantic and North Sea. At the time of the raid the tanks were virtually empty, but the site was heavily defended by a mass of anti-aircraft guns. Some 107 Lancasters and five Mosquitos of No 5 Group’s squadrons took off from Woodhall

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Spa on the evening of the 25th. All the Lancasters returned to base after the raid bar one: it crash-landed in Sweden, the last example of the type to be lost during wartime. Its entire crew survived. Ken has especially strong memories of the raid. “We were on time at the target and dropped a marker in the centre of the target which was surrounded by AA guns, and so positioned that, when they fired, the tracers formed a cone of fire over the oil refinery. As we had to drop our TIs at 300-400ft, we had to fly right through the middle of the cone of fire. Before we left Woodhall Spa I had been promoted to flying officer, and as I crouched down in

the cockpit the thought struck me that this might be my one and only flight as an officer! “Jock called, ‘Tally ho, number two’ and I made myself as small as possible in the cockpit. I had, in fact, to crouch down to keep Jock informed of the altimeter readings as he peered through the windscreen, lining up his target marker — a pencilled cross on the windscreen — to the oil refinery. The flak around the Mosquito was so intense, it seemed that every tracer had our name on it, but to our surprise our ‘Mossie’ escaped unscathed.” Ken flew a total of 22 missions with No 627 Squadron. He was earmarked to be transferred with the rest of the unit to the Far East to take the fight to the Japanese, flying from Okinawa. “By that point, as a flying officer, I was one of the most experienced navigators on the squadron and one of the few with experience on the MkVI H2S ground radar, which would have been used to target the Japanese mainland. Thankfully, that was never necessary.” Completing his service with six months at RAF Marham on the Bomber Command Development Unit, tasked with honing H2S radarguided bombing, Ken was eventually demobbed in July 1946. As for No 627 Squadron, it conducted 1,058 sorties as part of No 5 Group, losing 15 Mosquitos and 35 crew members in the process. The author thanks Kenneth Oatley’s son Rodger for arranging the meetings with his father.

LEFT: Technicians attend to the starboard Merlin on No 627 Squadron Mosquito IV DZ615/ AZ-M during 1944. BRIAN HARRIS

BELOW: A mixture of Mosquito marks was flown by 627 as the war continued, this one being a MkXXV, KB416/AZ-P, parked at Woodhall Spa. D. GARTON

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MOSQUITO SALUTE RN pilot

SEA SEALEGS Operating the Mosquito from an aircraft carrier might have been fine for Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown, but it was potentially a tougher ask for lesser mortals. Even so, many post-war Fleet Air Arm pilots flew the type in land-based roles — including this one WORDS: BASIL NASH

he period from 1945-49 was one of change in the Fleet Air Arm, just as in all of aviation. By 1947 most of the wartime volunteers had gone, to be replaced by four-year short service commission aircrew, of which I was one. Most were ex-Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve members who had chosen to sign on. Squadrons were running at about 15 per cent of their wartime numbers. Most of the commander flying and lieutenant commander flying roles were filled by ex-RNVR personnel, with only single-engine experience. This was a disadvantage. Us short service commission types had more relevant experience to be the senior squadron aircrew. In 1945 the Admiralty was encouraging Royal Navy sublieutenants and lieutenants to train for aircrew, so as later to have senior

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officers with practical experience when handling aircraft on carriers. The bait was that this would improve their subsequent chances of promotion. Some, therefore, were not flying because they wanted to, but to help their career prospects. Lieutenant engineers were particularly encouraged because they could become maintenance test pilots. By 1949 a lot of the ones I knew were dead, generally in accidents. Either flying standards were not high enough or they took unnecessary risks.

❖ Perhaps, therefore, it was for the best that the Mosquito never undertook regular carrier-borne operations. ‘Winkle’ Brown had, of course, conducted the first deck landing by a Mosquito aboard HMS Indefatigable, one of the fleet

carriers, in March 1944. This was long before the angled deck, so there was little clearance between the starboard wingtip and the island as you went past, while the port undercarriage leg was not far from the edge of the deck. The Mosquito, being very prone to swing like a bastard on take-off, left little margin for error. Apart from this episode and subsequent carrier trials with the TR33 variant, the Mosquito never went to sea with the FAA. It may have been deemed beyond the capability of the average pilot. Even so, about 130 examples were transferred to the navy from 1945 to the early 1950s. I did the twin conversion course at RNAS Ford — HMS Peregrine — with 762 Squadron in April-June 1946. We flew 20 hours solo and dual on Oxfords, plus three hours’ night flying; then 20 hours on the

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LEFT: A group photo of 790 Squadron aircrew in front of a Sea Mosquito TR33 at Dale, with Seafire wings intruding on either side. The author is in the middle of the back row. The navalised ‘Mossie’ was given this unsightly thimble nose to house the Americanbuilt ASH radar. VIA BASIL NASH

OPPOSITE PAGE: It was at RNAS Ford, West Sussex, that Basil Nash completed his twin-engine training with 762 Squadron. This Mosquito FBVI, TE711, belonged to the co-located 811 Squadron. KEY COLLECTION

Mosquito, flying the dual-control TIII and the FBVI, together with three hours at night. The course included single-engine landings, made easier by the 2,000ft runway. The pilot was in the left-hand seat with the trainee on the right. On take-off it was essential to lead with one engine and make firm use of the rudder to prevent the swing starting. Once the tail was up, you could open both engines up to full power, lift off at 110kt and gain the safety speed of 130kt as quickly as possible. You took off on wing tanks, which were gravity tanks, as a safety measure and then switched to the main tank as soon as you gained safety speed. In those days it took 25-30 seconds for the undercarriage to retract, so you kept it down until that point. The navy at the time had virtually no aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage, so everything was a taildragger, and naval procedure was that you did a three-point landing. At shore bases in single-engine aircraft you joined the downwind leg at 1,000ft and made a curved approach down to the runway. At sea you flew the downwind leg at 300ft, with a similar curved approach being guided by the ‘batsman’ on the final approach. The approach speed would be about 5kt above the stall speed with lots of power, so when you hit the deck

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or runway you stopped there. With a twin you had excellent forward visibility so you could make a straight approach on finals. The Mosquito would stall with full flap and undercarriage down at about 93kt, so we used to come over the fence at 97kt in a three-point position with lots of power. I found when you got to about 10ft you pulled hard back on the stick and, in

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The Mosquito, being very prone to swing on take-off, left little margin for error

”

fact, did a high-speed stall straight onto the ground. There you stopped. It may not have been the accepted way, but it worked every time. I did it flying with an instructor at Culdrose and put the fear of God up him, but he had to admit it worked! On completion I went to 790 Squadron at RNAS Dale (HMS Goldcrest) in south Wales. We were training RN navigators to become fighter direction officers through

learning to control aircraft by radar from ships, in conjunction with the radar school at Kete, next door on St Anne’s Head. The future FDOs had to fly with us so they could appreciate what it looked from up there. Some were a bit doubtful! The aircraft at Dale included a variety of Mosquitos: FBVIs with Rolls-Royce Merlins offering plus-12 boost, Mk25s using Packard Merlins with plus-6 boost, and finally TR33s, the navalised version, again with R-R Merlins but rated at plus-18 boost and fitted with four-bladed props, folding wings and an arrester hook. Also on the squadron were some Seafire IIIs and Firefly Is. The exercise area stretched for about 100 miles out into the Irish Sea. We normally flew at 10,000ft, the altitude at which Lockheed Constellations would routinely pass overhead en route from London Airport to Shannon. If we had nothing else to do, we used to fly in quite tight formation with them, one Mosquito on each side of the 'Connie’. The passengers loved it, but I don’t know what the pilots thought. They used to wave us off vigorously, but since they were mostly ex-service pilots none of us were ever reported. At the end of each sortie, it was the norm to fly over Kete at 20ft and down to Milford Haven at about 300kt.

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MOSQUITO SALUTE RN pilot

ABOVE: The ugliest Mosquito ever created? The TT39, built to Admiralty specification Q19/45 for a land-based, high-speed target tug, neither looked nor flew quite right. PF606 was one of those ferried from Stretton to Hal Far, Malta. KEY COLLECTION

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In June 1947 I was promoted to lieutenant. Dale closed that December, and operations were transferred to RNAS Culdrose, or HMS Seahawk, in Cornwall. Come the new year, I moved to RNAS Yeovilton, HMS Heron, for the naval maintenance test pilots’ course. There I flew a wide range of types, familiarising myself with their characteristics. When Worthy Down shut as a training establishment in early 1948, a Mosquito, a Sea Hornet and a Sea Fury which had been used as ground instructional airframes needed to be moved. The Mosquito, LR387, had been a back-up aeroplane for Eric Brown’s deck-landing trials as a MkVI and later became the prototype Mk33. Worthy Down being a small, grass airfield with a hill in the middle, I was rather worried if I would have room to get off. I therefore put the tail against the fence, applied 15° of flap, opened up to maximum power on the brakes and let go. Although there was a light wind, we got airborne off the top of the hill. I flew the aircraft to Yeovilton where it was stored before being broken up. My first posting as a newly fledged maintenance test pilot was in April 1948 to RNAS Stretton, or HMS Blackcap, near Warrington. It

housed No 1 Ferry Flight, as well as storage and maintenance facilities, amongst other units. Of the aircraft we flew, some were new and others were returning from major overhaul. They were tested by us prior to going to the squadrons. There I flew seven different Mosquito variants: the TIII, FBVI, BXVI, TR33, PR34, B35 and TT39.

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The Mk39 modifications totally compromised the flying characteristics of the Mosquito

”

The Mk34 and 35 were ex-RAF aircraft used for high-altitude work with twin superchargers. We used to take them up to 35,000ft, where they wallowed a bit. The Mk39 was a specific development for the navy, used for photography and targettowing. The conversions, mostly of MkXVIs, were done by General Aircraft at Lasham. Approximately 30 Mk39s passed through Stretton in 1948-49. Most went to Malta for

the Fleet Requirements Unit there, the Hal Far-based 728 Squadron. They were flown out by the ferry pilots from Stretton. Apart from a hideous glass nose, the fuselage was lengthened to include target-towing attachments for an air gunnery drogue. It compromised the flying characteristics of the Mosquito and increased the stalling speed by 10kt, making it sloppy to fly. During my six years’ flying I had three accidents, all in Mosquitos, all but one of which showed how forgiving the aircraft was. In the first, on 24 July 1946, I had a faulty air speed indicator in a MkVI. Through inexperience I did not realise this and stalled at about 60ft on the final approach to Heston. The aircraft hit the ground at about 100kt, the undercarriage came up through the wings and it stopped in about five yards. No fire, no disintegration, and my passenger and I hopped out. He had a bottle of Scotch in a suitcase in the back and it was in one piece! The second one, on 9 December 1948, was at Stretton in a Mk39, when I had trouble on one engine and did a single-engine landing. I was running out of runway fast and there was a large pond at the end where I had no intention of finishing up, so I lifted the undercarriage. You stop remarkably quickly!

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The last proved the point made in an article by David Ogilvy on flying the Mosquito: “If you have an engine failure on take-off or landing and are under safety speed, you shut the other engine and land straight ahead. If you try anything else you will be dead.”

With another of 790 Squadron’s charges, Sea Mosquito TR33 TW282. VIA BASIL NASH

❖ In my case, 21 July 1949 saw me coming in to land quite normally in a MkXVI, with undercarriage down and full flap selected. On reaching round-out I decided to perform an overshoot and go round again, and as I opened up both engines to full power, the port Merlin stopped. I was about 50ft up at a speed of about 100kt. I started to get the undercarriage up and took off some flap, in an attempt to get up to safety speed, but realised very quickly that it wasn’t going to work. I throttled back the starboard engine and sat and waited. I knew the country ahead was mostly farmland, but I didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter. The aircraft hit the ground about two miles from the end of the runway and started shedding bits. The propellers went first, followed by most of the wings as it went through some trees, the tail and the starboard engine. The remains, which consisted of the cockpit and the port engine, came to rest about 500 yards from where it hit the ground. The survival chances for me and my passenger were greatly increased by the fact that the ground was made up of ploughed fields. Once the aircraft stopped, we both got out very quickly. It is funny that one’s automatic reactions are to carry out normal routine. I remember holding very tightly onto the control column for support, only to find when the aircraft stopped that it wasn’t attached to anything at the bottom. Apart from a lot of bruises, neither of us were hurt. I was flying again a couple of days later and I don’t think it affected me. When the accident report came back from the investigation team, it was found that a bleed hole in the block between the high and lowpressure oil systems was blocked with carbon. This had starved the low-pressure system of oil, causing it to seize up. The engine had done three hours since major overhaul. In all, I completed some 380 hours in Mosquitos from a total of 1,010 in my logbook. Of the 130-odd ‘Mossies’ in the Royal Navy, I flew about 70.

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In early 1948, Nash and passenger AA3 Leach flew the prototype Sea Mosquito TR33, LR387, on its final flight from Worthy Down to Yeovilton. VIA BASIL NASH

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MOSQUITO SALUTE Last Israeli ops

LAST CALL TO ARMS

Having acquired more than 90 Mosquitos, the Israeli Air Force became the last to use the type in a full-scale war, and continued to task it on operational reconnaissance missions as late as 1958. It thus sets the seal on the ‘Mossie’s’ front-line story WORDS: SHLOMO ALONI

MAIN PICTURE: 109 Squadron Mosquitos at Khatsor in January 1956, with a mix of camouflaged FBVIs and TR33s plus, possibly, a black NF30 at the rear. ALL VIA SHLOMO ALONI

he Israeli Air Force was activated in accordance with a plan that envisioned an air arm encompassing up to 12 squadrons, including up to four tasked with bombing and reconnaissance. The types originally earmarked for these units were the Douglas A-20 Havoc and North American B-25 Mitchell. However, when Israel was formed in May 1948, the fledgling nation faced an Arab League invasion and a United Nations embargo. The hasty acquisition of anything available replaced the organised implementation of planning. Within a year the air force inducted more than 30 types of aircraft, many irrelevant to its missions, and mostly few of each. This mish-mash included two British civil-registered Mosquito

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PRXVIs. Seemingly ‘commercial’ aircraft were beyond the scope of the UN embargo, and Israel planned to modify the Mosquitos locally for the strike and recce roles. The first, G-AIRT (formerly NS812), arrived in July 1948 and was assigned to 103 Squadron at Ramat David, which had been activated with Douglas DC-3s but was then issued additional aircraft of similar weight with twin engines: a Douglas DC-5, Bristol Beaufighters and later Lockheed Hudsons.

❖ The second Mosquito, G-AIRU (ex-NS811), was damaged in an accident at Ajaccio, Corsica, during its delivery flight from the UK to Israel in July 1948. The airframe finished its journey inside an Israeli Air Force airlifter. Repairs

were started but not completed. Meanwhile, G-AIRT had been fitted with a camera and flew reconnaissance missions from September 1948. Emerging from the 1948-49 war with four squadrons, by May 1950 the Israeli Air Force had prepared an expansion plan. Its objective was to field seven squadrons by July 1951, including one of Mosquitos with 12 fighter-bomber, five night fighter and three photo-reconnaissance examples. An even more ambitious proposal on 11 December 1950 outlined the introduction of 54 Mosquitos by March 1952. It would see 3 Wing being activated to operate the type, initially with 123 Squadron flying the trainer, FB and PR variants; from it would be divested a PR flight, and finally 119 Squadron was to form as a night

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fighter outfit in April 1952. The constraints were the availability of pilots, navigators and budget. The Israeli government and Israeli Defence Force pursued two paths to equip the air force with Mosquitos: acquisitions from the North American commercial market and surplus French Air Force aircraft. A contract to buy ex-Armée de l’Air machines was signed on 17 February 1951, taking in 39 FBVIs, 20 NF30s and four PRXVIs. Three TIIIs and two FBVIs were added in May 1951. 109 Squadron, part of 4 Wing, was established to operate them. Once it had converted enough pilots and navigators, the training flight would be split off to activate a second squadron in charge of training Mosquito crews, instructing them in nocturnal interdiction with FBVIs and night-time interception with NF30s. Next, 109’s reconnaissance flight was to become a separate entity. Finally, 110 Squadron’s experience with night-time interception would result in the activation of a flight or squadron to operate the NF30s. The plan was generally implemented, but slower than anticipated. 110 Squadron was formed in August 1953 as 4 Wing’s second Mosquito squadron, with responsibility for training crews and preparations for NF30 service introduction. 109 focused on FBVI and PRXVI operations until the PR element separated to become 115 Flight in July 1954. An operational flight or squadron of NF30s was never established, primarily because by the time the air force was ready to activate a night fighter unit the Mosquito was no longer relevant. Israel introduced Gloster Meteors

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LEFT: The first former French Mosquito to enter Israeli service was FBVI 2103. The Israeli Air Force serial numbering system at the time was a four-digit number with the first two digits unique to each type — 21 for the Mosquito.

to counter the Egyptian Air Force’s jet fighters and expected Egypt to replace its piston-engined bombers with jet equipment. Then, in September 1954, the RAF disbanded its Kabrit, Egypt-based No 219 Squadron and the UK offered to supply surplus Meteor NF13s to Egypt, Israel and Syria.

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The Mosquitos interdicted Egyptian forces moving along roads in the peninsula

”

The Israeli Mosquito TIII, FBVI and PRXVI inventory dwindled due to losses on training flights, so 20 FBVI/TR33s and three PRXVIs were bought from surplus RAF stocks, with deliveries from 1954-56. However, the scaling-down of the fleet had already been initiated in

September 1955 when 109 and 110 Squadrons were amalgamated. It was intended that 4 Wing at Khatsor would convert to jets, and the merger of 110 back into 109 Squadron was primarily aimed at handing over 110’s facilities to 113 Squadron, which was activated on the Dassault Ouragan in October 1955. Another new Dassault jet, the Mystère IV, was introduced by 4 Wing’s 101 Squadron from April 1956. With two jet squadrons in service, the wing no longer needed the Mosquito. 109 Squadron was disbanded by 1 June 1956, while 115 Flight was reassigned to nearby Air Base 8 at Ekron and became 115 Squadron on 15 June. The former 109 Squadron Mosquitos were flown from Khatsor to Sirkin, where 184 Unit assumed responsibility for storing and servicing the FBVIs and TR33s for 110 Squadron — now a reserve outfit — because the air force had slated 109 Squadron to become a second Mystère operator. But the de Havilland aircraft was still to have its combat baptism in Israeli service.

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MOSQUITO SALUTE Last Israeli ops

The ‘Mickey Mouse’ Mosquito was FBVI 2144, which pilot Ovadia Nachman (right) and navigator Abraham Goldreich flew on 26 January 1954.

Twenty Mosquito NF30s were bought to counter Egypt’s Stirling and Lancaster bombers, but they were acquired without the original AI Mk10 radars.

Israel purchased nine Mosquito PRXVIs, including 2149 which was photographed while in 109 Squadron service. The PRXVIs were the first and last examples to be flown, from 1948-58.

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Since taking over from Saudi Arabia some islands adjacent to Sharm El-Sheikh, at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt had been keeping Israeli vessels out of the Red Sea. The construction of a port at Eilat during 1955 motivated Israel to evaluate a military option to lift the Egyptian blockade, and the IDF proposed to occupy the peninsula’s southern sector. Aimed for the autumn of 1955, Operation ‘Omer’ was planned to include a combined air and land assault, but the Israeli government did not yet approve military action. Egypt then nationalised the Suez Canal. France and the UK opted to retake it by force, and Israel joined the Anglo-French coalition primarily to exploit an opportunity to remove the Red Sea blockade. The IDF duly planned Operation ‘Kadesh’. ‘D-Day’ was 29 October 1956 and Israel readied itself for an escalating conflict. Egypt’s fighter force was mostly made up of jets, so during the first phase the Israeli Air Force committed to using only its Mystères, Ouragans and Meteors. France and Britain issued an ultimatum to end hostilities, but to no avail, just as they expected. The RAF and Armée de l’Air would destroy the Egyptian Air Force, and only then would Israel be able to operate its Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, North American P-51 Mustangs and Mosquitos in support of the IDF. It was tasked to occupy the Sinai Peninsula for some distance east of the Suez Canal — most importantly for Israel, including Sharm El-Sheikh.

❖ 115 Squadron stepped up its efforts. At least 16 Mosquito PR sorties were flown over Egypt from 6-29 October, mostly over the Sinai but also further afield. The longest was to Luxor, trying to pinpoint the whereabouts of Egypt’s Ilyushin Il-28 bombers. The Israeli Air Force mobilised reserve units on 25 October, and 110 Squadron was ordered to operate as part of 1 Wing at Ramat David alongside 69 Squadron’s B-17s and 105 Squadron’s P-51s. Mosquitos began to be removed from storage and ferried there on 27 October. An inventory report issued at 22.00hrs two days later listed 110 Squadron at Ramat David as having 13 Mosquito FBVI/TR33s including 11 serviceable, 12 pilots and five

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109 Squadron’s change of command on 15 August 1955, when Israel Lahav handed over to Ezekiel Somekh. On the left is a Mosquito TR33, lacking machine guns in the nose and fitted with four-blade propellers. Within a month the Mosquitos would be camouflaged during the September 1955 Operation ‘Tempo’ crisis over the Egyptian Red Sea blockade.

navigators, while the Ekron-based 115 Squadron had two Mosquito PRXVIs and four crews. A reconnaissance task over the Sinai was flown by 115 Squadron during day two, 30 October. 110 Squadron started operations that night with nocturnal interdiction missions against Egyptian traffic along roads in the Sinai. The Mosquito was the only Israeli fighter-bomber to fly at night during Operation ‘Kadesh’. B-17s and North American T-6s were active by night, but on close air support duties, not interdiction. The Anglo-French offensive against the Egyptian Air Force was postponed by 24 hours, to begin on the evening of 31 October. Israel planned to start Mosquito and Mustang operations only after the French and British had destroyed what remained of Egypt’s air power capabilities. Regardless of the delay, Israel tasked its Mosquitos and P-51s to fly attack and close support

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missions over Sinai from day three, 31 October, meaning they could potentially face Egyptian jet fighters by day. During 110 Squadron’s first daylight offensive missions, the Mosquitos again interdicted Egyptian forces moving along roads in the peninsula. Egyptian

“

The Mosquito had finished its task when Syrian MiGs appeared

”

fire injured a Mosquito pilot and damaged at least four of the de Havilland aircraft. FBVI serial 2171 suffered 15 hits, one piercing an undercarriage jack, so pilot Simon Ash was unable to lower the landing

gear and had to belly-land at Ramat David. TR33 2181 ground-looped while landing at the same base. The air force classified both as damaged beyond repair. The Israeli Air Force reported 22 Mosquito sorties on 31 October. The Franco-British offensive against the Egyptian Air Force indicated a probable action to retake the Suez Canal, while Egypt’s retreat from the Sinai could have been viewed as a redeployment to help secure the waterway. Either way, the IDF required less support during day four and 110 Squadron flew just a single mission. Nevertheless, two Mosquitos were damaged by Egyptian fire, including TR33 2173 that was written off. Israel obviously had plenty of stored Mosquitos to make good its losses, and no need to repair damaged airframes. The IDF’s moderate support demands and the relatively small number of 110 Squadron pilots constrained the intensity of

ABOVE LEFT: Israel’s final Mosquito purchase included three PRXVIs from a UK surplus dealer, which were ferried to Israel during the autumn of 1956. Their ferry identities combined a civil registration and an air force serial. ABOVE: Israel’s substitute for the AI Mk10 radar in the Mosquito NF30 was the AN/APS-4. Standing in front of this example are 109 Squadron pilots Mati Kaspit (left) and Yoav Bar Lev.

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MOSQUITO SALUTE Last Israeli ops them. Operation ‘Ilana’ was conceived to try and engage Syrian Air Force fighters after a close call during a previous Mosquito mission over Syria. When 115 Squadron was called on to photograph a target in Syria from 25,000ft on 3 June 1957, four Mystères from 101 and 109 Squadrons went to protect the Mosquito and hopefully engage enemy aircraft. The Mosquito had finished its task and was already approaching the border when Syrian MiG-17s appeared. The MiG and Mystère pilots definitely saw each other and reportedly manoeuvred to engage, but no combat ensued.

❖

ABOVE: The first Mosquito to serve in Israel was struck off charge after a landing accident on 7 January 1957, when the 115 Squadron PRXVI was still flying with yellow-and-black Operation ‘Kadesh’ identification stripes.

Mosquito operations. Another inventory report issued at 22.00 on 1 November indicated that the unit had 10 serviceable FB/ TR variants with 10 pilots and six navigators, while 115 Squadron had one serviceable PR aircraft with five crews. As the IDF bore down on Sharm El-Sheikh, in order to accomplish Israel’s prime objective, the sortie rate went up again. The air force reported 34 Mosquito missions from 2-5 November: 28 support, three visual reconnaissance and three photo-reconnaissance. The occupation of the Sinai was complete, and Egypt’s Red Sea blockade broken. Looking ahead, the Israeli Air Force had already selected the SudOuest Vautour II as a jet successor to the Mosquito. It planned to acquire the Vautour IIA model for attack duties, the IIB as a bomber, the IIBR reconnaissance platform and the IIN all-weather interceptor. They would equip four squadrons, including the conversion of 110 Squadron from the Mosquito FBVI/TR33 to the Vautour IIA, and the re-equipment of 115 with the Vautour IIBR in place of the Mosquito PRXVI. However, the start of Vautour deliveries slipped

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from December 1956 to August 1957. This meant there could be no overlapped transition for 110 Squadron from being a reservist unit on the Mosquito to a regular squadron flying Vautours. The air force commander reported on 19 April 1957 that the Mosquito FBVIs and TR33s had been withdrawn from service. A similar hold-up was experienced with the Vautour IIBRs,

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The last Israeli Mosquito flight was a night PR trial in August 1958

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but high-quality reconnaissance was crucial and a ‘capability gap’ was unacceptable. 115 Squadron’s Mosquito PRXVIs had completed photography of the Sinai for mapping purposes in the wake of Operation ‘Kadesh’ and continued making overflights of Israel’s neighbours. Occasionally, the air force attempted to ambush interceptors scrambled to pursue

A few Mosquito FBVIs were assigned to 115 Squadron for training, and it was in serial 2123 on 21 June 1957 that David Orly accrued his 1,000th flying hour on the type. It made him the second — and probably the last — Israeli pilot to reach the four-figure mark in Mosquitos, having been preceded by Zeev Tavor who notched up 1,149. Orly and Tavor were both posted to the air force’s Flying School at the time and flew 115 Squadron Mosquitos as a secondary assignment. As of 25 February 1958, no regular pilots or navigators were assigned to 115, which had five Mosquitos, two secondary assignment pilots, one reserve pilot, two secondary assignment navigators and two reserve navigators. The delayed delivery of the Vautour IIBRs and evolving threats forced Israel to assign more recce missions to its Meteors and Mystères, which had better performance but were equipped with cameras that produced lowerquality photographs. To try and keep 115 Squadron’s Mosquitos viable for as long as possible — until the recce Vautours began arriving in July 1958 — they were tested in the night photography role. Accordingly, 500 Mosquito flying hours were logged during fiscal year 1957-58, from 1 April 1957 to 31 March 1958, and 34 for 1958-59. Pilot David Orly and navigator Dov Festing were at the controls for what, as far as has been unearthed, was the last Israeli Mosquito flight: a night-time photo-reconnaissance trial in PRXVI serial 2139 on 21 August 1958. There was no fanfare on the type’s retirement, but, as so often, the Mosquito had proved its worth.

