Aeroplane Monthly 2017-01 (525)

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More orr thhaaann a Cenntttuuurry r off Hist stoorry ry in thhee Air

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MOSQUITO The Latest Restoration

EXCLUSIVE REPORT

In the workshop and from the cockpit HISTORY

Nuclear Canberras

Cold War high alert

A Passage to India

Flying Wapitis on the North-West Frontier

‘Bigger than you think!’ Air Anglia airline nostalgia

Father and son fly a Vampire

HAWKER HORSLEY

DATA BASE

A FAMILY AFFAIR

JANUARY 2017 £4.50 01 9 770143 724118

Contents

January 2017

Vol 45, no 1 • Issue no 525

36

42

30 62

100

48 NEWS AND COMMENT 4

FROM THE EDITOR

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NEWS • Windfall for RAF Museum • Jet Art Swift moves to Doncaster • Flying Typhoon project unveiled … and the month’s other top aircraft preservation news

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HANGAR TALK Steve Slater’s monthly comment column on the historic aircraft world

REGULARS 17

SKYWRITERS

18

Q&A Your questions asked and answered

78

AIRCREW The many roles played by the crews of the RAF’s versatile Chinook helicopters over the last 35 years

95

EVENTS

97

BOOKS

106 NEXT MONTH

FEATURES 22

WAPITIS OVER INDIA The logbooks of a No 27 Squadron Westland Wapiti pilot, and the unit’s records, provide a shapshot of the biplane’s sterling service on the North-West Frontier

30

CAF HOUSTON WING C-60 Goodtime Gal is the flagship of this Commemorative Air Force unit

36

AIR ANGLIA Fun times — and good business — in the heyday of East Anglia’s very own airline

42

AUSTRALIAN MOSQUITOS The triumphs and tragedies encountered by de Havilland Australia in production of the Mosquito — and the key role of one man

48

MOSQUITO TV959 Avspecs’ superb restoration of the Flying Heritage Collection’s latest warbird — plus, an exclusive ‘from the cockpit’ report

62

AVRO 504K REPLICA Matthew Boddington on completing and flying Eric Verdon-Roe’s

GIVE THE GIFT THAT LASTS ALL YEAR

A subscription to Aeroplane magazine makes a great gift this Christmas. See pages 16 and 17 for details

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

Argentine-built reproduction of the famous trainer 70

AEROPLANE MEETS… ROLF MEUM With more than 1,000 displays to his name, this Norwegian warbird pilot cherishes his years of experience with some of the biggest European historic aircraft operators

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DATABASE: HAWKER HORSLEY Matthew Willis describes the between-the-wars day bomber and torpedoarmed striker

13

IN-DEPTH PAGES

100 RAF GERMANY CANBERRAS Standing nuclear alert — and going on operations out East COVER IMAGE: The Flying Heritage Collection’s Mosquito TIII TV959 during post-restoration test-flying in New Zealand. GAVIN CONROY

ESTABLISHED 1911

Aeroplane traces its lineage back to the weekly The Aeroplane, founded by C. G. Grey in 1911 and published until 1968. It was re-launched as a monthly in 1973 by Richard T. Riding, editor for 25 years until 1998.

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From the

T

E D I TO R

here was undoubtedly something very special about the UK’s warbird scene in the 1980s and into the ’90s. Of course, it’s rarely right to don rose-tinted spectacles, and the variety of types — to say nothing of the sheer number of aircraft — was nothing like we enjoy today. But it was an especially memorable time, and on both sides of the fence. We enthusiasts were able to see aeroplanes that may be familiar to us now, but had not then flown on British shores for many years. Corsairs, P-40s, Grumman ‘Cats’ and their ilk were rare beasts indeed. And, my word, was that flying memorable. With their unprecedented tailchases and big formations, events like the North Weald Fighter Meet, the Great Warbirds Air Display and Duxford’s Classic Fighter shows blazed an exciting trail. It was a great time for the pilots, too. That hit home again while talking to Rolf Meum for this month’s ‘Aeroplane meets…’ feature (see pages 7077). “One summer I did 75 hours on Spitfires”, the Norwegian — who flew most often for the Old Flying Machine Company — told me. “We had such high currency at the OFMC. There was one day when I flew five different types: I started by air-testing the Fury, then a flight in the Harvard, a display in the MiG, then the Mustang and finishing up in the Hunter”. With fewer warbirds then flying in mainland Europe, and bigger flying display budgets, British-based aircraft were much in international demand too. Some of the most memorable occasions for their pilots were the large-scale deployments far afield, long weekends away full of unique experiences and camaraderie. Of course, the UK’s warbirds still attend plenty of overseas shows, but on nothing like the scale of two decades ago. And things have changed at home. Think of how the US Air Force’s events at British bases used to book large numbers of historic aircraft, at Mildenhall to mark specific themes, at the others to fill out their line-ups. Those occasions are all longgone. So are Great Warbirds, the Fighter Meet, and many other displays we once perhaps took for granted. In that context, the longevity of Flying Legends is something much to applaud. And still new pressures on the industry take their toll. At the British Air Display Association’s post-season

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symposium, the Civil Aviation Authority reported a circa 25 per cent drop in applications for flying display permissions in 2016 compared with recent averages. There are several contributing factors, not least the postShoreham hike in CAA charges. It all adds up to a difficult environment for many aircraft operators engaged primarily in display work. It would clearly be foolish to try and predict how the British warbird and air display scene will look in another 25 years’ time. All the more reason to cherish those recollections of days gone by, and of spectacles that can never be repeated, but which still bring a smile to the face a long time afterwards. More of those memories will be featured in Aeroplane during 2017, along with many other involving and insightful features on all aspects of aviation history and preservation. Thanks for your support — here’s wishing you a very merry Christmas, and a happy new year. Ben Dunnell

New from Key Publishing...

Key Publishing’s first reference book in the new ‘Combat Machines’ series is a detailed 84-page study of the famous B-17G bomber, timed perfectly for the release of Airfix’s new 1/72 kit of the type. Written by Malcolm V. Lowe, the development and history of the B-17G, including its post-war service, are covered in full with rare black-and-white (and colour) photos, more than 30 specially commissioned colour profiles, a two-page cutaway drawing and walk-round images of a restored aircraft. This is a vital research and reference tool for modellers and aviation enthusiasts alike, and seeks to correct erroneous information published in other books. Besides offering useful material about the aircraft itself, ‘Combat Machines — B-17G’ also explores the flight crews, their clothing and Medal of Honor awards, as well as missions flown by the RAF and USAAF’s numbered air forces. It’s available now for just £7.99 from WHSmith, Sainsbury’s and leading newsagents. Alternatively, order your copy from www.keypublishing.com/shop. If you’re a Key magazine subscriber, call 01780 480404 to claim your £1 special discount.

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CONTRIBUTORS THIS MONTH

@HistoryInTheAir

Matthew B O D D I N G TO N

G av i n C O N R OY

G p C a p t To m EELES

D av e PHILLIPS

Matthew took his first flight aged just one year old, on his late father Charles’s lap in an Auster at Sywell. Later, in 1986, he gained his private pilot’s licence on another Auster, and started flying numerous types at airshows. Today he mainly displays the BE2c replica — originally built by his father Charles and uncle David for a film in the late 1960s — that he co-owns with Aeroplane columnist Steve Slater. Matthew is also a licensed aircraft engineer and an inspector for the Light Aircraft Association.

New Zealand-based Gavin has completed more than 400 photo flights all over the world, with a wide range of aircraft from the Sopwith Camel and FE2b through to the Mosquito, Me 262, F/A-18 Hornet and Vulcan. He has now clocked up in excess of 500 hours of flying time, some of that in the WW2 fighters and bombers he had always dreamt of flying in. Gavin is secretary of the Marlborough Warbirds Association and is on the organising committee for the Classic Fighters airshow at Omaka.

Tom joined the RAF in 1960. His first operational tour was on No 16 Squadron, flying the Canberra B(I)8 in the nuclear strike and conventional ground attack role. As part of this tour he spent four months deployed to Malaya during the Indonesian confrontation. Tom spent many years flying the Buccaneer with the Royal Navy and RAF, and was a flying instructor with wide experience. He is a member of the IWM Duxford flying control committee and a liveryman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots.

Dave is one of the best-known names on the aviation scene in New Zealand. He is a former Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot and flew A-4 Skyhawks with No 75 Squadron at Omaka. Moving into the commercial world, he has flown for many years for Cathay Pacific and recently converted onto the new Airbus A350. Dave owns and flew the only airworthy Hawker Hunter in New Zealand, and regularly displays a Tiger Moth. He has test-flown many aircraft including two Mosquitos and the Reid family’s Anson.

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AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

J Mitchell F_P.indd 1

08/11/2016 15:03

News

NEWS EDITOR: TONY HARMSWORTH E-MAIL TO: [email protected] TELEPHONE: +44 (0)7791 808044 WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK

Windfall for RAF Museum m

Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 ‘Black 6’ arrives at the RAF Museum Cosford on 11 November, with Tiger Moth T6296 in the background. RAFM

During his autumn statement on 23 November, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced that the RAF Museum (RAFM) will receive £3 million of LIBOR funds for its 2018 RAF centenary programme. The money will specifically support the development of a new exhibition that will explore the impact of the RAF on world events, society and technology during the past 40 years, and a dedicated learning centre. With major transformations planned for the museum’s

London site, the move of several airframes to RAFM Cosford in Shropshire began on 11 November when Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 Werknummer 10639 ‘Black 6’ made the 130-mile northwesterly road trip from its previous home in the Bomber Command Hall at Hendon. Following on were de Havilland Tiger Moth T6296 and Gloster Gladiator II K8042, to be joined before Christmas by Junkers Ju 88R-1 Werknummer 360043 and the world’s only surviving Boulton Paul Defiant I, N1671, which was built just down the

road from Cosford in Wolverhampton. The new aircraft arrivals will enable the RAF’s story to be more comprehensively represented at the Shropshire site as the RAF centenary approaches: the 109G-2 is now on display in Cosford’s War in the Air hangar alongside Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8/R6 Werknummer 733682, and opposite Spitfire I K9942 and Hurricane IIc LF738. Back at Hendon, the new learning centre will underpin the museum’s science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) programme,

along with hosting both formal and lifelong learning activities in history, literacy, art and design. The RAF centenary programme at the RAFM (see Aeroplane December 2016) is a £23.5-million project. Work is already under way, with a completion date of summer 2018. The £3-million grant — made possible through fines imposed on banks for manipulation of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) — means that the museum is now in the final stretch of fundraising.

Skyhawk flies in Florida At Titusville Airport, close to the eastern coast of Florida, former US Navy pilot Doug Matthews flew his newly completed Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk, BuNo 156925, for the first time in early November. The Skyhawk has gone through

a major upgrade, including a complete cockpit rebuild with Matthews’ company, Classic Fighters of America. The two-seater has been painted in the markings of VF-126, although it originally served with VT-86.

RIGHT: Doug Matthews making his second flight in TA-4J Skyhawk BuNo 156925 on 10 November. ADAM GLOWASKI

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AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

Jet Art Swift goes to Doncaster

Fresh from restoration with Jet Art Aviation at Selby, North Yorkshire, Supermarine Swift F4 WK275 was moved to Robin Hood Airport near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, on 22-23 November. It will go on display in the Vulcan to the Sky hangar alongside Avro Vulcan B2 XH558. The fighter — one of only four complete Swifts surviving — has been meticulously restored over the last four years on behalf of its owner after spending more than three decades displayed in the open at Upper Hill near Leominster, Herefordshire. Jet Art boss Chris Wilson, a former RAF engineering technician who spent two years with the Red Arrows, says: “One of my team described the project as a ‘can of worms’, where you create one job and create four more. I think that’s a fair assessment! We’ve worked on the airframe for the entire time it’s been with us, but with varying degrees of activity. Once the aircraft had been split apart, engine removed and paint stripped, we started the process of finding and repairing corroded and damaged areas. “This is a very rare aircraft, so you can’t find some of the things you need. We had to ‘think outside the box’ to find a replacement canopy. After much searching, one was located from a simulator, which the owner [of WK275] was able to purchase. “The Perspex panels in the windshield all needed replacing, and getting the old ones out was a difficult task. The removed panels were used as moulds for the new Perspex, which was blown for us by an external company.”