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20/05/2021 17:25:29

INSIGHTS ‘Cactus-Staffel’ F-104s

CACT S MAKES PERFECT It was the outfit established to train West German pilots to handle the performance, and the capabilities, of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. But the so-called ‘Cactus-Staffel’ was more than that. As one former student describes, it was a special fellowship of aviators WORDS: ROLF STÜNKEL

A quartet of West German-owned F-104Gs, operated by the US Air Force’s 69th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, up on a sortie from Luke AFB. USAF

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hen I first encountered the F-104G, on the hot tarmac of Luke Air Force Base, Arizona in 1978, we both had 24 years under our belts. But while I was a lousy student pilot, it was a world record-holder — a top speed of 1,220.208kt, a climb to 82,020.8ft in four minutes 26.03 seconds, and a maximum altitude of 103,395ft, all three records having been achieved simultaneously back in 1957. Now it was my turn to experience this performance. The US Air Force’s 69th Fighter Squadron at Luke had been training Luftwaffe and Marineflieger F-104 pilots for years. They, in turn, felt proud to be part of the ‘CactusStarfighter-Staffel’, as the community was called. We still do. Those formative days were undoubtedly challenging, but set us down the road to becoming operational on this most exciting of jet fighters. On the day of my first flight, my instructor Pat ‘Fireball’ Shannon and I collected our helmets, g-suits and paperwork and stepped out of the airconditioned squadron building. The sun was high in the sky, but the March heat was still bearable. We walked past a row of immaculately polished Starfighters to our TF-104G. A Lockheed mechanic helped me buckle up. My new ‘office’ looked small and cramped, full of switches, levers, straps and locking pins. I took a quick glance at the instruments and ammunition buttons, the navigation system, the fuses, the explosive device for the canopy and the ‘hot’ components of the rocket-assisted Martin-Baker ejection seat. It took a moment to get settled. If you were looking for ergonomics, the Starfighter cockpit wasn’t the place. The pilot leaned forward slightly due to the angle of the Martin-Baker GQ-7A ‘bang-seat’, a much more effective device than its predecessor, the Lockheed C2. In a ground emergency, it was even zero-zero-capable. Pat and I went through the pretake-off preparations. On the pilot’s command, a technician activated

“

the external air supply, and the yellow starter hose inflated. I raised my hand, and the auxiliary power unit on the ground came to life. I switched one of the two ignition switches to ‘start’. Engine rpm began to rise; at 10 per cent rpm, I moved the throttle forward to the idle position. The fingers on my right hand signalled the rpm increases to the technician: 20, 30, 40 per cent… Now the turbines were running. The mechanic turned off the APU and the air hose deflated. I glanced at the engine instruments; the idle values looked right. After engine start, a seven-finger check accompanied the test of certain important systems: speed brakes, rudder, trim, auto-pitch control (APC, a recovery system that could move the control column by way of a stick-shaker and kicker in case you found yourself flying at an unintentionally slow air speed), flaps and BLC (boundary layer control). The latter used compressed air from the engine, blown over the trailing edge of the flaps, to delay the separation of the boundary layer airflow. En route to the runway, an intermediate check was due for 13 important items such as flap position, the oxygen system and the correct takeoff trim. “Line up”. Now we did the run-up check, running the engine in the full normal — or military — range for 10 seconds, then at 80 per cent thrust and idle. The military and afterburner thrust modes on the General Electric J79 were separated from each other by a slotted link in the throttle compartment. If you pushed the lever straight forward, the engine operated in military power. Full afterburner was obtained by moving the lever left and forward. “Cleared for take-off ”. I released the brakes and pushed the bulky thrust lever left and forward, glancing at the instruments. All were in the correct range. A jolt went through the TF-104, and it seemed as though a huge fist was pushing us along the runway like a toy. No wonder: the afterburner

If you were looking for ergonomics, the Starfighter cockpit wasn’t the place

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INSIGHTS ‘Cactus-Staffel’ F-104s RIGHT: Early October 1978, and members of the 69th TFTS’s class 78-B gather for a group photo. The author is fourth from left in the front row. VIA ROLF STÜNKEL

increased thrust by 50 per cent, to more than 15,000lb. At 120kt, I took my finger off the nosewheel control button on the stick. We were travelling faster and faster, and within seconds the needle raced past 170kt. I pulled back on the stick, and at approximately 200kt the aircraft got airborne, a little more sluggishly than I’d expected. Now I had to retract the landing gear quickly, so as not to exceed the maximum gear-down speed of 260kt. It seemed like only a second later when it was the turn of the flaps to come in at 300kt. We had deselected the afterburner, maintaining a speed range experienced F-104 pilots described as comfortable. Anything above 300kt was considered safe. Normal F-104 climb speed was 400kt. According to the flight manual, it was possible to achieve 10,000ft per minute without afterburner. If you wanted more, you chose max climb: afterburner, 450kt and a 38° angle of climb on the artificial horizon resulted in a 35,000ft-per-minute climb, about 20 times the rate a fully loaded airliner could manage after take-off. Once my initial tension had subsided, the TF responded well to my inputs, willingly allowing

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itself to be trimmed with a thumb switch on the stick and showing impressive acceleration whenever I advanced the throttle. After a bit of manoeuvring and some demonstrations from the rear cockpit, it was time to head back for my first landing. The basic approach speeds were 175kt with fully extended wing flaps (‘land’), 195kt with halfextended flaps (‘take-off’) plus a fixed extra bit of speed depending on the remaining fuel, 5kt per 1,000lb above 1,000lb. The correct vertical profile had to be observed in order to avoid high sink rates. We entered the traffic pattern to shoot a straight-in approach. The calculated approach speed with take-off flap, in the middle position, was 200kt, around 60 more than in an airliner. I set the ’104 down more softly than I had dared to hope. Pat immediately slammed the throttle forward, as this was a touch-and-go and we wanted to fly a second and a third pattern. On

“

the fourth approach, we extended the flaps fully and called for a fullstop landing. The approach speed was now 180kt. Afterwards I had to remember to deploy the brake ’chute by pulling the grey T-handle on the left side of the cockpit. 11.57hrs — touchdown! My first F-104 flight was over. The following day, I was scheduled for a mission including aerobatics and circuits. The enormous dimensions of aerobatic figures in an F-104 were unfamiliar. A loop was initiated at a speed of 400kt with afterburner and 450 in mil power, taking into account the 10,000ft vertical radius required. A half-loop downwards from straight-and-level flight — a split-S — was not be entered below 20,000ft, so as not to bust the minimum altitude of our practice airspace. Soon, the morning of the check flight arrived. It was one of those days when you get out of bed on the

A jolt went through the TF-104, and it seemed as though a huge fist was pushing us

”

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Rolf Stünkel consults the paperwork as he performs an external pre-flight check of his mount.

wrong side and make one blunder after another. I boarded the TF with one of our senior instructor pilots. After take-off, I struggled to stay in the allocated airspace. The aerobatics also went as if I was under the influence. After a fluffed-up lazy-eight manoeuvre — a horizontal figure eight — I grazed the edge of the neighbouring practice area and rattled through another zone on our way home. As if this wasn’t enough to drive me up the wall, even the first landing didn’t work out as I hoped. When the flight was finally over, I trotted back to the squadron building. Had I failed the mission? The instructor took a deep breath. “It wasn’t one of the best flights I have ever seen”, he sighed, “but it was safe”. I had passed! What a relief.

VIA ROLF STÜNKEL

❖ The next day, at 05.00, it seemed like there was a heavy dose of adrenaline in every sip of my morning coffee: my first solo flight in the single-seat F-104G was due. Making the pre-flight walk-round, I checked everything extra-precisely, paying special attention to the infamous ‘witness hole’: a small orifice under the tail, on the outside of the brake ’chute container. You stuck a ballpoint pen into it to make sure the ’chute was installed. Arrester hook, landing gear, pitot tube — everything looked OK to me. I climbed into the cockpit, taxied to the runway and pushed the throttle fully forward. I flew to Lake Havasu, over the Grand Canyon to Prescott and then back to Luke. What an amazing feeling it was to be airborne in an F-104G. Total silence in the cockpit, just every now and then the voice of an air traffic controller in my headphones. Approximately an hour-and-a-half after take-off, I was back on the ground, grinning from ear to ear. A few weeks later, I walked across the apron for a solo sortie. It was baking-hot. Yards from my aircraft, a guy from a senior class waved at me from his TF’s cockpit. I waved back, flew my trip and returned to Luke. I had just climbed down the ladder when a rescue helicopter landed right next to me. The side door opened and I recognised two figures, pale and grinning, on stretchers. It was the same guy and his instructor. “Where the hell have you come from?” I asked. “We just bailed out”, he wheezed. “I had a stuck throttle.”

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Training at Luke was a multi-national affair, as evidenced by Maj Dave Bashow of the Royal Canadian Air Force instructing two West Germans on air combat manoeuvres using F-104 and MiG-21 models. USAF

The Starfighter’s highly analogue office, already becoming somewhat obsolescent by the late 1970s. At left can just be seen a placard reminding trainees that the maximum drag ’chute deployment speed was 205kt. VIA ROLF STÜNKEL

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INSIGHTS ‘Cactus-Staffel’ F-104s A neat stack of Luke’s resident types in 1979: F-15A Eagle leads F-4C Phantom II, F-104G and F-5E Tiger II, hailing respectively from the 550th, 310th, 69th and 425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadrons. USAF

ABOVE: A game of pool to wind down after a hard day’s Starfighter training, with West German newspapers also to hand in the squadron building. USAF ABOVE RIGHT: Job done! The author after his first F-104 solo. VIA ROLF STÜNKEL

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As it turned out, the Starfighter’s throttle linkage had snapped, causing an immediate engine flameout. Over the Gila Bend desert, the crew had put the otherwise fully intact Starfighter into a steep zoom climb, preparing themselves for a controlled bail-out by using the checklist and making an emergency radio call. Then they pulled the handles on their ejection seats. Now they were lying on their stretchers inside the chopper, while the remains of their proud TF-104 sizzled somewhere in the desert. Weapons training took up a large part of our time in Arizona. It became quickly apparent who was a

born Richthofen, and who was not. For weapons delivery in formation, we had to fly directly behind the other Starfighters, roll out of a sharp turn towards the target, aim for a pre-calculated point with the small illuminated red target dot — the ‘pipper’ — on the combining glass for two or three seconds and press the bomb delivery or strafing button. The wind played a decisive part, as the F-104 had only a classic reflex visor without drift calculation. It was not sufficient to aim precisely and take wind drift into account. Beginners tried to apply stick or rudder force to save an incorrect flight path at the very last moment,

a typical mistake. Even tiny g-forces could cause the practice weapon to go off-target. I could have torn my hair out from under my helmet, listening to the range tower guy calling out my scores on the radio. Whenever I hoped for a bullseye, it all seemed to be a matter of luck. Sometimes the target was missed by a hair’s breadth, or the 16mm gun camera film showed no valid results. The weapons scoreboard was full of red marks. For some of us, that was just too much. They threw in the towel and left to fly transports. Several sorties took place in the rear cockpit under the blind

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flying hood. Such trips were part of instrument instruction and exercises in which radar navigation was trained; cheating was virtually impossible. Radar displays show echoes originating from waterfalls, hills, towns, aircraft and many other objects of ground clutter, throwing radar shadows as if hit by a beam of light. The F-104’s NASARR (North American Search and Ranging Radar) screen was monochrome and good to use for navigation in map mode, provided you had familiarised yourself in detail with the route and this clutter.

❖ Our task was to draw radar predictions, or shadows, of a suitable feature on a piece of paper and glue it to the navigation chart in the correct position — for instance, near a lake, a bridge or a water tower. Under ideal circumstances, the predictions would correlate with reality. We would run in at 450kt and see on the radar screen almost precisely what we had drawn on paper the day before. The idea was simple, its execution less so. The chances of success depended on the artist’s imagination and on the conditions. If the radar was not correctly adjusted — say, the antenna inclination was incorrect or the ‘gain’ button misaligned — the radar could confuse the pilot. He would wait for echoes which never came and flew past the expected position. In such situations it was more astute not to wait, but to stubbornly set a course according to the stopwatch. In this old-fashioned but safe way, the aircraft would not deviate too far from the planned route, allowing the pilot easily to rejoin the formation. Once up to speed, the F-104 was an agile aircraft, rolling like the devil and reacting quickly to all inputs. The kick was unrivalled if you fired the ’burner and pushed the stick forward at 500ft and 450kt, to head towards the deck. There were, however, three things it clearly didn’t like: high sink rates, too little energy and high angles of attack. Sink rates are most critical on approach, but in the F-104

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they could also have an impact on transits. The Starfighter’s performance graphs amazed everyone, so flat were the lift curves of its little, stubby wings. To gain extra lift, the flaps could remain half-extended up to an unbelievable 520kt. That was vital for pop-up manoeuvres: we pulled up to an angle of 20°, rolled onto our backs, pulled the nose under the horizon and rolled level again. Then we aimed at the target for about two seconds, released the weapon and pulled up. If the flaps were still retracted while you climbed and rolled inverted, your life was in acute danger. The ’104 would race towards the ground at a rate of descent only the extra lift from the flaps could rectify, by allowing you to pull sufficient g. Speed and attitude were particularly important in the circuit. Angle of attack (AOA) is measured between the relative wind and the wing chord. A wedge-shaped piece of metal, the AOA vane, turned like a weathervane in the wind. Its position was shown on an indicator directly in front of the pilot’s face; the higher the value, the nearer the aircraft was to stalling. In the F-104, the APC system was connected to the vane. Reaching a specific value, the control stick began to vibrate as a warning. If the pilot didn’t react immediately by pushing the aircraft nose-down, the AOA continued to rise and a kicker threw the control stick forward. On a hot day, the F-104’s small wings could produce so little lift during a curved ‘fighter’ approach to land that the APC would cut in and cause the stick to vibrate, even during an ordinary turn. The standard reaction was to light the afterburner in order to put on some more speed, or roll out and leave the traffic pattern. Once the kicker came in, things became really critical. The pilot had to immediately lower the nose and get the hell out of the situation. We constantly had to think about the aircraft’s limits. After landing, braking was aided by a parachute which had a maximum speed of 205kt. The Goodyear tyres tolerated 235kt. NATO-standard fighter

What an amazing feeling it was to be airborne in an F-104G

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CACTUS GROWTH

n 29 March 1967, Jack Williams, the Governor of Arizona, signed an executive order. It read, “By request of the Governor of the State of Arizona there shall be created the Arizona Cactus Squadron, an honorary organization with no official status, which shall be composed of young men of the Federal Republic of Germany who, following pilot training in Arizona, were made honorary citizens of the state. Upon entry into this informal service, it is hoped members of the squadron will enjoy fellowship reminiscent of the state of which they are honorary citizens… I also nominate General Johannes Steinhoff as Honorary Squadron Commander.” More formally, the West German training unit at Luke AFB was the 2. Deutsche Luftwaffen-Ausbildungsstaffel USA (2nd German Air Force Training Squadron USA). Its USAF partner was the 69th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron. All German pilots and students wore the patches of both on their flying suits. The 69th TFTS was reactivated at Luke in October 1969. This took place when the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing was formed, replacing the 4510th Combat Crew Training Wing as the host unit at the Arizona base. Concurrently, the 69th and the 418th TFTS were activated as F-104G training units, replacing the 4512th and 4518th Combat Crew Training Squadrons to support foreign military sales of the F-104. Pilots from Greece, Norway, Turkey, Denmark and Spain also trained there. In addition, many Luftwaffe-owned F-104Gs operated with the 58th Wing, sporting USAF insignia and serials. The West German F-104 training effort in Arizona continued until late 1982, by which time 1,868 Starfighter pilots had been ‘produced’. The squadron was inactivated on 16 March 1983. Its building has been demolished, but a special F-104 ‘heritage room’ exists within the premises of the 310th Fighter Squadron ‘Top Hats’, an F-16 operator. There are meetings every two years in Berlin, on the last weekend of the ILA Berlin Air Show. Hundreds of pilots, their spouses and partners, widows, children and friends gather, among them visitors from overseas and representatives of the aviation and defence industries. While many pilots have passed away and most have long retired, the spirit is maintained. For more information, visit cactus-starfighter-staffel.de

runways were generally 8,000ft (2,400m) long, sufficient for the F-104 in good weather. However, with standing water on the runway, ice, snow or sudden wind changes, landings could become difficult. The F-104 had an arrester hook, able to grab a steel cable if the parachute or the brakes failed. Two of these cables, looking like enormous guitar strings with spacer rings and fitted with rotary water friction brakes, sat at the far end of the runway. They could bring the aircraft to a halt. If you forgot to lower the hook or the hook missed the cable, you were running out of options and would probably have to eject.

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INSIGHTS ‘Cactus-Staffel’ F-104s RIGHT: A Fokker-built F-104G, serial 6313269 had been KG+102 in service with the Luftwaffe in West Germany. Pictured on 1 August 1979, armed with two AIM-9J Sidewinder air-to-air missile training rounds, the aircraft carries special tail markings for the 69th TFTS, making use of the last two digits of its serial. USAF

BELOW: The sun sets on Luke AFB, and a row of 69th TFTS TF-104G two-seaters stands ready for the next day’s sorties. USAF

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On 22 June 1978, time came for the Mach 2 run. Together with my instructor Bill, I climbed into the cockpit of a TF-104. “Remember that the extra fuel consumption with afterburner will not be displayed on the gauges”, he said. We took off and climbed to 38,000ft. I pushed the throttle left and forward for full afterburner. The air speed indicator quickly reached Mach 1, and I was looking at the gauges in excitement. No bang, no vibration — the cockpit noise hardly became any louder. Passing the speed of sound, I noticed a brief up-and-down movement

on the altimeter and climb rate displays, while the air speed indicator inexorably kept turning in a clockwise direction. A glance outside, and I could see the Arizona desert sweeping by in timelapse. I had only just begun to enjoy this ride when a red lamp lit up on the front panel: the ‘slow’ indicator signalled the maximum permissible compressor inlet temperature. We were flying at approximately Mach 2, still not sensing it at all in the cockpit. Bill mumbled something into the interphone, pulled the thrust lever back and started a curving turn. The whole run had

lasted exactly 3.4 minutes, and our J79 engine had swallowed 1,200lb of jet fuel. For months, the F-104s had endured our first attempts as future fighter pilots uncomplainingly. Our training was nearing completion, and we were looking forward to graduation. This important ritual in the US Air Force takes place at the officers’ club. Inside, the dining hall was decorated with the flags of partner countries and, of course, a giant star-spangled banner. All pilots wear dress uniforms, the ladies festive evening gowns. Our guest speaker was none other than the famous Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier, Mr Starfighter himself. He had carried out the maiden XF-104 flight on 28 February 1954 and personally signed all the Mach 2 certificates and club membership cards — mine, too. As relaxed as a late-night TV host, LeVier stepped up to the lectern. He congratulated us on passing the training course and talked without notes about his baby, the F-104. Full of humour and self-deprecation, he told us about its early days, spin attempts, supersonic flights and world records. Finally, he wished us all good fun and the best of luck, but most of all safe flying. What a special day in our lives. The master had spoken and we had received our certificates. We were now official members of the prestigious circle of certified F-104 pilots.

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19/05/2021 17:01:30

PIONEERS Harriet Quimby Hood up, Harriet Quimby on a Moisant Blériot at the Long Island-based Moisant flying school during the summer of 1911. ALL VIA PETE LONDON

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Journalist, screenwriter, photographer: Harriet Quimby would have been a remarkable individual had she never taken to the air. That she became the first woman to hold a US aviator’s licence, and then to fly herself across the Channel, only added to her life’s achievements WORDS: PETE LONDON

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PIONEERS Harriet Quimby

ABOVE: Wearing the flying suit she designed herself, Harriet stands proudly by her machine, which has a Moisant marking below its port wing.

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uesday 1 August 1911: Hempstead Plains, Long Island, New York. The wind had dropped and a watery early-morning sun stole across a close-cropped field. Flying instructor André Houpert watched his pupil aviator point a Moisant Blériot monoplane into the gentle breeze; its engine crackled and spat. Lifting lightly, the translucent aircraft rose from the grass, describing several figure-of-eight manoeuvres around the field’s marker posts before setting down by its stipulated landing spot. Watched by two officials from the Aero Club of America, an altitude test followed, and another safe landing. The Blériot’s seated figure waved gleefully from the cockpit. That morning, Harriet Quimby became the first American woman to qualify for an aviator’s licence. Born on a poor farm in Coldwater, Michigan, in May 1875, an early neighbour recalled his young classmate as a bright and intelligent girl. Later the Quimby family moved to California. Harriet’s mother

Ursula longed for her to progress beyond the family’s humble circumstances. With Ursula’s encouragement, her daughter grew to be a poised, stylish and adventurous woman. To boost her chances in the wide world, parental myths were put out that Harriet came from a wealthy family and had been privately tutored partly in Europe, fantasies Harriet never dispelled. Of medium height and slim, with long, dark hair and deep blue-green eyes, she would later be described by World magazine’s Bonnie R. Ginger as having “the rich, deep hues of Southern California, a low voice and a brilliant smile.”

❖ From early adulthood Harriet became determined to move beyond the circumscribed patterns of life experienced by most woman of her time. Rather than marriage and children, she sought a career. At first keen on becoming a silent-screen actor, she soon discovered her real forte: writing. By 1910 she held a

senior editorial post with New York’s Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly magazine. She also wrote film screenplays, some directed by David Wark (The Birth of a Nation) Griffith, became a talented photographer, lived independently in Manhattan and drove her own bright yellow auto. Her job accessed many different worlds, among them the infant art of aviation. In September 1910 she visited the Harvard-Boston Aero Meet at Atlantic, Massachusetts, and in late October covered the flying exhibition at Belmont Park horse-race track on Long Island. The nine-day latter event was huge, with more than two dozen aviators participating and around $75,000 in prize money on offer. On Sunday 30 October an air race took place from the park to the Statue of Liberty and back. One estimate put the goggling crowds at 75,000, another at double that. Harriet watched fascinated as American flyer John Bevins Moisant won the race and $10,000, though later the result was twice overturned. Devouring the occasion’s

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excitement, she remarked later, “When I saw how easily [Moisant] could circle the Statue of Liberty, I believed I could learn to do that myself.” The thrill of flying was a great attraction. For Harriet too the lure of big money was considerable, something she was frank about. She had elderly parents to support, enjoyed moving in well-heeled circles, and if she could accumulate a tidy sum planned to spend her later life in creative writing. That evening, at the Hotel Astor she approached Moisant, asking for flying lessons. Apparently in a light-hearted way, he agreed. She held him to it. But in a patriarchal society, budding female aviators inevitably met with prejudice. The Wright brothers wouldn’t sell their aircraft to women, feeling them lacking in “coolness and judgement”. British aviator Claude Grahame-White declared, “Women lack qualities which make for safety in aviation. They are temperamentally unfitted for the sport”. In Germany, Melli Beese was initially refused flying lessons because of her gender. The Aero Club of America was lukewarm to the notion of licensed female flyers but felt some kind of lesser women’s group might be created, though this never happened. Nonetheless, Harriet signed up with the Moisant flying school at Long Island. Leslie’s agreed to fund her lessons, to the tune of around $750. In return, she’d write articles along the lines of ‘How a Woman Learns to Fly’. By then John Moisant had died, crashing at New Orleans on New Year’s Eve 1910. However, backed by his wealthy brother Alfred the school opened in May 1911, with Moisant Blériot monoplanes powered by three-cylinder Anzani engines developing around 30hp. Harriet later claimed she’d tried to keep her lessons lowprofile, seeking to avoid becoming a curiosity as a woman pupil. She took to arriving at the school at first light, before work, and as part of her aviator’s clothing wore a large hood which hid her hair. However, aeroplanes were an enormous fascination for the public and a ready source of journalistic news,

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LEFT: In September 1910, the young journalist visited the HarvardBoston Aero Meet held at Atlantic, Massachusetts.

as she very well knew. And far from bestowing anonymity, her costume marked her out. Sure enough, on 11 May the New York Times reported, “Woman In Trousers Daring Aviator… Rumors that there was a young woman aviator at the Moisant Aviation School here […] have brought many Garden City folk and townspeople […] to the flying grounds. These early risers have seen a slender, youthful figure in aviation jacket and trousers”. Not quite as youthful as Harriet portrayed, for she’d shaved a few years off the age she gave publicly. When the Times reporter asked if she liked flying, surely a rather lame question, she replied: “Well, I’m out here at 4 o’clock every morning. That ought to be answer enough”. The story raised her public exposure beautifully.

At the Hotel Astor she approached Moisant, asking for flying lessons

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At the school Harriet struck up a friendship with fellow pupil Matilde Moisant, John and Alfred’s sister. Matilde was learning to fly for fun, with no financial reward in mind. Two other American women, Blanche Scott and Bessica Raiche, had soloed previously but neither ever held an aviator’s licence. At that time, flying was allowed without formal training. Harriet was the first US woman to undertake the process, graduating from her Anzani machine to a 50hp Gnôme-powered

BELOW: This Moisant Aviation School advertisement from 1911 made sure its women graduates were emphasised as well as the men.

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PIONEERS Harriet Quimby

ABOVE: A studio portrait from 1912. Harriet wears a later model of her self-designed flying suit, which featured a somewhat smaller hood along with elaborately laced boots and heavy gauntlets. TOP RIGHT: Local people celebrate the arrival of the unexpected aviator. Harriet is chaired from the beach near Hardelot by two women friends, before having a welldeserved cup of tea. ABOVE RIGHT: 16 April 1912: still in her fashionable hat, Harriet prepares for her Channel flight. Her friend, actress Linda Arvidson, hands her another layer to put on as protection against the chill to come.

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Moisant Blériot for the latter part of her course. She was awarded licence number 37 (the New York Times referred to it quaintly as a diploma), sanctioned by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and administered by the affiliated Aero Club of America. On 13 August, just 12 days after her friend, Matilde Moisant qualified. Tellingly, Harriet wrote, “I’m going in for everything in aviation that men have done; altitude, speed, endurance”. When her flying articles appeared in Leslie’s, its circulation shot up. She received oodles of fan mail and numerous marriage proposals. In one piece she foresaw that “women could and would fly passengers and freight, take aerial photographs, train students, and do everything connected with aviation.” Early in her flying career Harriet adopted her trademark aviator’s costume. At a time when the Gibson Girl look was fashionable in America, coiffed and corseted with long flowing dresses, Harriet’s outfits were socially edgy. Vivid plumcoloured flying-suits, trousered of course, their waists belted. The Newark Sunday Call’s reporter observed diligently that the suits

fitted “snugly”. Again hoods lent mystery, the outfits worn with laced knee-high kid boots. Gauntlets, goggles with stylishly shaped frames, but no helmet.

❖ Harriet explained, “French [women pilots] continue to wear the clumsy and uncomfortable harem skirt as a flying costume. My suit is made of thick wool-back satin, without lining. It is all in one piece, including the hood”. Breathless press reports contrasted with prim hand-wringing from critics claiming the costumes were vulgar. They were functional, of course, and certainly created great publicity. Using numerous buttons, for onground propriety the pants could be adapted into a skirt, though Harriet didn’t seem to bother with that. She liked to decorate her suits with small antique ornaments: basilisks, amulets, scarabs. In September she performed at Staten Island’s Richmond County agricultural fair. The crowds included presidential candidate Woodrow Wilson, who was peeved when his speech was interrupted by her raucous engine. On the moonlit

night of 4 September, as the fair was ending, she flew over perhaps 15,000 spectators, probably the first woman to make a night-time flight, for which she received $1,500. Good going for around seven minutes’ work. Later, Harriet flew with the Moisant International Aviators’ travelling troupe. Moisant’s contracts manager wrote to a potential client, “Miss Quimby will prove a novel attraction and will be a very profitable investment for you”. With the troupe Harriet travelled to Mexico, flying over Mexico City during President Francisco Madero’s inauguration. In early 1912 though she hired her own manager, balloonist and dirigible flyer Albert Leo Stevens. She always made time for press interviews and photo-ops, the better to guarantee she got plenty of ink. However, if she couldn’t agree a healthy appearance fee she wouldn’t fly. But far bigger game was awaiting her. During her Mexican visit a European adventure had occurred to Harriet. She wrote later, “At President Madero’s inauguration […] an ambition to be the first woman aviator to cross the English Channel alone entered my mind… Without

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mentioning the matter to a soul, for fear that someone across the sea might anticipate my idea, I waited until my return to New York. There I secured a letter of introduction to Louis Blériot and prepared to present it to him at his factory in Paris.” Such a flight would heighten her profile enormously. In July 1909, by flying from Calais to Dover, Blériot had become an international celebrity. There’s little doubt that his instant fame following his Channel crossing would have inspired Harriet and added greatly to the appeal of doing it herself. She wanted a piece of the action. She planned to start from Dover: “It seemed to me that the Dover cliffs were higher, and I preferred to make the flight in reversal of Blériot’s program”. Quickly she agreed exclusive American rights for the coming story with Leslie’s, before boarding the liner Amerika bound for Britain on 7 March. To help keep her attempt secret she sailed under the name Miss Craig. In London she contacted the Daily Mirror, which agreed to sponsor her flight in return for sole rights to break the story in Britain.

❖ Harriet wrote later, “The next thing necessary was to get a monoplane. I went to Paris, saw Mr Blériot and placed an order with him for a 70hp passenger [variant]… At the same time I readily arranged […] for the loan of a 50hp [single-seat] monoplane of the type I had been accustomed to in the United States”. The latter aircraft she’d use for her Channel attempt. Naturally she wanted to test it, so the machine was transported to Hardelot, just south of Boulogne, where Blériot had a hangar remote enough to visit without attracting attention. By then, though, a woman had already made the crossing. On 3 April, prominent British aviator Gustav Hamel and his friend Eleanor Trehawke Davis had flown from Dover to Ambleteuse, between Cap Gris-Nez and Boulogne, with Eleanor perched on the passenger seat of Hamel’s Blériot. But the wider challenge was still very much open, for Harriet sought to be the first woman to pilot herself across. She arrived at Hardelot over the Easter weekend, but a gale had set in, quite unsuitable for the Blériot. She wrote, “Time was flying — even if I was not. I had promised the

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Mirror editor to be [back] at Dover promptly, so I arranged to have the [machine] shipped across at once”. Wired from France, the Mirror’s pressmen met her at Dover’s Hotel Lord Warden. On Saturday 13 April the Blériot arrived secretly at the flying field on Dover heights. Within its skeletal fuselage a large flotation bag had been fitted. Her excitement was palpable. “I saw at once that I had only to rise in my machine, fix my eyes upon [Dover] castle, fly over it and speed directly across to the French coast. It seemed so easy that it looked like a cross-country flight. I am glad I thought so and felt so, otherwise I might have had more hesitation […] knowing that the treacherous North Sea stood ready to receive me if I drifted only five miles too far out of my course.” Sunday was a perfect flying day, still and clear. But Harriet had once promised her mother she’d never fly on a Sunday, and so delayed her departure until the following day. Meanwhile, none other than Hamel had joined her little party, kindly testing the borrowed Blériot for Harriet. On Monday, though, the rain returned. Tuesday 16 April dawned bitter and foggy, but Harriet could wait no longer. Hamel took the Blériot up again: all OK. He also showed Harriet how to use the machine’s compass, something she’d not previously had to do. But clearly he was worried about the venture. Harriet recalled he proposed to “dress up in my costume […] and make the flight, land at an unfrequented spot and sneak off, and everyone would think I had done it! I laughed and told him I was going to make that flight myself.” To combat the cold to come, Harriet wrapped up. “Under my flying suit […] I wore two pairs of silk combinations, over it a long woollen coat, over this an American raincoat, and around […] my shoulders a long, wide stole of sealskin”. At the last minute she was handed “a large hot-water bag, which Mr Hamel insisted on tying to my waist like an enormous locket”. She also carried a good luck charm, a tiny brass figurine of the Hindu deity Ganesha, acquired from the Mirror editor and once owned by a French airman. Just a few people watched her leave. Leo Stevens was there with Norbert Chereau, manager of Hendon’s Blériot School. Harriet’s American friends Carrie Vanderbilt

and actress Linda Arvidson (otherwise known as Mrs D. W. Griffith) had come. A couple of Mirror reporters and photographers assembled while others had boarded a tug and left Dover, despite the fog hoping to spy her heading for France. A crew from the Gaumont cinematographic company prepared to film her take-off. At 05.30hrs she was ready. She recorded, “The preliminaries were brief… the motor began to make its twelve hundred revolutions a minute, and I put up my hand to give the signal of release… Then I was off. The noise of the motor drowned the shouts and cheers of friends below. In a moment I was in the air, climbing steadily in a long circle.” But the fog closed in. “Calais was out of sight. I could not see ahead of me at all, nor could I see the water below. There was only one thing […] to do, and that was to keep my eyes

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She received oodles of fan mail and numerous marriage proposals

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fixed on the compass. My hands were covered with long, Scotch woollen gloves, which gave me good protection from the cold and fog. But the machine was wet, and my face was so covered with dampness that I had to push my goggles up on my forehead. I could not see through them. “I was travelling at over a mile a minute. The distance straight across from Dover to Calais is only twentytwo miles, and I knew that land must be in sight if I could only get below the fog and see it. So I dropped from an altitude of about two thousand feet until I was half that height”. Flight magazine later reported, “Guided solely by compass, Miss Quimby arrived above the Gris-Nez lighthouse in a little under an hour.” Having kept the Blériot on an even keel despite the disorientating fog, Harriet emerged into the light, spotting the French coast but unable to find Calais. “I determined to reconnoitre, come down to […] about five hundred feet and traverse the shore”. Meanwhile the wind had increased: time to set down. “I flew a short distance inland to locate myself or find a good place on which to alight. It was all tilled land

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PIONEERS Harriet Quimby

ABOVE: Final flight, blue skies: on 1 July 1912, over the HarvardBoston aviation meet with event organiser William Willard, Harriet’s 70hp Blériot suddenly pitched violently forward. Harriet and her passenger were flung out, plunging into the Neponset River between Quincy and Dorchester, and died instantly.

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below me, and [so]… I decided to drop down on the hard beach.” Flight again: “Making her way towards Boulogne she alighted at Equihen by a spiral vol plané not far from the Blériot sheds”. Harriet rolled to a stop and switched off. Silence, broken only by lapping waves and seabirds. “I jumped from my machine and was alone upon the shore”. Actually she’d landed between Équihen and Hardelot, and the peace didn’t last long. “A crowd of fishermen — men, women and children — came rushing from all directions toward me… the first woman to cross [the Channel] in an aeroplane had landed on their fishing beach”. Two women, with whom Harriet had made friends during her earlier stay at Hardelot, carried her shoulder-high off the beach in celebration of her success. “One of the fisherwomen insisted upon serving me with a very welcome cup of tea […] in a cup fully six times as large as an ordinary teacup, so old and quaint that I could not conceal my admiration of it. The good-hearted woman insisted upon giving it to me, and no cup that I have ever won or ever shall win as an aero trophy will be prized more than this”. The Mirror’s men, tearing down from Calais by motor car, produced champagne and notebooks before Harriet was driven to “a fast train that took me into Paris at seven o’clock, a very tired but a very happy woman.” Harriet had secured her place in aviation history, but her achievement, though reported, didn’t make headlines. The Mirror relegated its British exclusive to page 8 while the New York Times ran the story only on page 15. For just the

previous day, during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York the huge liner RMS Titanic had struck an iceberg and sunk. More than 1,500 people had died. If Harriet had flown at any other time she would have received the recognition she deserved. As it was, her triumph was simply swept away. But as the Titanic tragedy waned in the public eye, the flight drew wider media attention, particularly of course in America but in Europe too. In France Harriet appeared on the cover of Femina magazine, while in Britain the Times and Flight ran

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Two women carried her shoulder-high off the beach

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modest pieces. Back in America by mid-May, she began using her new white 70hp Blériot. But on Monday 1 July 1912 came disaster. Appearing at the Harvard-Boston aviation meet at Squantum flying field, Harriet took event organiser William Willard aloft to Boston Light. During her return, the Blériot suddenly pitched violently forward, its tail catapulting up. From around 1,000ft, first Willard and then Harriet were flung from the machine, plummeting into the Neponset River between Quincy and Dorchester, and died instantly. Leo Stevens, rumoured to be Harriet’s beau, saw everything. The accident’s cause was never absolutely confirmed.

Attitudes toward women flyers didn’t change overnight. “All male aviators dislike seeing women in the air”, declared the Salt Lake City Tribune in its brainless piece on Harriet’s Channel accomplishment. Likewise opposing feminism, the New York Times gabbled, “Exultation is not in order… Just a few months ago this same flight was one of the most daring […] deeds accomplished by man. Since then the passage has been repeated by men, and now for them there is little or no glory. The flight is now hardly anything more than proof of ordinary professional competency… Of course it still proves ability and capacity, but it does not prove equality.” Three days after Harriet died, the New York Sun ran a piece entitled ‘Women as Aviators’. An extract read, “Miss Harriet Quimby was the fifth woman to be killed while operating an aeroplane… The sport is not one for which women are physically qualified. As a rule, they lack the strength, the presence of mind, and the courage to excel as aviators. It is essentially a man’s pastime or profession…” Had the newspaper correspondents flown at all? Whenever Harriet had taken to the air, she’d perched within a spindly fuselage on an exposed seat, halfdeafened by her machine’s engine, constantly covered with noxious exhaust fumes and buffeted by the propeller wash. Her Blériots were sluggish in roll and markedly over-sensitive in pitch. There were dangers of mechanical or structural failure with terrible consequences. If they’d tried it, the hacks might have been more humble. Today if we think of famous American female flyers, perhaps Bessie Coleman, Amelia Earhart or Jacqueline Cochran come to mind. By comparison the elegant, purpleclad Blériot pilot has been lost to us. But Earhart wrote of her predecessor, “Without any of the modern instruments, in a plane which was hardly more than a winged skeleton with a motor […] to cross the Channel in 1912 required more bravery and skill than to cross the Atlantic today”. Harriet Quimby, her licence proclaiming her First Lady of the air, was the earliest qualified American woman to fly high, push back barriers and smash the glass ceiling. She certainly had the right stuff. The writer thanks Katrina Danforth.

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FLIGHT TEST Jaguar M

SEACAT With just one example ever built, the carrier-borne SEPECAT Jaguar M is the forgotten member of this famed Anglo-French strike aircraft family. But why didn’t it succeed? WORDS: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE CARBONEL

Heavily laden, Jaguar M 05 is readied to launch from the Clemenceau. By this stage of the test programme, numerous ‘mission symbols’ had appeared on the aircraft’s nose: seven red champagne corks, representing actual catapult launches from the carrier, and hooks for carrier landings. BERNARD THOUANEL

ome, on both sides of the Channel, bemoaned the brave new world of Anglo-French aeronautical co-operation. It would never work, they said — or why couldn’t these great aviation powers go it alone? The results mostly proved the critics wrong. There was Concorde, of course. There were the Puma and Gazelle helicopters. Even the AngloFrench Variable Geometry aircraft, while it never reached the hardware stage, heavily informed future developments. And then there was the Jaguar. In 1966, the SEPECAT (Société Européenne de Production de l’avion Ecole de Combat et d’Appui Tactique) company, incorporated under French law, and Rolls-Royce/ Turbomeca, registered in Britain, received government contracts to supply both the Armée de l’Air and the RAF with a new type. Its original design was based on a Breguet project, the Br 121, which answered the French ECAT (avion école combat et d’appui tactique, or training and tactical strike aircraft) requirement. The powerplant, initially based on the Turbomeca Tourmalet, retained only the compressor section of the French engine, to which was mated a combustion chamber and exhaust nozzle from the Rolls-Royce RB172. It effectively became an all-new unit, the Adour — named after a French river, but also close to a British river, the Adur in Sussex. The merging of the French and British requirements was not well-received in all circles. On 30 October 1968, top-scoring World War Two French fighter ace-turned-politician Pierre Clostermann voiced his criticism in the Assemblée Nationale: “The ECAT”, he complained, “has been replaced by the Anglo-French Jaguar aircraft which is heavier and costs a lot more.” Five variants were designed, which were all produced in quantity, except for one: the Jaguar M (Marine), developed specifically for France’s Marine Nationale. The objective was to find a new carrierbased attack aircraft to replace the Étendard IV, before the advent

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of a new VTOL generation. “For the same all-up weight, a VTOL attack aircraft carries a military load which is considerably smaller than a standard catapult-launched aircraft”, French Navy chief of staff Admiral André Storelli told French publication Aviation Magazine in December 1970. “As our carriers are still new, with a long life in their future, and are fitted with catapults, it is logical and reasonable to stay with catapult-capable aircraft to equip them. The Jaguar programme is the response to this preoccupation to replace the Étendard.” In particular, the Marine Nationale was interested in the Jaguar’s comparatively long range and its manoeuvrability at low speeds. The fifth prototype — number 05, or M 1 in the contractual documentation, and F-ZWRJ on the French registry — was selected to become the naval variant. It would remain the only machine built to this standard. Navalisation of the Jaguar included many modifications to the base design, as detailed in the technical requirements dated May 1967. It required a reinforced airframe with catapult anchor points, and a stronger arrester hook. The standard land-based aircraft had a hook to facilitate short landings on suitably equipped

Navalisation of the Jaguar included many modifications to the base design

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runways, but it was not suitable for shipborne operations. The new hook could stop a 10,000kg (22,046lb) aircraft braking at 5g. The undercarriage was the most obvious difference. The complex, twin-wheel main undercarriage assembly — optimised for operations from rough or unprepared strips — was replaced by single-wheeled straight legs with long shock absorbers. The nose gear unit, on the other hand, gained twin wheels and an elongated leg to afford a nose-up take-off attitude. The lower part of the airframe structure, containing the spars to which the undercarriage legs were attached, was reinforced too.

ABOVE: The Jaguar M during one of its early flights, possibly the first. BERNARD THOUANEL

❖ Rapid venting equipment was to be incorporated into the fuel system, this a prerequisite for getting down to the required weight for a carrier landing if forced to turn back to the boat. The ejector seat was a ‘zerozero’ Martin-Baker MkIX, instead of the MkIV fitted to the land-based versions. Cockpit windscreen washers, using jets of water mixed with de-icing fluid, were added to clear away salt water deposits. On the avionics side, a new navigation and attack system (Système de Navigation et d’Attaque, or SNA) was incorporated, as was a gyroscopic navigation unit coupled with the Doppler radar. The addition of a laser range-finder was significant, as this was subsequently retrofitted to land-based Jaguars. Although not originally specified, the Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca

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FLIGHT TEST Jaguar M

In front of the distinctive Melun-Villaroche hangars in April 1970, M 05 carries a generic load on the underfuselage station. Called the ‘white whale’, this was used to check that the catapult sling would not impact on a load mounted in that position during launch. BERNARD THOUANEL

ABOVE: On the raised catapult at RAE Bedford, with 38 symbols denoting simulated carrier landings and seven catapult launches. DASSAULT

ABOVE RIGHT: A test aboard the ‘Clem’ of how well the Jaguar would be arrested by the emergency barrier. BERNARD THOUANEL

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RB172/T260 Adour engines were later fitted with modulated reheat, meaning there was no need to push them to maximum power before igniting the afterburners. This went on to be installed on all production Jaguars. Like its brethren, the Jaguar M had an air-to-air refuelling capability thanks to a retractable probe on the starboard side, while an under-fuselage pod could turn it into a tanker. Jaguar M 05 made its maiden flight from the Centre d’Essais en Vol (CEV, or Flight Test Centre) airfield at Melun-Villaroche on 14 November 1969, with Jacques Jesberger at the controls. Three more sorties soon followed. Jesberger was named as the pilot in charge of the programme at Breguet, while Jacques Desmazures was the company’s flight test project

manager. During the first flight, it was observed that the main undercarriage doors were being affected by major vibrations, which were traced to the nosewheel door. These were again experienced on subsequent occasions. Another Breguet test pilot, Bernard Witt — the firm’s chief test pilot, and its project manager for the whole Jaguar programme — took the helm on 18 November. He flew M 05 for a second time on 20 November, and the next day ferried it to Istres. It was common practice to begin testing at Melun and then transfer to Istres, which had longer runways and was surrounded by bare, flat land where no third parties would be harmed in case of an emergency landing. Jacques Desmazures confirms there was a governmental directive to this end: “General de

Gaulle thought doing flight tests in the Paris area was too dangerous and required all manufacturers to perform all their flight tests at Istres from now on. This was indeed implemented from 1969.” During the early flights from Melun, severe lateral instability had been observed. On arrival at Istres, the machine was modified — like all other Jaguars — with the addition of two ventral strakes beneath the rear fuselage and wing fences. Many vibration-related tests were carried out after flight 12, involving the removal of undercarriage doors. For all subsequent flights the ‘shield’ nosewheel door was permanently removed, while the nose probe was shortened. Another alteration involved the flaps, which now had different deflections: 40° for the inner flaps, 34° for the outer. All

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these changes greatly improved the low-speed flying characteristics. Only two flights were carried out in December, on the 10th and 24th, both in the hands of Jesberger. The effort resumed during the first quarter of 1970, various tasks being flown from Istres. British pilot Paul Millett joined Jesberger and Witt on 6 April, while Lieutenant de Vaisseau (LV, or lieutenant) Daniel Pierre, representing the French Navy test centre, further bolstered the team from the 15th. Besides studying the low-speed handling, and confirming that the earlier troubles had been cured, the major activity now consisted of simulated carrier landings (ASSP, or Appontages Simulés Sur Porte-avions) in preparation for launch trials on the catapult at RAE Bedford. During one such flight, a bird was swallowed by one of the air intakes and the Jaguar made a single-engine landing, the affected powerplant being removed and returned to the factory.

❖ The departure to Bedford was delayed due to industrial action by RAE personnel. Bernard Sigaud, director of test operations for the Jaguar programme at Dassault, refused to let his team leave until the strike had ended. Eventually, on 20 April Jesberger took off from Istres and landed two hours later at Bedford. The RAE base was unique in Europe because it boasted a simulated carrier-deck runway incorporating two steam catapults: a flush catapult at ground level, used to test the loads that could be withstood by the aircraft, and an elevated catapult (6ft above ground) for aerodynamic trials. All European-built aircraft types intended for carrier operations were sent there, to test their ability to undergo a catapult launch. The plan was to ascertain the launch parameters, such as minimum speed, flap configuration and so forth. Jesberger also intended to fly ‘free stick’ launches, letting the aircraft choose by itself the optimal aerodynamic attitude just after launch, something common to all carrier-based aircraft fitted with mechanical flight controls. It proved a successful period, nine catapult launches and 38 arrested landings being performed during the stay at Bedford, before M 05 returned to France on 4 May. Flying from Istres once more, the Marine Nationale’s project officer

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for integrating a new aircraft into service, Capitaine de Corvette (lieutenant commander) Yves Goupil, had his maiden trip in M 05 on 28 May. He and Jesberger went on to conduct two tests of the Jaguar’s refuelling capability. The first attempt was not very smooth: it proved difficult to separate the Jaguar and the Étendard IV tanker, the refuelling hose nearly being destroyed. Upon examination back on the ground, the compressor blades in the right-hand engine

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Yves Goupil exclaimed, ‘Captain, the Tiger has swallowed the Jaguar’

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were found to have been damaged by metal debris from the drogue. The Adour had to be replaced. Nevertheless, the ASSP work went on until 8 June, when the aircraft returned to Bedford for a second, 10-day test session. There, Jesberger, Pierre and Goupil completed 15 launches and 37 arrested landings. The reheat mechanism on the Adours used so-called catalysts, platinum foam discs of about 2in diameter, which were notoriously prone to failure. In preparation for

the first carrier embarkation, the team raided the whole of Istres air base — where other Jaguar prototypes were undergoing tests — for these catalysts and, in the words of Jacques Desmazures, “stuffed their pockets with them.” Such was the lead-up to the Jaguar M’s first landing on a carrier at sea, which was planned to occur from 8-12 July. The carrier was to be the Clemenceau, the location 25nm off Lorient, near the naval air station at Lann-Bihoué which had been selected as the emergency landing airfield. Each of the three pilots refreshed their ASSP skills at Lann-Bihoué on 7-8 July. Everything was now ready. However, the initial attempt failed because of an electrical malfunction in the Clemenceau’s landing mirror. Goupil headed back to Lann-Bihoué. Having refuelled he returned, simulated two landings, did two touch-and-goes — being careful to keep the hook up to avoid catching the arresting cables — and finally landed. Reporting to the ship’s captain, Goupil exclaimed, “Captain, that’s it: the Tiger has swallowed the Jaguar”. This was a pun on former French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau’s nickname, ‘the Tiger’, from his time as Minister of Home Affairs before the First World War. Daniel Pierre had the honour of making the first catapult launch on 10 July. A dozen flights were carried out from the Clemenceau during the Jaguar’s brief stay aboard

BELOW: Taking off from the Clemenceau during the first carrier-borne test campaign. DASSAULT

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FLIGHT TEST Jaguar M RIGHT: Racing down the Clemenceau’s catapult in July 1970, both Adour engines in full afterburner. In truth, the initial Jaguar M was somewhat underpowered as a carrier-borne type, but a later Adour upgrade promised to change all that. PHIL WILKINSON

BELOW RIGHT: Capitaine de Corvette Yves Goupil was the first pilot to make a carrier landing in M 05. PHIL WILKINSON

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the carrier. On 15 July, the aircraft returned to Istres for modifications. It returned to airworthy status in time to participate in September’s SBAC show at Farnborough. For the first time, all four of the underwing hardpoints carried loads, it being important to show the Jaguar’s weapon-carrying capabilities. During the Bedford tests, lighter camera pods had been fitted to the outer stations but these were considered test equipment, not military loads. A debut presentation on 8 September went well, but the next day Paul Millett had to abort his display in the Jaguar S — the strike version for the RAF — due to engine trouble. It was duly replaced by M 05, which then suffered an engine malfunction during its take-off run. There would be no more Jaguar flying that day… For the winter, M 05 returned to its Istres hangar for routine maintenance. This provided an opportunity to make the tail fin slightly taller and to smooth out a step of slightly less than 1in in the upper surfaces of the elevators. According to Desmazures, “this had been designed to ease loads on the servo operating the elevator at high supersonic speeds. However, the Jaguar — any mark — was never used as a supersonic aircraft. Only once, one of the prototypes reached Mach 1.06, but that was for contractual reasons. It was in the military requirement so the aircraft needed to prove it could do it, and — with difficulty — it did it!” At the beginning of the year, Goupil left, being replaced by Capitaine de Fregate (commander) Pierre Thireaut. June 1971 brought participation in the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, the jet encountering no problems on its home turf. This was just as well, for on 24 June the aircraft returned for the third time to Bedford. This time the objective was to investigate launches with a fully loaded aircraft. Another pilot joined the programme at this point: LV François Champion replaced Daniel Pierre, who had left the CEV. In total, 27 launches and 90 recoveries were carried out. The team was still at Bedford for the French national day on 14 July and decided to mark the occasion by painting M 05 with bright tricolour markings. On the next day it flew back to Istres, still decorated. Champion, who was new to the test team and did not want to appear a wimp, had agreed to fly it with the

unofficial markings on, but after landing he taxied the Jaguar straight inside its hangar.

❖ Jacques Desmazures details the incident: “Actually, our alternator was damaged and we were waiting to get a spare one from Istres. The groundcrew were getting restless because they could not return to France, so I let them paint the aircraft as they saw fit… they got carried away and painted all the cars, including the one belonging to the British base commander. He claimed to have felt very honoured by the attention. He used his painted car for the next three days, to the delight of military and civilian personnel on the base. Then came the rain, which washed out those patriotic colours.” The Clemenceau’s landing signals officer carried out one flight, on 18 October, to gauge the stability of the machine. This was the precursor

to a second campaign aboard the carrier, M 05 landing again on the ‘Clem’, which was now sailing away from Fos-sur-Mer, two days later. As with the period at Bedford in June-July, the objective was to assess the characteristics of a loaded aircraft. Even with inert bombs, the aircraft was forbidden to make a carrier landing, so M 05, after being catapulted with a full bomb load, had either to drop it in the sea or to land at Istres for removal of the more costly stores and return, unloaded, to the Clemenceau. It completed 25 sorties. The maximum weight observed during take-off was 13,730kg, with an extra tank on the fuselage hardpoint and six bombs under the wings, and 9,450kg after recovery. Unfortunately, during a routine pre-flight inspection at Istres 10 days after the aircraft’s return, cracks were found in the engine mountings. It was immediately grounded, and remained on repair

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until March 1972. In the meantime, on 14 December 1971, Dassault absorbed Breguet into Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation. Yves Goupil returned to his former post in January, before being succeeded in June by Capitaine de Corvette Pauty. Once the Jaguar was serviceable again, the first part of 1972 mostly involved navigation system and weapon trials. Many photos show M 05 with an AS-37 Martel anti-radiation missile under the wing, but the weapons are always weighted mock-ups, which were only used to simulate the drag and mass of the missile on take-off. In reality, M 05 never live-fired any missile. An early estimate was for an order of 50 machines, including 10 nonnavalised Jaguar E (Ecole) trainers, but in January 1973 the whole Jaguar Marine project was abandoned, at which point there was talk of 100 being needed. In discussing the

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JAGUAR M DATA POWERPLANTS Two Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca RB172/T260 Adour afterburning turbofans, 5,110lb dry thrust, 7,300lb with afterburner DIMENSIONS Length: Wingspan: Wing area: Height:

15.52m (50.92ft) 8.48m (27.82ft) 24.03 sq m (258.66 sq ft) 4.30m (13.22ft)

ABOVE: About to take the wire for one of the deck landings accomplished aboard the Clemenceau, sailing off Lorient, during the Jaguar M’s first period ‘at sea’. PHIL WILKINSON

WEIGHTS Empty: Maximum take-off:

6,611kg (14,574lb) 13,695kg (30,192lb)

PERFORMANCE Maximum speed Service ceiling: Maximum range:

Mach 1.6 at 36,000ft Not specified 270nm (500km)

ARMAMENT Configuration 1: Two 400kg bombs under the wings, one rocket pack under the fuselage, two DEFA 552 30mm guns with 150 rounds each Configuration 2: One Martel anti-radar missile under the fuselage, two DEFA 552 30mm guns with 100 rounds each

Notes: Three hardpoints wired to launch AS30 air-to-air missiles. Aircraft could also carry OMERA vertical camera

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FLIGHT TEST Jaguar M

ABOVE: What could have been: the Super Jaguar Marine, incorporating the new wing adapted for subsonic lowaltitude flight. DASSAULT

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military budget for the coming years, members of the Assemblée Nationale had more or less sounded its death knell on 6 November 1972. Joël Le Theule, rapporteur for the National Defence Commission declared, “Third problem: naval aviation… A few different aircraft are in competition. Different factors must be taken into account when making the choice: price, date of delivery and, most important, the security factor. There is talk of the American A-4, of the Super Étendard, of the Jaguar Marine. Unanimously, the commission estimates the last mentioned brings together all the inconveniences: cost, delay, insecurity.” As is often the case in aviation, the aircraft had taken on some extra weight, to the tune of 700kg, during the navalisation process. The improved operational version would have had a new, enlarged wing, reducing commonality with the standard Jaguar — commonality which was touted as the Jaguar M’s main advantage, in that it was expected to reduce costs when compared to designing a whole new aeroplane. But the costs had

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The Jaguar M could have become a very good naval aircraft

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inflated, meaning only 75 aircraft could have been procured. The variant had its shortcomings, too. Former test pilot Daniel Pierre wrote, “Because the machine was underpowered, all catapult launches required the use of afterburner (rather dangerous as the flames brushed the blast shield of the catapult). Besides that, the height of the nose landing gear gave the aircraft a reclined attitude, so the heat from the afterburners touched the flight deck. During tests, the blast shield remained retracted, while a steel plate 20mm thick had been welded to the flight deck to avoid overheating, which was far from an operational solution. During all catapult launches, especially when the aircraft was fully

loaded, the catapult had to operate at its design limits — 5 to 5.5g — which caused structural damage to the aircraft: cracked engine supports, which caused the abrupt end of the second carrier campaign. All this was not acceptable operationally, so a series of measures was intended to improve the ability of the Jaguar to operate from a carrier: lengthened catapults, water-cooling of the flight deck and blast shield, [and] a new wing.” Interviewed by the author for this article, Jacques Desmazures, the engineering project manager, has a different view: “The Jaguar M could have become a very good naval aircraft. The crack in the engine support was purely coincidental: that was just a production defect in the two nuts used to attach the engine. This had nothing to do with design. On the question of the blast damage caused by the inclination of the engines on take-off, it is true that during the first campaign aboard the ‘Clem’, we ruined everything. We even blew away a few deck plates. So we experimented at Cazaux.” The elongated nosewheel leg meant M 05 sat 6-7° tail-low, so

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With a magnificent Citroën Type H van acting as the manufacturer’s support vehicle, M 05 is prepared for a ground run during the 1970 Farnborough show. DENIS J. CALVERT

the hot exhaust grazed the tarmac and damaged it. A sheet of metal was fixed to the ground behind the aircraft, fitted with temperature sensors, while the engines were run at full power: a maximum of 200°C was observed on the steel plate, which was sustainable by the Clemenceau’s water-cooled blast shield. Desmazures recalled, “During the second carrier campaign, we had learned the correct setting of the water-cooled blast shield and it worked just fine by deviating the blast to the side.” Regarding other criticisms levelled at the Jaguar Marine, he added, “What was true was that the aircraft was underpowered: it was unable to land safely on the carrier on a single engine. The pilot needed to ignite the afterburners, and then it was over-powered and difficult to handle”. In April 1972, Rolls-Royce/ Turbomeca offered to install an improved variant of the Adour, with modulated reheat and a five per cent thrust increase over the thencurrent production powerplants. After a first batch of engines was tested on Jaguar E 02, M 05 was refitted in October. It afforded much smoother acceleration and could have saved the day for the Jaguar M.

❖ An improved wing had also been designed by Joseph Czinczenheim, Breguet’s chief aerodynamicist, to cure the deficiencies observed during the tests. Marcel Dassault asked that it be fitted to M 05 before a new campaign on the Clemenceau. The aircraft was therefore sent to the Cazaux factory to undergo the work, but it never happened. As early as July 1972, “faced with the indecision of the Marine Nationale regarding the fate of the Jaguar M” — which was then undergoing a third round of tests at Bedford before a second aboard the Clemenceau — there were ideas of buying McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawks or Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair IIs. Dassault had cooperated with LTV on its entry for the US Navy’s VFX (Naval Fighter Experimental) programme, signing an agreement with the American company in 1968, so the idea of selling Corsair IIs to the French Navy may have stemmed from that. However, the Marine Nationale was reluctant to buy American aircraft — or, more precisely, aircraft that were not 100 per cent French. This also affected the

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ENJOYING THE ENTENTE

n the summer of 1968 I arrived as a student at the French Air Force Air War College (École Supériere de Guerre Aérienne, ESGA), joining a class of 36 Armée de l’Air majors and lieutenant colonels. I also had a Moroccan, an Italian and a German major to make up the foreign complement. The course was fascinating. Two significant events marked the year of my stay in Paris: Concorde’s first flight from Toulouse on 1 March 1969, and Neil Armstrong putting his feet on the moon on 20 July 1969. Significant global occurrences, these, which slightly overshadowed the SEPECAT Jaguar prototype E 01 making its maiden flight from Istres on 8 September 1968, and a further five prototype Jaguar first flights over the next 14 months — in sequence, the French E 02, A 03 and A 04, the British S 06, and the French M 05. The end of my ESGA year saw me returning to London and a post in the Ministry of Technology, in the Jaguar project office, though we knew the aircraft then as the AFCT, Anglo-French Combat Trainer. Under an engineer air commodore, J. R. Burges, as Mintech branch chief, the Jaguar team was led by former wartime flight-tester John Hayhurst, who went on to be the ministry’s director of Concorde, with two other A&AEE Boscombe Down-experienced civilians, Denis Day and Bob Shields. The rest of the desks were taken by a more junior civilian engineer, Alan Dover, and the three RAF squadron leaders; my companions were Bob Tompkins, a navigator, and Ron Bedford, a mechanical engineer. We all enjoyed the excitement of the changes in office headed notepaper that marked our time in the St Giles Court office. Mintech became first the Ministry of Aviation Supply, then Ministry of Defence (Aviation Supply) and finally Ministry of Defence (Procurement Executive). We created our own unofficial date stamp which announced that we were signing on behalf of the Ministry of Certain Things. But it was in MoD(PE) that the Jaguar project matured. Responsibilities matched the specialisations, so Ron Bedford busied himself with the

structural testing, fuel and hydraulic systems, and — with Alan Dover — worked closely with the engineers at the Central Servicing Development Establishment at RAF Swanton Morley. Bob Tompkins kept a close eye on development and testing of the entire navigation-attack system together with all the on-board avionics. Work-share between the two manufacturers was effectively that the front end of the aircraft was British and the back French. That put the cockpit and its output in the front, and that was thus my job: cockpit instruments and flying controls layout and lighting, ejection seat, aircrew equipment assemblies, and — later in the project — the reconnaissance pod. My most productive contribution was to act as translator/interpreter, having just had a full year of total immersion in French, and particularly French aviation language. It must be said that some of the ministry and industry official linguist services were often less than 100 per cent accurate. The main MoD focus on the project was within the relevant branch under the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Operational Requirements) — ACAS(OR). This was OR40, and when I joined the Mintech team, it was led by Wg Cdr Mike Davis. Sqn Ldr Neil Hayward finished the aircrew input — his role was as operational requirements liaison officer (ORLO), a flying appointment with its main work site at BAC’s Warton plant. Flight test and systems testing proceeded conventionally, and I had the pleasure of regular journeys to the French establishments and ministry locations, frequent escapes from London to Preston and Warton, to ejection seat trials on the long test track at Pendine, and often to the Trials Management Team at Boscombe Down. Most exhilarating was my attendance, with Bob Tompkins, on board the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau in July 1970. The Dassault test pilot, Jacques Jesberger, and French Navy and CEV pilots Yves Goupil and Daniel Pierre made a series of catapult launches and arrested landings over five days. Air Cdre Phil Wilkinson

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FLIGHT TEST Jaguar M

In July 1971, when the Jaguar M returned to Bedford, it — and several vehicles, both French and British — received gaudy markings to mark the 14 July Fête Nationale. DASSAULT

ABOVE: The naval Jaguar has, fortunately, been preserved at the Musée de l’Aéronautique Navale in Rochefort. JEAN-YVES BROUARD

ABOVE RIGHT: An approach to the Clemenceau with a large auxiliary tank in the ventral position. DASSAULT

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Jaguar. Desmazures again: “Admiral Sanguinetti, who was then on the naval headquarters staff, refused to have a (half-) British aircraft operate from his carriers”. Sanguinetti was the former captain of the Clemenceau. In fact, there were more than just ‘not invented here’ considerations at work. French catapults were designed to propel the aircraft through slings attached to specific points on the lower fuselage, while US aircraft were launched through bars articulated on the front landing gear leg which attached directly to the catapult system. In effect, they were not directly compatible with French carriers. Dassault proposed a navalised derivative of the Mirage F1, but the most touted solution was to reopen the Étendard production line and install a new engine in the old airframe, such as the Atar 8K — similar to the Atar 9K then fitted to the Mirage IIIE and Mirage IVA. The 8K50 was run successfully on the bench at SNECMA’s Villaroche

factory during the summer of 1972. A press report stated that, “according to some experts, this solution [80 Super Étendards for delivery in 1975] would be cheaper than 50 Jaguar Ms”. At the Exposition

“

They got carried away and painted all the cars, including the one belonging to the British base commander

”

Navale, held at Le Bourget from 23-28 October 1972, two models appeared side-by-side on the Dassault-Breguet stand: the Jaguar M and the Super Étendard. The end was near for the Jaguar M. A

contract for 100 Super Étendards was placed with Dassault in September 1973. It wasn’t quite the conclusion of M 05’s flying life, though. The aircraft was used for spin control investigations from the summer of 1973 to the autumn of 1974, in the hands of French test pilots Bernard Witt and Jean-Marie Saget, and British counterparts Paul Millett, Peter Orne and Nick Warner. Jacques Jesberger and Witt, meanwhile, took the controls for a series of loadcarrying trials. Its last flight took place on 12 December 1975, but M 05 was saved from the scrapheap and now resides at the Musée de l’Aéronautique navale in Rochefort. There it acts as a reminder of the one Jaguar variant that didn’t result in an excellent, highly effective operational aircraft. Thanks to Luc Berger of Dassault Aviation, Jean-Yves Brouard, Jacques Desmazures, Jean-Pierre Hugon, Philippe Ricco and Bernard Thouanel.