Swift F4 WK275 after assembly at Robin Hood Airport on 24 November. The fuselage had only arrived the previous afternoon, the wings being delivered on 22 November. JET ART

The Rolls-Royce Avon has not been put back into the airframe, but will be displayed alongside the fighter. Chris continues: “In the cockpit, we’ve done very little, as it’s a time capsule with the original instruments and controls. We have replaced the ejection seat, as the original was heavily sun-bleached and in a sorry state, with all the canvas webbing rotting away.” The port wingtip, top of the rudder and the ailerons all needed major repairs, and the magnesium alloy nose wheel was beyond saving, but a replacement was sourced. Chris said: “A lot of parts we could not source, so they had to be made.” During November, Dr Robert Pleming, the Vulcan to the Sky

chief executive, announced that the airport authority at Robin Hood has required VTST to move to a smaller hangar, saying: “This will impose financial pressures and the short-term challenge is that the lack of facilities in the smaller Hangar 1 will make it difficult to continue the vital cashgenerating businesses until we have the funds to invest. Adding the costs of physically moving everything from an environment where VTST is well-established means that VTST is cutting its financial commitments by around 30 per cent to put it on to a more sustainable basis for the future. “For the time being, all our available resources will now be

focussed on XH558. As is well known our next objective was to achieve the same success as the Vulcan with the recordbreaking English Electric Canberra B2 WK163. Unfortunately, the aim of returning this remarkable example of British technical and aviation achievement to the skies has so far attracted less support than we had anticipated. As part of the transformation of VTST, we will set up the Canberra Restoration Project as an independent activity with its own fundraising campaign. This means that our ambition to return WK163 to British airshows in time for the RAF centenary celebrations in 2018 may not now be possible.”

Nieuport 17 replica moves to Stow Maries Nieuport 17 replica G-BWMJ was flown from Duxford to Stow Maries near Maldon, Essex, for the Remembrance Day event on 13 November. It has now taken up residence at the beautifully preserved World War One airfield with new owner John Gilbert. The Warner Scarabpowered Nieuport had been owned and operated by TV and film art director Rob

Gauld-Galliers since its first flight in 1997. Built by Rob and the late John Day in Hampshire, the aircraft has been a regular on the show circuit since 1997, and took part in both the feature film ‘Flyboys’ and an episode of the ‘Midsomer Murders’ television series on ITV. It is hoped that ’BWMJ will be included in the regular flying events at Stow Maries during 2017.

RIGHT: A new resident for Stow Maries, Nieuport 17 replica G-BWMJ arrives from Duxford on 13 November. VIA RUTH AGGISS

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

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News SPECIAL REPORT

Typhoon project goes

The Typhoon project laid out in the Boultbee hangar at Goodwood on 29 October, with the rear fuselage of RB396 exhibiting its original paint. TPG

Although it is well-known that the RAF Museum’s Hawker Typhoon Ib MN235 is the only complete example of this legendary fighter-bomber to have survived, over the past 25 years or so it has become increasingly clear that the multitude of components and relics held by various owners in the UK could, if they were ever brought together, form the basis of a second example. On 29 October, at the Boultbee Flight Academy at Goodwood aerodrome, Sussex, many of those salvaged parts — now under the care of the Typhoon Preservation Group (TPG) — were laid out as a kit of parts for the first time at the public launch of the TPG’s project to restore Typhoon Ib RB396 to flying condition. It is hoped that the rebuild will begin during 2017, with a first flight scheduled in time for RB396 to fly from Goodwood to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings on 6 June 2024.

Dangerous Skies opens at Omaka On 1 November, just short of 10 years after the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre’s WW1 Knights of the Sky exhibition was inaugurated,

a new WW2 exhibition hall, Dangerous Skies, opened to the public at Omaka airfield near Blenheim, New Zealand.

Yak-3M replica ZK-VVS with a mannequin representing Lydia Litvyak in the new Dangerous Skies display at Omaka. DAVE DONALD

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Several privately owned airworthy warbirds are on show in realistic diorama settings, including the Chariots of Fire Fighter Collection Spitfire XIVe NH799/ZK-XIV, Bill Reid’s Avro Anson I MH120/ ZK-RRA (the world’s only airworthy MkI variant of the type), Yak-3M replica ZK-VVS owned and operated by the Yak-3 Fighter Syndicate, and former Royal Canadian Air Force Curtiss P-40E AK803, which is on loan to the centre for a year from the Maude family in Victoria, British Columbia (see News, Aeroplane October 2016). The dioramas have been enhanced by the addition of realistic mannequins from New Zealand’s legendary cinematic special effects and props company Weta Workshop. The Yak is displayed next to Lydia Litvyak, ‘the White Rose of

Stalingrad’, the first female fighter ace, who scored 12 kills over a two-year period before being shot down and killed on 1 August 1943 during the Battle of Kursk. The set-piece displays have been designed to allow the airworthy aircraft to be easily removed when required for flying duties. Following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit New Zealand’s South Island on 14 November, the centre was closed for checks by structural engineers, but damage was found to be relatively minor and the building was declared safe within 24 hours. Jane Orphan, the CEO, said: “The cost of the build and fit-out was significantly inflated due to additional earthquake-proofing requirements, and it is only at times like these that you fully appreciate these precautions.”

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

public The three founding trustees of the TPG are Sam Worthington-Leese, a 30-yearold flying instructor and display pilot at Goodwood Aero Club, Jonathan Edwards, a professional draughtsman and CAD engineer, and Dave Robinson, a technology project manager who originally set up the project way back in 1999. It was during that last pre-millennial year that Dave moved to a house in Lichfield only to discover that it was built on the site of a former maintenance unit, No 51 MU, through which almost every RAF Hawker Typhoon passed on its way to a squadron. Dave began researching the type, and the following year acquired a complete firewall with the front section of cockpit still attached. Over the following decade, various parts including cockpit fittings, brackets, elevators, instruments and undercarriage components were sourced, but with an absence of technical knowledge

about the Typhoon there would be little chance of a satisfactory rebuild. Some surviving documentation, manuals, drawings and technical information was gathered, including RAF parts catalogues, details of manufacturing techniques and a copy of the Hawker draughtsman’s manual. It was known that some original Hawker drawings existed in the UK, but permission to view or use them would never be given. Then, in 2010, out-of-theblue contact was made by an individual who claimed to have thousands of drawings on aperture cards that had been rescued from a skip at the Hawker factory in Kingstonupon-Thames. During 2012, a total of 11,500 drawings, of which 2,500 were of the Typhoon, were acquired. Many of these detailed the main spars, cockpit and other areas of the Typhoon airframe. Months were then spent scanning, cataloguing, and getting to understand the nuances of the Hawker technical drawings which, when combined with the other documentation, filled in many of the gaps. Fortunately, just as the task of scanning was reaching its conclusion and a searchable database had been created, the

largest known section of a combat veteran Typhoon became available. On 1 April 1945, Flt Lt Christopher House of No 174 Squadron, part of the Second Tactical Air Force’s No 83 Group, was flying Typhoon Ib RB396 on an offensive sweep from Goch, close to the Dutch-German border. After releasing his salvo of eight rockets, House’s aircraft sustained flak damage, and a forced landing had to be made near the city of Denekamp in eastern Holland. After the war a local chemical company acquired the rear fuselage of RB396, intending to cut one side out and employ it as a chemical wash. Happily, that plan never came to fruition, and the relic remained in a corner of the chemical works until being saved by a group of historians and transported to a museum at Twenthe. Following the closure of that collection, the fuselage section went to the Aerial Warfare Museum at Fort Veldhuis, 15 miles north-west of Amsterdam. When staff there became aware of the TPG’s efforts, the fuselage was made available to the project at a price lower than that offered by other interested parties. Almost 70 years after it left Britain, the

fuselage section arrived back in the UK during early 2013. Sam Worthington-Leese — whose grandfather, Plt Off R. G. Worthington, flew Typhoons from RAF Westhampnett (now Goodwood aerodrome) — says, “It is only the advent of social media that has opened up possibilities like this. It has enabled us all to establish contact, and now that people can see what we are doing, they are more likely to offer assistance.” During May 2015 the project set up a Facebook and then a Twitter page, since when numerous extra parts have been discovered to exist. In May 2016 it was successfully registered as a charity in the UK. The TPG plans to create a Typhoon Heritage Centre and Memorial to help educate the public about the importance of the type, its pilots and groundcrews, and the people who built it. The project is expected to cost between £4-6 million and will be funded by public support, donations and sponsorship. Project membership, merchandise and donation options are all now available online at hawkertyphoon.com.

Air Atlantique Pembroke sold The former Air Atlantique Classic Flight Percival Pembroke C1, XL954/G-BXES, left its long-term home at Coventry on 10 November on a delivery flight to Weston Airport, nine miles west of Dublin, for new owner Christy Keane. Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer G-APRS, which has been

stored at Coventry with its wings off for several years, has also been sold to Keane, along with a second ‘Twin Pin’, G-AZHJ, and another Pembroke, XL929, both of which are stored on a farm at Compton Verney, Warwickshire.

RIGHT: Pembroke C1 XL954/G-BXES makes a farewell flyby at Coventry on 10 November. TIM BADHAM

Rapid return to the air for Swiss Storch

Wearing temporary registration SP-YRX, former Swiss Air Force Storch A-97 is seen on a test flight over south-eastern Poland during early November. STEFAN SCHMOLL

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On 4 November at Krosno airfield in south-eastern Poland, former Swiss Air Force Fieseler Fi 156 Storch A-97 made its first post-restoration flight just under a year after being lowered from the ceiling of the Swiss Transport Museum in Lucerne, where it had been displayed for more than 50 years. The historic reconnaissance machine has been restored by Aero-Kros, whose test pilot Jerzy Piekarz accompanied Krzystof Galus

from the Polish civil aviation authority on the first flight. Over the last few months, Aero-Kros has renovated several examples of the Fi 156 for the Swiss Friends of the Fieseler Storch association, which is based at Oetwil am See, 13 miles south-east of Zurich. For test-flying in Poland the Storch has been registered SP-YRX, but when it returns to Switzerland it will become HB-EHJ. Stefan Schmoll

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News

Lancaster for Trenton The future of Avro Lancaster Mk10AR KB882 was finally secured on 16 November, when ownership was transferred from the City Council of Edmundston, New Brunswick to the National Air Force Museum of Canada (NAFMC) at Trenton, Ontario. After 50 years spent on display in the harsh environment at St Jacques Airport, Edmundston, during March 2015 city officials voted to transfer the rapidly deteriorating KB882 to the Alberta Aviation Museum (AAM) in Edmonton. The AAM, under considerable financial challenges, was unable to follow through with plans to take on the combat veteran bomber, and ownership was returned to the City of Edmundston during early 2016. The NAFMC then offered to take on KB882. ”The National Air Force Museum of Canada is honoured to have been selected as the final resting place for this historic aircraft”, stated NAFMC executive director Chris Colton. “KB882 will be fully restored to its area reconnaissance (AR) configuration, thus enabling all who visit her to understand not only the heroic role that she and her crew played during the Second World War, but also her post-war operational taskings. Her appearance along with our Handley Page Halifax MkVII, NA337, will be unique in the world as the

Ex-RCAF Lancaster Mk10AR KB882 — showing its extended nose — at St Jacques Airport, Edmundston in early November. The aircraft is now due to move to Trenton. LUC MICHAUD

only museum having both types in a fully restored condition.” Built by Victory Aircraft at Malton, Ontario, KB882 was flown to the UK in March 1945, joining No 428 Squadron, RCAF at Middleton St George. It flew six missions over Germany, the targets being Kiel, Hagen, Merseburg, Leipzig and two ops to Hamburg. KB882 returned to Canada in June 1945 and went

into storage until 1952, when it was modified by Avro Canada to Mk10P configuration with all turrets removed, and a 40in extension added to the nose for the second navigator, plus various items of equipment. The following year it went to No 408 Squadron at Rockcliffe, Ontario, seeing use in the mapping and charting of Canada’s Arctic and as an electronic and photographic

intelligence gathering platform during the Cold War. KB882 also operated over the Atlantic during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, monitoring and photographing Russian trawlers. After retirement in April 1964, KB882 was acquired by the City of Edmundston, and flown to St Jacques Airport, 10 miles north-west of the city, on 14 July 1964.

Crete2Cape Vintage Air Rally hits Africa The 8,000-mile Crete2Cape Vintage Air Rally, organised by Brussels-based Logistics Company Prepare2Go (see News, December 2016) got under way at Sitia Airport, Crete on 12 November. The participants, including three American-registered Travel Air 4000s, a trio of South African DH Tiger Moths, a German CASA 1.131 Jungmann and a Belgian Stampe SV-4, are due to arrive at Cape Town on 17 December.

One participant unlikely to reach the finish is 72-year-old maverick British vet Maurice Kirk, whose Piper Cub G-KURK went missing while flying the leg between Ad-Damazin, Sudan and Gambella, Ethiopia, on 21 November. Kirk was subsequently found, having made a forced landing. The Bristol-based pilot had already been asked to withdraw from the tour, because of “a lack of satellite tracking or a working compass” on his 1943-built Cub.