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18/05/2021 15:42:12

CLASSICS Perman Parasol

PERMAN AND HIS PARASOL

Going on the trail of E. G. Perman and the origins of his oneoff light aircraft, one encounters many a tangled web — but also a machine well-liked by a notable inter-war aviator, and a man of great artistic ability WORDS: ARTHUR W. J. G. ORD-HUME

n the night of 31 July 1937, fire broke out in one of the hangars at Gravesend Airport. By the time it was extinguished, no fewer than five aircraft had been destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. These were Blackburn Bluebird G-EBRF, two Robinson Redwings, G-ABDO and G-ABOK, DH60M Moth G-AAUH — and the one and only Perman Parasol, G-ADZX. The blaze has been described elsewhere as “a firefighting exercise”.

While it certainly ended as one, it most certainly did not start that way. A local newspaper reported that “an aeroplane’s petrol tank exploded in a mysterious fire”. The airfield, also known as London East, had just acquired a new tenant: Jack Cross’s Essex Aero. It was not a good start. Of those aircraft destroyed, it is this mysterious Perman machine that concerns us here. For a start there is even confusion over its actual identity, as we find the registration had originally been

reserved for a ‘Flying Flea’. One normally reliable reference source actually ascribes it as belonging to one of Henri Mignet’s designs. But G-ADZX certainly wasn’t a Flea, and neither did it even look like one. Besides its association with Fleas, we may search in vain for much information regarding this long-forgotten aircraft, while any further details about its eponymous manufacturer, E. G. Perman, remains little short of ephemeral. As far as aircraft constructors go, Perman

The Perman Parasol, sometimes known as the Grasshopper, looked a reasonable aircraft. Certainly, A. E. Clouston flew it and waxed lyrical over its handling. As it was, only one would ever be built and this lasted barely a year before accidental destruction by fire at Gravesend Airport. VIA ARTHUR W. J. G. ORD-HUME

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seems to have been but a brief and minor interlude. It may be recalled today as being no different from that of the many small firms which sprang up to produce the Flea as a commercial undertaking. During 1935, Perman advertised Mignet’s Pou-du-Ciel in aviation magazines and even went as far as proposing the formation of a Flea Constructors’ Club. And then the trail goes cold. The question is: who was Perman? We know there was a link between the firm of E. G. Perman & Co of Brownlow House, 50-51 High Holborn, London WC1, and F. W. Broughton who later went on to design the unfortunate trio of Broughton-Blayney Brawney singleseaters. But it’s Perman that interests us here — and the name simply disappears off the aviation radar after 1936. That Perman began in aviation building Fleas is well-documented and the business can be traced back to 24 Brownlow Mews, Guilford Street off Gray’s Inn Road. It was to this address which Flea G-ADOV was registered on 1 October 1935, to G. A. Puttnam, described as “trading as E. G. Perman & Co”. The same attribution goes to G-ADPW later the same month. The following January we find G-ADPV, this time registered to Perman & Co alone, as were G-ADPX and ’PY. Then there is a gap until G-AECM. Puttnam Aircraft Company is accorded G-AECC with the footnote that this variant of the aircraft incorporated modifications by L. E. Baynes. Leslie Everett Baynes was an upcoming designer who had a background in sailplanes. He went on to work with E. D. Abbott Ltd at Wrecclesham, just outside Farnham in Surrey, in conjunction with Stephen Villiers Appleby, the pioneer of the Flea in Britain. Appleby (1912-84) had formed the G. A. Puttnam company as Flea builders in March 1936. Where the name Puttman came from is unknown. His other directors were

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Martin Payne (formerly with Sir John Carden), Samuel W. Soden and his wife Gertrude, described as furriers, and Dr Harold A. Tracey, a medical practitioner. The firm went on to advertise “the PAC Pou […] fitted with the Carden Aero engine”, trumpeting how, “every machine made by PAC is test flown and passed by Stephen V. Appleby”. The price, with Carden-Ford engine, was £175 and hire-purchase terms were available. It advertised its Flea extensively, an added expense for the fledgling company. Less than six months later, we find the firm was put up for sale as a going concern. Martin Payne had died suddenly after major surgery and without his financial backing the business could not continue. With 3,000 sq ft of office and manufacturing space — which, an advertisement tells us, was centrally heated — the asking price was £1,000. Whether or not the outfit was sold is not recorded. In its brief life, Puttnam had built some five aircraft at its Hornsey Road premises. Appleby now went on to share his time between a job at Heston

“

The Perman name disappears off the aviation radar after 1936

”

Airport and Edward Dixon Abbott’s business, bespoke coachbuilders at Wrecclesham. Through its connection with Baynes, the Abbott company also made gliders including the Farnham Sailplane. It later teamed up with Baynes as AbbottBaynes Sailplanes to build the famous Scud series of small gliders. Appleby’s association with Abbott resulted in the Baynes redesign of the Flea, but that is another story.

Suffice to say that the Flea was being built by amateurs across the land and notched up a number of unfortunate experiences, several culminating in the loss of lives. A nationwide bunch of disparate enthusiasts headed almost inevitably towards the day in October 1936 when the Air Ministry, then responsible for civil as well as military aircraft, declared it would no longer issue or renew authorisations to fly for Flying Fleas. While it was not so much a ban as a squeezingout, it nevertheless sounded the death-knell for the pre-war Pou-duCiel in Britain. We are left with the tale of two Flea makers that were somehow connected: E. G. Perman, seemingly a short-lived enterprise, and Puttnam. Perman was allocated no fewer than 11 registrations for the French-designed Pou, but not all are known to have been built. The firm is associated with G-ADOV, ’DPU, ’DPV, ’DPW, ’DPX, ’DPY, ’DZG (completed as G-ADZX), ’DZW, ’ECK, ’ECL and ’ECM. After the Flea was officially shunned, Perman appears to have joined forces with Frank William Broughton to produce a replacement. Broughton was a printing-works foreman. His aircraft design experience is unrecorded, but it seems his design for the Parasol was undertaken before the Flea debacle. First known as the Broughton Midget, it was somewhat basic with a number of structurally questionable features and several dubious aerodynamic ones, which we will explore in a minute or two. How Perman and Broughton got to know each other is uncertain,

ABOVE: The Perman-Ford converted car engine mounted in the partcomplete Parasol. AEROPLANE

LEFT: A very poor-quality but rare shot of the Parasol in flight.

VIA ARTHUR W. J. G. ORD-HUME

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CLASSICS Perman Parasol

ABOVE: Perman had visions of a club for Flea builders, as he outlines in this advertisement from 1935.

VIA ARTHUR W. J. G. ORD-HUME

ABOVE RIGHT: The Puttnam company succeeded Perman and advertised its own distinct variant of the Flying Flea. VIA ARTHUR W. J. G. ORD-HUME

but it is probable that both were united by a common interest in aeroplanes. Perman was obviously struck by Broughton’s design, for he agreed to build it. Accordingly the name was changed to the Perman Parasol and it took an unused registration from the list of Fleas mentioned earlier, G-ADZX. For an engine it would be powered, like the Perman Fleas, by a Permanconverted Ford car engine, cheaper than the contemporary Carden conversion of the same unit. In a charade which appears to have made confusion a way of life, we also find that during its short life the aircraft was known by not one but four other names. As well as the Broughton Midget, it was the

PERMAN PARASOL DATA POWERPLANT One Perman-Ford, 32hp stated DIMENSIONS Wingspan: Length: Height: Wing area:

25ft 6in (7.8m) 15ft 6in (4.75m) 6ft 0in (1.8m) 125 sq ft (11.6 sq m)

WEIGHTS Empty: Maximum:

425lb (192kg) 600lb (272kg)

PERFORMANCE Maximum speed (level flight): Cruising speed: Stalling speed: Range:

75mph (120km/h) 68mph (109km/h) 35mph (56km/h) 280 miles (450km)

PRICE

£175

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Perman Grasshopper, Clouston Midget and Brown Pigeon! Even the engine carried two names, initially being described as the Perman Poupower. After the Flea was effectively killed off, it adopted the simpler title of the Perman-Ford. The output was stated as being 32hp, but it seems doubtful that Perman would have submitted his engine for official brake-tests to establish the real figure.

❖ The maiden flight took place at Gravesend on 23 May 1936. The test pilot was Arthur Clouston, who would later fly DH88 Comet G-ACSS to New Zealand and back in 10 days. A veteran author as well as a record-breaking flyer, Clouston subsequently flew the Parasol extensively and apparently wrote glowingly about it. The fire at Gravesend put a premature end to G-ADZX, whereupon Broughton — allegedly with the design rights to the Parasol — left Perman and joined forces with Adolf Jarvis Blayney to form the Broughton-Blayney Aircraft Company. Blayney was a director of Paddington-based T. H. Gill & Son, a specialist in making bespoke car bodies. This small business, formed by Thomas Howard Gill and his son James John Gill, had made a name for itself with its ‘All-Weather Car Bodies’. Now it would construct the three Brawney airframes with Blayney putting up the funds. Their creation would display none of the characteristics of the Perman

Parasol. Of the three Brawneys built — G-AENM of March 1937, G-AERF of June and G-AERG of December — the first two killed their pilots in mishaps that turned into disasters caused by their poor handling qualities. The third Brawney was ‘disappeared’. So, we are still nowhere near identifying that man E. G. Perman, having skirted around his numerous aviation associations. The first real clues came through checking his addresses and having access to census returns. The result is, to say the least, a bit of a surprise. Edgar George Perman was born in Ealing, West London, in December 1874. From the 1920s until his death in January 1955, he lived at 64 Gloucester Road, Kew. In census returns he lists his profession as a commercial artist, and a search finds he had been a student at Westminster School of Art in the 1890s. Later he established himself as an artistic designer with various business addresses in the 1920s and ’30s, all in the High Holborn and Chancery Lane areas of London. His fame initially extended to a familiar area well outside aviation — the London Underground, for it was he who devised one of the early tube maps of London. Edgar Perman’s rather splendid map was published by Waterlow & Co in December 1928. The reverse side carried a useful guide to places of interest in the capital. The Perman tube map is, today, quite hard to find and much soughtafter by collectors of underground railway ephemera. The reason few have heard of him in this connection is that Henry Charles (Harry) Beck’s famous tube map, upon which today’s London Underground maps are all based, first appeared in 1931 — barely two years afterwards. Perman’s map was pictorial and a true work of art while Beck’s was deemed more practical and easier to read, especially by ‘non-Londoners’. Sad fact of life! When the Flying Flea came along, Perman was not the only one to become artistically enchanted with the diminutive machine and eager to get down to building them. With the aid of his friend Broughton, he invested some of his money into the business and allocated rooms in his spacious studio in High Holborn to be used as an aircraft factory. The rest we know. What of the Broughton-designed, Perman-financed Parasol? After

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the Flying Flea had been officially ostracised, it is likely the enthusiastic but aerodynamically untutored Edgar Perman placed his trust in Broughton to come up with something that overcame the official objections to Mignet’s Pou. The outcome was a bog-standard single-seat lightplane design that might well have been inspired by Westland’s Widgeon or, more likely, contemporary American machines such as the Corben Baby Ace and the Heath Parasol. The wingspan, chord and area were almost the same as those of the Heath, and also the Luton Minor. An all-wood design, the aircraft was of conventional layout and construction. The 25ft-span wing was of Clark Y aerofoil section and braced to the fuselage by slender

“

Clouston wrote glowingly about the Parasol

”

V-shaped lift struts. In a rather unwise attempt at reducing drag, the aerofoil section was modified, bringing the wing to a sharp edge at the front. The rudder was operated not by the normal pivoted rudderbar but by a pair of hinged footplates screwed to the floor, which were connected by flexible cables directly with the large semi-circular Aeroncalike rudder. The engine bearers were hardwood extensions of the fuselage-top longerons. A six-gallon

petrol tank was positioned between instrument panel and engine firewall while a large, drag-inducing water tank was fitted on top of the radiator in front of the engine. A low-slung undercarriage with compression-spring suspension sat the aircraft rather close to the ground. The tubular steel members that made up the landing gear appear to have been on the rather minimal size and a heavy landing might have caused damage. After achieving a maximum speed said to have been 85mph, 10mph above the specified maximum, Clouston warned that the fuselage was “twisting about relative to the wings”, according to a contemporary report. The reason was easy to see: the forward attachment point of the V-struts was generating a coupling force with not just the rear wing pylon but the front one as well. The result was a dangerous lack in torsional stiffness of the fuselage over the cockpit area. Broughton, in failing to fully appreciate the cause, overcame it by creating further unsatisfactory stress couples. He ran a pair of bracing wires, one each side, from the wing-rear lift strut pick-up point to a bracket under the stern-post. This would have stiffened up the airframe while making getting in and out of the cockpit an interesting challenge. Aside from these rather fundamental design faults, not the least of which were those rudder pedals, by all accounts the Parasol must have flown quite well, especially if such an accomplished aviator as Clouston found it pleasurable. That said, an

aerodynamic and structural analysis today suggests that it probably was only marginally adequate. In October 1936, the Parasol was sold to Airworthiness Ltd, a small business at Gravesend Airport formed by H. C. Brown and G. Heeley. Brown had been an Imperial Airways pilot and was now flying with Hillman. This firm, which undertook aircraft servicing and offered aeronautical engineering apprenticeships, flew the Parasol occasionally until that fateful night when what East London’s furniture manufacturers sardonically termed ‘the red cockerel’ — the dreaded fire — visited. Ashes to ashes…

TOP: E. G. Perman’s most famous piece of design — his beautiful London Underground map, dating from 1928. LEFT: Broughton-Blayney Brawney G-AERF, the second one built, differed from the prototype in that G-AENM had a third metal strut that ran diagonally between the two lift struts. G-AERF replaced it with a lighter but equally practical bracing wire. The wide-chord wing and its limited angle of incidence would have contributed to the fatal poor handling characteristics — much worse than those of the Perman Parasol. VIA ARTHUR W. J. G. ORD-HUME

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WW2 HISTORY Piaggio P108

SOLDIER OF MISFORTUNE The only strategic bomber to see service with the Regia Aeronautica during the Second World War, the Piaggio P108B was an interesting and, to some extent, advanced aeroplane. But why did the ‘Italian Flying Fortress’ fail? WORDS: LUIGINO CALIARO

‘

lan R’ was the mundane title given by the Regia Aeronautica, the former Italian air arm, to a programme of great strategic importance. It was a profound reorganisation and rejuvenation of the service’s bomber fleet, a vital move as the possibility of large-scale war grew. A ministerial request for proposals in 1938 called for the acquisition of a new bomber to equip a Gruppo da Bombardamento a Grande Raggio (long-range bomber squadron) in 1941. Numerous Italian aircraft manufacturers responded, among them CRDA (Cantieri Riuniti dell’Adriatico), Caproni, Fiat and SAI, while Piaggio submitted the P112, penned by Ingenere Casiraghi. For several years Piaggio had been studying a multi-engined bomber, culminating in the P50 designed by Ing Pegna. This project could be considered the forerunner of the P108. Having evaluated the offerings from the basic technical aspect, the most interesting turned out

to be that put forward by CRDA in the shape of the CANT Z1014. However, the Regia Aeronautica, under some degree of political and military pressure, decided that the Piaggio design — with some modifications, such as a change of engine type — could be available much more quickly, and would offer performance similar to the Z1014. As a result, the Regia Aeronautica cancelled the original competition, reissuing different and more advanced specifications.

Submissions now came from Caproni and CRDA, which in reality were improved reworkings of their original designs. But it was decided to select the Piaggio proposal, as although it was inferior on paper, it could be put into production well ahead of its competitors. In November 1939 the Regia Aeronautica placed two orders for 12 examples of the P108B (Bombardiere), initially equipped with Piaggio PXI engines in advance of the definitive PXII units.

ABOVE: The first prototype, MM22001, assembled and ready for its maiden flight. The letters PF in a circle indicate that the aircraft was built in the Finale Ligure plant.

A Regia Aeronautica photographer was on hand at Decimomannu to document the departure of the first P108B mission by the 274° Squadriglia to Gibraltar on 28 June 1942.

WW2 HISTORY Piaggio P108

TOP: An exceptional colour slide of MM22001 at Pisa, showing the initial green livery with small brown spots. Later the bombers were painted olive green on their upper surfaces and medium grey under the fuselage and wings. ABOVE: The wreck of MM22003, piloted by Cap Bruno Mussolini, after it crashed on approach to Pisa on 7 August 1941. ABOVE RIGHT: These three P108Bs overflew Rome on 28 March 1942 to mark the 19th anniversary of the Regia Aeronautica.

84 www.Key.Aero

The final design resulted in a four-engined aircraft with a crew of six or seven, and a cantilever fuselage and tailplane constructed in the main from duralumin; the undercarriage retracted fully into the engine nacelles. The wing was also of cantilever type and made from duralumin, being attached to the fuselage by high-resistance steel mountings. The four PXII RC35 engines were air-cooled, and featured 18 cylinders in a twin-star arrangement. Each developed 1,350hp at an altitude of 3,500m (11,483ft). They drove Piaggio P1001 threebladed propellers with electrically controlled variable pitch. One of the most interesting areas of the design was the defensive armament, formed by Breda type Z2 turrets housing two SAFAT 12.7mm (0.5in) machine guns. These were mounted on the internal engine nacelles and were controlled remotely from a central firing position through a dedicated hydraulic system. Two hand-operated SAFAT 7.7mm (0.3in) guns were located in the fuselage for lateral defence, while in the ventral position a retractable Breda type G turret, controlled hydraulically, housed another two 12.7mm guns. The maximum

offensive payload the aircraft could carry was around 3,500kg (7,716lb), while the potential to carry and launch three torpedoes was explored. The first prototype P108B, serial MM22001, made its maiden flight from Villanova di Albenga on 24 November 1939, with Piaggio test pilot Niccolò Lana at the controls. The 27-minute sortie passed off without problems. The aircraft had been constructed at the Piaggio factory at Finale Ligure, but the runway there was too short for the four-engined aircraft to use, so on 20 November it had been dismantled and transferred to Albenga for reassembly and flight-testing.

❖ The bomber made around 10 test flights, but on 15 February 1940 — just before a planned move to the Reparto Sperimentale, the military test unit, at Guidonia — it was forced to make an emergency landing after engine problems caused by icing. The accident delayed acceptance testing by several months, and the prototype was only able to fly to Guidonia on 15 October. The second prototype, MM22002, had completed its initial flight on 5 September, and in November it went

to Furbara for weapons trials which lasted until early March 1941. Third prototype MM22003 took to the air on 6 February 1941. It was the first to be equipped with the definitive PXII engines, which were subsequently retrofitted to the other two prototypes. The fourth example, MM22004, followed on 1 July. Deliveries to the 274° Squadriglia BGR (Bombardamento Grande Raggio) at Pisa San Giusto, the first such unit — which had been formed on 1 June 1941 — began on 19 July with the third prototype. Staffed in the main by personnel drawn from the 47° Stormo da Bombardament, it was intended to operate an initial fleet of four P108Bs. In this early phase the unit was under the command of Capitano Bruno Mussolini, the third son of Il Duce. After the delivery of its first aircraft, the 274° Squadriglia entered a long phase of training and development, its crews being sent on night and instrument flying courses. This was accompanied by a laborious process of bedding the aircraft in, numerous technical problems afflicting the engines and systems. Most were caused by the P108B’s rushed introduction into service and the marked shortage of airframes. In fact, at the end of 1941

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— just prior to the squadron’s move to Guidonia, its main operational base — it possessed only three active aircraft (MM22004, 22005 and 22006), and had accumulated just 132 flying hours. Another aspect that generated significant problems was the uncertainty regarding the aircraft’s real operational role. Albeit conceived as a strategic bomber, within the Regia Aeronautica high command it was considered more useful for operations against Mediterranean naval convoys. TCol Gori Castellani and Bruno Mussolini were tasked to study and evaluate the P108B’s use in the anti-shipping role, akin to the operations performed by the Germans with their Fw 200 Condors from Bordeaux. The first weeks of training unfortunately saw a tragic accident which cost the life of Bruno Mussolini. On 7 August 1941, on approach to Pisa while returning from a training mission, P108B MM22003 suffered a hydraulic failure which resulted in the sudden retraction of the flaps. Mussolini lost control of the aircraft, which stalled at low altitude and crashed just short of the runway. In the accident, besides Mussolini, Tenente VitaloniSacconi and Maresciallo Trezzini lost their lives. The other five crew members and a civilian engineer from Piaggio escaped. TCol Gori Castellani was placed in command, as it was intended to form another similar Squadriglia. On 10 January 1942 the 275° Squadriglia BGR was duly established, also with a fleet of four aircraft and based at Pisa. A few days later this move was reversed by the air force’s high command, which decided to reorganise the 274° Squadriglia into two flights of six aircraft each. Castellani was confirmed as commander. Another disaster struck the squadron on 25 March with the death of all three crew aboard MM22008, only recently completed by the manufacturer, following a technical problem on take-off from the Piaggio airfield at Pontedera. During April, however, at the Gorizia Scuola Aerosiluranti (Torpedo

“

Attack School), positive results were achieved in torpedo-dropping trials, the weapons being slung under the fuselage. The scarcity of aircraft forced the assignment of two Savoia-Marchetti S79s to enable the pilots to continue training until June 1942, when three new P108Bs (MM22601, 22604 and 22001) were finally delivered. On 9 June the type was able to make its combat debut, when MM22007 and 22601 from the 274° Squadriglia were tasked to attack a naval convoy. The outcome was less than satisfactory, as one of the Piaggios suffered technical problems and both returned early to Guidonia. Three anti-shipping patrol missions were flown over the next few days. During the sortie on 13 June, P108B MM22601 bombed an enemy destroyer, although no hits were recorded. These efforts were the prelude to a first strategic bombing mission, the objective of which was the British territory of Gibraltar. This long-range target would require the forwarddeployment of the aircraft to Decimomannu in Sardinia. At 21.00hrs on 28 June five of the bombers (MM22001, 22004, 22005, 22007 and 22604) took off from ‘Deci’ and headed for Spain, but after several hours in flight MM22004 was forced to turn back with engine problems. The other four made it to Gibraltar, where they dropped their bomb loads despite the reaction of the anti-aircraft artillery. The damage caused to the target was, however, limited. The return leg was more problematic. All the P108Bs were afflicted by fuel consumption issues, to the extent that three had to land in Spanish territory to refuel. The only one that made it straight back to Decimomannu, MM22604, was that piloted by the unit commander, Gori Castellani, which touched down with its fuel tanks almost dry. Having been refuelled at Palma de Mallorca, MM22007 managed to return to the Sardinian base, but the other two were abandoned in Spain. MM22005 landed at Los Alcázares airfield, suffering irreparable damage, while MM22001 forcelanded on the coast near Valencia.

Numerous technical problems afflicted the engines and systems

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”

This inaugural mission may have been insignificant in terms of the damage caused, but it had still proved Italy’s ability to strike targets at such a long range. The 274° Squadriglia performed a further four raids against Gibraltar between July and October, again without much effect, and involving the loss of three aircraft. The first was P108B

ABOVE: An interior view of the bomber. Visible at top right are the gun control units.

P108B DATA POWERPLANTS Four Piaggio PXII RC35 18-cylinder radials, 1,350hp each DIMENSIONS Length: Wingspan: Height:

22.92m (75.2ft) 32m (105ft) 7.7m (25.3ft)

WEIGHTS Empty: Maximum:

17,320kg (38,184lb) 27,000kg (59,524lb)

PERFORMANCE 415km/h (258mph) at 4,200m (13,779ft) 8,000m (26,246ft) Service ceiling: Range at maximum payload: 2,500km (1,553 miles) Maximum speed:

ARMAMENT Offensive payload Defensive:

3,500kg (7,716lb) of bombs Five 12.7mm (0.5in) and two 7.7mm (0.3in) machine guns

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WW2 HISTORY Piaggio P108

ABOVE: Il Duce Benito Mussolini in conversation with a high-ranking Luftwaffe officer at Guidonia in front of a 274° Squadriglia P108B.

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MM22601, which disappeared during a solo night attack on 3 July with the loss of the entire crew. With Tenente Corti at the controls, MM22002 was destroyed on 20 October in an emergency landing at Decimomannu after it turned back with engine problems. The other three bombers in the formation managed to complete the task. The next day, P108B MM22602 was lost in an emergency landing near Bona in Algeria, following an engine failure. It was only through good fortune that this incident did not end in tragedy — the crew escaped uninjured, despite the landing being conducted with one engine in flames and a full bomb load, a failure of the bomb door mechanism having rendered the crew unable to jettison their payload. In the light of operational experience, Piaggio undertook modifications to the P108Bs still under construction, reducing their weight and increasing the fuel capacity through the installation of new tanks. Those few aircraft in service were also engaged in longrange maritime reconnaissance missions, and it was during the first of these, on 27 October, that MM22007 was lost. Severe damage was caused by another of the endless night emergency landings

caused by engine maladies, this time near Algiers. An additional series of night raids against Allied objectives in North Africa engaged the unit from November 1942 until the end of January 1943, albeit with indifferent results, not assisted by inclement weather. Once more there were losses. One aircraft was almost certainly shot down by RAF night

“

The inaugural mission was insignificant in terms of the damage caused

”

fighters on 5 December in an attack on Bona in Algeria with the loss of the whole crew. MM22004 and 24317 failed to return on 13 January 1943, presumably for the same reason, with the loss of 12 on board. There were some successes. On 9 January a solitary P108B landed a good number of bombs on the port of Algiers, while 20 January saw two aircraft damaging numerous

ships at Oran and returning to Decimomannu without any trouble. At the end of January 1943, though, the 274° Squadriglia’s situation was highly critical. With only three aircraft on charge it was decided to withdraw the unit to mainland Italy, re-establishing it for a few weeks at Siena-Ampugnano before its return to Guidonia in May 1943.

❖ By July the squadron, which had installed new and updated engines in its aircraft, was ready to return to operations, and it was called on to undertake raids against naval targets along the Sicilian coast. This came at a heavy cost, as on 11 July one of four P108Bs sent to attack enemy naval forces off south-western Sicily, piloted by Tenente D’Alò, failed to return, while on 14 July the mount of Capitano Corti and Tenente Ghirardi, tasked with a strike on shipping along the Sicilian coast, disappeared with the loss of all on board. The 274° Squadriglia BGR’s final combat operation took place on 22 July 1943. On that night two P108Bs, piloted by Rossi and Gmeiner, attacked Allied shipping anchored off the coast near Augusta. The former managed to drop 15 100kg (220lb) bombs, while the latter, set

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P108B MM22004 on a training flight with the 274° Squadriglia.

A very rare photo, although not of good quality, shows P108B MM24325 having been heavily damaged by a USAAF officer during an emergency landing.

upon by Allied fighters, jettisoned its load at sea and flew back to Guidonia. The unit relocated to Foligno on 9 August, but only one bomber out of five could be declared operational there. On the date of the armistice, 8 September 1943, just three aircraft were on charge at Foligno, of which a mere two were serviceable. Also present was the sole P108T transport delivered to the Regia, but this machine too was not in an operational condition. In accordance with the requirements of the armistice, the two aircraft left Foligno on 10 September to join the Allies in southern Italy, but MM22603 quickly developed a problem and had to turn back, while MM24325, piloted by Gmeiner, landed at Lecce. It did not prove possible to return the other two to airworthiness before German forces arrived at the Umbrian airfield. The only P108B that made it to southern Italy ended its flying career in a landing accident at Gioia del Colle. An American officer decided to take the bomber for a test flight, despite being warned by the Italian engineers that there was no hydraulic fluid in the system. Of the fate of the other P108Bs at Guidonia or Pontedera, unserviceable or awaiting maintenance, practically

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nothing is known, although it is believed that some were sabotaged by Piaggio personnel to impede their potential requisitioning and utilisation by the Germans. Thus concluded the chequered operational career of Italy’s fourengined bomber. In retrospect, it deserved better fortune, as the P108B was in essence a good aircraft with some innovative technical solutions, such as the remotecontrolled turrets. Without doubt, the aeroplane was hampered by a rushed introduction into service and the unreliability of its engines. In common with all the other Italian manufacturers, Piaggio never managed to establish large-scale production, and the number of aeroplanes made available was always meagre, especially when compared with either the Allies or the Germans. Proof of the latter problem can be found in the fact that Piaggio managed to complete only two batches of P108Bs. The third on order never left the production line. Of those delivered, 13 were lost in combat and three due to flying accidents. The author thanks Giorgio Apostolo, Francesco Ballista and Giancarlo Garello.

P108Ts in Luftwaffe markings on an eastern European airfield.

P108 VARIANTS

eside the P108B — the only variant used operationally by the Regia Aeronautica prior to the armistice — Piaggio developed several other versions of the four-engined aircraft. The P108A (Artigliere — artillery) was designed in the light of a conviction held by the Regia that the aircraft could serve as a long-range naval patroller with an anti-shipping role. MM24318 was modified by Piaggio with a 102/40 cannon in the nose. The gun had a rate of fire of around 20 rounds per minute, and could fire shells weighing 13.75kg (30.3lb). Its useful range was just over 1,500m (4,921ft). The sole aircraft produced, having been damaged by an Allied air attack on the airfield at Albenga, was recovered by the Germans who transferred it to their test centre at Rechlin for evaluation. The P108C (Civile — civilian) was a long-range civilian transport. The pressurised cabin accommodated 32 passengers, but by the armistice only one aircraft out of the intended six had been delivered to the Regia Aeronautica. Together with a further two later completed by the manufacturer, it was transferred to Germany. The P108T (Trasporto — transport) was the final version. It was highly rated, thanks to its significant cargo-carrying capacity. The fuselage incorporated three large cargo doors, and could carry more than 12,000kg (26.455lb) of freight or 60 fully equipped soldiers over a range of more than 2,100km (1,305 miles). To accompany its entry into service the Regia Aeronautica formed the 248ª Squadriglia Autonoma Trasporti, although by the armistice it had only one aircraft on charge, and this was unserviceable at Foligno with engine problems. Piaggio subsequently managed to complete some more, which were quickly snapped up by the Luftwaffe, to the extent that by mid-1944 at least 10 were in service on the Russian front. Particularly intensive use was made of the P108Ts during the evacuation of Crimea.