LEFT: Travel Air 4000 N6263, crewed by Nicholas and Lita Oppegard from Anchorage, Alaska, over Sudan on 21 November. The 1928-built machine was originally owned by air race legend Matty Laird. VIA JEREMY MARTIN

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AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

News

Blackburn stripped down The fuselage of the Shuttleworth Collection’s Blackburn Monoplane Type D, G-AANI, had its fuselage fabric stripped off in preparation for a re-cover on 16 November, and will be available for viewing in its denuded state at the collection’s annual engineering open weekend on 29-30 December. The wings from the 1912-built machine were re-covered five years ago, but the fuselage hasn’t been stripped since 1985. The Type D — the world’s oldest airworthy British aeroplane — wasn’t able to get into the air at any of the Shuttleworth events during 2016 due to adverse weather conditions, but did make one 10-minute test flight on 18 July in the hands of collection chief pilot ‘Dodge’ Bailey. The re-covering is scheduled to be completed before the end of January. Entry to the engineering

The fuselage of the Blackburn Type D in the Old Warden workshop on 21 November, with the left-over fabric from various other re-covering operations adorning the background. DAVID WHITWORTH

days costs £10 per adult and £8 for concessions. There will be access to areas not normally open to the public at

Old Warden, and Shuttleworth engineers and volunteers will be on hand to talk to visitors about

restoration and maintenance work at the collection. The event runs from 10.0016.00hrs on both days.

Last Boscombe Harvard goes to ARC The last North American Harvard on British military strength has been retired and sold into civilian hands. Harvard IIb KF183, which had been on the strength of the QinetiQ test organisation at Boscombe Down, flew out of the famous Ministry of Defence airfield in Wiltshire on 24 November and was delivered by Martin Overall to the Aircraft Restoration

Company at IWM Duxford. They have registered the aircraft as G-CORS. Built in Montréal, Canada by the Noorduyn company during 1944, KF183 was shipped across the Atlantic to Liverpool and delivered to the RAF that May. From December 1944 it served with No 7 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit, which soon became No 7 Service

Flying Training School, at Peterborough. It passed to No 3 Flying Training School at Feltwell and the Gosport-based Air Torpedo Development Unit, prior to assignment in January 1953 to the then Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down. Remarkably, KF183 was to remain there for the rest of its service career,

A final flypast over MoD Boscombe Down by Harvard IIb KF183 on 24 November, prior to the aircraft’s delivery to Duxford for the Aircraft Restoration Company in the hands of Martin Overall. QINETIQ

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through all the changes of the establishment's name that ended up with the privatised QinetiQ. For many years it was one of three Harvards on strength, but sister ship KF314 suffered a fatal accident during February 1982, and FT375 was sold into private hands in Italy with the UK registration G-BWUL in 1995. Among the type’s roles at Boscombe Down were as a low-speed camera platform supporting trials work, and use on Empire Test Pilots’ School courses. In the past, the aircraft also saw employment as taildragger trainers for the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and Royal Navy Historic Flight. All three were painted bright yellow, and hence nicknamed the ‘Yellow Perils’. Upon retirement, KF183 was Britain’s longest-serving military aircraft, and the oldest still in use outside those on strength with the service historic flights. Over the coming winter, ARC will put the aeroplane onto a certificate of airworthiness. It is the second Harvard in the ARC fleet, the other one being ex-Portuguese Air Force MkIV 1747/G-BGPB. Ben Dunnell

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

Christmas Gift Guide

News

Polish ace scheme for BBMF Spitfire XVI On 8 November it was announced that the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire LFXVIe, TE311, will appear at shows during 2017 wearing the markings of Gp Capt Aleksander Gabszewicz’s low-back, clipped-wing MkXVI TD240. Gabszewicz, the CO of No 131 (Polish) Wing, flew TD240 from April until mid-June 1945. The repaint is being funded by Lincolnshire’s Lancaster Association. Gabszewicz led the wing on ground attack missions during

the final few weeks of the war, tasked with destroying German transport routes and infrastructure around the front-line area, bombing railways, barges, vehicles and command posts. From 13 April, No 131 Wing was based at Nordhorn, Lower Saxony, close to the Dutch border, from where an area of operation was established between the north-west German cities of Wilhelmshaven, Oldenburg, Bremen and Hamburg. On 30 April, the wing moved up to Varrelbusch near Bremen, and

continued to take a heavy toll on the retreating German forces until VE-Day. Gabszewicz ended the war as Poland’s joint seventh highestscoring ace, with nine-and-ahalf kills plus two probables. His first victory came at about 07.00hrs on 1 September 1939 while flying a PZL P11 with the Polish Air Force Pursuit Brigade. He got a half-share, with Cpl Andrzej Niewiara, of a Heinkel He 111, the first German bomber shot down in the Warsaw area during that initial Blitzkrieg attack on the city.

ABOVE RIGHT: Gp Capt Aleksander Gabszewicz as a wing commander during 1943.

VIA CLIVE ROWLEY

The colourful No 131 (Polish) Wing scheme that Spitfire XVI TE311 will wear for the 2017 season. ROBERT GRUDZIEN

Calgary Hurricane coming together Four years after it arrived at the workshops of Historic Aviation Services at Wetaskiwin, Alberta, restoration of Hawker Hurricane XII RCAF 5389 is progressing well, with hopedfor completion due at the end

of 2017. Owned by the City of Calgary and destined for display at the Aero Space Museum of Calgary, the Packard Merlin 29 poweredfighter is being restored to the museum’s ‘run and taxi status’ requirement.

Hurricane XII RCAF 5389 in the Historic Aviation Services workshop at Wetaskiwin, Alberta, showing the mass of sheet metal work recently completed on the forward fuselage.

14 www.aeroplanemonthly.com

Recent work has included completion of the wooden fuselage stringers. Also particular to this model of Canadian-built Hurricane is the formidable fit of 12 0.303 Browning machine guns. During a four-year search, three guns have been purchased and two more have recently been located, but it is now thought to be unlikely that the remaining seven will be found, so the possibility of building replicas to fill the vacant positions in the wings is being explored. A great deal of forward fuselage sheet metal work has been completed, and the Merlin’s exhaust pipes will soon go to Vi-Scan Services in Calgary, who have offered to undertake the necessary welding free of charge. The Merlin 29 has been overhauled by volunteers from the Calgary Mosquito Society under the watchful eyes of the aircraft engineers with the Bomber Command Museum in

Nanton. Some parts are still required, including internal parts of the main hydraulic selector, coolant tank mounts, numerous speciality fasteners and the balance of the rails for the cockpit canopy. Hurricane 5389 is one of 1,451 built by Canadian Car and Foundry at Fort William, Thunder Bay. Taken on charge on 23 June 1942, it went to RCAF Boundary Bay, British Columbia the following month, from where it was operated on home defence duties until July 1943. During its time with No 133 Squadron, 5389 was flown by Flt Lt Don Laubman, who was destined to become Canada’s fourth highest-scoring ace of the war with a total of 15 enemy aircraft destroyed and three damaged. Retired Lt Gen Laubman, now 95, lives in Red Deer, Alberta. The Hurricane will be finished in the markings it wore when he flew it, with the fuselage codes FN-M.

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

Hangar Talk STEVE SLATER

Restorer killed in JN-4

Recently restored Curtiss JN-4 ‘Jenny’ N1662 crashed shortly after take-off at Peach Tree Airport in Williamson, Georgia on 17 November, killing restorer/pilot Ron Alexander and a passenger. Alexander, an EAA Vintage Aircraft Association board member, acquired the airport during 2005, and founded the Candler Field Museum at the site.

RN museum buys ‘Winkle’ Brown’s medals Medals awarded to Capt Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown — who died on 21 February 2016, aged 97 — were auctioned by Bonhams in Knightsbridge on 23 November. Items included his 1970 CBE and the Distinguished Service Cross awarded in 1942, his Air Force Cross awarded in 1947, and the Defence Medal with King’s Commendation for brave conduct, along with his flying logbooks, which date from 1942 to his final flights for the Fleet Air Arm in 1970. John Millensted, Bonhams’ head of medals and coins, said that Capt Brown’s family was selling the archive, including the medals and his flying logbooks, “so that others might appreciate them.” It was subsequently announced that Brown’s medals, logbooks and other papers had been purchased for £165,000 by the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN), the umbrella organisation for the Royal Navy’s museums, thanks to what it called “the intervention of an incredibly generous donor”. Said Prof Dominic Tweddle, the director general of the NMRN, “we are thrilled and honoured to be able to class this collection as one of our own”. The items will join the Fleet Air Arm Museum collection at Yeovilton.

With the 2016 UK airshow season over, now has come the time to draw dispassionate conclusions on the effects of the restrictions imposed following the tragic events of the 2015 Shoreham Airshow. The memories of that day are set to be further rekindled by the forthcoming publication of the Air Accident Investigation Branch’s report on the crash of Hunter G-BXFI. Thoughts remain with the families who mourn their loved ones, but what have we learned from the subsequent year? First of all, we have to understand that the UK regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, is between a rock and a hard place on this. It could have been justified in banning airshows completely after Shoreham, but it didn’t. Instead, even as legal and political pressures mounted, the CAA put forward a range of sensible responses that allowed 2015’s remaining flying displays to continue, albeit with certain restrictions. However, during 2016 that objectivity was sorely tested by pressures from above. Analysis of energy effects and aircraft inertia that was more suitable for some heavier aircraft resulted in the enforcement of display lines and margins which proved unduly onerous for the many historic aircraft which make up the majority of civilian airshows. These revised rules not only diminished the spectacle, but also increased the risk of overflying areas outside event organisers’ control, potentially detracting from rather than enhancing display safety.

O Our monthly comment ccolumn on the historic a aircraft scene

The following months brought some concessions, with a series of individual dispensations reducing the distance between spectators and the display line to more realistic levels for lighter, slower aircraft not involved in aerobatic flight. Meanwhile as part of a statutory ‘postimplementation review’, the CAA has commissioned a survey on the effects of their changes by the independent survey company Helios. There are though, concerns that this review is limited in both scope and capacity. The surveyors attended only five events: the Seething Airfield Charity Day, the Southport Air Show, the Cranfield Festival of Flight, Sywell Pistons and Props and the Shuttleworth Race Day,

simply lost any visual impact, such was their distance from the crowd, while the mighty B-17 Flying Fortress Sally B was only able to do a take-off, a circuit and a landing. I hope the huge numbers of people who only go to Farnborough won’t think all airshows are like that. Other organisers have shown smart thinking. Credit should be given to IWM Duxford. The effects of the new minimum separation distances required them to prevent public access to the popular ‘tank bank’, close to the runway threshold at the western end of the airfield, for Flying Legends in July. Duxford turned that to its advantage by subtly realigning other areas crowdline which, while losing some impact at one end of the site, allowed many more

‘The CAA’s objectivity was sorely tested by pressures from above’ and only interviewed around 360 spectators. They held two ‘workshops’ for display participants, which between them attracted just 35 attendees. One wonders how valid such a small sample may be? Perhaps the nadir of the 2016 season was Farnborough, once the biennial showcase of the industry. While much was made of the Red Arrows being restricted to single flypasts each day, other participants were even more badly affected by both the CAA airshow regulations and associated rules regarding overflight of adjacent built-up areas. The restrictions meant that historic aircraft such as the Spitfire and DH88 Comet

spectators further east to feel closer to the action. Praise too to the Shuttleworth Collection, which demonstrated to the CAA that Old Warden’s distinctive curved display line, combined with the lighter and smaller types displayed there, should be allowed a dispensation to reduce the separation distances. In addition, the Shuttleworth team created some excellent and innovative themed events, the season finalé Race Day being one of the highlights of the season. The hope now is for an easier transition into the 2017 display calendar, but much will depend on the AAIB report into Shoreham and its ramifications.

‘Bob’ Hoover dies at 94

Another of the world’s great pilots, Robert Anderson ‘Bob’ Hoover, died on 25 October in Los Angeles, at the age of 94. During a 62-year flying career he flew more than 300 types, and his airshow appearances in a Rockwell Shrike Commander are the stuff of legend. AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

ABOVE: By season’s end, much of Old Warden’s spectacle as a display venue had returned, as demonstrated here by Tim Williams flying his Puss Moth. BEN DUNNELL

www.aeroplanemonthly.com 15

Christmas Gift Guide

Skywriters

WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK E-MAIL TO: [email protected], putting ‘Skywriters’ in the header

Letter of the Month

in association with

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.

Drawn into the vortex

I was intrigued by the letter ‘Do the rustle’ (Aeroplane November 2016), partly because Don Minterne was an old colleague of mine at the Aircraft Torpedo Development Unit, and partly because his account reminded me of a similar terrestrial brush with a tip vortex. In the late 1950s I was working with C Squadron of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down. Work-ups were in progress for a forthcoming deck trial of, I think, an NA39 (the prototype Buccaneer). These included airfield dummy deck landings, and for one sortie I was stationed on the runway edge abeam the touchdown point, measuring local wind speed and taking pictures of the approach with a hand-held F24 camera. There was a light crosswind blowing off the runway and the aircraft was doing a number of touch-and-go landings, therefore opening up to full power at high incidence when passing me. More than once I heard what I described as a twittering sound a few seconds after it had passed, and on one occasion I felt the vortex quite strongly. It even toppled over my firmly tripod-mounted anemometer. ABOVE: An early Sea Vixen coming in for a The purpose of the photographs was to establish the ‘hook-to-eye’ distance, the height dummy deck landing at Boscombe Down. of the pilot’s eye above the bottom of the arrestor hook with the aircraft on the optimum glidepath at an air speed appropriate to its landing weight. This, together with the angle of the glidepath, was necessary for setting the ship’s deck landing mirror sight with the aim of engaging the preferred wire (often number three if there were five or six in all). Unfortunately I do not have such a picture of the NA39, but I do have one of a Sea Vixen, whose hook-to-eye distance on a 3.5° glidepath was, I remember, 13ft. Dick Guntrip, Mullion, Cornwall

Counting the costs

I was interested to read the article on Duxford’s Victor Mk1 in October’s Aeroplane — in particular, your comment that launching a campaign to raise funds to conserve the aircraft ought not to raise eyebrows. I agree, since it has been done before. I organised similar campaigns to fund both the Sunderland and the Sea Hurricane in the 1980s. Duxford then was much smaller and, in real terms, even less well funded than today. To fit the Sunderland wings to the fuselage when the original internal spars had been cut through was beyond the resources of the then limited technical staff and volunteers. The appeal was launched in March 1987 and received magnificent support, including paintings donated by artists including Gerry Coulson and Charles Thompson, which Christie’s auctioned for us. The result was that the wings were reattached by August 1987 and we then had many further years to reinstate the interior, which had been gutted during the aircraft’s role as a nightclub in France. Ironically, the 50th anniversary of the prototype’s first flight on 16 October 1987 was the day of the Great Storm, which blew the world’s only airworthy Sunderland off its beaching gear at Chatham dockyard. That aircraft’s eventual return to flight and sale to Kermit Weeks was in part due to parts donated from Duxford’s Sunderland. The Sea Hurricane’s restoration had started back in 1986 when, lacking a Hurricane at Duxford, we agreed to return Shuttleworth’s aircraft to flight. Progress was slow until I managed to persuade the team that had rebuilt the Spitfire V to take on the project. We had hoped to fly in 1990, the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, but the AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

first flight in 1995 revealed centre of gravity problems. This meant the public inaugural flight was delayed until April 1996, when the many Sea Hurricane supporters first saw the aircraft in the air. We spent around £250,000 in cash and in kind over the 10 years of the project, and without the fundraising the aircraft would not be flying today. David Lee, retired deputy director and curator of aircraft, IWM Duxford Look out for a feature by David Lee on the IWM Sunderland project in an upcoming issue.

Blazing g trails

The recent Comet 3 article (Aeroplane September 2016) prompted me to reminisce about my small involvement in the project. On 1 September 1952 I started an apprenticeship with de Havilland at Hatfield, specialising in aircraft electrical installations. After the following Easter, having completed the basic introduction training at Astwick Manor, I moved to the factory — luckily, to the experimental department, where the Comet 3 was being built. During the next few years I was involved in electrical installations on various projects, including the Comets. I was with the groundcrew on the aircraft’s departure to Australia on 2 December 1955. Because of the mist, the photographer was unable to capture the take-off. Instead, he lined up the team of engineers and technicians so that he had a picture of the occasion — this appeared in the 9 December 1955 issue of The Aeroplane. In early 1957 I joined the instrument laboratory, the department involved in the design, installation and operation of flight trials measurement and recording systems. As part

of my duties, on 11 February 1959 I flew on one of the last Hatfield flights of G-ANLO, the Comet 3B, trailing static stalls. My task was to deploy, watch and recover the ‘bomb’ via a modified luggage bay hatch. I’d also like to mention that John Marshall, who was a member of the Comet 3 first flight crew and the subsequent round-the-world trip (plus the first flight of the DH121 Trident in January 1962) is well and still plays a mean game of darts. Ron Hammond, Broom, Bedfordshire

Spitfire thrills

Reading the article in the October edition on Irish Spitfires brought back fond memories of my late father. As a young soldier serving in the Irish Army he was once sent to Baldonnel airfield on some routine errand and, being naturally sociable, soon found himself in conversation with one of the pilots stationed there. To his surprise, the pilot asked him if he would like to fly as a passenger in the rear cockpit of one the Spitfire trainers. Wisely, he immediately took him up on this offer. I confess to feeling jealous whenever my father recalled a thrilling flight that took him out above Dublin, and then down for a highspeed, low-level run over the Irish Sea. Later, when living in England, few people believed him when he claimed that he had flown in a Spitfire. He was regularly informed that “they never built any two-seat Spitfires”! Sean McLoughlin, Arnold, Nottinghamshire The editor reserves the right to edit all letters. Please include your full name and address in correspondence.

www.aeroplanemonthly.com 17

Q&A

COMPILER: MIKE HOOKS

Are you seeking the answer to a thorny aviation question? Our ‘questions and answers’ page might help WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK E-MAIL TO: [email protected], putting ‘Q&A’ in the header

THIS MONTH’S ANSWERS

Oxfords. The adjacent illustration of a line-up of Oxfords includes two mentioned in our previous answer, Nightingale and Defiant.

Lightnings and Hunters

THIS MONTH’S QUESTIONS

Bernard Hooker has supplied a Q small photograph which he took

at Farnborough showing a formation of seven Lightnings and 18 Hunters. He has met one person who remembered it and claimed it was doing a loop, but an ex-service Hunter pilot who was also an experienced display pilot said that Hunters and Lightnings could not have looped together. Bernard would like to know more about this occasion. I can certainly remember the occasion, since I took a similar photo, reproduced here and in colour! It was at the 1962 SBAC Display at Farnborough. In the book ‘Forty Years at Farnborough’, which John Blake and I produced in 1986, John mentions that on the final Sunday No 74 Squadron’s Tigers team of Lightnings and 92’s Blue Diamonds team of Hunters combined to produce a diamond 25. He makes no mention of a loop, so I think it was surely just a formation fly-over. For the benefit of those who like such details, I logged the serials, so can say the formation was drawn from the following: Lightnings XM143/A, XM142/B, XM139/C, XM141/D, XM165/F, XM166/G, XM167/H, XM144/J, XM164/K, XM146/L, XM140/M and XM147/P. The Hunters were led by T7 XL571/V while the others were F6s: XG211/A, XE656/B, XG228/C, XF522/D, XG137/E, XG232/G, XG231/H, XG186/J, XF520/K, XE532/L, XG189/M, XG190/N, XG194/P, XG201/R, XG225/S, XF321/X and XG185/Z. The Blue Diamonds had succeeded No 111 Squadron’s Black Arrows from 1961 but flew only two seasons as 92’s Hunters began to be replaced by Lightning F2s from late 1962. Leading the Diamonds at Farnborough was Sqn Ldr Brian Mercer, while 74’s leader was either Sqn Ldr John Howe or Sqn Ldr Peter Botterill.

A

MIddle East fighters

RAF sayings

National Servicemen will Q Many no doubt remember ribald

’525 no further queries would have arisen! I am not sure if this is the case — ET526 served with No 112 Squadron, and all its codes were three letters such as GA-C. Glenn suggests that the three aircraft illustrated belonged to one of the experimental flights that were formed in various unpleasant climates to find the most suitable aircraft, to test mods, flight characteristics and so on. His late uncle was involved in the RAF’s wartime Middle East set-up but his logbooks do not add anything.

ABOVE: No 74 Squadron’s Lightnings lead 92’s Hunters at Farnborough in 1962. MIKE HOOKS

Anson G-ALXH

Q

There were Q&A mentions in the last issues about Anson G-ALXH. Ken Cothliff says that while with BKS Air Services G-ALXH was often used for survey work. On 9 April 1963 it had to shut down an engine soon after taking off from Yeadon due to a suspected engine fire — subsequently unproven — and crash-landed on Carlton Moor, thankfully without loss of life. The passengers were John Symington and 16-year-old cameraman Michael Budd, on his first flight. The captain, Ronald Fox, is said to have returned to the airfield without speaking to anyone, called a taxi and disappeared to London, never to be seen again!

A

Target I project

the answer to the mystery Q InAirspeed Oxford illustrated in

the October issue, the Target I programme was mentioned and we asked for more on this. Guido Corten says that it was an agreement struck in May 1946 between the British and Dutch governments for the rebuilding of the Royal Netherlands Air Force in the immediate post-war period. With British assistance, Dutch aircrew were trained, the RAF supplying some 374 aircraft to equip training schools and squadrons. They included Tiger Moths, Harvards, Ansons, Austers, Proctors, Dominies, Spitfires and

comments being made to them while going about their duties. A couple which can be repeated here are well-known, but their origins are not. When assistance was required to move heavy objects — perhaps aircraft or hangar doors — the cry “Two-Six” would go out, but why? Advice given to new recruits provided a basis for the cry, “If it moves, salute it; if it doesn’t move, pick it up; if you can’t pick it up, paint it”. Many old hands will remember this, with so many officers about who were ready to hand out punishment for failure to salute. The question: were these phrases applicable only to the RAF, or were they widespread among the services?

Engine rotation E-MAIL USERS: Please include a postal address with any correspondence

BELOW: A line-up of Royal Netherlands Air Force Oxfords.

reading ‘RAF Bomber Q While Command’ by Goulding and

Moyes, Richard Jackson was struck by the fact that British radial engines rotate counter-clockwise, most Merlins clockwise and all American radials clockwise — why is this? When the same design used both radials and Merlins — Halifaxes and Lancasters for instance — would there not be a problem concerning torque? I recall the post-war Blackburn Firebrand with its large Bristol Centaurus radial having its fin offset several degrees to counteract torque, but there does not seem to be mention of the similarly powered Sea Fury having an offset fin. Did it, in fact? Most of the American naval aircraft of the period had radial engines, so with a considerable amount of torque you could easily end up either over the side on take-off or colliding with the island. How was this managed, or am I missing something?

illustrated a formation of A Q We three RAF fighters in Middle East

theatre colours in the October issue and requested details. So far we have only had one reply. Glenn Middleton spent 30 years as a forensic scientist, examining old and freshly taken photographs as a major tool of his trade. He claims that if the Kittyhawk’s serial had been properly identified as ET526 and not

A

18 www.aeroplanemonthly.com

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

‘Jack’ Buchanan and Anson accidents

I pressed my triggers. Nothing happened. I’d forgotten to pull up the charging handle of my Constantinesco”. This was an interrupter mechanism to prevent shooting off one’s own propeller, but Mr Chadwick asks what exactly Jones was “pulling up”, and how did it link to the guns?

the article ‘A Few of the Q Reading Many’ in the December 2016

edition prompted Deryk Walker (e-mail [email protected]) to dig through some scanned photos in his possession. They had been bought from a shipping company at a sale of uncollected items. It became apparent that they were taken by a John ‘Jack’ Buchanan of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Jack was a photographer documenting the everyday events of the war. Unfortunately, Deryk has not been

DH60G G-AAGT history

ABOVE: Canadian Anson RCAF 6385 following a mishap. RIGHT: Anson II RCAF 8214 after an accident that looks fatal from the appearance of the wreckage.

LEFT: RCAF photographer ‘Jack’ Buchanan with his cameras, probably a Zeis Ikon Contax II and an American Graflex 4x5 Anniversary Speed Graphic plate camera.

J. Moor (e-mail ajm20flight@ Q A.btinternet.com) is researching

able to find any more information on Jack, so to this day he remains a bit of a mystery. There are two photos of crashed Avro Ansons — does anyone has any information on these, and ‘Jack’ Buchanan himself? Deryk knows he survived the war as he has a photo of his press pass for Buckingham Palace dated 11 December 1945.

the crash of Gipsy Moth G-AAGT near the railway at Ashford, Kent. According to his records, ’AGT crashed at Bekesbourne on 16 September 1934 but was repaired. There appear to be no published details of the accident. When based at Brooklands from April 1936 it was owned by Peregrine Pratt, but the aircraft’s C of A expired in March 1937 although there are no indications of a crash that year. It was also owned by Peter Mones Maury, Marquis de Casa Maury, from about April 1929 to January 1930. Can anyone add more information?

Constantinesco gear Chadwick (e-mail Q Roger [email protected])

quotes a passage from Wg Cdr Ira Jones’s book ‘Tiger Squadron’ which says of flying an SE5 in World War One, “When I was 100 yards off,

ABOVE: DH60G Moth G-AAGT, possibly at Bekesbourne.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS Our regular item in which we set the record straight on errors in recent issues. Do send notice of mistakes you may spot to the editorial addresses.