The P108A at Furbara during initial gunnery tests.

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The

RAF metropolitan fighter and bomber squadron numbers, actual and planned 1918-39 Gloster Grebe Entered service, October 1923

120

C (1937) F (1939)

100

This column shows the number of squadrons at the end of World War One if including squadrons in France

Numbers Actual Planned Bombers Fighters

5 Jan 1933 Hitler becomes chancellor

Expansion schemes (Figures in brackets show the planned completion year)

6 Feb 1935 Watson-Watt demonstrates radar principles

The 52-squadron plan

7 Feb 1935 Germany announces formation of Luftwaffe

The 23-squadron plan

1 1918

2 1920

4 1922

1924

5 1926

2 Feb 1920 RAF College, Cranwell established

4 Dec 1925 Locarno Treaties appear to promise peace in Europe

1 Jun 1919 Signing of Versailles Treaty

1928

1930

1932

6 7 1934

8 Jul 1936 RAF Volunteer Reserve formed

8 1936

1939

BRITAIN’S AIR DEFENCES 1918-39 N ational air defence is not something that’s set in stone, but rather a dynamic, complex process. The Royal Air Force was formed in 1918 in part due to the outrage over the successful attacks on southern England by the German Luftstreitkräfte, particularly the Gotha bombing of London in daylight on 13 June 1917, which killed 162 people. The Smuts Report, swiftly delivered in July, resulted in the RAF’s creation, while the air defence infrastructure established to stop these raids still provides a basis for the system in place today. By 1918, the ramparts defending Britain could no longer consist solely of the Royal Navy, then with 60 battleships

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and battle-cruisers. They had to involve air defences as well. The new RAF had 3,000 frontline aircraft, while at the end of July, Maj Gen E. B. Ashmore — a pilot with, importantly, artillery experience — was appointed

“

than 700 searchlights, coordinated by central control and communications. The August 1917 Gotha raids having been turned back, a final night effort in May 1918 saw three Gothas falling to the anti-aircraft guns

The communications and control system was sophisticated and undertook regular exercises to command the London Air Defence Area, with its thenunique combination of unified ground and air defences. This comprised 16 fighter squadrons, 480 anti-aircraft guns and more

”

and three more to fighter aircraft, no further attacks following. With victory in the ‘war to end all wars’ during 1918, all of London’s anti-aircraft guns and searchlights were withdrawn,

The pla for the were 2 searchl

3 Jan 1922 First entry of apprentices at RAF Halton

A (1939)

K L (1941) (1940) M (1942) J (1941) H (1939)

and the critical — but less visible — wireless system and ground communications were dismantled. The inter-war British government’s ‘10-year rule’ assumed, for economic reasons, that the British Empire would not be engaged in a major war for a rolling 10 years. Equally bizarre was the principle adopted for planning, given the collapse of Russia and the crushing burdens placed on Germany, that France was to be the theoretical enemy to provide a benchmark to prepare against. In his book The Paladins, John James stated, “when the dust of demobilisation and reconstruction had settled the ‘Striking Force’ in the United Kingdom consisted of two fighter squadrons […] and two bomber squadrons…”

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Inner a

Aircraft manned

Advanc

Outer a approa attemp

A syste locator

Areas d searchl

The inter-war development of UK air defence involved much more than fighters and radar The 23-squadron plan, 1922

ning of aty

F well

t entry at RAF

arno r to in

er ncellor

radar

The plan included nine fighter squadrons for the defence of London. Also required were 264 anti-aircraft guns and 672 searchlights 25 miles 25km

Areas of peculiar vulnerability, defended by guns or fighters according to conditions Aircraft fighting zone Artillery zones Advanced observer posts belt Sound mirror locations

Ipswich

Luton

Oxford

Detail area at right

Inner artillery zone. Defends London

erve

A system of coastal sound locators would provide warning Areas defended by guns and searchlights alone

Advanced observer posts belt Outer artillery zone. Guns indicate approaching aircraft for fighters and attempt to break up formations

LONDON

Reading

Aircraft fighting zone. Sectors A-H each manned by one fighter squadron

rmany rmation

Harwich

C D

Shoeburyness and Sheerness Warden Point Maidstone

Joss Gap Fan Bay

Abbot's Cliff Hythe Dover Denge

Winchester Southampton Portsmouth Selsey

Eastbourne Grebe image source: BAE SYSTEMS

WORDS: JAMES KIGHTLY ARTWORK: IAN BOTT As early as August 1922, the Steele-Bartholomew scheme (after Air Cdre J. M. Steel and Col H. W. Bartholomew) was set out. It involved nine fighter squadrons, each with an area (A-H) to cover, working in cooperation with artillery zones to break up formations, and with 672 searchlights for night defence. The searchlights — and the more than 250 guns required — were available, but not the personnel to operate them. While there was no credible threat, the National and Imperial Defence sub-committee pointed to the 600-aircraft French strategic bomber force, “said to be able to drop in one day the same weight of bombs as dropped on London in the whole war.” Almost immediately afterwards, in 1923-24 a new

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A sound mirror under test near Hythe, Kent. This method of detecting incoming enemy aircraft proved to be of limited effectiveness. NATIONAL TRUST

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No 79 Squadron Gloster Gauntlets up en masse from Biggin Hill in 1938. AEROPLANE

52-squadron scheme addressed the disparity. Constrained by the background doctrinal tilt, which always favoured bomber over fighter squadrons by twoto-one, it resulted in 17 fighter squadrons. Despite the bomber preference, the fighter squadrons proved easier to form. They required fewer resources and used permanent RAF airmen, against the bomber units’ greater demands and part-reservist staffing. The communications and control system was sophisticated and undertook regular exercises. It was found to perform satisfactorily, and by 1925 was the world’s only integrated air defence system. How effective in shooting down aircraft the fighters (and the bombers’ defending gunners) would have been were rich fields for partisan conclusions. This uncertainty fed into the era’s overarching fear of the ‘knockout blow’: the belief in the unstoppability of bombers to wipe out the nation’s command and ability to fight, as explained

in Brett Holman's book The Next War in the Air. In 1932, Lord President of the Council — and effectively Prime Minister — Stanley Baldwin infamously stated, “the bomber will always get through… The only defence is in offence, which means that you have got to kill more women and children more quickly than

the enemy if you want to save yourselves…” The ‘10-year rule’ was abandoned that same year, and the theoretical French enemy was dropped by British planners in favour of the developing German threat. Under the Nazi party in 1933, Germany walked out of the Geneva disarmament

TheThe 52-squadron 52-squadron plan, plan, 1923 1923 Concerns Concerns over French over French air power air power prompted prompted enlargement enlargement of theoforiginal the original plan. plan. Set toSet be to in be place in place by 1926, by 1926, it wasit was still incomplete still incomplete in theinearly the early 1930s1930s

TheThe reorientation reorientation plan, plan, 1935 1935

A A Alternative Alternative areasareas for for six bomber six bomber stations stations with 14 with squadrons 14 squadrons

Z Z

Yatesbury Yatesbury H H Upavon Y Y Upavon

Area for Area three for three or fouror four bomber bomber stations stations with with eight eight squadrons squadrons

Duxford Duxford

B B

Defended Defended ports ports adjacent adjacent to thetoAirthe Air Defence Defence of Great of Great BritainBritain system system Defended Defended cities cities

350-mile 350-mile radiusradius of of actionaction from bases from bases in: in: Martlesham Martlesham HeathHeath The Low TheCountries Low Countries Harwich

NorthNorth WealdWeald

Oxford Hendon Hendon Northolt Northolt

FiltonFilton

Recognition Recognition of Germany’s of Germany’s aggressive aggressive intentions intentions triggered triggered creation creation of a of a defensive defensive zone zone from Portsmouth from Portsmouth to to Teesside Teesside with more with more protection protection for for northern northern industrial industrial areasareas

Bristol Bristol Bulldog Bulldog Entered Entered service, service, June June 19291929

CastleCastle Bromwich Birmingham Bromwich

conference and the League of Nations. The efficacy of these threatening German bombers was, we now know, unbelievably overstated — and a significant Nazi propaganda success which, in the UK, drove fearful support for appeasement. Baldwin realised rearmament was vital, saying, on the creation of four

Sutton’s Sutton’s Farm Farm

LONDON C C

Manche M

Germany Germany Hawker Hawker Fury Fury Entered Entered service, service, May 1931 May 1931

Birming B

G G F FKenleyKenley BigginBiggin Hill Hill E ED D

Andover Netheravon Netheravon Andover

Hawkinge Hawkinge Four sectors Four sectors around around Two sectors Two sectors addedadded Worthy Worthy DownDown Area 11for 11 London London manned manned by twoby two at aircraft at aircraft fighting fightingArea for Tangmere Tangmeresquadrons bomber bomber squadrons each each zone’szone’s western western end end Fighter Fighter basesbases squadrons squadrons Wartime Wartime bomber bomber basesbases Peacetime Peacetime reserve reserve or or auxiliary auxiliary squadron squadron basesbases

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1935 5

new RAF squadrons on 8 March 1934, “this Government — will see to it that in air strength and air power this country shall no longer be in a position inferior to any country within striking distance of our shores.” But it was not just fighters. In his 1934 book, widely read air power theorist P. R. C. Groves quantified the issue: “The air defence of London does not imply merely the protection of the perimeter of an area of 700 square miles; it necessitates guarding that area to a height of 25,000 feet. In other words, the task of the defending aircraft is to guard some 3,300 cubic miles of air”. Increasing bomber speeds reduced the time (and space) in which interceptions could occur and placed greater demands on the detection and communication systems. Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain stated Britain required “an Air Force based in this country of a size and efficiency calculated to inspire respect in the mind of a possible enemy”. He slashed funding

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle-upon-Tyne

proposals for the navy and army and exceeded RAF budget expectations by almost 100 per cent. This plan also recognised the need for protection of the industrial Midlands and better defences for the south-west, as well as London. This became Expansion Scheme A, the first and most crucial of a bewildering alphabet soup of designations, in 1939. It provided for a ‘metropolitan RAF’ of 19 zone fighter squadrons, six interceptor units and three others.

❖ While public fears and government misestimation of German capabilities confused the viability of civil defence planning, the RAF and the ‘boffins’ enabled an infrastructure that ensured the fighters were able to intercept attacking bombers with exceptional efficiency, given the available resources and time. Sound mirrors proved ‘limited’ in the 1933 exercises, and led to the realisation that the RAF needed to solicit cutting-edge

CircleCircle sizes sizes equate equate to to engine engine horsepower horsepower

By theByeve theofeve World of World War Two Warplanning, Two planning, organisation organisation 500 Figure Figure in redin red and technology and technology combined combined to field to afield formidable a formidable 250 is maximum is maximum defensive defensive system, system, probably probably the world’s the world’s best best speedspeed Four groups Four groups were were split into splitgeographic into geographic sectors, sectors, each each with its with own itsHQ ownand HQfighter and fighter airfields airfields

Gloster Gloster Gauntlet Gauntlet 230mph 230mph

Service ceilingceiling (feet) (feet) Gloster Gauntlet Service Gloster Gauntlet 34,000 Entered Entered service, service, 34,000 May 1935 May 1935 LeedsLeeds Manchester Manchester Sheffield Sheffield

Humber Humber

Birmingham Birmingham

Air fighting Air fighting zone,zone, 20 miles 20 miles deep deep

30,000 30,000 OuterOuter artillery artillery zone,zone, six six 28,000 28,000 miles miles deep deep 26,000 26,000

24,000 24,000

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GroupGroup HQ HQ GroupGroup boundary boundary SectorSector HQ HQ SectorSector boundary boundary ChainChain HomeHome radarradar covercover ChainChain HomeHome radarradar covercover (Sep 1940) (Sep 1940) ChainChain HomeHome Low Low covercover (Sep 1940) (Sep 1940)

32,000 32,000

Harwich Harwich

Portsmouth Portsmouth

British “air defence was based on lessons from the First World War, and increasingly on science, operational research and operational evaluation”. Those defences, it should be noted, meant British commitments to limiting other Axis ambitions at sea and on land were less than they might have been due to the cost of maintaining the RAF. Historian (and former Fighter Command staff officer) Basil Collier noted that, in 1939, “the United Kingdom was provided with a system of air defence potentially far superior to that possessed by any other country, though as yet it fell short of completeness…” By 1940, the carefully developed scheme proved to be exactly the defensive system that the RAF needed to be able to dictate the outcome of the Battle of Britain. Many bombers did, of course, get through, but there was no successful ‘knockout blow’, and at a cost to the Luftwaffe that blocked Hitler’s further ambitions in the west.

Fighter Fighter development development compared compared TheThe system system in September in September 1939 1939

Teesside Teesside

science, which had already made pioneering developments. Within a complex story, this led to the Tizard committee and usable, practical RDF (radio direction-finding, or radar). While radar was a secret tool to enable fighters to be accurately vectored onto enemy bombers, there were always limitations. Today, the advantage to be gained by using the landscape is so well-known as a principle that going ‘under the radar’ is a universally recognised idea. In late 1938, the intense focus placed by the Munich Crisis on what seemed to be an imminent bombing threat had been preceded by ineffective air defence exercises. It never came to pass, but soon afterwards Fighter Command was expanded to 52 squadrons, among other revisions and lessons learned. As Gp Capt John Alexander noted, in the context of the successive inter-war Chiefs of the Air Staff advocating strategic bombing, and the civil leadership aiming to avoid “a bloody continental commitment”,

Supermarine Supermarine Spitfire Spitfire I I 355mph 355mph Hawker Hawker Fury Fury 207mph 207mph

13 Group

Bristol Bristol Bulldog Bulldog 174mph 174mph

12 Group

Gloster Gloster GrebeGrebe 152mph 152mph

22,000 DoverDover22,000 1920 1920 1925 1925 1930 1930 1935 1935 1940 1940 Year Year

10 Group

11 Group

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meets

SIR CHARLES MASEFIELD

Charles Masefield’s P-51D Mustang, N6356T, in its latter red-and-white guise, applied for the 1968 season. A small Tiger Club logo beneath the cockpit reflected his membership of that organisation. VIA SIR CHARLES MASEFIELD

BEN DUNNELL

The son of one of British aviation’s great men, this pioneer of the warbird scene became a leading light of the aerospace industry in his own right — as well as being a very enthusiastic pilot

n 1937, a 23-year-old junior draughtsman for Fairey Aviation was taken on by C. G. Grey, then editor of The Aeroplane, as the magazine’s latest staffer. A graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge, the young man had pursued his childhood fascination with aviation by learning to fly while studying engineering at university, and then going into the industry. Grey chose well. Peter Masefield, who was knighted during 1972 and died in 2006, became one of British aviation’s most significant figures. In roles such as chief executive of British European Airways and chairman of the British Airports Authority, his experience and vision saw him presiding over years of growth in a field he understood like few others. He also inspired the same interest in his son. Charles Masefield forged his own prominent career, one built initially on test-flying rather than journalism. In his younger days, he notched up some notable long-distance flights, two of them in vintage machinery, and became

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092-100 Aeroplane meets AM Jul2021.indd 92

WORDS: BEN DUNNELL a pioneer of the UK’s warbird movement. Rising through the ranks at what was Hawker Siddeley and became British Aerospace, eventually he forsook the cockpit as more senior management positions came his way. But always Charles — who received a knighthood of his own in 1997 — remained an aviator at heart. What’s more, in his study he keeps his father’s collection of bound copies of The Aeroplane, so who better to interview for this 110th anniversary issue? Having been born in 1940, Charles is too young to recall much of Masefield senior’s journalistic career. Peter had been promoted to become The Aeroplane’s technical editor the previous year, and went on to be the founding editor of its very successful spin-off, The Aeroplane Spotter. Alongside this, 1940 saw him being made air correspondent for the Sunday Times. His writing brought Masefield to more than just national attention. In August 1942, a pair of Sunday Times articles in which he was critical of the US Army Air Forces’ tactic of

Dragonfly G-AEDT was named Endeavour before its flight to the UK. Charles and David Trefgarne are pictured with the machine at Mount Isa in December 1963. BEN DANNECKER

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Part-way home, the Dragonfly sits out the rain in Singapore. VIA SIR CHARLES MASEFIELD

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AEROPLANE MEETS Sir Charles Masefield

ABOVE: David Trefgarne (left) and Charles in California with G-AEDT, having completed their trans-Atlantic flight. The DH90A later returned to Britain in the late Brian Woodford’s ownership, and is now flying as ZK-AYR in New Zealand. VIA SIR CHARLES MASEFIELD

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daylight raids in Europe, and of the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers, so influenced public opinion that President Roosevelt was made aware. Brig Gen Ira Eaker, commander of VIII Bomber Command — shortly to become the Eighth Air Force — set about a charm offensive. He told Lt Col Archie Old, CO of the B-17equipped 96th Bomb Group at Snetterton Heath, to host Masefield and change his mind. According to Gerald Astor in his book The Mighty Eighth (Dutton Adult, 1997), “Old allowed Masefield free run of the base”. Lasting for nearly a month, this included the opportunity to join the 96th BG on a combat mission. Astor wrote, “Masefield confided to Old that he had had his eyes opened”. Further trips over occupied Europe with the Eighth Air Force followed. No wonder Charles says, “I do remember my mother being very on edge.” Lord Beaverbrook, the former Minister of Aircraft Production who was now Lord Privy Seal, saw

Masefield’s potential. In 1943 he made Peter his personal adviser and appointed him secretary to the Brabazon Committee, discussing Britain’s future air transport needs. Charles adds, “As soon as the war ended in 1945, he became the first civil air attaché in the British embassy in Washington. He

“

We realised we could scrape together £150 for the Dragonfly

”

persuaded the then ambassador that, as the civil air attaché, he had to have an aircraft, so a Percival Proctor was acquired and owned by the embassy for his use. When he was going off to visit factories and things, he flew himself in. That enabled him to also take me flying at weekends.

“Back home we lived in Reigate, Surrey, and when I was about six or seven he used to drive over to Croydon Airport and take me flying in a Tiger Moth, which I Ioved despite not being able to see over the side without sitting on cushions. I really enjoyed that, and I guess it triggered my passion for flying and for aviation. It was in my blood by that time. “At the age of 13, in 1953, I went off to boarding school at Eastbourne College, where I joined the CCF [Combined Cadet Force]. In the RAF section — which, at that time, was the biggest of any school in the country — the commanding officer was Wg Cdr Donald Perrens, a highly decorated Spitfire pilot from the Second World War. We had one of those extraordinary bungee-launched Grasshopper gliders, which, when I look back, was probably the most frightening flying I ever did. You never went higher than about 12ft, and there you were sitting on the end of a broomstick. Of course, as soon as Donald Perrens looked the other way, we all stretched the elastic further. It was done on the rugby pitch, and we actually succeeded in launching one boy through the rugby posts. We claimed it was the easiest way to remove the wings at the end of the afternoon… “As soon as I was 17, I applied for and got an RAF flying scholarship. I went up to Marshalls’ flying school at Cambridge. They still had a fleet of Tiger Moths there, so, happily, I was able to learn to fly on the Tiger. When I left Eastbourne, I went to Cambridge University, and applied for and joined the Cambridge University Air Squadron. I did three years of concentrated flying there on the Chipmunk, which was wonderful. A couple of us — myself and Mike Stear, who went on to become ACM Sir Mike Stear, particularly of Phantom fame — got to the stage where they were able to train us on formation aerobatics. “We had the inter-university aerobatic competition, which was called the Cooper Trophy, and in my third year I got picked to represent Cambridge. The contest always took place at Little Rissington, where all RAF instructors were trained. Each university supplied two pilots, one of whom did aerobatics and the other engine-off spot landings. My partner, who did the spot landings, was Herb Elliott, who I still maintain was probably the world’s greatest athlete

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ever. Throughout his running career, from schoolboy level to international level to the Olympic Games, never once was he ever beaten over the mile. He came to Cambridge and never ran the mile again. “We flew in on Saturday so we could practise over Little Rissington, before the competition took place on Sunday. Of course, in the RAF mess they were all engrossed by meeting the famous Herb Elliott, who not long before had won the gold medal in the 1,500m at the Rome Olympics. They had a yard of ale nailed up behind the bar. Herb asked, ‘What’s that?’ ‘Oh, that’s a yard of ale’. ‘What’s a yard of ale?’ They demonstrated the trick of drinking it. Of course, Herb had to have a go. He failed the first time, beer all over his face. But because he was Herb, he’d never give up at anything — ‘I want another try!’ God knows how many yards of ale he drank. It was a bad start to the competition, but we did win, I’m pleased to say…”

❖ Having graduated from his aeronautical engineering degree, Charles hadn’t thought much about what to do next. “I met up with a really good lifelong friend, David Trefgarne — Lord Trefgarne now, and actually Lord Trefgarne then. David had an ancient Auster, which he said he was going to fly to Australia. He asked, ‘Do you want to come too?’ I told him, ‘Of course’. But my father, who was running Beagle, said it was ridiculous. ‘You can’t fly all that way in a little single-engined aeroplane’. I said, ‘Well, lots of people have’. But, he told me, it so happened that they’d just sold a Beagle Airedale to a flying club in Adelaide. We’d be better-off taking that than the dilapidated old Auster”. They did take it, G-ASBI arriving at Parafield on 17 July 1963. “When we were in Australia, we thought about how we were going to get home. We decided we couldn’t go by airline, so we’d better look around for another aeroplane to fly home in. There was advertised by the Griffith Aero Club, out in the outback of New South Wales, a DH90A Dragonfly. We were in Sydney at the time, and had joined the Royal Aero Club of New South Wales, so we hired a club Chipmunk to fly out to Griffith. It was a small, gravel airfield, and in a hangar was this ancient biplane looking very sorry for itself.” Built in 1936 as G-AEDT, the aircraft went to Australia two years

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later following its purchase by Adastra Airways of Mascot, Sydney. As VH-AAD it spent the war, and some time thereafter, on government survey duties. Various changes of ownership followed, until, says Charles, “No-one seemed to know who owned it. Eventually we found that it was someone called Knowles, who had been the Griffith club flying instructor. We asked where we could find him. ‘Oh, you’ll normally find him in the high street pub’. That’s where we went, and sure enough he was there. How much was this Dragonfly going for? He said £150. We did some counting and realised we could scrape that money together. “Bill Knowles told us it was airworthy, which was of questionable accuracy. We wanted him to take us flying in it to show us, but he was a bit reluctant. Eventually he agreed. There was a struggle to get both engines started — we could get one started but not the other. After a lengthy time, including running the battery flat, we got both running

and he took me for a quick circuit. We tossed up and I won, so David flew the Chipmunk back while I flew the Dragonfly not to Bankstown, because it didn’t have a radio, but an airfield just outside Sydney at Camden. “That’s where we set to refurbishing it, installing a radio, and long-range tanks in the fuselage, one of which was a crop-spraying tank from an Edgar Percival Prospector and the other a surplus wing tank from a Miles Gemini. It had two Gipsy Major I engines of 130hp, but someone outside Sydney had just broken up a Miles Aries with two 145hp engines and they were going for virtually nothing. We managed to acquire those and to shoehorn them into the Dragonfly’s mounts. It was probably the most powerful Dragonfly in the world.” The re-registered G-AEDT was the first twin Charles or David had ever flown. On 1 December 1963, he says, “We set off on the long journey home at 80mph all the way. It was wonderful”. Crossing

TOP: In Australia with Beagle 206C G-ASOF during late 1964, part-way through a lengthy overseas tour that also took in the Middle East and Asia. VIA TOM WENHAM ABOVE: The biggest aircraft ever operated by Treffield International Airways: Britannia 102 G-ANBM, on sub-lease from Laker, at Gatwick in June 1967. It was only on strength for a short time. SAMBA COLLECTION/ AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM

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AEROPLANE MEETS Sir Charles Masefield RIGHT: The young P-51 owner-pilot in the cockpit.

VIA SIR CHARLES MASEFIELD

BELOW A typically exuberant Mustang display at Kidlington in September 1967. GORDON RILEY

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the Timor Sea from Darwin was, understandably, “a bit nervewracking”, but it went without a hitch. “Then we wanted to get straight on from Kupang to Bali the same day, because a monsoon was just arriving at that end of Indonesia. We asked Kupang to get a signal through to Bali that we’d be arriving two hours after sunset. They said they did that for the DC-3 that went through there twice a week, so that was fine. “We set off, and when it became dark our only navigation was an ADF [automatic direction-finder]. When we should have been quite close to Bali, we kept on trying to tune the ADF into the Bali frequency, but it was absolutely dead. For the last hour-and-a-half, we wondered, ‘What are we going to do now?’ If it never came on, we wouldn’t find the airfield at Bali, and we didn’t even know if we’d been blown off course by now. All the islands in that chain are volcanic. There we were at about 10,000ft, with solid cloud beneath us, in the pitch-dark. We dared not descend in case we were already over Bali. It was a bit twitchy until we hit our ETA, at which point, ‘twang’. The needle came to life and pointed straight ahead. We then knew when we’d overflown it, we could just let down on a southerly heading out to sea, turning back when we broke cloud. “That was pretty much the only problem we had, other than the odd failure of the generator or the brakes. We had very long range, because we’d already got the wing tanks and

a fuselage tank under the rear seats. The tank from the Miles Gemini was flat, so we put that on the floor, with the Prospector crop-spraying tank on top of that. We could fly for six or seven hours, so from Bali we went to Singapore, Penang, Bangkok and Calcutta, where we had a generator failure, but they rewound it there. We flew from Calcutta to Ahmedabad, and then Karachi, which was one of our longest legs, at 1,500ft the whole way, bumping along because of the heat. After that it was Bahrain, Kuwait, Damascus, Athens, Malta, Marseille and Gatwick. We arrived home at Gatwick two days before Christmas.” The idea behind bringing the Dragonfly back was to sell it, “to try and recoup the costs of the trip. But no-one wanted it except Frank Tallman, the famous film pilot in Orange County, California. He contacted us and said he and Paul Mantz would like to buy it for their museum. So, the next July we set off from Gatwick to get to California, with the same long-range tanks. The route was Gatwick, Prestwick, Stornoway, Reykjavík, Sondrestrom, Goose Bay, Montreal and New York, where arriving at JFK Airport in a biplane caused a bit of a stir. From New York we went down the coast to Washington and across the States, which was great fun. I don’t think we had to stay in a motel once, because always someone at these little airports said, ‘Oh, you must come and stay with us’. “The Dragonfly never faltered. We carried a dinghy, and we had wetsuits on, but if we’d have gone down between Iceland

and Greenland, or Greenland and northern Canada, the water temperature was such that we wouldn’t have lasted very long. But we were two optimistic young lads and, to tell you the truth, we never thought about the dangers that much. The dinghy was right at the rear of the cabin, but what we’d never really thought of seriously was, in the event of having to go into the water, how we’d get to the back of the aircraft across all the tanks, open the door and get the dinghy launched out…

“

It was fantastic handicapping. All of us crossed the line within seconds

”

“After the Dragonfly trip I really fell into Beagle. There was a Beagle 206 that needed delivering to Sydney. My father said, ‘You clearly know the way’. Once that had been done there was another delivery to do somewhere, and so on. That’s how I went, almost by mistake, into Beagle. I became the Beagle demonstration pilot, and went on to be a test pilot there.” Maligned by some, the seven-seat 206 was an aeroplane Charles knew and much liked from flights the world over. “My biggest criticism of it is that it didn’t really know what it was. Apart from the two pilots’ seats, because the roof was a sort

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

of teardrop shape and came down quite steeply, with three rows of seats each one had progressively less headroom until, in the final row, you were practically sitting on the floor. It was totally the wrong shape. It was designed as a Cessna 310 replacement, but failed at that market because it was far too big and heavy. Then the Cessna 411 came along, which didn’t have any of those problems”. By the time a redesigned, ‘straight-top’ 206 arrived, it was simply too late. On the side, in 1965 Charles and David Trefgarne set up their own airline, Treffield Aviation, which David largely ran. “Initially we had two Avro XIX Ansons, which we got for almost nothing. There was a shipping strike, and we got a contract between the south coast and Jersey to bring back flowers. That went pretty well. We also had a Rapide for weekend joyrides out of Sywell, which were really successful. “A person called ‘Jack’ Jones ran Channel Airways at Southend. He had no contracts for his Viscounts, so we did a deal with him: if we got a contract for summer holiday charters, we could use them. We did manage to get some holiday contracts. They were very successful. And, for two glorious weeks, we also had a Britannia. We had won a contract that was far more than the two Viscounts could manage, so we leased a Britannia [from Laker Airways]. But the problem was there were no contracts for winter flying, so rather than running out of money and going bust we closed the airline.” It was while Treffield was still going that both David and Charles saw an advert in Flight for a P-51D Mustang, N6356T. It was being sold by T. D. ‘Mike’ Keegan, who had brought the ex-Royal Canadian Air Force fighter to Biggin Hill in 1966. The full story of what happened next was covered in our August 2017 issue, but naturally bears some repetition. “David said, ‘Well, it can’t be of any interest to us’. We couldn’t afford it, and what would we do with a Mustang? I agreed it would have been nice, but it was ridiculous. Then David asked me, ‘When do you think we should go and see it?’ I replied, ‘As soon as possible’.” Visiting Keegan in his office, the matter of money came up. Keegan wanted £7,500, but the would-be buyers had nothing like that sort of ready cash. Given how the aircraft had been on offer for some time, they suggested a lease-purchase

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arrangement. “Eventually he said he could do it for £100 a month, £1,200 a year, for five years. We signed to guarantee that.” Charles ferried the Mustang to Shoreham himself, despite never having piloted anything nearly so powerful before. “The only way we could afford to pay the £100 a month was if I did displays. In the evenings I practised aerobatics over the coast, and I started off on the show circuit… During the first year I think I did 50 displays, because you could do two or three on a Saturday and two or three on a Sunday, getting paid a minimum of £100 per display. Quite quickly the £5,500 was paid off, and we were the owners. Then David said to me that since he hardly ever flew it, he’d drop out of the partnership. I kept it going at Shoreham.”