• It has been pointed out that the photo we captioned in the December issue’s Database on the Shorts Belfast as showing a Belfast cockpit actually depicts that of an RAF Lockheed C-130K Hercules. The Belfast had a distinctive ram’s horn control column and a wide, flat-centred pedestal with a set of throttles for each pilot. The photographer, Peter R. March, responds: “I am embarrassed to say that your correspondent is absolutely right. I can only say that I was misled by an incorrect label on that print, which archived it

with the Belfasts. To make amends I have sourced — via the original black and white negative — a photo of ‘Belslow’ XR370 en route to Changi, Singapore in August 1968. I was a passenger on the long haul from Brize Norton via Malta, Cyprus, Bahrain and Gan on a solo press visit to the Far East Air Force. The return journey by VC10 was much quicker but not nearly as ‘grand’, with the Belfast having bunk beds, a well-stocked galley and making leisurely stops down route, although it did take nearly three days.”

• Chris Farara has spotted a typo in the Belfast Database: the reference to the aircraft being able to swallow a 12-square foot load should read 12ft square. • Finnish aviation expert Perttu Karivalo writes with reference to the December issue’s editorial on the RAF’s centenary in 2018. He says that the Finnish Air Force will actually mark its 100th anniversary on 6 March 2018, making it older than the RAF. Perttu also points out that its existence has been continuous since then, “even if the Soviets wished otherwise in World War Two…” ABOVE: The cock kpiit off Bellfastt C1 XR370 on the way to Singapore. PETER R. MARCH

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

• Göran Henriksson wrote to say that he enjoyed our October issue’s Database on the Convair

F-106, but questions the statement on page 83 that the F-106 was the fastest single-engined jet aircraft when it flew. The Mikoyan Ye-152-1, referred to by the FAI as the Ye-166, set a new speed record on 7 July 1962 of 2,681km/h (1,666mph), beating the previous benchmark set by the F-4 Phantom II. The Ye-152 actually reached more than 3,000km/h (1,865mph) during the record runs and testing. Some say that it was built just for testing new technologies, but it was intended to have an advanced weapons system and to become an interceptor to combat the North American B-70 Valkyrie and similar aircraft. Problems with the engine delayed development and the Soviets decided instead to put the powerplant into the new twin-engined Ye-155, called the MiG-25 in service. The Database author, Peter Davies, replies: “It is a long and contentious issue, and there wasn’t really space in the article to go into all the ramifications of experimental versus operational aircraft and the somewhat questionable circumstances of the Ye-166 flight, which resulted in a long delay before ratification as no proof of Mosolov’s alleged record speed was available initially. As for the F-106, the real record was Charles Myers’ 1959 speed of 1,544mph, but it was disallowed as he wasn’t a military pilot!”

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24/11/2016 09:40

WAPI TI S OV ER INDIA

A Passage

The logbooks Th l b k and d photos h t off a N No 27 SSquadron d W Wapiti iti pilot, il t ttogether th w biplane’s sterling service over the North -

W

rote Chaz Bowyer in ‘The Flying Elephants’, his history of No 27 Squadron, RAF, “it could never be said of the NorthWest Frontier that any period in its long history was entirely peaceful”. Indeed so, for this area of what was then British India was beset by tribal conflict, and British forces enveloped in it. The latest in a long line of local rebellions began as the 1930s dawned. Following the Amritsar massacre of

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1919, the Indian National Congress, in which Mahatma Gandhi was a leading figure, had mounted a lengthy campaign of non-violent disobedience against British rule. For a time, this led to his imprisonment. Gandhi was a useful moderating influence on some of the more militant aspects of the Indian independence movement, yet during early 1930 anger at British rule was growing. One of the groups that sprang up in North-West Frontier province was the so-called Khudai Khidmatgar

(Servants of God) under Abdul Ghaffar Khan. This Pashtun organisation was perhaps better known as the ‘Red Shirt’ movement, so named because many of its followers wore dyed red shirts. Although also non-violent in nature, its growth caused concern to the leaders of British India. When Ghaffar Khan and other prominent ‘Red Shirts’ were arrested in Peshawar during April 1930, it only served to strengthen the movement. A large — and peaceful — Khudai Khidmatgar gathering in the city’s Qissa Khwani bazaar met with a

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

to India

WORDS: BEN DUNNELL

r with the Westland ith the th unit’ it’s records, d provide id a valuable l bl iinsight i ht iinto t th h -West Frontier during the early 1930s violent British response. First armoured vehicles were driven into the crowd; then troops opened fire. Estimates vary as to the death toll in the resulting massacre. Some sources put it in the hundreds. This was a major part of the backdrop to increasing local disobedience on the North-West Frontier. Coupled with a more traditional (indeed, more violent) tribal-type uprising by the Afridi, the atmosphere by mid-1930 was especially febrile.

One of the many members of the British armed forces then stationed in the area was Fg Off Ronald Cauthery. Born in Bradford, North Yorkshire, during 1906, he was a pupil at Bradford Grammar School. According to his son Simon, “He didn’t seem to have any particular career bent after school and went to Australia for a short time before returning to the UK and joining the RAF as an acting pilot officer in April 1929”. Aviation, to some extent, ran in the family. “His elder brother, born in 1900, had joined

the RAF in 1918 but would have been demobbed soon after.” Ronald went initially to No 4 Flying Training School at Abu Sueir, Egypt, in early May 1929. Training was on the Avro 504, and his first solo occurred at the end of that month after 14 hours’ flying time. He continued in No 4 FTS with further training on the Avro, the Bristol F2B Fighter and the Airco DH9A. During that time, one of his instructors was Flt Lt Walter Dawson, later Air Marshal Sir Walter, perhaps most notable as the last

BELOW: A mixed nine-aircraft formation of Wapiti IIas from the two squadrons in No 1 (Indian) Wing, 27 and 60, over the hilly and desolate terrain of the North-West Frontier. ALL PHOTOS VIA SIMON CAUTHERY

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WAPI TI S OV ER INDIA

ABOVE: DH9As like F2787 remained with No 27 Squadron until May 1930, shortly before which date this photo was taken. BELOW: A group photo of ‘A’ Flight, No 27 Squadron, circa 1932. Fg Off Ronald Cauthery is sitting second from right as one looks at the image.

RAF commander in Palestine prior to establishment of the state of Israel. In March 1930, after completing a total of 145 hours’ flying training, Cauthery was posted to No 27 Squadron. At the time it was stationed at Kohat, a major city in the then North-West Frontier province, about 110 miles west of Islamabad. The unit’s presence in that area dated back to April 1920, when it was re-formed after a short disbandment. Its equipment was the DH9A, and throughout the decade that followed 27 found itself participating in countless operations aimed at quelling tribal unrest. In December 1928 it also

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sent aircraft to help evacuate women, children and baggage from the British and other legations in the Afghan capital Kabul, the city having been besieged by local tribesmen.

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Cauthery’s arrival on 27 occurred just as the squadron was becoming heavily involved in taking on the ‘Red Shirts’ and others, and as it prepared finally to divest itself of the ageing DH9As. In the words of the unit’s operations record book, there was a need to dispel “certain rumours that the British Raj had ceased to exist,

and in the hopes that the tribes, which were gathering, would return to their villages… Much trouble is being caused along the whole of the Frontier by ‘Congressmen’ spreading unfounded rumours.” As the squadron records go on, “Immediately they discovered that they had, in some way, been betrayed, many of the parties were split up and the tribesmen returned to their homes. This is unfortunately not so among the younger members of the tribe, who, hungering after power, are more on pretext than sympathy staying in the valleys and caves with a view to causing future trouble”. Their aim was eventually to place “their leaders in shame”, thus “taking over the [reins] of the various villages.” This was the local background as the new Westland Wapiti arrived on strength, specifically the MkIIa version with a 550hp Bristol Jupiter VIIIf radial engine. The first mention in No 27 Squadron’s history of this two-seat general-purpose biplane occurs on 13 May 1930, although deliveries had started the previous month. It states how a single example was despatched from Kohat to Peshawar, “to collect orders for a proposed extensive bombing of the Mohmand country”. This was an area north-west of Peshawar inhabited by the Mohmands, a Pathan (or Pashtun) tribe. The aircraft returned that same day. Although 27 was still very busy on operations with its DH9As, it had to make a seamless transition. On the morning of 23 May, ‘C’ Flight “proceeded to Karachi with the last of the DH9As, comprising of a formation of five machines. One of the pilots (Flt Lt E. C. Delamain, MC) flew one of the first DH9A machines in India and was specially selected to lead these, the last DH9As remaining in India, on the final flight. One of the machines (F1098) held a record climb for DH9As… On the 27th instant this Flight returned from Karachi with five Wapiti aircraft, thus completing the full re-equipment of Wapiti aircraft for the Squadron (exclusive of reserve machine).” Ronald Cauthery had already begun to build his Wapiti experience. His first flight in the type occurred on 20 May as passenger to Flt Lt Fuller-Good, his flight commander in ‘A’ Flight, for three-quarters of an hour’s dual practice in J9511. Shortly afterwards, he took the same example back into the air for his initial solo. A few days of practice flying followed, including a formation trip to Thal and Lachi. On the early morning of the 27th, Cauthery piloted J9710 out of Kohat on his maiden operational Wapiti mission, his observer AC1 (Aircraftsman First Class) Lowe shooting eight oblique images of six villages with an F8 camera. The squadron’s first bombing mission with the Wapitis took place

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on 28 May. Nine aircraft set out from Kohat, plus a 10th carrying the wing commander as a means of observing the raid. It attacked an area south-east of Hafiz Kor, the aircraft dropping 16 112lb bombs and 110 20-pounders, and exposing 28 vertical plates of the bomb bursts. Cauthery’s baptism of fire on the Westland aircraft came the next day. Flying J9511, this time with LAC (Leading Aircraftsman) Grellis, he set out on a one-hour 50-minute sortie described in his logbook as “Bombing raid Mohmand country”. One of nine aircraft involved, Cauthery’s machine delivered four each of 112lb and 20lb bombs, the latter among 164 such stores that were dropped. Again the objective was near Hafiz Kor. “The situation around this area now appeared to be normal”, said the squadron record. “Small gatherings were observed in the vicinity of the area, apparently natives awaiting return to their villages.” 31 May was a very busy day for Cauthery and colleagues. “Nine machines of this Squadron proceeded on flight bombing raids of three machines over Sultana. On completion of the first raid, the machines returned

to Miranshah for re-bombing”. A total of 11 raids were carried out that day, four missions being flown by Cauthery and LAC Burnside in J9511. During each of them, 112lb and 20lb bombs aside, the aircraft dropped so-called BIBs, ‘baby’ incendiary bombs. “All

forming in this area”, recorded the unit diarist, a lashkar in this context being a gathering of armed tribesmen. Surprise raids were made thereafter. This was once more the issue on 6 August. There were concerns that lashkars were forming “with a view to

‘The object of the bombing was not so much as an attacking force as a scattering force, making the tribes an easy target’ the machines returned to Kohat on the evening of the same day. From the air the village appeared to have been considerably damaged. The bombing was good and in nearly every case was a direct hit on the objective.” And so the pattern of operations continued. Apart from the bombing raids, 27’s Wapitis engaged regularly in demonstration flights over areas of suspected anti-British activity — what would today be termed ‘shows of force’. One example occurred on 4 June, when Cauthery flew regular mount J9511 over “Afridi country and Adezai”, a village in the Peshawar area. “It was understood that a Lashkar was

penetrating down over the hills into Peshawar”. The unit diary went on to say that “agents are again at work round the frontier in an effort to cause a combined attack from the frontier tribesmen on British occupied camps. Columns of native troops were seen during these flights taking up various posts with a view to ground action being taken against the attacking tribesmen. The object of the bombing was not so much [as] an attacking force for casualties as a scattering force, thus making the tribes an easy target for the troops taking ground action. Many casualties were effected from an air point of view, however.”

BELOW: No 60 Squadron Wapiti J9719 dropping a pair of 112lb bombs.

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WAPI TI S OV ER INDIA

ABOVE: A closeformation trio of 27’s machines on a training flight out of Kohat, J9725 leading J9746 (nearest) and J9507.

There ensued until 17 August a lengthy campaign of almost daily attacks by 27’s Wapitis on villages where tribesmen were gathering and, the British felt, fomenting dissent. “The objective of the raids […] was to cause as much destruction as

plus four 20-pounders, or two 230lb and two or four 20lb bombs. The Wapiti was performing well. Over such mountainous terrain, it needed to be reliable. Yet the use of air power here had limitations. As Flight reported after the August campaign,

‘The Pathan are less upset by the loss of their all than a rich man would be by an extra sixpence on the income tax’ BELOW: Bundles of wood strapped to the underwing bomb mountings of No 27 Squadron Wapiti J9746 for bombing practice.

possible to property of the villagers occupying the areas… By this method it was hoped to break up the various gatherings which had been formed…” The RAF deemed the attacks successful in this respect. As for Cauthery, between May and October 1930 he flew more than 50 bombing missions, typical loads being four 112lb bombs

“On the Frontier the aeroplane must always be a very valuable adjunct to the Army. It is, in the main, a watch tower. It enables the general to see what is on the other side of the hill — or, at least, it tries to do so.” Furthermore, the editorial continued, “the tribesman is difficult to see, and […] difficult to hit. Pathans

on lashkar do not wear uniform. They are clad in robes of dirty-white cotton, which from a short distance look exactly like the rocks with which the hillsides are strewed… From a height of, say, 2,000ft they must be almost completely invisible. If a number of Pathans is spotted, what happens? They have necessarily heard the engine long before the pilot has seen them, and have usually had time to scatter… “Possibly a tribe which was only half-hearted, or was unused to bombing, might be daunted by a few casualties, but a lashkar in real earnest will laugh at the smallness of the casualty list. Pathan troops have proved that they could hold a shelled trench in Flanders when the butcher’s bill was infinitely higher than it is ever likely to be from air bombing on a frontier hill. Even the destruction of villages has less effect on the Pathan than on most other people. They are poor men with little to lose, and they are less upset by the loss of their all than a rich man would be by an extra sixpence on the income tax.” Even so, No 27 Squadron carried on expending bombs over the Khwajak and Khani Khel areas through midSeptember, until on the 19th the summer’s campaign came to an end. 1931 was much quieter as the ‘Red Shirt’ movement lost momentum, the unit concentrating on practice and demonstration supply drops to ground forces. Loads included sugar, vegetables, drinks, water tanks and ammunition. For Cauthery, there was disappointment in February 1932. He was nominated as the squadron pilot for the Ellington Cup bombing accuracy competition — named after the then AVM Edward Ellington, former air officer commanding RAF India and future Chief of the Air Staff — which started on the 22nd. When

the results were first announced on 1 March, it seemed as though he had triumphed over the entrant from 27’s fellow Wapiti operator within No 1 (Indian) Wing, No 60 Squadron. Sadly, the referees obviously miscalculated, as the outcome was reversed. Cauthery and 27 had lost by just three yards. Bombing for real resumed in earnest just days later. There were hectic programmes of sorties against targets in Mohmand country, different Mohmand groups having taken to fighting one another, followed by demonstration flights. On a couple of occasions, the Wapitis were fired on, but otherwise the threat from the ground was minimal. September saw a spike in activity. Cauthery’s first flight of the month, an air test on the 5th, ended prematurely due to water in Wapiti J9732’s fuel. The same problem had been encountered by ‘C’ Flight’s aeroplanes a couple of weeks beforehand, having landed at Arawali — one of two forward bases used regularly, the other being Miranshah — for a refuelling exercise. Cauthery completed some photographic tasks and night flying practice; on the 17th, he was back to bombing. In J9746 he flew a raid to Chingai, landing at Peshawar and delivering target photography from there back to Kohat. He averaged somewhere in the region of 20-25 flights per month. Sorties to attack objectives around the Shamozai tribal area took place from then for just less than a month. The aim was to protect an army relief

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column, advancing by way of a route march towards the Chitral Garrison, from Mohmand attacks. The last such mission occurred on 16 October, when “the tribes submitted to the terms” of an agreement with the British administration.

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Cauthery’s tour on 27 was coming to an end, but not before the annual Ellington Cup bombing contest, and a chance to avenge the previous year’s

defeat. On 3 March 1933 he set off in J9724 for Peshawar, where the competition was taking place. This time he emerged victorious, his final result better than in 1932 at 29 yards. The return flight to Kohat was his last on the squadron. Cauthery had accrued just short of 600 flying hours with the Wapiti since its introduction. The commanding officer of 27, Wg Cdr Bryer, annotated the relevant page of Ronald’s logbook to say that his flying proficiency was “above the average.”

ABOVE: Wapiti J9746 of No 27 Squadron is prepared for righting after an undercarriage collapse at Razmak, India, in 1933.

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BELOW: The fuselage-side stripe marks J9733 out as a No 60 Squadron Wapiti, pictured over its Kohat base.

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WAPI TI S OV ER INDIA

ABOVE: At an unknown location, a Hawker Hart starts up alongside a pair of 27’s Wapitis, J9723 and J9722.

For No 27 Squadron, the Wapiti era on the North-West Frontier — its regular taskings still much the same — had years to run. At the start of October 1939 it was announced that the unit was to “form the nucleus of the first Flying Training School ever

Ronald Cauthery’s RAF career, meanwhile, took a different turn. After leave upon returning from India, he was posted to No 1 AntiAircraft Co-operation Unit at Weston Zoyland, flying the Hawker Horsley and de Havilland Moth. Going to

‘No 27 Squadron carried on flying the Wapiti even after October 1939’ BELOW: Supply packages hang under the wings of No 60 Squadron Wapiti J9716.

to be formed in India”. Even then it carried on flying the Westland biplanes, though the date on which the last was retired does not appear in the squadron records. Now on Bristol Blenheims, operational duty recommenced in late 1940.

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Henlow for an officers’ engineering course, he joined the technical branch. In wartime he went to Canada as part of the RAF’s flying training set-up, and was an Air Ministry overseer at Westland until 1944, taking in the start of the Wyvern project. Rising

through the ranks, he retired as a group captain on 8 January 1958. Ronald died in 1993. Apart from his logbooks and associated records, Ronald’s son Simon has another memento of his father’s RAF days. A few years ago, he discovered — by pure chance — the very MG J2 two-seat roadster that Ronald had bought new when he came back to Britain in 1933. The car had lain neglected in a shed for half a century. Simon spent a couple of years getting it back on the road, and now uses it when time and weather permit. Now, if only someone could resurrect a Wapiti… ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: With thanks to Simon Cauthery.

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64 Gore Road, London, SW20 8JL • tel. 020 8540 0700

C AF H O USTO N W IN G

Goo od

ABOVE: Aubie Pearman captaining the CAF Houston Wing’s Lockheed C-60A over Houston Bay.

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AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

Tim mes over the Gulf Coasst

‘Promoted’ to its current status four years ago, the Commemorative Air Force’s Houston Wing has a varied collection, with the very fine Lockheed C-60 Lodestar Goodtime Gal as its flagship WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: LUIGINO CALIARO

T

exas, of course, has always been the Commemorative Air Force’s home turf. In the Houston area alone can be found three CAF units, the Houston Wing among them. Its home base is the West Houston general aviation airport, situated around 13 miles west of the city. The wing operates from Hangar B-5, which also hosts the unit museum. This

display area is filled with memorabilia and documents, mainly from the Second World War, and is open to the public free of charge on the first and third Saturdays of each month. As far as events are concerned, the Houston Wing holds an annual Open House, and — along with the Gulf Coast Wing and the ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ group — is a co-sponsor of the Wings over Houston Airshow at Ellington Airport.

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CA F HO USTON WING

ABOVE: PT-19 Cornell and N3N-3 make an attractive trainer duo.

What is now the Houston Wing was constituted within the then Confederate Air Force as the West Houston Squadron of the West Texas Wing in June 1978. At the outset it had three members and operated only member-owned aircraft. Since then, membership has grown to more than 130, and six aeroplanes are today assigned. The first was received in 1982, when the CAF sent to Houston an N3N trainer project. It proved a demanding task to rebuild it to flyable condition, as it was necessary to create a composite of two different airframes, but the work was completed after eight years. Having briefly operated Douglas C-47 Dragon Lady before it was handed over to CAF Headquarters, the unit decided during the early 1980s to specialise in small training aircraft, and over the next few years the AT-6, BT-13 and a Stinson 108 (now with the Gulf Coast Wing) arrived. In more recent times, the C-60, PT-19 and a North American L-17 Navion restoration project were purchased by the squadron and donated

Another milestone that October was dispensation for the C-60 to fly parachutists, including paratroop re-enactors. This is undoubtedly a big plus when it comes to marketing Goodtime Gal to airshows. The first show to see a para drop from the Lodestar was, appropriately enough, Wings over Houston in October 2015. The current Houston Wing leader is Col John Cotter, a United Airlines Boeing 787 pilot on international routes who also flies B-17G Texas Raiders of the Gulf Coast Wing at Spring, Texas, and is part-owner of a beautifully restored T-28A Trojan. He joined the CAF in 2006, and says, “My interest in World War Two airplanes started during my college flight training, and I have wanted to fly them ever since. The CAF makes it possible for me to fly and share a part of history with the public. Without the CAF, this would not be possible.” The fleet is dominated by trainers. Noorduyn-built AT-16 Harvard II N9790Z (c/n 07-15) was originally taken on charge by the Royal Canadian

‘All five of the Houston Wing’s airworthy aeroplanes have been approved for the Historic Flight Experience programme’ to the CAF, which then assigned them back to the squadron for operation and maintenance. Wing status was granted in 2012. All five of the Houston Wing’s airworthy aeroplanes have been approved since 2015 for the Historic Flight Experience programme, and consequently are available for rides.

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Air Force with serial RCAF 3048 on 20 May 1941. It served with No 2 Service Flying Training School at Uplands, Ontario and No 16 SFTS at Hagersville, Ontario. After the war, the aircraft was used at RCAF Station Centralia, Ontario, and by Nos 2 and 3 Flying Training Schools. Struck off charge on 1 November 1960, it was

bought by CAF founder Lloyd Nolen in 1963. Vultee BT-13 Valiant N27003 was produced in 1941 and delivered to the US Army Air Force as serial 41-21178. It flew more than 600 hours during 1942-43 in the course of pilot training at Goodfellow Army Air Field (AAF) in San Angelo, Texas. At the end of the war the airframe was sold for $500 to a cropduster who wanted the engine. Few other details are known, but it was purchased by a CAF colonel who saw the Valiant mounted on top of a welding shop in Utah as an eyecatcher. After restoration of the fuselage began, the project moved to Col Rick Sharpe in Texas, but he lacked the time to finish it so the machine was donated to the Gulf Coast Wing for completion. The BT-13 flew again on 26 June 1982 after 18 months and 2,500 man-hours of work.

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This year, the Valiant has been selected as part of the CAF’s annual ‘12 Planes of Christmas’ online fundraising effort. As a result it will receive a new radio and transponder, and be given a repaint. In connection with a CAF educational outreach programme, the BT-13’s new colour scheme will depict an aircraft on which Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) trained at Sweetwater, Texas. The wing’s Naval Aircraft Factory N3N, N44741, was constructed as an N3N-3 with BuNo 02781. The biplane was obtained by the CAF in 1991, and after restoration it has been re-engined with a Lycoming R-680, rated at 300hp, instead of the standard NAF-Wright R-760-2 powerplant. Fairchild PT-19 Cornell N50808 is a 1943-vintage machine with c/n 7653AE. It is powered by a 200hp Ranger inverted in-line six-cylinder

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engine. This aircraft was donated by wing members Gale Haskins and Terry Metts in 2012. It is notably popular with the wing’s pilots, as the Cornell is very pleasant to fly and the view from the open cockpit is fantastic.

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Without doubt the star of the Houston Wing, however, is Lockheed C-60A Lodestar N45330. Goodtime Gal is one of very few airworthy examples of this military version of the popular Lockheed 18 civil transport. The machine was used by the US military as a fast personnel and light transport. Depending upon engines and interior configuration, they were given the C-56, C-57, C-59 or C-60 type designations. The type was also used for parachute and navigation training and for towing Waco CG-4A

Hadrian troop-carrying gliders. Most military C-60s were based at South Plain AAF in Lubbock, Texas, the largest glider training base in the USA. A total of 625 Lodestars of all variants were built, 325 of them C-60As, the most numerous military version. After the war, many were sold into private hands, large numbers ending up with small airlines in South America. The Houston Wing’s aircraft rolled off the Lockheed production line in Burbank, California, during 1943. It was assigned to the Army Air Force with serial 42-56005 for utility transport duties on the home front. With hostilities all but over, it was bought on 6 January 1945 by Skyways International Trading & Transport for use as a freighter, registered NC45330. Sold to Nicaragua as AN-ADI, the aircraft was modified to carry passengers with the national airline LANICA.

ABOVE: The BT-13 Valiant and Harvard II in formation. The Vultee trainer will soon receive a new colour scheme.

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CA F HO USTON WING

ABOVE: Goodtime Gal depicts a standard Army Air Force C-60 transport from the war years, which is exactly what this aircraft was.