❖ The novelty of the P-51, then the only privately owned example in Europe, ensured immense interest. And there was other work, like a contract to fly in the film Dark of the Sun, released in Britain as The Mercenaries. This Charles fulfilled in May 1967, having replaced the aircraft’s red civilian livery with an off-white paint job and Congolese roundels. “They had laid a simulated rail track on the perimeter of Bovingdon. A train would go along, with Rod Taylor [playing the lead role] on it, and I had to dive at it from different angles… We’d break for lunch, and Rod Taylor — covered in blood, in his mercenary fatigues,

guns stuck in his belt — and myself in my flying kit would go off to the local pub. Walking up to the bar, everyone was looking at these two ridiculous figures…” Then air racing entered the picture. “I’d been flying the air race circuit in Beagle aircraft — either an Auster, a Husky or an Airedale — so, my goodness, how about something that really goes?” Charles debuted the Mustang in the 1967 Manx Air Derby at Jurby, unsurprisingly setting the highest average speed. That July, at Plymouth’s Roborough Airport, he won the opening round of the 1967 National Air Races series. He was victorious in the last, too: none other than the King’s Cup. Held at Tollerton, the six-lap final was a dramatic affair. “I took off a bit more than 20 minutes after the first aeroplane, which was a Hornet Moth… I had to lap the Hornet Moth six times. I’d no idea where I was, but when I went round the last pylon to run in to the airfield I could see a whole gaggle of aeroplanes ahead. I didn’t know if I was last; I could see that I was going to overtake those aeroplanes, but I didn’t know who’d been ahead of them. Apparently there was nothing ahead of them. It was fantastic handicapping. All of us crossed the line within seconds”. What’s more, the Mustang had beaten the record for the fastest winning speed, set by Alex Henshaw in 1938 with Mew Gull G-AEXF. Charles decided to smarten the Mustang up for 1968, designing a new red-and-white livery. “I conned Beagle into putting it into the

BELOW: Fairly rudimentary USAAF markings were applied to the P-51 prior to the making of Patton. It has since been sold several times, and now flies in South Africa. VIA SIR CHARLES MASEFIELD

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AEROPLANE MEETS Sir Charles Masefield

ABOVE: A test flight from Woodford of Comet 4 XW626 in its ‘Comrod AEW’ guise. KEY COLLECTION

RIGHT: Streaming the ’chute on Victor K2 XL232, the first completed tanker conversion, after a debut display at 1973’s Woodford airshow. MIKE HINES

paint shop, because they could spray it in no time at all. It really looked quite swish”. But, as far as racing was concerned, the handicappers knew the P-51’s performance well, and this season was less successful. N6356T was placed 16th and last in the King’s Cup. Come 1969, there was more film work, this time on Patton. The P-51 was put into US Army Air Forces colours, and Charles ferried it to Madrid’s Barajas Airport. He and an American pilot shared flying duties in front of the cameras. “At the end of the filming Twentieth Century Fox said it had gone pretty well, and they’d like to take the aeroplane back to the States to do more with it. They wanted to buy it, so we haggled. I was just about to get married, and with what we sold it for — which wasn’t very much in those days, but a huge amount to me and my new wife Fiona — we bought our first house, and an E-type Jaguar!” That injection of funds must have been especially welcome given what happened to Beagle a few months down the line. Bought by the government in 1966, it struggled on despite the outstanding qualities of the new Pup trainer and tourer, in which Charles became 1969 British air racing champion. “It was a great, fun aircraft, and lovely for aerobatics, but again there was no big market in which to sell a two-seat trainer and aerobatic aircraft. It really should have been a proper four-seater.”

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The government placed Beagle into receivership in December 1969. “We were pretty stunned. I was sitting in my office when the ’phone went, and it was Tony Blackman [from Hawker Siddeley at Woodford]. I’d got to know him through displaying the Mustang at Woodford,

“

The Victor is close to the top of my list of favourite aircraft

”

but also from Farnborough, because I displayed there for Beagle… He had just been appointed chief test pilot and he was forming his team. He said, ‘We’re short of one test pilot up here. Would you like to join me?’ I said, ‘Yes please, Tony’. He asked

me when I could start. I told him, ‘Straight away’. ‘That’s good’, he said. ‘You and I are delivering a 748 to the US on Friday’.” When they returned, Charles was despatched to Aero Flight at RAE Farnborough for jet conversion and to obtain a military instrument rating. This he did on the Meteor T7 and Canberra respectively, being allowed to sample the Hunter T7 and Lightning T5 for good measure. Broadening his experience was crucial, for Charles had joined Hawker Siddeley at an extremely busy time for the Woodford plant. The 748 and Andover programmes were in full swing, involving more global demonstration and delivery flights. But there was also the Nimrod MR1, the first of which was delivered on the day Charles started, and the Shackleton AEW2 conversion effort, transforming a dozen maritime patrol MR2s into airborne early warning platforms. The initial example was completed at Woodford in September 1971. “We had to do the flying for certification, going through the flight envelope with the radome [for the AN/APS-20 radar] underneath. Bill Else, another test pilot, and I were detailed to do one ridiculous thing, which was to dive the Shackleton at a high speed with full rudder on. I said to Bill, ‘We’re going to break off the fins and rudders’, but we had to do it. It wasn’t very nice, with everything shaking to bits. We only had that one at Woodford; the others were done at Bitteswell, another Hawker Siddeley site. Our role, after each was completed, was to go down and undertake one air test before the RAF picked them up.” In parallel, Woodford was beginning to modify 24 Victor B2s as in-flight refuelling tankers. The initial K2 flew on 1 March 1972, and the programme continued for the next six years. “It was a total new-build. The wingspan was reduced, the spars were removed and replaced so they

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had a brand-new fatigue life, and they had a completely remodelled flight deck. If anyone ever asks me what my favourite aircraft is from all the flying I did, the Victor would be very close to the top of that list. It had fantastic performance. My record from brakes-off to 50,000ft was nineand-a-half minutes.” Promoted to deputy chief test pilot, Charles became project pilot for the Nimrod MR2 upgrade, incorporating the Searchwater radar. He performed the first flight and most of the development flying. “We had to put ESM [electronic support measures] pods on the wingtips, which made the stall really interesting. It dropped a wing very sharply; in fact, it almost did half a turn of a spin. We did a huge number of stall tests, with varying degrees of vortex generators along the leading edge of both wings, until we got exactly the right array. Most of that flying we did from St Mawgan, which of course was a Nimrod base. From there you could climb to do your stalls in unrestricted airspace — ‘Well, that’s a bit better, but not good enough’ — and swoop down to land, whereupon the aerodynamicists would glue more vanes on, or take them off.”

Charles’s mount for Farnborough in 1976 was HS748 G-BEEM, about to become CS03 with the Belgian Air Force. CAZ CASWELL/AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM

After 16 July 1980’s maiden flight of the Nimrod AEW3, an interesting experience, to say the least. VIA SIR CHARLES MASEFIELD

❖ When Tony Blackman retired in 1978, Charles became chief test pilot at what was now BAe Woodford. “The next project on the Nimrod side was the AEW3”, he says. “On the first flight [on 16 July 1980], after I rotated and started climbing out, a huge buffeting started, like a pre-stall buffet. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m too slow’, so I pushed the nose down to gather more speed, but the buffeting got worse. We climbed up, and our chase Hunter said everything looked normal from the outside. “The aerodynamicists scratched their heads, but coming up fast was the Farnborough airshow. So, I had to take it to Farnborough, for the first public sight of the AEW Nimrod, doing a display with steep turns and so on in what you felt was pre-stall buffet. For the first couple of days, it took a bit of getting-used-to, but pilots very quickly get used to anything. We went back to Woodford after Farnborough and sorted it out with aerodynamic vortex generators around the rear radome.” This, we know now, proved to be the least of the AEW3’s problems. At that stage, XZ286, the first

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

ANYWHERE YOU CAN GO…

ne occasion when Charles inadvertently pushed the limits of aircraft performance was in demonstrating an Andover to the Indian Air Force with co-pilot Kevin Moorhouse. “We were asked if we could take the Andover into Walong. We always had one question: which aircraft went up there now? The answer was, ‘DC-3’. Well, I told them, anywhere a DC-3 can go we can go, with the 748 or the Andover. ‘Do you want to go there first to take a look by helicopter?’ I said no. “We had an Indian Air Force test pilot with us, and he sat in the right-hand seat and navigated us to Walong, which was up a very steep, narrow valley. I looked down, and it was a grass runway but it looked nice and long. I arrived, just about getting the aircraft on the ground in the first few yards. With full reverse thrust we came to a pretty rapid halt, and then realised we were at the end of the runway, staring against a steep incline in front of us. The only way we could turn the aircraft was a three-point turn — reverse-

pitch, forward-pitch, reverse-pitch. We taxied back to the start of the runway, did another three-point turn, shut down and everyone got out. I said, ‘Come on, Kevin, let’s pace it out and see how long it is’. When we paced it out I thought, ‘Oh my God, we’re never going to get airborne from this’… “After much thought, I reckoned that if we loaded the aircraft outside its rear centre of gravity limit by getting the people we had on board to sit up in the sloping ramp, we ought to be able to make the take-off with, from the very start, the nosewheel in the air. That would reduce the rolling drag by a third. We decided to do it, which was highly irresponsible… We charged off down this strip and managed to get into the air. “Back at Jorhat that night, at the Indian Air Force mess, the commanding officer gave a little cocktail party for our team. Everyone was saying, ‘He landed at Walong’. I said, ‘Why are you so surprised? The DC-3 goes up there’. ‘Oh, yes, it does, twice a week. But it never lands, it does air-drops…”

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AEROPLANE MEETS Sir Charles Masefield

ABOVE: First prototype XZ286 was the only Nimrod AEW3 ever flown by Charles. It was retained at Woodford on flight test duties. KEY COLLECTION

RIGHT: Representing BAE Systems in Kuala Lumpur during the Defense Services Asia 2000 exhibition. ALAMY

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prototype, was flying without any mission systems installed. Long before the GEC-Marconi AN/ APY-920 radar found its way into a Nimrod, the forward-looking portion was tested in the nose of muchmodified Comet 4 XW626, another Woodford conversion, which Charles also flew. “On a good day”, he recalls, “the radar would work superbly, but there weren’t that many good days”. Talk to many of those on the RAF side of the AEW3 programme, and they praise BAe for its efforts, while lambasting GEC. Charles concurs: “I can say this now: GEC were an absolute disaster on that.” His last trip in the Nimrod AEW3 was in May 1981. Non-flying jobs in the BAe hierarchy beckoned, starting with a post as project manager for the 748. Being appointed boss of the Chadderton plant didn’t fill Charles full of glee, given its poor industrial relations record, but he turned that around — and, he says, “really learned about management”. He also secured Vulcan B2 XM603 for preservation at Woodford, the type’s birthplace, and on 12 March 1982 made its final flight from Scampton. As managing director of BAe’s Commercial Aircraft Division, he carried on taking the controls of the corporate HS125s, and the occasional BAe 146, up until 1992. It was in 1994, while he was commercial director of Airbus

Industrie, that Charles was asked by the government to become head of the Defence Export Services Organisation on secondment. It coincided with ACM Sir Michael Graydon, a very long-standing friend, being Chief of the Air Staff. “Mike was kind enough to let me go

“

GEC were an absolute disaster on the Nimrod AEW

”

to Valley once every six months to fly the Hawk”, he says, “just to keep my hand in”. That ended after one occasion when a bird was ingested into the starboard intake and caused some quite major engine damage. The very next day, Charles bumped into Graydon at MoD Main Building. “He said, ‘If you’d had to eject, that would have been extremely embarrassing as a civilian flying a military aircraft. I’m afraid that is the last time you fly a Hawk’. So, that became my final flight.” When the MoD position came to an end in December 1998, Charles joined the board of GEC as vicechairman. He then returned to what had been BAe, but was now BAE Systems, as successively group marketing director, vice-chairman and president, retiring in 2007. Charles still has numerous business interests, but he maintains a strong connection with his past as patron of the Avro Heritage Museum, where Vulcan XM603 has finally found a permanent home. It wouldn’t be there at all had it not been for him. In much the same way, the connections made at Woodford through owning and flying the Mustang changed the course of Charles’s life. “It made my career”, he reflects. That’s not a bad legacy for an aircraft bought largely on a whim by two impecunious 20-somethings.

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

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Beaufighter TFX over the Western Desert, 1943

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Development

DATA DATABASE

In Print The Spotter

THE AEROPLANE WORDS: ARTHUR W. J. G. ORD-HUME with MATTHEW WILLIS, BEN DUNNELL and MICHAEL J. F. BOWYER

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DEVELOPMENT

The birth of The Aeroplane, a product of aviation’s pioneering days

A portrait of C. G. Grey, The Aeroplane’s founder editor. AEROPLANE

the Daimler car company. At all Marriage followed a year later, to events, Sturmey would stand one Beatrice Thornebe. Another down as editor by 1901. change of job saw him getting a His replacement was a young position with the Bowden Wire man named Walter Staner who Company. had been editor of a publication All this was exciting, but the called The Cycle & Motor Trades young Grey realised that what Review. The magazine followed he really wanted to do was to every development of the petrol write, and that writing would engine astutely, and when it enable him to record engineering began to be used in machines progress and history. In short, that were expected to fly it was he was about to make a career only natural that, almost without change that would not just affect thinking, The Autocar should his own future but would, to a become the world’s first aviation very large extent, impinge upon magazine. all of us. Charles Grey Grey, ever It all started when the editor afterwards to be referred to by of The Autocar, Walter Staner, his initials as ‘CGG’, was born in decided he needed somebody to 1875 in a house close to Regent’s travel to France to cover the very Park in London. His background first Paris Air Show in 1909. C. G. was not insignificant, for his Grey had been contributing odd father had lived at Dilston Hall bits of motoring information and in Northumberland, while the demonstrated an eagerness and celebrated Field of Flodden adaptability that suggested he where, way back in the 16th might make a good job of it. century, the Scots had famously This event enjoyed its battled with the English and lost, inception the previous year when was owned by the family. a section of the prestigious Paris In later years, CGG would Motor Show had been given over mature into a character who to what was seen as a motorwas in many car spin-off respects larger — the flying than life. This machine. The Some of CGG’s ‘fire following year, he seems to and brimstone’ style was a dedicated have inherited from his father aeronautical detectable in his first who was in exhibition aviation report the Irish Land would be Commission. staged at the Grey senior Grand Palais is reputed to have ridden to between 25 September and 17 his business appointments on October. horseback, a pair of pistols in the Neither Staner nor Grey had saddle holsters. any inkling just how big it would Before he was 18 years old, turn out to be, and so when Grey CGG had developed sporting arrived at the doors, he was both leanings and had become an little prepared and excited at active member of the Irish Road its sheer size and popularity. In Club, winning bicycle races the event, from its opening to including one of 120 miles in its close some 100,000 visitors the record time of eight hours 20 turned out to see products and minutes. He was educated at the innovations from 380 exhibitors. Erasmus Smith School, Dublin, CGG had plenty to write about and at the Crystal Palace School for a suitably satisfied editor. of Engineering where, in 1894, It has been suggested that his he qualified in civil engineering report from Paris was the first while still having time to win a ever carried by a specialist cycle race that went on for 12 journal in Britain on an hours. aeronautical event. Grey’s first job was with Interestingly, some of CGG’s the Swift Cycle Company in notorious ‘fire and brimstone’ Coventry, followed by a period style of reporting was detectable with the Coventry Machinists as early as this maiden onslaught Co as a draughtsman. At the age into aviation journalism, for he of just 23, he became manager used some of his space to offer of a steel-tube manufacturer. a critique of the Wright biplane

“

t was the beginning of a new era. There was an aura of excitement for not only was this the start of the 20th century, but the end of the Victorian age. We now had a new King who — unlike his mother, who had spent almost half a century as a recluse grieving over Albert her dead husband — was energetic, outgoing and enjoyed travel. Edward, although he was destined only to reign for nine years, would turn out to be the breath of fresh air we needed. This was also an age of progress, and there was a stunning new invention that was playing an increasing part in our lives: the motor car. Invented in the 1890s, its secret lay in the wonders of the internal combustion engine. The expanding business of magazine publishing had been quick to grasp this exciting nettle

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and the world’s first motoring journal, The Autocar, had appeared in 1895. Petrol engines, speed and adventure were all the rage. For its time, The Autocar was an unusual publication. Published by Iliffe and Son, it stated that it existed “in the interests of the mechanically propelled road carriage”. Its first issue appeared on 2 November 1895 when, it is thought, there were only six or seven cars in the whole of the UK. Motoring, then, was hardly a mass-market interest, so devoting a whole magazine to it was something of a gamble. Later historians would put a slightly different slant on it. It was suggested that it was set up by Henry Sturmey (co-inventor of the Sturmey-Archer threespeed gear for bicycles) as a promotional publication for

”

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

DATABASE THE AEROPLANE Development

The scene in the Grand Palais during 1909’s inaugural Paris show, as covered by Grey for The Autocar. GIFAS

In Print The Spotter

which, he asserted, was “not the machine of the future.” Even at this pioneering stage, though, Grey had a rival. The Autocar was not the only periodical given over to motoring. Another magazine competed for the attention of a growing readership in the sector,

The Automotor And Horseless Vehicle Journal. The creator of The Automotor Journal, as it was known for short, was one Stanley Spooner. Born in 1856, he was thus the elder of the two men. The son of a freemason and accountant working for the Railway

Frank McClean takes off from his starting rail at Leysdown in December 1910 in his Short-Wright biplane No 3. Grey was no enthusiast of the Wright designs. KEY COLLECTION

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Benevolent Society, Spooner’s new magazine went on sale on 15 October 1896. Published by F. King & Co, a firm of Londonbased advertising contractors, the offices were at 62 St Martin’s Lane, Charing Cross. Priced at 6d, the first issue included a portrait and

biography of Sir David Salomons as well as information about the 1896 Paris-Marseille-Paris automobile race. By the time of the second edition, a defining line was added to the cover title, reading that it was “a record and review of applied automatic locomotion”. Spooner’s progress was itself rapid. Before August 1897, he had become managing director of the publishing house. Believing that, as a motoring editor, he ought to have first-hand knowledge of what he was writing about, Spooner bought and owned a motor car prior to 1900. He also became a founding member of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, quickly joining the organisation’s committee. In this capacity he subsequently became friends with people who would go on to become highly influential in the world of aviation, such as

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DATABASE THE AEROPLANE Charles Rolls and John MooreBrabazon. And so, when the Aero Club of The United Kingdom was formed in 1901, and Rolls became one of its founders, Spooner was well-connected indeed. In fact, he was something of a pioneer aviator himself. Already an accomplished balloonist, on 8 October 1908, he became the first Englishman to go up in an aeroplane, taking to the air as a passenger with Wilbur Wright near Le Mans in France. Spooner’s background was thus somewhat more aeronautical than that of Grey, and when he started a weekly magazine called Flight, it was clear that the pair were potentially on a collision course. Promoted as the first aeronautical weekly in the world, Flight appeared on 2 January 1909, aligning itself as the official journal of the Aero Club of the United Kingdom, later to become the Royal Aero Club. C. G. Grey acted swiftly and, claiming the amalgamation of two pre-existing small titles — Flying, said to have been established in 1902, and The Airship — he founded a weekly called The Aero which could just about justify a pedigree earlier than Spooner’s Flight. From that time forward, however, the two men enjoyed a friendship solidly built on profound respect. Grey had travelled with the Iliffes (later Lord and Lady Iliffe) in their Daimler to the 1909 Reims Aviation Meeting, though probably because he

ABOVE: An August 1913 postcard entitled ‘The Aviator’s Nightmare, taken by the Camera Which Cannot Lie’, as featured in The Aeroplane at the time.

knew how to repair punctured tyres. This relationship led to his appointment as joint editor with the artist Wilfred Aston to Iliffe’s new penny weekly The Aero, which was launched in May 1909, four months after Spooner had started Flight. Spooner was a talented and honest journalist who, unlike the younger Grey, was seldom moved — at least in these formative days — to express criticism or strong point of view. Strangely enough, it would materialise that the success of Grey’s publication would lie in the fact that he was a bit of a maverick in the opinion stakes. This trend appeared very early on with his critical comments on the Wright brothers’ work.

The Aero (left), the first publication Grey edited; and (right) how it all began: the inaugural issue of The Aeroplane, dated 8 June 1911.

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Reporting on an airshow in 1910, Grey wrote, “It is a rather curious thing, but it is a fact, that there is about a Wright machine a certain ‘atmosphere,’ as one might call it, which is quite unique to itself. Compared to other aeroplanes, it seems to stand quite apart, with scarcely anything but principle in common with any of them. This is due largely to the way in which the details of its construction are carried out; they entirely lack the usual French or English finish, and seem to have the appearance of having been hit upon on the spur of the moment, and made and used without further consideration. It would be foolish to suggest that the Wright machine, as a whole, is ineffective because its performances deny this but there is much about it that looks makeshift and makes every Wright machine look as though it had been the first of its kind.” Despite this style of ‘going out on a limb’, The Aero was short-lived and eventually closed in 1911. CGG was then asked by Ellice Victor Elias (later Sir Victor) Sassoon whether it could not be replaced, the outcome being that he put up the then-large sum of £1,000 to enable Grey to produce a weekly magazine. He called it The Aeroplane and the first edition appeared in June 1911. The world of aviation would now come under the scrutiny of the man who became the most influential commentator on the

subject in the land if not, largely, in the world. For sheer effort and stamina alone, Grey was a force to be reckoned with. He wrote his weekly leading article for 28 years without missing a single issue, signing all his writings with those cryptic initials, CGG. Not that his words weren’t always understood and his comments misinterpreted. He was at loggerheads with the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough in its early days, regarding it as a time-wasting institution, among other things. Once asked if he would be alarmed if he were to find himself at its gates, Grey replied, “Good Lord no; they don’t know enough about aeroplanes down there to know who I am.” But there was another side to CGG. He appreciated good engineering and sought for both perfection and progress in British aviation. This perpetual quest largely fell on unappreciative ears. The minions of Whitehall were, after all, unlikely to be influenced by a mere magazine journalist, even if he just happened to be right. The Aeroplane under Grey’s powerful pen may have been controversial, but, to quote another great editor, Motor Sport’s Bill Boddy, “it was essentially patriotic. Full pages and regal portraits would be devoted to Royal Coronations and funerals”. Tall, monocled, and always correctly dressed, CGG became a prominent character at all the important airshows, races and events including aviation dinners. He liked to say he flew on only one day a year so that he could spend the other 364 proclaiming how dangerous flying was. In fact, he had survived a crash-landing way back in 1910 in Capt Bertram Dickson’s Farman at Lanark. Grey fought a long campaign for safer aeroplanes, but said flying would never become truly acceptable until people became used to being killed in them. He coined a curious saying that “mails may be lost but never delayed, passengers may be delayed but never lost”. Subsequently, in a leading article on flying safety and the value of wing flaps, he wrote that “aeroplanes should land slowly and not burn up.”

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IN PRINT

How The Aeroplane became the world’s best-known aviation magazine — and its post-war fall Development In Print The Spotter

ABOVE: E. A. ‘Chris’ Wren’s first contribution to The Aeroplane was this set of cartoons, ‘Identification made easy — a caricaturist’s memories of the prominent characteristics of some popular aeroplanes’, published in the 22 June 1933 edition.

rey was well connected in the aircraft business. As editor of The Aeroplane he got to know all of the pioneers. One particularly strong friendship was that with Frederick Handley Page, who himself was at that time extremely influential. There is little doubt that one of Grey’s most important impacts on British military aviation came very early on in his career during the Great War. The Royal Navy had long had its own shipyards, but in the 1800s it began to switch to using commercial companies to produce its ships while its own yards concentrated on repairs. It took the same course with regard to aircraft,

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and accepted designs from commercial firms for testing to conform to the needs of the Royal Naval Air Service. While notionally a great success which resulted in the adoption of designs such as the Sopwith Pup, Triplane and Camel, the Felixstowe flying boats and the Short seaplanes, this view neglects those that failed. The outcome was a great waste of resources. On the other hand, the army had a different

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method. With a history of government-owned ordnance factories to produce weapons — a policy widely carried out throughout the world to keep the means of producing arms out of rebellious hands — it had established the Royal Aircraft Factory to design, test and conduct small-scale production of aircraft and balloons to meet the army’s needs. In wartime, the construction of these designs would be sub-

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Grey campaigned against the Royal Aircraft Factory from the earliest days of The Aeroplane

contracted out to civilian firms. This resulted in designs closely tailored to what the army’s Royal Flying Corps thought it needed. This policy was not to the pleasure of everyone and its success caused anger in some quarters, the more so because it was a system that actually worked reasonably well. Chief amongst these design successes was the safe, docile, slow BE2. Many in the British aircraft industry resented this policy, and C. G. Grey was the perfect mouthpiece for their dissent. He had been campaigning against the Royal Aircraft Factory from the earliest days of The Aeroplane magazine. Matters came to a head when, in the

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ABOVE: C. G. Grey’s writing could never be ignored. AEROPLANE

ABOVE: The Royal Aircraft Factory, and not least its BE2 family — this is BE2e C7133 — often felt the rough end of Grey’s tongue. KEY COLLECTION

early days of the first war, BE2s started to fall victim to the socalled ‘Fokker Scourge’ in 1915. Grey was now instrumental in whipping up a public frenzy to have the Royal Aircraft Factory closed down. In this instance, CGG was, as time would tell, unwise. In the pipeline was the eminently successful SE5a fighter on the one hand, and what would become the Jaguar engine on the other. One specific bee in his bonnet concerned the purchase of

foreign aircraft. He was against any attempt by the government or any other British enterprise to buy aircraft or aircraft engines from the United States. He also opposed efforts by the Australians or Canadians to build up their own aircraft industries, saying they should rely on aeroplanes from Britain. In the beginning, the appearance of The Aeroplane could at best be described as dismal, with few pictures. It was printed on pretty cheap

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subject matter. That is why these early issues remain so prized to the historian today. Grey ran powerful pieces on ‘The Truce of the Bear’, warning of Russia’s likely re-emergence as a major power in conflict. In the 1920s he had beaten the big-time daily newspapers in telling of the Middle East petrol pipeline and forecast in 1924 that Japan would one day strike America in the Philippines. He battled hard for better fighting aeroplanes in 1914-17 and thereafter,

GREY’S UNDERLINGS

Photographer Charles Sims in his element. KEY COLLECTION

paper stock which was thin, fragile and with a tendency to easily tear. It carried very few advertisements. This was clearly a publication where content far and away exceeded presentation. Mind you, Flight was no better, and both were closer to being defined as ‘pulp’ periodicals than they deserved. Illustrations were a mixture of line drawings and coarsely screened half-tone photographs. Where The Aeroplane scored, however, was in the quality of its

GG had a strong team at Temple Press at 175 Piccadilly, the address he had selected as the magazine’s base in 1911. This was some distance from his publisher’s headquarters, not to mention day-to-day influence, which were at Roseberry Avenue, EC1. His assistant editor, although he was kept well reined-in under CGG, was Thurstan James. Originally taken on as the magazine’s technical editor, he had also edited Sailplane & Gliding for many years. James (1903-75) had worked at both Short Brothers and Beardmore before joining Grey. Other members of the editorial team included Francis Delaforce Bradbrooke (1895-1941) who attended to light aircraft and flying club matters, flying and air-testing them as required. Peter Masefield (1914-2006) was recruited as an editorial assistant in June 1937. He proved a quick learner and soon

became an indispensable team member. More of him anon. Charles Sims was the chief photographer and Royal Air Force matters were attended to by the redoubtable Cecily Mary McAlery of whom William Boddy, Motor Sport editor, once said that she “looked rather like a Victorian school-ma’am but who knew more about the Air Force than many senior officers and who would get kitted-out in overalls and helmet and watch the pre-war training Air Exercises from the rear-gunner’s cockpit of the latest bomber”. Indeed, Mrs McAlery’s long-term influence was somewhat broader than the RAF top brass with whom she hob-nobbed. It was rumoured that while Temple Press feared that Grey’s caustic pen might incur libel damages and attempted to confine his more dangerous remarks to a limited number of lines per page, it was said that only McAlery could actually control him.

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In Print The Spotter

and admired greatly the leadership of Lord ‘Boom’ Trenchard, Marshal of the RAF, as later he did that of Sir Winston Churchill. In fact, there’s a littleknown piece of evidence that as early as the First World War, his words were being noticed in high places. On 2 July 1917, the then Minister of Munitions under David Lloyd George’s government, one Winston Churchill, stood up in the House of Commons to ask the Under-Secretary of War a question. He asked if he was aware that, “Mr C. G. Grey, editor, part proprietor, manager, and director of the ‘Aeroplane,’ aged forty-one years and seven months, and previously marked unfit for military service, has now been medically classified as C2 on examination by the Westminster Tribunal; and whether, having regard to the value and importance of the ‘Aeroplane’ newspaper as a means of interchanging knowledge between all branches of our rapidly extending Air Services and affording a supply of valuable technical and other information to the officers and men and to Mr Grey’s exceptional knowledge of all matters connected with aviation from its earliest beginnings,

Twenty-fifth tributes On the occasion of The Aeroplane’s 25th anniversary, the 3 June 1936 issue featured many fulsome tributes to the magazine from British aviation’s great and good. Among them were Geoffrey de Havilland (above) and Marshal of the Royal Air Force Viscount Trenchard (right).

The supposedly record-breaking Tupolev ANT-25, the subject of a major controversy involving the magazine. ALAMY

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THE POLITICS OF C. G. GREY

C. G. Grey remains a towering figure in UK aviation history, but his politics, controversial even during his heyday, mark a troubling aspect of his legacy. His views on race, and his admiration of fascist and Nazi regimes, were hardly unique in the interwar period, and yet Grey increasingly found himself on the wrong side of important issues. So much so that it brought his pioneering editorship of The Aeroplane to an end just before the Second World War. Grey was never afraid of involving himself, or The Aeroplane, in politics and, while he was editor, had no compunction in using the journal’s voice to influence policy and public opinion. It was a voice that was fiercely patriotic but perpetually suspicious of the British government, and not afraid to praise achievement by some — but by no means all — other nations. The motoring journalist Bill Boddy suggested Grey, “Might be termed a right wing Liberal”. He wrote, “Grey realised that whereas even intellectual young men might have little time for political papers, they could be induced to take in such matters if the information was mingled with that about aeroplanes”. The historian Michele Haapamäki said of Grey that he was, “A politicking professional who saw no tension between his role as a journalist and agitating at the highest level of the Air Ministry”. While Flight tended to concentrate on technical matters, it was Grey’s fearlessness in bringing The Aeroplane into the political sphere that ensured its status in the early years. The first major political scrap into which Grey threw his weight was over the establishment that would become the Royal Aircraft Factory. As an ardent believer in private enterprise, Grey was hostile from the outset. In a 1911 editorial he denounced it as “From its very inception an abject failure”, while insisting its very existence hampered private industry. He accused the Factory of unsafe practices in such strident terms that A. V. Roe, usually a vocal critic, was moved to write in the factory’s defence. Nevertheless, Grey’s support for the private UK aviation industry was not unconditional, nor his patriotism blind, and he was not averse to disparaging his country’s efforts when he felt it necessary, especially when he saw Britain falling behind. In contrast to many journalists of the time, Grey was unimpressed by the accumulating achievements of women aviators. When Arthur Clouston and noted aviatrix Betty Kirby-Green jointly set a new speed record

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Late in life, C. G. Grey is presented with a silver salver. AEROPLANE

from London to Cape Town in DH88 Comet G-ACSS, Grey praised Clouston’s achievement while briefly noting that Kirby-Green, “Went along to rattle the money-box.” In the inter-war period, Grey turned his attention to world affairs. He developed a powerful suspicion of the USSR and warned of its rising military strength, while reflexively disbelieving its technological achievements. Germany, on the other hand, he considered, “The first line of defence against Eastern barbarism”. He developed friendships with those sympathetic to fascism, such as Marshal Balbo in Italy and Admiral Domvile at home, though he never joined any far-right organisations (unlike his assistant editor, Geoffrey Dorman). Grey did, though, visit Nationalist Spain and Nazi Germany, seeing the Luftwaffe up close, and, according to Boddy, “Became rather too convinced.” Grey’s anachronistic views were increasingly on view as the 1930s progressed, with ruminations on race that sit oddly in an aviation magazine, even one so overtly political as The Aeroplane — “On

Japheth And The Jews” of August 1933 being a particularly lurid example. Grey’s wilder opinions (including that Welsh miners bore physical evidence of “Tartar Jew” ancestry, explaining their socialistic tendencies) nestled alongside a profound admiration of the Hitler and Mussolini regimes, particularly relating to aviation, and a conviction that they presented no threat to the UK. This led Grey to insist, right up to September 1939, that there would be no war with Germany, and when the Civil Air Guard was formed to train a pool of pilots, he advised readers against joining it. It is widely believed that his pro-German views were responsible, at least in part, for Grey’s dismissal as editor in 1939. While Grey was not alone in his politics throughout his life, by 1939 he was out on a limb. Even the earlier tributes, after the end of his tenure as editor of The Aeroplane and his death in 1953, tended to avoid mention of politics altogether. A notable omission given Grey’s long-standing involvement in politics and his lack of reticence in advancing his views, but not altogether surprising. Matthew Willis

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week showed that the machine used could not in any way fly the distance without landing to refuel. Grey and his staff set about proving the claims false. It was a massive gamble, and upset the Royal Aero Club which represented the interests of the FAI in Britain. The club formally

Besides editing The Aeroplane, CGG’s other job was editing Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft. With details of the ANT-25’s performance on hand, CGG thought this assertion to be incorrect and said so in print. The Aeroplane’s editorial that

challenged Grey, telling him to ‘correct’ his contradiction and shut up. CGG’s response was to send his technical editor, Peter Masefield, to the RAeC to look at the Russian government’s claim. He refused to accept it, labelling it a fake and concluding his

The Aeroplane’s stand at the 1937 SBAC show at Hatfield. AEROPLANE

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He left the advertisers’ pages blank. The firms returned with their tails between their legs

reasons with the final comment, “We await information of the ‘liquidation’ of the crew, so that further evidence may be destroyed.” The main problem Grey had was getting other people to take note. It was largely his own fault in many ways. So many of his comments were quips and tongue-in-cheek observations that others just failed to appreciate them. A contemporary observer said of Grey and his magazine, “From this platform he launched the most incisive, perceptive, sardonic barbs and edicts about the state of aviation in Britain and elsewhere ever to emanate from a single source. Grey was either loved or hated by his audience, but all listened. He was occasionally condemned as anti-British when he criticized

In Print

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record for a non-stop longdistance flight of 6,305 miles between Moscow and San Jacinto in the US. The trip had taken 62 hours 17 minutes and been homologated by the FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) as indeed being record-breaking.

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he will place the editor of this technical and Service paper in the same position as is recognised in the case of the editors of political daily papers?” In short, ‘important’ newspaper editors were exempted from military service and CGG ought to be granted this status. The response from Mr Pemberton-Billing was that, “In the special circumstances […] the military representative has been instructed not to press for Mr Grey to be made available for military service.” Ever keen to see how other countries approached matters of aviation, in 1924 CGG went to the United States. He was greatly impressed by the size in volume terms of so young an industry and took on board its approach to volume manufacture. On his return he wrote at length on his travels. In a daunting comparison with British products, he pointed out how the Curtiss D-12 engine had made the 160mph Fairey Fox two-seat day bomber faster than the RAF’s serving fighters. This was heavy stuff and in 1925 he was made to pay for his ‘unpatriotic’ words. The all-important main advertisers to his magazine withdrew their support. Grey was unfazed and in a typical gesture of defiance he went to print leaving their pages blank, merely inserting a small block of text in the middle explaining why the advertisers had backed off. Of course, this had an immediate effect, and the firms meekly returned with their tails between their legs. CGG was fearless in his approach to news stories but equally so in his denouncement of false claims. In a similar situation in today’s environment, he might have feared contact with the poisoned tip of an umbrella under a Thames bridge: in those times, he stood fair and square to take whatever flak there might be. And flak there might well have been flying his way when he exposed a major and astonishing deception made by the Soviet Russians. It all started in 1937 with a claim that a Soviet aircraft, the Tupolev ANT-25, had broken the world duration record and established a new world

DATABASE THE AEROPLANE A typical wartime assignment: to cover the new Lancaster Is of No 50 Squadron at Waddington, not that the unit or its base would have been named in 1942. AEROPLANE

his nation’s sometimes lack of progress, but unlike many editors and journalists Grey always sought to improve the aircraft industry in Britain, not to harm it.” Later in life, CGG looked back wistfully to his early days and commented that about the only clever thing he did was to take offices at 175 Piccadilly, because sooner or later most people who came to London walked down St James’s Street and turned into Piccadilly. Anyone in aviation with news to impart was likely to visit The Aeroplane and if they had any secret could pretend they had gone to see the Royal Aero Club, in the flat below. It was simply sheer bad luck that, in going over the top to assert his opinions, it was he who paid the price. In March 1939 Grey was given six months’ notice. Sacked from the magazine he had considered his own since before its inception, he fell to contributing occasional articles, reviews and comments,

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but, for all his efforts, he was sadly a spent force.

The CGG era ends By 1939, The Aeroplane was indeed a powerful tool. The cover sported a bold line, “Edited by C. G. Grey”, and a regular strapline reading “The Leading Aviation Journal of the World”. Grey was not one to hide his

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our very top brass. In particular, he directed the full force of his criticism at none other than Air Cdre P. F. M. Fellowes. Fellowes was, in retirement, a respected author and strong believer in the manner in which the RAF was operated. The pages of The Times newspaper were his mouthpiece. And Grey was on his tail. In the end, CGG’s last editorial for The Aeroplane — the final

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The outbreak of war immediately thrust the luckless Shepherd in at the deep end light under a bushel. But Temple Press’s managing director, Roland Edmund Dangerfield, who had served as a pilot in the 1914-18 war, was increasingly uneasy about the power Grey had and the barbed words he directed at our army and air force. Grey’s command of the magazine was now challenging

edition he edited — appeared on 30 August 1939, four days before the outbreak of war. ‘[All] the moral[e] in the World will not defeat a man who has better guns and better aeroplanes unless he is of quite inferior quality. — Just as the gentlemen of Spain in slow but reliable Fiat biplanes

definitely got the upper hand of the Russian and other assorted low-class pilots on the Red side in Russo-American aeroplanes which had a higher performance. ‘Air Commodore Fellowes ought to remember that the moral[e] of the RFC and the RAF in all war area [sic] in 1914-18 was always at the highest when they were attacking over enemy territory and not when they had been beaten back to their own lines by the superior armament of our enemies. ‘Today our Air Force is certainly the strongest striking force in the World, and may thus help to avoid war by influencing the more truculent members of those nations with which we are arguing.” Elsewhere in this same edition, he fired off a salvo of criticism of the work of ACM Sir Hugh Dowding with a terse reminder that speeding up aircraft output depended on the selection of materials we had easy access to. This was a basic

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Inside the Temple Press offices on Bowling Green Lane, London, in September 1943. AEROPLANE

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Auster Autocrat G-AERO about to land aboard HMS Illustrious. AEROPLANE

THE OFFICE RUNABOUT

t made perfect sense. The Aeroplane’s reporters and photographers had to cover assignments far and wide, they included current pilots in their number — why not buy the magazine its own aircraft? In May 1946, Temple Press bought a new Auster 5J1 Autocrat, originally registered G-AHHE, but soon changed to G-AERO in what was then a very rare example of an out-of-sequence, ‘personalised’ identity. It was based at Croydon, and rapidly became well-known for its attendance at aeronautical occasions around Britain. But it was soon to notch up its own remarkable ‘first’: a landing on HMS Illustrious. Richard Worcester wrote in the 8 November 1946 issue, “The writer was able, thanks to Admiralty co-operation, to arrive in G-AERO and, so far as we know, he was able to make history in a modest way by making the first civil aeroplane landing on a flight deck, at any rate on a British Carrier.” To be given permission, Worcester — a wartime Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve pilot — had to carry out fully 16 aerodrome dummy deck landings at RNAS Ford. All went well, and he was ‘signed off’. On the day itself, 16 October, Illustrious was active in its role as a trials carrier, flying being conducted by the Fleet Air Arm’s Service Trials Unit. Wrote Worcester, “The ‘Over 25-knot wind’ flag was run out on to the boom, which rather worried G-AERO as she stalls at 24 knots! The first attempt to reach the deck with full flap was unsuccessful as G-AERO would not stall”. However, he continued, “The second attempt, ably batted by Sub-Lt J. Mathews, RN with G-AERO at 40mph IAS and half-flaps, was successful. Once down she was grabbed by many willing hands and pushed on to the forward lift to make way for the Avenger and the Seafire behind it.” The Auster having been lowered into the ship’s hangar, Worcester watched a range of trials, including — coincidentally, given this issue’s other theme — Sea Mosquito TR33 deck landing trials. When it was time to go, “G-AERO started and was waved off”, wrote Worcester. “With flaps on the first notch she reached 55mph IAS at the end of the deck and circled while the Sea Mosquito took off…” And that wasn’t the only time The Aeroplane’s Auster earned its sea legs. On 5 May 1948, it landed aboard the Royal Canadian Navy’s new light fleet carrier HMCS Magnificent, then going through deck landing trials in the Channel with representative aircraft types. G-AERO was sold to new owners in New Zealand during July 1950, but what a life it led in the hands of Temple Press. Ben Dunnell

The Spotter

A former editorial writer for The Times, Edwin Colston Shepherd was a respected aviation journalist and author, and he was seen by the imperiously named Dangerfield as a safe pair of hands. Mildly outspoken, strong (but cautious) in his views and experienced in the unseen art of editorial diplomacy,

DATAFILE

In Print

A magazine at war

Shepherd was well-known to the world of aviation. In his new post, he would be aided by The Aeroplane’s assistant editor Thurstan James (1903-1975). Editorially, the transition passed relatively seamlessly. In fact, the outbreak of war — a war Grey had told his readers would never happen — immediately threw the luckless scribe in at the deep end. There was no time for greetings or summaries of anybody’s past achievements. It was ‘all go’. Shepherd wrote, “In this issue, the familiar style of CGG is missing, but we are assured by Mr Grey that contributions by him may be expected in the future… Those who have known CGG the longest would least expect him to consort, even in print, with those he considered unworthy to handle the journal of his creation. In the difficult days of war, we shall endeavour to keep The Aeroplane what it has always been — well informed, intimate, comprehensive and unafraid to speak its mind.” Colston Shepherd’s staff was drastically cut almost from day one for Mrs McAlery, who had edited the Royal Air Force

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tenet to which Grey returned time and time again in the latter 1930s. But this was his last shout. The next issue of The Aeroplane was different. Gone was the bold editorial attribution on the cover. Now there was a new strapline reading, “The Most Influential Aviation Journal in the World”. And the editor was now shown as Edwin Colston Shepherd. There was another major change. Gone too was the prestigious Piccadilly address — CGG’s chosen venue for 28 years — as Temple Press and The Aeroplane coalesced into a new headquarters at Bowling Green Lane, an East London address that did not live up to its bucolicsounding name.

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DATABASE THE AEROPLANE section of the magazine for 18 years, was recalled to the service, while photographer Charles Sims and advertising manager Eric Adlington, who had totally revitalised the magazine’s financial status, were also called up. These quite unexpected asset depletions suddenly made CGG’s promised “occasional contributions” more than ever important if the magazine was to maintain both its status and its very survival. Dangerfield may thus have begun to regret his decision of pushing CGG aside. A new feature began at once — silhouettes of German military aeroplanes. At the rear of this, the first wartime issue, was an advertisement for the new Taylorcraft Plus C from Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) at the Britannia Works, Thurmaston, Leicester. For £550 you could buy one — except that, a calendar week earlier, all civilian flying had been prohibited ‘for the duration’. That 18 September, the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous was torpedoed off Ireland by a German U-boat. The Aeroplane reported this, highlighting what a great loss it was. This drew an instant rebuke from the Royal Navy and the War Office. Reporting this type of event was one thing, but commenting on it in this manner was a potential breach of security. The new editor had made his first error of judgement. Colston Shepherd edited the magazine through the darkest days of the Blitzkrieg. CGG remained dependably supportive, supplying many pages of copy for each issue. His words, though, became more and more discursive and often would not pass muster at the hands of a modern editor. Despite being viewed as a competent editor, in truth Colston Shepherd was not totally at home running a regular publication. What with the pressures of trying to sustain a quality journal in time of war, he began to burn out. In 1943 he had enough and, learning that the BBC needed a senior executive to handle air propaganda, he resigned, leaving Thurstan James as the new head honcho.

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‘Chris’ Wren’s take on the ‘Men and machines at the 1960 SBAC Display’.

The war years were tough ones for everybody, magazine publication being no exception. James was perpetually short of staff either through call-up or from the day-to-day problems of air-raids, bombing and transport disruption. Small wonder that the business operated in a compact area. The makers of half-tone printing blocks, distinguished by the marvellous name of Rumph & Waite, were in

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the next-but-one building, paper was sourced little more than a barrow-push away and printing was in the basement. But The Aeroplane triumphed and emerged into the post-war era strong, highly respected and only a bit battle-scarred.

Coming full circle The Aeroplane’s strength may have lain in its philosophy and

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In 1962 the magazine dropped all its military content. This was neither popular nor lucrative

its staff. Its success, however, was measured in profitability and here it could not ignore its worthy rival, Flight, published by Iliffe. Both were weekly journals. Both sought the same advertisers and this, during the post-war recession, was a particularly tough challenge. Joseph Malaby Dent (18491926) was one of the most progressive publishers of his age. The man who gave us the one-shilling Everyman’s Library editions of almost everything from the classics to the popular novel had set up Temple Press in 1904. This business had systematically acquired a fine portfolio of major magazines and, in due course, The Aeroplane had joined its fold. Now, in the second half of the 20th century, it found itself headto-head with its rival in Stamford Street. In the years after 1945, The Aeroplane remained as buoyant and authoritative as ever it had been. Under the skin, however, Temple Press recognised that the commercial outlook for its flagship aviation title had changed. With Thurstan James still occupying the editor’s chair, in March 1962 the magazine changed its name to The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News, dropping all its military content. This proved neither a popular, nor a lucrative move. During 1963, Iliffe had morphed into IPC (International Publishing Company) and rapidly expanded its circle of titles. It was a larger firm than Temple Press and when it made a takeover move, there was no resistance. Iliffe now ran the country’s two biggest aviation weeklies, Flight and The Aeroplane. Both sought the same readership. In advertising terms, they also sought the same marketplace. There was no room for both. Oliver Stewart’s magazine Aeronautics, a very high-quality monthly, had already proved the difficulties of the market, publishing its last issue in 1962. In the end, there was only one real course of action. Iliffe closed Temple Press and its offices in London’s Bowling Green Lane. Edited by John Seekings, the final issue of Aeroplane: The

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DATA DATABASE THE AEROPLANE Development

DATAFILE

BEHIND THE LENS

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AEROPLAN E

The Spotter

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

In Print

he great Charles Sims, that most outstanding aerial photographer, set the tone for The Aeroplane’s visual content. Other talented lensmen would follow. One of them was Maurice Rowe, who joined the publisher’s ranks during July 1944. “When I started with Temple Press”, Rowe said when interviewed by Aeroplane many years later, “my duties included making up chemicals and drying photographs on rotary glazing drums, while also learning how to operate a large copying camera that ran on rails. After some years, on the retirement of a member of staff, I was given the opportunity to become a photographer. Standard equipment for a photographer then was the First World War-vintage Van Neck VN Press Camera. “While away on an overnight assignment, when a large amount of photographs were required, the slides had to be reloaded. This was usually done in the hotel bedroom, where one would struggle into the wardrobe — making sure the door was firmly closed — or attempt to get the job done while hiding under the bedclothes! “Of all the assignments I was given, air-to-air photography was by far the most challenging. It was easy enough to take pictures from the back end of a Blackburn Beverley, as many of the images were, or the side door of an Avro Lancaster, but being trussed up like a chicken and thrust into a Hawker Hunter, hardly able to move and with an oxygen mask clamped to your face, was a different matter. With no room for a camera case, as many slides as possible were crammed into your left-hand pockets, the exposed plates then being carefully transferred to your right-hand pockets — it was exhausting.” Upon The Aeroplane’s closure, Rowe joined Motor, another Temple Press title, and cemented his reputation — already in part established — as one of the finest motorsport photographers of his generation. At right are some examples of the artistry displayed by Rowe and colleagues during The Aeroplane’s post-war era.

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DATABASE THE AEROPLANE DATAFILE

Tu-104 SSSR-L5400 on the Heathrow tarmac in March 1956 (above) — and Maurice Rowe’s cockpit exclusive (below). AEROPLANE

SOVIET SCOOP

nto the 1950s, The Aeroplane was still setting the agenda. “I had my one and only scoop”, wrote photographer Maurice Rowe, “on the occasion of the first visit of the Russian Tu-104 jet airliner to London (Heathrow) Airport. It was arranged that the press were to meet at the terminal building; but on arrival, seeing the aircraft parked in the distance, I thought I would drive out and have a preview. It seems unbelievable now that it was possible to drive around the airport with no restrictions. “Standing at the foot of the steps was the captain and a Russian interpreter. Showing them a copy of The Aeroplane, I asked if I could take some photographs. After some discussion in Russian the captain agreed. Holding my breath, I asked, ‘including the flightdeck?’ He laughed, and said ‘Help yourself’. At this time no detailed pictures of Russian aircraft had been seen in the West, and they were always a complete mystery. “I could not believe my good luck. I went onto the flightdeck to photograph everything in sight, then down into the nose section where the navigator was sorting out his maps. He just smiled in a friendly manner. Shaking nervously, I thought that at any moment I would be thrown out and have my camera confiscated.” Not so. Soon the rest of the press arrived by bus and went aboard the Tupolev. Rowe had what he needed and made for his car. “The Captain called after me, ‘Are you coming for a flight?’, and, thinking I might as well, I joined the group”. The Aeroplane’s exclusive was assured. As Rowe recalled, from then on, “permission for photography on the flightdeck was firmly refused…” Ben Dunnell

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The editorial announcement of The Aeroplane’s passing in 1968.

International Air Transport Journal, as it became known in its latter years, appeared during October 1968. Had an era come to an end? Not exactly. A pause, yes!

growth of the civil helicopter market in its stride. The newly formed editorial and management team assigned to the projected new title found themselves facing redundancy. Fortunately, it included a The revival number of people who were in the original group upset by the At Iliffe’s Stamford Street closure of The Aeroplane. headquarters, several senior The rest is history, and a journalists and managers were young man who had worked as a shocked at their employers’ photographer on The Aeroplane decision to in its closing close The years, Richard Aeroplane. T. Riding (1942Richard Riding Associated 2019), was with this was was earmarked as editor earmarked as the fact that editor of a new of a new magazine on the publishers, IPC-published historical topics IPC Business magazine. Press, were Concentrating contemplating on historical the start of a new magazine for topics, it was to be called the private helicopter owner. Aeroplane Monthly. The first In 1970, the market for civil issue appeared in May 1973. ‘choppers’ was strong and sales Today it’s simply known as of rotary-winged civil aircraft Aeroplane. But its own story were increasing. — which we last touched on in While the new title was the March 2019 issue, in paying being planned, a vast and quite tribute to Richard Riding — must unexpected hike in the tax on wait until 2023, and the 50th petrol effectively stopped the anniversary of this incarnation.

“

”

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

THE SPOTTER

ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT: Sir Peter Masefield, as he became, went from being The Aeroplane’s technical editor to the first editor of The Aeroplane Spotter. The distinctive Charles W. Cain, meanwhile, was the Spotter’s second editor. AEROPLANE

ability to sketch an aeroplane emphasising its salient features in caricature. A severe shortage of newsprint during 1941 resulted in the imposition of paper rationing, as a result of which The Aeroplane Spotter was forced to change from a weekly to a fortnightly publishing schedule. The first fortnightly issue was number 43 dated 23 October 1941. Meanwhile, that January the Hearkers’ Club had become the Observer Corps Club. The Observer Corps itself had

Using a range-finder device, two Royal Observer Corps members study models of a He 111 and Wellington. The development of this vital organisation was furthered in no small part by The Aeroplane Spotter. AEROPLANE

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

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The Spotter

Aeroplane Spotter, which first appeared on 2 January 1941. Masefield was editor. While others in the editorial team contributed material, Masefield knew the best publications were not all solid information. He introduced an aeronautical crossword, a quiz and, perhaps best of all, a series of cartoons called ‘Oddentifications’ drawn by the artist E. A. ‘Chris’ Wren, who was an instructor at the RAF’s Central School of Aircraft Recognition. He possessed a unique

In Print

who addressed members on the principles of recognition and its importance. His words, which would appear printed in The Aeroplane for 23 December 1939, and later in the club bulletin, marked a rare occasion on which anybody had passed public comment on the matter. In fact, they were to be referred to in the House of Commons two weeks later. Masefield, aware that he had hit on a potentially vital topic, now approached Roland Dangerfield with a proposal that Temple Press should produce some sort of publication to concentrate on methods of telling friend from foe in the air. His cause was boosted by the expansion of the Hearkers’ Club which, by the spring of 1940, had grown to nine branches across the country. Temple Press was not enthusiastic at the thought of starting a non-profit periodical in time of war and procrastinated. Masefield fought his case well and, while it took a year to convince management of his beliefs, Dangerfield finally relented. The outcome was The

Development

n December 1939, a group of people got together in Guildford, Surrey, and formed themselves into the Hearkers’ Club School of Instruction. They were members of an organisation called the Observer Corps, formed during October 1925, and their mandate was to make a study of aircraft recognition. It secured as its first guest speaker none other than Peter Masefield, at that time The Aeroplane’s technical editor,

Its spin-off The Aeroplane Spotter was one of the magazine’s main contributions to the war effort

DATABASE THE AEROPLANE DATAFILE

‘FOR THE ALERT’

avements ice-clad, roads overtaken by deep, rutted snow, engulfed in darkness. A grim, wartime morn. At 06.45hrs, 2 January 1941, I set off to acquire a copy of the first issue of that eight-page wondrous delight, The Aeroplane Spotter. In the best newsagent’s was a voluminous, formidable female who bellowed that the Spotter was “only for adults”. I begged, pleaded, battled on until she surrendered, released my threepenny bit and fled in case she changed her mind. Only a war-winning adult could, she said, order the short-insupply newcomer. Mum obliged. Like all new wartime publications, it was not permitted to contain advertising. Every other Thursday it emerged, on government accounting day when news and pictures of the latest British aircraft were released. First issue, page 3, carried accurate silhouettes and a photograph of a new, outstanding, war-winner, Blackburn’s Botha — pronounced, we were told, ‘Boater’. Aircraft recognition material, official and public, was pathetic until late October 1939 when a little booklet, Spot them in the air, emerged, surprisingly, from the Daily Mirror. Carrying aircraft details and silhouettes, friend and foe, it was easily the best so far. Summer 1940 brought a small, green-cover, official ‘restricted’ booklet featuring poor-quality three-view silhouettes of British aircraft, each complete with smiling pilot pleased to be revealing — long before public release — secrets like the Albemarle, Beaufighter, Halifax, Manchester, Stirling, Whirlwind and, of course, the Botha. Within hours, miniatures were in modellers’ collections! Priced 6d, it could only be purchased by officially approved organisations, mine via a local cement works. By the time The Aeroplane Spotter emerged, official material had improved. Air Publication 1480, and the wartime official Recognition Journal, became nearly as good as the

grown to encompass a large number of observation posts country-wide, and in April 1941 received Royal assent, henceforth being known as the Royal Observer Corps. The club was renamed to suit. The Aeroplane Spotter’s success inspired the Ministry of Aircraft Production to produce its own monthly journal aimed

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Two of ‘Chris’ Wren’s classic wartime ‘Oddentifications’ — the very first, the Hampden, and a later depiction of a Bf 109G.

Spotter but without the superlative text that marked it out. The Aeroplane Spotter’s front page ambiguously proclaimed, ‘For the Alert’. Formation bombing raids being impossible in winter, the enemy turned to cloud-cover, lone ‘Pirat’ attacks on factories, ports and airfields. Industry introduced raid spotters who sounded a klaxon when they spotted a raider, allowing workers to instantly seek cover. Standard raid warnings were too slow. In late 1940, the National Association of Spotters’ Clubs formed, bringing together raid spotters and promoting aircraft recognition within an esprit de corps. Monthly meetings were often in factory canteens. The Aeroplane Spotter carried a page of NASC news enlivened by a Wren cartoon. Factory spotters, ATC/OTC cadets, civil defence folk competed in quizzes. A speaker usually added entertainment. I joined SC 145, which met at Chivers’ jam factory in Histon, Cambridge. There was never a jam sandwich on offer, but memorably very strong tea — without sugar!

at all three of the armed services. Masefield was poached from Temple Press to start and run this periodical, which was called Aircraft Recognition. His last edition of The Aeroplane Spotter appeared on 3 June 1943. From then on, the Spotter was continued by the staff of The Aeroplane without a titular editor.

The Spotter’s paper quality and half-tones steadily improved. Correspondence appeared, and names of able writers we were to know well. Accuracy remained high. When hostilities ceased, the obvious question arose: would it survive without advertisements? Would there be a need for the Spotter? Ensuring that came the much-revered A. J. Jackson, doyen civilian aircraft enthusiast and photographer since the mid-1930s. Latest additions to the British civil aircraft register appeared, while John D. R. Rawlings contributed a new feature, RAF squadron histories. Aircraft cutaways remained, show reports flowed — all to very high standards, but post-war, competing smart magazines for enthusiasts emerged. Change, rather than ending, came in summer 1948 and the Spotter was no more. In Reading, John S. Webb and Charles Cain attracted its readers by launching Air-Britain which, to this day, maintains the high standards of aviation recording that so enriched The Aeroplane Spotter.

Michael J. F. Bowyer

Charles W. Cain had been a Spotter staff member from the start until his call-up and subsequent discharge. Now he was given the opportunity to take over as editor. Cain was to prove a valued leader of the team from his first issue on 13 December 1945, right through to the very last which was volume IX, number 217 dated 10 June 1948.

By the time of that final edition, the content had become mainly civil aircraft-orientated. It had continued beyond the cessation of hostilities by popular demand. Now it included details of new civil registrations. The last issue — enlarged to 16 pages — contained a thoughtful resume of all that had gone before in the Spotter.

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Reviews

REVIEWS RATING ★★★★★ Outstanding ★★★★★ Excellent ★★★★★ Good ★★★★★ Flawed ★★★★★ Mediocre Enough said

The latest books for the discerning aviation enthusiast Return to the Skies: G-AVDF — the Beagle Pup Prototype

an emotional event for the small team behind this Pup’s resurrection. That tale was told in our by Anne Hughes and March 2021 issue. Now, as the Andy Amor aircraft prepares to be seen in published by Anne Hughes and public once again, the full story Andy Amor is available in book form — and The return to flight of Beagle the result is a delight. The text B121 Pup prototype G-AVDF has runs through from the Pup’s been one of the most delightful gestation as a type to the end stories in aircraft preservation of G-AVDF’s post-restoration BOOK e h t of late. Rare indeed are the fl ight test programme, quoting f o H occasions when a first prototype T extensively from flight test reports, N O M internal correspondence and other of any aeroplane survives; more relevant documents. Especially seldom still do they take to the air again for the enjoyment of future notable is an extract from a letter to generations. After a long and painstaking Beagle boss Peter Masefield from former restoration, featuring its inevitable share of Auster test pilot Ranald Porteous, saying, “I challenges, G-AVDF flew on 19 May 2020 feel that many of us, including myself, are for the first time since 1969, this taking fascinated and attracted by the idea of the place just after restrictions on private flying machine itself and possibly our judgment during the initial wave of the COVID-19 of its real commercial value, including its pandemic had been lifted. Not least given overall effect on the Beagle image may be those exceptional circumstances, it was slightly rose-tinted”. Talk about prophetic.