The Lodestar returned to the USA in the early 1950s, now becoming an executive transport. It served with a number of different corporations, including General Dynamics and US Steel. Several minor airlines and smaller companies used the aircraft before it came to be employed as an atmospheric and weather research platform during the early 1970s. Numerous other operators followed, the C-60 being converted back to

made project co-ordinator. Aside from systems checks and engine overhauls, the biggest job was repairing the wings, which had been affected by some corrosion. After more than 2,500 man-hours, the C-60 was configured as a paratroop transport, with jump lights and a static line hook-up. It made its first postrestoration flight on 26 August 2011. The Houston Wing decided to paint the aircraft with the typical olive drab

‘The C-60 is light on the controls, responsive and well-balanced. In typical Lockheed fashion, it is a pilot’s airplane’ FAR RIGHT: Its pilots praise the C-60A’s performance and handling characteristics.

parachute-dropping configuration in 1992 while flying in Alaska. The CAF acquired the aircraft during the summer of 2002, with the intention of restoring it to its original condition. N45330 was duly ferried to West Houston Airport. Although it was in relatively good condition, work was put on hold in 2004 due to other high-priority tasks. Only in April 2010 was it restarted, Ulf Brynjestadt being

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livery used by the US Army during the war, together with the name Goodtime Gal and accompanying nose art. John Cotter says of the C-60: “It has Wright R-1820 engines, [each] producing 1,200hp, allowing a highspeed cruise of greater than 210kt. We typically cruise our C-60 [at] around 160kt while using 95 gallons per hour of 100LL fuel. When flying airshows with the C-47 [Bluebonnet

Belle of the Highland Lakes Squadron at Bluebonnet, Texas] we normally run about 28in of manifold pressure while the [C-47] will be running near climb power — 34in — for similar air speeds. So, it is very apparent that the C-60 can cruise faster on less power than the [C-47], but it is smaller and has a lower payload. “Though it is capable of a high cruise speed, it is equally capable of landing at very slow speeds. The huge Fowler flaps allow approach speeds as low as 85kt with a touchdown at 75kt. Our home airfield is 3,999ft long and is more than suitable for our C-60. “Compared to other aircraft of its era, the C-60 is a joy to fly. I have flown the B-24 and currently fly the B-17. Both of these large World War Two bombers are very heavy on the controls and sluggish to respond to aileron inputs. You might say they are truck-like. On the other hand, the C-60 is like a sports car. It is light on the controls, responsive and wellbalanced. In typical Lockheed fashion, it is a pilot’s airplane.” For further information, visit www.houstonwing.org

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

A IR A N GLI A

BIGG GER than it LOOKED

As Nicholas Parsons and Anglia TV’s ‘Sale of the Century’ bestrode the ITV schedules, so the region’s own airline was helping boost the profile of East Anglia still further WORDS: BRUCE HALES-DUTTON

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AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

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n its first year, passenger numbers tripled. In the second and third they doubled. By the end of the fourth, traffic had risen by half as much again. For the early 1970s, when most other carriers were struggling with a quadruple increase in oil prices, that wasn’t bad. For an outfit run by two men who’d spent the previous 20 years operating seaside pleasure flights and air taxi services it was amazing. Sure, Air Anglia was in the right place at the right time for the opportunities emerging with the nascent North Sea oil and gas industry. But it took vision to see how to exploit them. The two founders of Air Anglia were certainly men of vision. “They both believed that North Sea oil was going to last longer than the five years that had been predicted in the early years”, Phil Chapman tells Aeroplane. But the Norwich-based carrier’s former commercial director also maintains that Air Anglia wouldn’t have got off the ground if the bigger airlines had pre-empted it by starting

competing scheduled operations to Aberdeen. “They could easily have done so. We were incredibly lucky.” Air Anglia also had some bright ideas for establishing itself in the marketplace. One was to manage its schedules to ensure as many of its aircraft as possible could be seen parked at a particular airport. That way, Chapman says, “people got the idea we were bigger and therefore, hopefully, more reliable.” When Air Anglia did manage to get permission to operate to Heathrow, it was determined to exploit that opportunity too. The publicity people devised what they thought was a rather good wheeze. “We despatched sales manager Mike Finlay with three of our young ladies to hand out packets of sweets to all the check-in desks”, Chapman recalls. The idea, says Finlay, was to make airport staff “aware of the interlining opportunities now available from the new services to Norwich”. He says the girls were particularly well-equipped to deliver the message via the T-shirts they were wearing. “In those days”, Chapman acknowledges, “it was quite acceptable, but it probably wouldn’t

be now”. The message printed on the T-shirts read “Bigger than you think.” The Terminal 1 manager was outraged. It seemed he hadn’t been consulted about the stunt. He demanded it be stopped immediately but Finlay and the girls went to persuade him to change his mind. Phil Chapman recalls that he was prepared to allow it, “just this once but never again.” There were plenty of people who did like the T-shirts, though. “They were very popular,” says Phil Chapman. “We had letters from all over the world. Typical was one from a chap in Australia who asked for a dozen. He said: ‘By the way, you don’t do underpants as well, do you?’” Yet the operation from Heathrow involved an aircraft that could hardly be described as big. In 1977, in a move described by Flight as “expanding downwards”, Air Anglia acquired a pair of piston-engined Piper Navajo Chieftain light twins tw w to fly a variety of routes that included Norwich and Humberside to Heathrow. Their pilots weren’t intimidated by the heavier metal with which they were sharing taxiway space at the world’s

BELOW: Air Anglia DC-3 G-AGJV at Greenham Common, where it was providing pleasure flights during the Embassy Air Tatt ttoo t 74. CARL FORD/ AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM

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A I R ANGLIA

ABOVE: ‘Wilbur’ Wright (left) and Jim Crampton, founders and joint MDs of Air Anglia.

VIA MIKE FINLAY

busiest international airport. “They were brilliant”, Chapman says. “One morning we were behind a Boeing 727 and our skipper called up to ask if the aircraft could speed up a bit!” Air Anglia had style. But not in their wildest dreams could Gordon ‘Wilbur’ Wright and Jim Crampton ‘Wilb have expected things to end up as they did when they sank their savings into what w they hoped would become successful s operations. They began independently of each other in 1950 to offer pleasure flights from grass strips in Norfolk using light aircraft. Later, they joined j forces to support oil and gas g exploration. But within a year they the had combined their assets into a single singl airline operating scheduled and charter chart flights. Wright and his wife Joyce started Anglian Air Charter with a single Auster V flying joyrides in the Great Yarmouth area from an 1,800ft runway at their

They too began with pleasure flights, using a grass strip near Norwich for their Fairchild Argus and Auster aircraft. By the end of the year, the operation had established itself at RAF Swanton Morley close to Dereham, which became its base for pleasure flights over local seaside resorts. When the Argus was sold in 1951 the fleet became an all-Auster one. Ten-minute joyrides for holidaymakers represented the staple of the company’s operations for the rest of the decade. But in 1962 it became a fully-fledged airline with capital of £1,000. Directors were Crampton and his wife Barbara. The company had now obtained a Piper Aztec, which enabled it to fly charters for the insurance giant Norwich Union. This was supplemented by air taxi operations, but pleasure flying was still an important part of the business. Two Austers were based at Clacton-on-Sea for the summer. In the winter they

‘We were allowed to do lots of things that our competitors thought were unseemly’

OPPOSITE: Passengers boarding DC-3 G-AOBN at its Norwich base in 1973. AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM COLLECTION

own airfield at North Denes. There was plenty of work each summer, and in winter they existed on a mixture of aerial photography and charters. Business was so good that the fleet expanded with Auster types including J/1 Autocrats and J/1N Alphas. By the end of the decade the company had bought a Cessna 170, F172H and 206 to replace the ageing Austers. In March 1970, with the start of North Sea oil operations, a BrittenNorman Islander was acquired. It was used for summer pleasure flights as well. Crampton and Capt D. Burgess started Norfolk Airways in March 1950.

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undertook aerial photography and survey work, some of it on behalf of the government. During the 1960s the company operated a variety of twin-engined aircraft including a Beech Baron, Cessna Super Skymaster, de Havilland Dove, Piper Twin Comanche and several Piper Aztecs. By 1969 both Wright and Crampton had become convinced that oil and gas exploration offered a major business opportunity. The two combined to establish Rig-Air to support oil and gas operations in the North Sea and off the coast of East Anglia.

Initially, Rig-Air Rii had a mix of aircraft drawn from the Anglian Air Charter and Norfolk Airways fleets, but in November 1969 it took delivery of a Douglas DC-3. Based at Norwich Airport, this aircraft was flown on oil industry support work but also undertook ad hoc charter operations, some of which involved destinations like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Stavanger. A national dock strike helped boost business for Rig-Air, which used its DC-3 and Anglian Air Charter’s Islander to transport stranded goods all over the UK and the near Continent. In the midst of this, in July 1970, it was announced that the three operations were to merge into one, to be called Air Anglia. Norwich Union would be the majority shareholder. The focus was on support for the oil and gas industry, but the new operation would continue to run pleasure flights. The fleet of piston-engined aircraft included the DC-3 (G-AM AMPZ) M previously operated by Rig-Air Rii — Air Anglia would fly three of the Douglas tw twins w — plus several smaller machines. “Wilbur Wright owned a Cessna 206, which he used for pleasure flights out of Great Yarmouth”, Phil Chapman recalls. In addition, there was a jointly-owned Cessna 172 in which Crampton made a daily run betw tween w Norwich and Grimsby carrying film for Anglia TV. Other corporate clients included Rowntree-Mackintosh, Reckitt & Colman and, of course, Norwich Union. Wright and Crampton were joint managing directors, and ran Air Anglia from modest offices in a hangar at Norwich Airport. Many of its pilots wore the ribbons of service decorations on their uniforms. Phil Chapman joined in 1972 as assistant commercial manager. “It was bloody hard work”, he recalls. The ladies who ran the office also booked the charters and, on occasions, acted as air hostesses, while office staff helped clean the aircraft. “Wilbur and Jim were exceptional people even if they didn’t look

ABOVE: Caption CREDIT

BELOW: Caption

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like airline whizkids. Jim was quite unassuming, although Wilbur could be a bit loud sometimes. They were also tremendous delegators. When I became commercial director, I realised I had their lives in my hands. They’d put everything into the business and mortgaged their homes up to the hilt.” As majority shareholder, Norwich Union was “tough as old boot nails to deal with”. But, Chapman says, “they allowed us to do lots of things that our competitors just thought were unseemly. Like the T-shirts.” The business expanded rapidly. In 1971-72 its aircraft carried around 8,000 passengers, 23,000 the following year, 48,000 in 1972-73, and 75,000 in 1973-74. These passengers, it should be pointed out, were travelling on scheduled services. In fact, Air Anglia had become a scheduled service operation within months of its formation. In December 1970 the Rig-Air Rii Islander began operating betw tween w Norwich and Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Six months later, the carrier launched services to

Liverpool and Manchester using the Islander and a Piper Aztec. In the early days, travelling on some of Air Anglia’s services required a certain amount of preparation by passengers. It could take all day — and, rumour had it, part of the night — to complete the round trip from Norwich to Aberdeen by Islander, particularly if there were headwinds. The thing was, as Phil Chapman points out, “The Islander had no toilet, but then nor did the Piper Navajo Chieftain we used on the Norwich-Stavanger route. That could take two tw w hours 45 minutes”. As a result, notices were displayed at check-in advising passengers to make use of the airport’s facilities before boarding. In 1971 two tw w more DC-3s were acquired, mainly to transport oil rig workers betw tween w Aberdeen and Sumburgh on contract to Shell and Esso. That December the type launched Air Anglia’s third scheduled route, from Norwich to Amsterdam. It was the carrier’s first international service. The decision to apply for Amsterdam was taken when it seemed highly

unlikely that Air Anglia would be able to operate from Heathrow. At the same time, the airline’s bosses agreed that support for the oil and gas industry would continue to be the core business. “Those were our guiding principles”, says Chapman. Mike Finlay remembers that it was Chapman who persuaded Wright and Crampton that there had to be adequate frequency if a route was to be profitable. “That’s why we operated twice tw w daily on the Aberdeen-Amsterdam route from the start and daily on Saturdays and Sundays”, he says. “Everybody thought we’d fail, but we didn’t.” Indeed, many in the industry found it hard to believe there was enough traffic on the route to sustain it. “Nobody was interested until it was seen that oil was going to be big and long-term”, Chapman states. It was hardly surprising that the acquisition of modern equipment was a major event for the airline. In 1974, when a pair of Fokk kker k F27s joined the fleet for use on the Amsterdam route, the airline’s publicity machine went into

TOP: F27-200 G-BAUR was one of the first Friendships to join the fleet. VIA BEN DUNNELL