Airframe & Miniature No 12: The Supermarine Spitfire Part 1 (Merlin-powered) by Richard A. Franks published by Valiant Wings Publishing In this second ‘expanded and updated’ edition, the Merlinpowered variants of Supermarine’s ubiquitous Spitfire (and Seafire) are the subject of close examination. The Airframe & Miniature series has established a reputation for the thoroughness of treatment accorded its subjects, with the modeller kept in mind at all stages. In what are classed as the ‘Airframe Chapters’ there’s plenty of information on the aircraft itself, its evolution and the 40-odd foreign air arms with which it served, along with representative colour profiles. It is good to see that the prototype K5054 and the ‘Speed Spitfire’ K9834, both very much part of the

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

Spitfire story, are given the attention they deserve. In the ‘Miniature Chapters’, which take up almost exactly half the page count, this volume really gets into his stride, starting with 27 pages of glorious 3D isometric drawings by Wojciech Sankowski highlighting every point of difference between the numerous Spitfire and Seafire variants. These are followed by a plethora of ‘walk-around’ detail photos and technical illustrations. For the modeller, there are Spitfire kit reviews plus listings of available kits, decals and aftermarket accessories. An attractive package at a reasonable (in 2021 terms) price. Denis J. Calvert ISBN 978-1-912932-14-6; 11.7 x 8.3in softback; 272 pages, illustrated; £24.95

★★★

De C-47B Dakota bij de Belgische Luchtmacht by Serge Verbeeck published by Serge Verbeeck Apart from being able to state unequivocally that the subject matter here is the C-47B

There’s further interest to be found in discussion of unbuilt variants, such as the Turbine Pup, and a powered glider derivative with a Pup fuselage mated to Slingsby T53 wings. Photographic coverage of every stage is copious, too. Beagle company images, many of them in colour, that haven’t seen the light of day for many years are a particular highlight. What’s more, despite this being a small-print run affair, the photo reproduction is generally first-class, far better than one would expect from many big-name publishers. Coupled with its being printed on good-quality paper, and the insightful, detailed and readable text, you have an excellent package. Highly recommended. Ben Dunnell No ISBN; 11.6 x 8.25in softback; 96 pages, illustrated; £14.99 from gavdfbook@gmail. com or via Vintage Aircraft Club website, Beagle Pup Prototype Club Facebook page or Light Aircraft Association shop

★★★★ Dakota fleet used by the Belgian Air Force, I am unable to comment on the quality of the main text as this is totally written in Flemish. The same goes for the photo captions. The Belgian Air Force operated 41 Dakotas, these being allocated serials K-1 to K-41. These were either ex-USAAF or ex-RAF aircraft, and served from the immediate post-war period through to their final replacement in 1976. The first 230 pages detail the fleet and its activities year-by-year, and offer numerous images. Then something strange happens. The next section gives the detailed history of each of the 41 airframes, presumably taken from the equivalent of the RAF aircraft movement cards. But here the text is all in English — for instance, an entry for K-3 reads, “1946 To S.A.L. Prestwick for overhaul” and one for K-1, “1979 In use as a pig-sty”. This is a large, well-produced hardback with a laminated cover, many black-

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Reviews and-white and colour photos and a good standard of reproduction. One feels also that it is a labour of love, and in many ways reminiscent of an Air-Britain title — which, let’s face it, is quite some recommendation. DJC ISBN 978-90-5868-236-9; 12.0 x 8.5in hardback; 324 pages, illustrated; £39.99 from www.aviation-bookshop.com plus £8.00 P&P to UK addresses

★★★★ Norman Conquest by Vic Norman published by Porter Press Every month brings a fresh crop of aviation biographies/ autobiographies, some inducing a reaction of pleasure, others less so. Maybe the glut of post-war RAF fast jet pilot memoirs, often quite similar in style and content, has led to a sense of ennui. Well, here’s something different. I have long hoped to see more books on, or by, leading figures from the historic aircraft, preservation and airshow scenes. Vic Norman’s new tome bridges all three, and a good deal more. The impresario of so many British air display acts, especially the Boeing Stearman Kaydet-mounted wingwalking team that’s been around since 1987, Vic has spent much of his life around interesting machines and people, ever since his wealthy businessman father — who encountered many famous faces of the day — introduced him to cars, motorsport and flying, the latter through a succession of private aircraft including a Miles Marathon he used as a travelling jukebox showroom. From there, Vic’s own progression was a natural one, if very much done in his own way. His stories of his early aerobatic flying, and of finding sponsors for his endeavours, are highly entertaining. Beyond that, what sets Norman Conquest apart from so many other aviation memoirs is the quality of its presentation. The larger format allows the most to be made of the image selection, yet the amount of text means this is no (cliché alert) coffee-table volume. And those images are superbly reproduced — no tolerance of small, lowresolution scans here. The odd error could have been picked up by a more aviationminded sub-editor, but this is still a most engaging read. BD ISBN 978-1-913089-24-5; 12 x 10in hardback; 272 pages, illustrated; £45.00

★★★★

122 www.Key.Aero

Charmy Down by Howard Burton published by Thunderbolt Books Charmy Down is a village with a one-time airfield three miles northeast of Bath. RAF Charmy Down was constructed between 1938 and 1940, initially with grass runways. Its first occupants were Hurricane and Defiant night fighters, with the twin-engined Whirlwinds of No 263 Squadron moving in at the start of August 1941. The wartime exploits of these squadrons are related in suitable detail, while a chapter is given over to the Luftwaffe ‘Bath Blitz’ of April 1942 in which 400 persons were killed and 20,000 buildings in the city destroyed or damaged. Post-war, the airfield fell out of use, although many of its buildings were used for temporary housing for displaced families. Burton relates well the intertwined wartime stories of the airfield, the village, its inhabitants and service personnel. He continues with the airfield’s Cold War use in the 1950s as an air defence radar station, part of the (ultimately unsuccessful) national network of ROTOR sites. This volume is nicely produced and well-illustrated. All the author’s proceeds will be donated to the Bath-based charity Julian House which supports vulnerable people. DJC ISBN 978-1-912038-26-8; 9.6 x 6.9in softback; 56 pages, illustrated; £11.95 from www.titfield.co.uk

★★★ The Comet Racers Uncovered by Guy Inchbald published by steelpillow (sic) in association with Lulu.com Despite having been built over 85 years ago and with a total production run of just five, the DH88 Comet continues to fascinate and to provide a topic for lively discussion. This volume brings together much new information on the Comet racer from sources many and varied, although the author modestly suggests that it should be considered as a supplement or update to what is generally seen to be the ‘standard’ work on the type, David Ogilvy’s DH88: de Havilland’s Racing Comets (Airlife, 1988).

Along with accounts of the three MacRobertson race aircraft — G-ACSP Black Magic, G-ACSR, later Reine Astrid, and G-ACSS Grosvenor House — there is also coverage of the less well-known F-ANPZ (scrapped in France, 1940) and G-ADEF (crashed in Sudan, 1935) as well as of more recent full-scale replicas, film props and a 7/8-scale model that hung for many years in a shopping centre at Hatfield. Reference is tantalisingly made to possible military Comet derivatives for high-speed reconnaissance and even fighter roles (the ‘MacRobertson interceptor’), while there is intrigue in an exchange of letters when the Mollisons were attempting in 1936 to repurchase a Comet to attempt further long-distance flights. This is a print-on-demand publication, but its layout is up with the best and photo reproduction is decent. Like the Comet, it is a class act. DJC ISBN 978-1-716-09542-9; 11.0 x 8.5in softback; 48 pages, illustrated; £17.50

★★★★

Ronny Bar Profiles: British Two-Seaters of the Great War by Ronny Bar published by Tempest Books Ronny Bar is an artist whose work has appeared in various World War One publications and who has supplied artwork for the topof-the-range Wingnut Wings plastic model kits. Between the laminated covers of this hardback is a collection of his colour profiles of British-designed and built two-seat aeroplanes from the Great War. Not, as Bar notes, every type of two-seater, but those he considers “the most important and iconic”. The next 123 pages are given over to the colour profiles themselves, presented typically two-to-a-page, beautifully executed and printed to a commensurate standard. Captions supply the basic ‘what, where and when’ information but not a lot more. Other than that, there’s precious little text on which a reviewer could comment. The fact that most aeroplanes featured are allocated just one profile, left-hand or right-hand side, would seem likely to limit this title’s appeal to modellers. There are a few exceptions, though, including FE2b 6341, a No 25 Squadron machine, which is accorded four views across a two-page spread. This volume is a pleasure to leaf through and really deserves to sell, but I’m unclear as to its intended readership. DJC ISBN 978-1-911658346; 8.5 x 11.9in softback; 134 pages, illustrated; £27.50

★★★

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MAY

Splendid handling of Plane Sailing’s Catalina was evident in the display by Paul Warren Wilson. ANDREW CRITCHELL

John Romain on glorious form in the ARC Buchón. BEN DUNNELL

Two weeks and a day before the shuttered museums and galleries of England were at last allowed to open the floodgates and unleash the pent-up demand of a nation, the most expansive, vivid showcase for historical artefacts in the known universe — the Bedfordshire skies above Old Warden — beckoned like never before for the Shuttleworth Collection’s Season Premiere. That long-yearned-for fix of history, design, engineering and a Swiss Garden, in a medium more enticing than that served up in the twodimensional world of screens, books and, last but not least, magazines, saw the still COVIDsecure Drive-in event sell out in record time,

and the notoriously fickle weather gods of May even trod softly on our eight months of dreaming, with just a couple of showers during the display. Unfortunate to be airborne during the heaviest rain was show debutant James Brown, the owner of Hurricane R4118, here flying his 1942-vintage Harvard IIb FE511 like a veteran. The initial post-refurbishment outing by Shuttleworth’s Bristol F2B Fighter D8096, looking better than ever in its No 22 Squadron markings, was a big highlight, as was Plane Sailing’s PBY-5A Catalina, company co-founder Paul Warren Wilson making a rare display appearance in the

left-hand seat for what was probably the most scintillating demonstration by a ‘Cat’ in the UK since its first PBY was brought across back in 1985. Closing the show was John Romain, providing his now customary ‘you could hear a pin drop’ moment in the Aircraft Restoration Company’s HA-1112 Buchón. Apart from the new JG 27 desert colours, it felt as if famed Spanish test pilot Comandante Pedro Santa Cruz Barceló — who led the Buchóns at Duxford in the airfield attack sequence for the Battle of Britain film — was back in the UK, for a less plaintive, dramatically more visceral step back in time. Tony Harmsworth

Shuttleworth Spies and Intrigue Evening Air Show

Shuttleworth gets little more atmospheric than this: a duo of Lysanders, the collection’s own and the ARC’s, against a darkening cloudscape. HUW HOPKINS

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Test Match Special on Radio 4, and Shuttleworth airshows: two of the imperishable cornerstones of the British summer. Both overcame the odds to provide quality, COVID-complaint entertainment during 2020. But what else do they have in common? Time for John Romain to step up again. During the 2020 England test series against Pakistan, John was interviewed on the programme regarding his NHS charity Spitfire flights by the BBC cricket correspondent, Jonathan Agnew. And during the morning of the Spies and Intrigue show, there he was again, someone who clearly loves flying at Old Warden appearing out of the clag and drizzle in the ARC’s Lysander, V9312. The machine was making its debut with the newly

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

A fine 16-ship of Chipmunks was a tribute to professional flying and planning in tricky conditions. BEN DUNNELL

IWM Duxford Flying Day ‘Standing 22 Together’ MAY

Chipmunk 75th Anniversary Fly-in Given the weather around the country, and the fact there’s still a pandemic on, the eventual attendance of 34 DHC-1 Chipmunks at Old Warden for this celebratory bash was very commendable indeed. Seventy-five years to the day after the type’s first flight at Downsview, Toronto, the gathering’s key elements were present and correct, not least some distinguished guests. It was DH test pilot Pat Fillingham who took the first prototype into the air on 22 May 1946; three-quarters of a century later, his widow Sonja was on hand to provide the most direct link with the historic event. Oldest airworthy survivor G-AKDN, flown down from Teesside by owner Ken Large, offered another connection as the machine Mr and Mrs Fillingham flew to victory in the 1953 King’s Cup. The attendance of both Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Chipmunks, WG486 and WK518 — not seen together

MAY

at a public event for, if memory serves, 14 years — allowed former RAF Gatow station commander, and Aeroplane contributor, Air Cdre Phil Wilkinson to be reunited with ’486, one of the West Berlin base’s clandestine charges during his time there. And a group of Exercise ‘Northern Venture’ air and groundcrew members, headed by pilot Sqn Ldr Tony Cowan, brought recollections of the RAF’s marvellous round-the-world flight from 1997. While various circumstances reduced overall attendance, there was still one overseas visitor, Tony de Bruyn bringing his ex-Army Air Corps machine WG321/G-DHCC over from Wevelgem, Belgium, for the occasion. Tony formed part of a very well-executed 16-ship flypast, planned and led by highly seasoned Chipmunk instructor Robert Miller, which benefited from a glorious break in the cloud amidst passing showers. Ben Dunnell

MAY fitted, undercarriage spat-mounted winglets, which have been constructed by four-decadelong ARC stalwart John ‘Smudge’ Smith. Bomb racks are mounted on the winglets, and ‘Smudge’ is now making replica bombs to hang from them. After landing, V9312 was parked next to Shuttleworth’s own Lysander in the static display ‘paddock’ in front of the Old Warden airfield restaurant, a welcome innovation over the past couple of years. Fitting in well with the spying theme was the resident Wallis WA-116 Little Nellie, as flown by designer/ builder Ken Wallis — standing in for Sean Connery — in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. Other visitors included the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Chipmunk WG486, operated from RAF Gatow, Berlin during the

AEROPLANE JULY 2021

1980s for the British Commanders’-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS), and an Auster trio comprising Richard Ellingworth’s MkIV, Kevin Hale’s AOP6 and Mark Miller in his 5J1 Autocrat. Two very heavy showers disrupted the show, and following a formation pass alongside the Shuttleworth Lysander, John Romain had just begun his solo routine when he had to clear to allow the Spitfire V and Gladiator to land before the rapidly approaching cloud could deposit its contents on all and sundry. Proceedings closed with the Avro Triplane and Bristol Boxkite, the latter alighting in near-darkness just before nine o’clock at the end of a resolute, highly enjoyable but damp evening of flying. Tony Harmsworth

Taking place on the same day that Britain’s Eurovision entry scored ‘nul points’, IWM Duxford’s first aerial event of the season had an altogether more satisfying outcome. This Flying Day — one of nine planned for 2020 — had its attendance limited to 2,000 and featured predominantly Duxfordbased aircraft. The weather did the event no favours, and as a result conflicting information as to the start time of the flying continued through the morning, but start it did at 13.30. First up were Clive Denney’s L-4J Cub Miss Norah and Dave Harvey in the Historic Aircraft Collection’s Hurricane XII, followed by Paul Freeland’s SIAI-Marchetti SF260 G-RAZI, which showed great agility despite its 55 years. Plane Sailing’s Catalina, the only multi-engined type in the air, flew a polished routine in the hands of Derek Head. The Fighter Collection put up Spitfire LFVb EP120, piloted by Dave Southwood, and its FG-1D Corsair, Brian Smith at the helm, for the operator’s first display since 2019. The final item was a two-ship of the IWM’s own Spitfire Ia, N3200, and the HAC Hurricane, with the duo in tight formation for several passes. The Hurricane then landed, leaving John Romain to close the show with an evocative solo in N3200 in the best traditions of Duxford. Denis J. Calvert

TFC’s Corsair and Spitfire back in display action. DENIS J. CALVERT

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An overhead view of the main aircraft park, with a Douglas R4D and Beech SNB-5 of the Hendonbased US Navy fleet aircraft service squadron FASRON 200 beyond. ALL PHOTOS AEROPLANE

50 YEARS OF FLYING Years after its RAF Display heyday, Hendon had one more great aeronautical pageant to stage WORDS: BEN DUNNELL

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feeling that Britain was, somehow, no longer Great; a nostalgia-based rallying cry to change all that. Sounds like the Daily Express. The sponsor of this one-off event at Hendon, marking the half-century of what became the Royal Aero Club, made its position very clear. Writing in the official programme, its air correspondent, wartime fighter pilot Gp Capt Hugh ‘Cocky’ Dundas, said 1951 was “a year of crisis”, for, he opined, “We have

slipped from the pinnacle of air power.” Underlining this alleged decline, Dundas thundered, “For four or five years after the war we relaxed. We let our aircraft and engine factories lie semi-idle. We saw the RAF dwindle to a nucleus”. Just the merest hint of hyperbole there. The blame he laid with the government, specifically — yes, you’ve guessed it — Clement Attlee’s Labour government, for not issuing the industry with sufficient orders. But Dundas

and his paper saw a way out of the supposed malaise. “The Daily Express believes that this exhibition and display, with its proud panorama of glories past and its bright promise of things to come, will help the renaissance of Britain’s air might.” It was a proud and unlikely claim, but it was a good show. Was Dundas right to predict “a panorama of flying, in all its forms and developments, such as has never before been seen”?

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According to the evidence, yes, pretty much. The modern end was somewhat lacking, though hardly because such aircraft were unavailable. But the array of historic aeroplanes could not fail to delight. A panorama they presented indeed. For the most part the oldtimers stayed on the ground. But a selection of the oldest, courtesy the Shuttleworth Trust, provided the greatest joy through their aerial evolutions — and never more so than on the Thursday and Friday of the 19-21 July event, when they performed in the still evening air, much to The Aeroplane’s pleasure. While the Blériot XI, with Lt ‘Jock’ Elliott up, made a “long, trans-aerodrome flight”, Wg Cdr Thomas Calnan had less luck with the Deperdussin. When it did get going, as part of the

“

The array of historic aeroplanes could not fail to delight

”

Saturday display, “after a little while the tail skid decided that it preferred the feel of terra firma, and the remainder of the flight was made with that member keeping contact and the main wheels remaining gallantly in the air about 9 ins or so off the grass”. By contrast, having reached “a relatively immense altitude”, Sqn Ldr Banner in the Blackburn Type D showed “what an excellent aeroplane [it] was, and still is.” Wg Cdr ‘Dicky’ Martin’s handling of the Sopwith Pup “brought many an incredulous comment from those who had not seen it flown or demonstrated before, and which never fails to impress those who have”. His “really stalled stall turns and perfect loops” are, of course, off the menu today. ‘Bill’ Pegg followed in the Bristol F2B, described in The Aeroplane’s report as “recently rescuscitated”, meaning those sources saying it re-flew in 1952 are mistaken.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Based on The Aeroplane’s period listing of all participants in the Daily Express 50 Years of Flying show, and the event programme, the following table details what’s happened to the array of aircraft on ground display. As per the original magazine, they are listed in chronological order for when the types first appeared. If any readers can update the aircraft fates, please do let us know. Aircraft, registration/serial

Owner/operator, 1951

Owner/operator 2021 or fate

Blériot XI

Shuttleworth Collection

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection (as G-AANG)

Deperdussin

Shuttleworth Collection

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection (as G-AANH)

Blériot XXVII

Nash Collection

On display, RAF Museum London

Blackburn Type D

Shuttleworth Collection

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection (as G-AANI)

Caudron G.III OO-ELA

Nash Collection

On display, RAF Museum London

Maurice Farman F40

Nash Collection

Under restoration, The Vintage Aviator, New Zealand

Sopwith Pup ‘N5180’/G-EBKY

Shuttleworth Collection

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection

Sopwith Triplane N5912

Science Museum

On display, RAF Museum London

Sopwith F1 Camel ‘H508’

Nash Collection

On display, RAF Museum London (as F6314)

Bristol F2B Fighter D8096/G-AEPH

Shuttleworth Collection

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection

RAF SE5a ‘B4563’

Nash Collection

On display, RAF Museum London (as F938)

Avro 504K H2311

Nash Collection

On display, Science and Industry Museum, Manchester (loan from RAFM)

Hawker Cygnet G-EBMB

Hawker Aircraft

On display, RAF Museum Cosford

de Havilland DH60 Moth G-EBLV

de Havilland Aircraft

Airworthy, BAE Systems (permit to fly expired)

Westland-Hill Pterodactyl Ia J8067

Science Museum

On display, Science Museum

de Havilland DH60X Moth G-EBWD

Shuttleworth Collection

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection

de Havilland DH60G Moth G-ABYA

M. C. Harley

Airworthy, Melissa Luck (C of A expired)

Hawker Tomtit G-AFTA

Hawker Aircraft

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection

Parnall Elf G-AAIN

Shuttleworth Collection

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection

Heath Parasol G-AFZE

D. C. Armstrong

Under restoration, Colin Essex

Handley Page Gugnunc G-AACN

Science Museum

On display, Science Museum

Hawker Hart II G-ABMR

Hawker Aircraft

On display, RAF Museum London

de Havilland DH80A Puss Moth G-AAZP F. Bingham

Airworthy, Tim Williams

Comper Swift G-ABUS

A. Cole

Stored, R. C. F. Bailey

Spartan Arrow G-ABWP

Shuttleworth Collection

Airworthy, Richard Blain

Desoutter I G-AAPZ

Shuttleworth Collection

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection

Robinson Redwing II G-ABNX

College of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineering

Under restoration, Michael Souch

Avro Avian IVM G-ABEE

Ron Gillman

Under restoration, Paul Wheeler, Australia

de Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth G-ALIX

de Havilland Aircraft

Crashed 1958 (as PH-NGO)

Blackburn B-2 G-AEBJ

Blackburn Aircraft

Airworthy, BAE Systems (permit to fly expired)

de Havilland DH85 Leopard Moth G-ACMA

de Havilland Aircraft

Airworthy, Clifford Hawkins

de Havilland DH89A Dragon Rapide G-AHRH

Gloster Aircraft

Presumed scrapped, Algeria

Miles Hawk Major G-ADMW

A. E. H. Coltman

Under restoration, Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre

Percival Gull Six G-ADPR

Percival Aircraft

On display, Auckland Airport, New Zealand

Percival Vega Gull G-AHET

Essex Aero

Crashed 1960

Miles Hawk Speed Six G-ADGP

Ron Paine

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden

de Havilland DH87B Hornet Moth G-ADKC

P. Q. Reiss

Airworthy, Christopher and Susan Winch

de Havilland DH90A Dragonfly G-AEWZ

G. J. Powell

Crashed 1961

Kronfeld Drone de Luxe G-AEKV

John Fricker

On display, Gliding Heritage Centre, Lasham (loan from Brooklands Museum)

Mignet HM14 Pou-du-Ciel G-AEHM

Science Museum

On display, M Shed, Bristol (loan from Science Museum)

Miles Whitney Straight G-AEUJ

A. N. Spriggs

Stored, Bob Mitchell

Dart Kitten II G-AEXT

W. G. A. Harrison

Airworthy, Real Aeroplane Company

Aeronca 100 G-AEVS

Bev Snook

Airworthy, Real Aeroplane Company

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Aircraft, registration/serial

Owner/operator, 1951

Owner/operator 2021 or fate

Miles Hawk Trainer III G-ALGJ

W. L. Foster

Crashed 1952

Percival Q6 G-AFFD

Yorkshire Aeroplane Club Under restoration, Finest Hour

BA Swallow II G-AFHS

J. Heath

Crashed 1960

GAL Cygnet G-AFVR

D. F. Gunton

Crashed 1969

Percival Mew Gull G-AEXF

Hugh Scrope

Airworthy, Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden

Miles Monarch G-AFJU

A. R. Pilgrim

Under restoration, Peter Bishop

Tipsy Trainer 1 G-AISC

Fairey Aviation

Stored, David Shepherd

Taylorcraft Plus D G-AHXE

R. A. McMurtrie

Airworthy, Historic Army Aircraft Flight

Fairey Swordfish II LS326/G-AJVH

Fairey Aviation

Awaiting return to flight, Navy Wings

de Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth DE164

Air Ministry

Airworthy, Dansk Veteranflysamling, Denmark (as OY-ECH)

Hawker Hurricane IIc ‘P2619’/ G-AMAU

Hawker Aircraft

Airworthy, RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (as PZ865)

Airspeed Oxford II EB805

Air Ministry

Presumed scrapped

Supermarine Spitfire Vb G-AISU

Allen Wheeler

Airworthy, RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (as AB910)

Vickers Wellington X NC892

Air Ministry

Presumed scrapped

Fairey Fulmar II G-AIBE

Fairey Aviation

On display, Fleet Air Arm Museum

de Havilland Mosquito TIII VT592

Air Ministry

Presumed scrapped, Yugoslavia

Avro Lancaster I TW655

Air Ministry

Presumed scrapped, Morocco

Airspeed Horsa II RZ155

War Office

Presumed scrapped

Hawker Tempest TTV NV699

Air Ministry

Presumed scrapped

Percival Proctor IV NP307

Air Ministry

Scrapped 1957

Gloster Meteor F4 RA476

Air Ministry

Scrapped

Avro Anson C19 VP538

Air Ministry

Presumed scrapped

Auster V TW449

War Office

Presumed scrapped

Auster AOP6 TW584

War Office

Presumed scrapped

Auster T7 WE600

Air Ministry

On display, RAF Museum Cosford

Miles Aerovan 6 G-AKHF

F. G. Miles

Presumed scrapped

Miles Mercury 4 G-AGVX

D. C. Maxwell

Presumed scrapped

Miles Messenger 4A G-ALBE

E. W. Westbrook

Scrapped 1965

Auster J/1 Autocrat G-AJIZ

Auster Aircraft

Crashed 1953

Miles Gemini 1A G-AFLT

Flight

Crashed 1954

de Havilland DH104 Dove G-ALBM

de Havilland Aircraft

Scrapped 1974

Avro XIX Anson G-AGPG

A. V. Roe

Under restoration, Hooton Park Trust (cockpit)

de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk G-AJVD

de Havilland Aircraft

Crashed 1966

de Havilland Vampire FB5 VV695

Air Ministry

Scrapped

Percival Proctor V G-AHGL

E. S. Davis

Crashed 1960

Short Sealand G-AKLN

Short Brothers

Scrapped

Auster J5B Autocar G-AJYO

Auster Aircraft

Crashed 1976

Miles Aries G-35-1

F. G. Miles

Scrapped 1970

Royal Navy exhibit Supermarine Sea Otter JN180

Presumed scrapped

Fairey Barracuda III RJ796

750 Squadron

Presumed scrapped

Blackburn Firebrand V EK770

738 Squadron

Presumed scrapped

Supermarine Seafire XVII SP349

1831 Squadron

Presumed scrapped

de Havilland Sea Hornet FR20 WE241

Scrapped 1957

Hawker Sea Fury T20 VZ353

Crashed 1962 (as D-CABU)

Fairey Firefly AS6 WD881

Scrapped 1957

Rotorcraft park Hafner R2

Raoul Hafner

On display, The Helicopter Museum

Cierva C24 G-ABLM

Science Museum

On display, de Havilland Aircraft Museum (loan from Science Museum)

Weir W-2

Science Museum

On display, National Museum of Flight, East Fortune

Cierva C30A G-ACUU

A. J. Barnes

On display, IWM Duxford (as HM580)

Sikorsky Hoverfly I KK999

Ministry of Supply

Presumed scrapped

Focke-Achgelis Fa 330A-1 Werknummer 60133

Cranfield College of Aeronautics

On display, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, USA

Westland WS51 G-ALIK

Westland

Crashed 1968

Bristol Sycamore III G-ALSX

Bristol Aeroplane Co

On display, The Helicopter Museum

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Its performance “had a stately dignity” compared with the “spritely gambollings of the Pup”, but Pegg still barrel-rolled and looped the ‘Brisfit’, “lovely music coming from its multiplicity of wires”. Far-off days indeed. Then the flying jumped forward in time to a rotary-wing segment. The veteran Cierva C30A G-ACUU presaged a duet of contemporary Bristol 171 and Sikorsky S-51, these taking advantage of the unusual site layout to perform before the different enclosures “in turn”, prior to demonstrations of casualty evacuation and autorotation. “Motorless flight having become the order of the day”, The Aeroplane went on, “the helicopters gave way to the sailplanes and gliders”, a Dagling, Prefect, Olympia and Krajánek providing their various stylings. On Saturday only, the armed services showed something of their paces, especially the

“

Some static exhibits were readied specially to appear

”

Fleet Air Arm. It contributed a singleton Attacker, from the Fighter Development Unit at West Raynham, and 802 Squadron’s team of four Sea Fury FB11s, none other than unit CO Lt Cdr Eric Brown in the lead. “Their flying”, raved The Aeroplane’s correspondent, “was all that one has come to expect of the Navy and was precise in the extreme”. Not to be outdone, an RAF Vampire FB5 trio from No 72 Squadron “put on a really wonderful show of formation aerobatics”. And that — bar Thursday’s surprise airborne appearance from the prototype Blackburn Universal Freighter — was it. Not the most extensive flying programme, but a case of quality over quantity. Even by 1951, with ever more housing in its environs, Hendon had become less than suitable for such activity. As The Aeroplane put it, “a large amount of flying was impracticable for several

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The Aeroplane dubbed the selection of World War One types “one of the best collections of RFC fighting craft seen for many years”. Here the Shuttleworth Collection Pup heads the Nash Collection’s Triplane, Camel, SE5a and 504K.

Bristol test pilot ‘Bill’ Pegg parades F2B D8096 on one of its first post-restoration outings. It was photographed from one of the two public enclosures, with another visible in the background — hardly an arrangement that would find favour with the authorities today.

Taken from the Bristol Sycamore, used by The Aeroplane as a camera platform, the veterans’ park contained many an airframe still familiar to the Shuttleworthgoer today.

Lt Cdr Eric Brown, in VW566, leads the 802 Squadron four-ship Sea Fury FB11 team. Soon after the Hendon show, ‘Winkle’ was posted to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on exchange to the US Naval Air Test Center.

reasons”. Hopefully the audience understood. The static exhibits provided compensation, Such was the occasion that some were readied specially to appear; the Nash collection’s Maurice Farman and Caudron G.III, the College of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineering’s Robinson Redwing G-ABNX and Shuttleworth’s

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Spartan Arrow G-ABWP, hadn’t been seen since before the war. Yet there were criticisms. The Aeroplane bemoaned “the absence of a representative collection of World War II types”, the only machine in wartime colours being Hawker’s own Hurricane G-AMAU, then unfamiliar in the camouflage and No 56 Squadron codes

applied for the making of Angels One Five — still being referred to under the working title Hawks in the Sun. Other machines from the 1939-45 era “were without exception in post-War markings”, or, indeed, civil colours, like Spitfire Vb G-AISU. If there’s an aspect of this Hendon one-off that strikes the contemporary observer, it’s not

how it aided “the renaissance of Britain’s air might”. Rather, it’s the way it seems to mark a symbolic starting-point for the preservation movement we know seven decades on. Look at how many of the aircraft present still survive — indeed, still fly. It would be possible to mount an excellent re-creation, if not at Hendon.

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