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A I R ANGLIA high gear. It devised the message, “A little Friendship takes you a long way.” Air Anglia reached a joint marketing agreement with KLM the same year, under which the Dutch major agreed to host Air Anglia’s services on its reservations computer. This key development was mutually beneficial, not only helping improve Air Anglia’s passenger figures but also providing

flown by turboprop aircraft in the British Isles at the time. The addition of further F27s led to year-round schedules from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Humberside and Leeds-Bradford to Amsterdam, as well as from Edinburgh via Leeds to Paris-Orly, and from Aberdeen to Stavanger and Bergen. Air Anglia had become the only British carrier operating the F27. Wright

‘Wright rang to say he’d met someone in a Naples bar who had an F27 for sale’

BELOW: Three of the Friendships on the tarmac at Amsterdam Schiphol. The one in the middle, F27-400 PH-ARO, still wears the livery of its previous Libyan operator Linair. VIA MIKE FINLAY

additional traffic from the UK regions for KLM’s long-haul flights. Chapman remembers that, on the day the service was launched, two British Airways passengers travelling to Heathrow realised they could connect with Houston via Amsterdam, which wasn’t possible from Heathrow. They were refused permission to switch flights, so bought new tickets for the Air Anglia service. Both were travelling first-class. “On some days”, Chapman recounts, “we must have been one of the few KLM partners who could ring their operations people and ask for the Houston service [from Amsterdam] to be delayed because we could have up to 10 first-class passengers joining from Aberdeen.” Aberdeen In 1978, British Caledonian started the Gatwick-Houston Gatw service that had been agreed agr under the terms of the Bermuda Bermud II agreement with the USA. Phil Chapman C remembers how, at the time of its launch, a BCal representative repr visited a Houston travel trav agent to announce he was from fr “Britain’s oilman’s airline”. The unexpected response was: “Gee, are you from Air Anglia?” Summer-only scheduled services were operated from Norwich, Humberside and Aberdeen to Jersey. The latter represented the longest route

insisted that the decision to acquire the Dutch-built turboprop had been taken only after examination of competing types. Ease of maintenance was a major factor in the choice. “Amsterdam is closer to Norwich than any British civil aircraft factory”, Wright pointed out. The acquisition of the second F27 was a matter of luck, as good examples weren’t that easy to come by. “Wilbur was on holiday in Naples”, Chapman recalls. “He rang me at 2am to say he’d met someone in a bar who had one for sale.” With two daily flights between the two cities, the supply of spares to meet short-notice needs was relatively simple. According to Chapman, technical delays were averaging less than one per cent. Requests made in the morning to get grounded aircraft back in the air could be satisfied the same evening. The aircraft were flying around 1,600 to 1,700 hours a year. One was employed more or less full-time on what had become the oil industry’s major weekday commuter run that linked Norwich, Teesside and Aberdeen with Amsterdam. A key issue at this time was devising schedules that met the demands of most customers. This resulted in decent load factors although it depressed aircraft utilisation. According to Flight, whose reporter visited the airline early in 1974, the airline was making a profit on

the Norwich-Aberdeen sector with 24 passengers. In fact, Flight’s man reported that when he travelled he was in danger of being stranded because the aircraft was full. These were mostly genuine full-fare passengers, even though they carried hard hats and toolboxes rather than briefcases. This, Flight observed, was “something that larger and more prestigious airlines may look upon with envy.” By the mid-1970s the DC-3s, which were used mainly for charter work, were available as back-up for the F27s. As it happened, they were seldom called upon. Annual utilisation averaged around 800 hours. “The great thing about the DC-3s”, Wright observed at the time, “is that they can sit on the ground while waiting for a return load and still not lose money”. Typically, such loads comprised two oil rig crews. Air Anglia operated a total of four DC-3s, but after the introduction of the F27s two were sold and another cannibalised for spares. The last DC-3 in the airline’s service. G-AGJV, was employed by the Air Anglia Cargo division until retirement in November 1975. After that a pair of Armstrong Whitworth Argosy freighters were leased from Air Bridge Carriers. A three-times weekly service from Aberdeen to Stavanger was inaugurated during 1974. Links between Norwich and Aberdeen were reinforced by operating via Leeds-Bradford and Edinburgh every weekday. By this time the airline was operating profitably. It had plans to move into the leisure business with a subsidiary company to promote its Humberside-Norwich-Jersey service, and it wanted to capitalise on Dutch interest in the Norfolk Broads as a low-cost holiday destination. But this certainly didn’t mean a move away from the oil and gas business. There were more new services in 1975. The principle of maximum frequency was applied to EdinburghAmsterdam and Leeds-Edinburgh-

Aberdeen-Edinburgh-Leeds, with twice-daily services. During the autumn Air Anglia received regulatory dispensation to launch Leeds-Bradford to Amsterdam, a route British Airways’ subsidiary Northeast had recently abandoned. By the end of the decade Air Anglia considered itself ready for jets. In 1979 two Fokker F28-4000s joined the fleet, although the airline had been operating an F28-1000 leased from the manufacturer. The

F28 Fellowships were to be based at Edinburgh and link the Scottish capital, as well as Aberdeen and Newcastle, with Paris. The acquisition resulted in another catchy slogan (“Quicker than you think”), but it might not have been the right move at the right time. Peter Villa, boss of rival British Island Airways, says: “They put 85-seater aeroplanes on what had previously been operated by 44-seat F27s, and then they put F27s on routes that had been operated by Chieftains. The traffic didn’t come up to the requirements. I don’t think they’d really worked out the market potential — it very rapidly became obvious they were losing a fortune.” Villa was soon to be in a good position to know the intimate details of Air Anglia’s finances. In 1980 the airline interests that British and Commonwealth Shipping retained after the sale of British United to Caledonian that produced British Caledonian Airways were merged with Air Anglia. Villa was appointed chief executive of the resulting operation, which now became the UK’s third biggest scheduled service airline, having a domestic route network that put British Airways’ in the shade. It was called Air UK. But until things settled down it was to be an unhappy marriage. Phil Chapman, who was appointed general manager of the new airline’s Anglia division, calls the differences between Air Anglia and

BIA “chalk and cheese”. Indeed, there were few synergies. Air Anglia’s reservations process was fullyy automated while BIA’s was, accordingg to Chapman, “based on a card system.” There were few meeting points between the airlines’ route networks, although Air Anglia had ventured from its east coast heartland to launch West Country operations. A NorwichBirmingham-Swansea-Newquay service, then the UK’s longest cross-country route, using a Navajo Chieftain wasn’t particularly successful. One of the sectors, Swansea-Newquay, did, however, prove quite popular for a while. “We discovered it was due to the movement of RAF personnel between St Mawgan and Valley”, recalls Phil Chapman. Wright and Crampton became Air UK board members, but soon retired when they discovered the new situation didn’t suit them. Chapman reveals: “We’d actually considered buying BIA a few years earlier but it didn’t suit us.” Today, Air Anglia lives on, in spirit at least. Staff reunions are held every three years, with the most recent in late 2015. It was attended by 90 people. “When you think that it was a minimum of 36 years ago”, says the organiser, Mike Finlay, “that wasn’t bad.” But working for Air Anglia had been extremely good fun. “I don’t think I enjoyed myself more in my life”, Finlay says. “We found a niche nobody else had gone for.”

ABOVE: Air Anglia leased the first production F28-1000 Fellowship, PH-MOL, from August 1978 to July 1979. VIA MIKE FINLAY

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AUSTRA L IAN MOSQUITOS

The triumphs and tragedies encountered by de Havilland Australia in production of the Mosquito — and the key role played by one man WORDS: BRIAN VAN DE WATER

LEFT: A portrait of John Mills from the immediate post-war period. Mills was a key figure in Australian Mosquito production. VIA STEVE MILLS

MILLS and the ‘MOSSIE’

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o call the Royal Australian Air Force of 1937 a ‘force’ in the truest sense of the word could be viewed as a misnomer. Small numbers of Hawker Demons and Avro Ansons made up its offensive and defensive strength, and the country’s aircraft manufacturing capability was nonexistent. This situation was the result of a government policy since 1919 which assumed that, in the event of hostilities, Australia’s needs would be met by aircraft supplied by British factories. But by 1941 Australia had created a thriving aviation industry, initiated by industrialist Essington Lewis. With the support of the federal government, he founded the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) to manufacture the Wirraway, which entered service in 1939. After that came the Government Aircraft Factory, which built the Bristol Beaufort to the tune of 746 examples. Rising to the occasion too was Sydney-based de Havilland Australia (DHA), set up in 1927 by Hereward

de Havilland — brother of Sir Geoffrey. A sales and service outfit, it assembled Moths from components shipped over by the parent company. During 1937, general manager Maj Allan Murray Jones started to assemble a team of graduate engineers in order to expand the capabilities of the small organisation. First to be employed was John Mills, a graduate in science and engineering who, at the age of 22, had little practical experience. He was posted to Hatfield to spend almost two years circulating through the manufacturing and design departments. A notable experience was a flight in a DH94 Moth Minor in the hands of young test pilot John Cunningham, as a result of which Mills returned to Australia with a complete set of drawings for the aircraft. From those, DHA later produced 41 Moth Minors for RAAF training purposes. Back home, he was appointed works manager to develop the inhouse production of Tiger Moths, a programme that supplied 1,085 examples for the Empire Air Training Scheme. In 1940, DHA created its Propeller Division with John Mills as technical manager. By the end of 1941, its workforce had grown to more than 1,000, and in excess of 2,000 propellers were produced during the war years. The RAAF still lacked a single-seat fighter as of 1941. In a previously untold story, a concerned Murray Jones created a design group, led by John Mills, to develop a locally produced fighter. The proposed engine was the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 being manufactured by CAC for fitment to Beauforts. Design proposal ADH-1 for an aircraft utilising a fabric-covered steel tube fuselage and wooden wings was completed and presented to the RAAF, but rejected. Unknown to DHA, the government had decided in late 1941 to build the Mosquito in Australia in order to fill the fighter gap. Ironically, CAC, responding to the desperate need for a fighter in February 1942, came up with the Boomerang (see ‘Database’, Aeroplane August 2016) several months after the similar machine proposed by DHA. The government nominated DHA in late 1941 to manufacture the Mosquito FB40. John Mills travelled back to Britain the following January to obtain technical data and gain production experience. He went via the USA where — through the office of the Australian ambassador, Sir Richard Casey — Packard was contracted to supply Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. Having experienced all major aspects of Mosquito manufacturing, Mills returned to Australia in July 1942, “with a heavy briefcase, plus protective strap, containing all the precious material about the top-secret Mosquito on microfilm. Naturally I had to take special precautions, especially on overnight stops. A covering letter from

the Prime Minister worked wonders whenever the contents of the briefcase came under question.” John Mills was put in charge of Mosquito production. With the aid of advisors sent from the parent company, drawings were produced from the microfilms, a bill of materials compiled, specialist teams assembled, and the laborious task of selecting more than 100 sub-contractors initiated. The final division of work saw the manufacturing of most metal components and minor wood assemblies being sub-contracted, leaving DHA to concentrate on the wing and fuselage. The unlikely location chosen for fuselage construction was the fourth floor of the Bradford Mill building in an inner Sydney suburb, some 30km (18.5 miles) from the eventual final assembly site at Bankstown airfield. DHA produced sample wings before sub-contracting production to the local General Motors Holden (GMH) factory, a move that later resulted in a major problem. GMH insisted on controlling all aspects of manufacturing, including quality control. All spruce and balsa for the primary structure was imported, but Australian timber was employed in many elements of the secondary structure. Initially, it was planned to use local coachwood ply in the wing skins and spar webs. This decision was later reversed, as related by Merv Waghorn, an engineer seconded from Hatfield who was delegated to make design changes: “The shear strength and shear [modulus] tests I did on coachwood demonstrated that, although it met the same specifications as [4 x 3] birch ply, it could not match [the] results achieved on birch ply at Hatfield using identical test conditions. I therefore made the decision to increase the spar web thickness for coachwood, the first major modification to the Mosquito developed in Australia. “This proved to cause problems because it reduced the chordwise dimension of the space into which the wing tanks were fitted and required reduction of the chordwise dimension

LEFT: An impressive line of de Havilland Australia-built Mosquito FB40s in service with No 5 Operational Training Unit, RAAF, at Williamtown in New South Wales. In the foreground is A52-62, later converted to PR41 standard and re-serialled as A52-324. VIA HARS

‘Mills returned with a briefcase containing the material on microfilm’ of the tank doors, so that they were not interchangeable with those on English and Canadian Mosquitos and made them hard to install. Before production was under way, the plan of using coachwood was abandoned and we used imported birch ply throughout, so the whole modification was unnecessary.” The integrity of glued joints in the Mosquito’s wing in the hot and

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TOP: The fuselage production plant, on the upper floor of a disused mill building in a Sydney suburb, was somewhat primitive. VIA HARS ABOVE: A row of completed Mosquito FB40 fuselages following delivery to Bankstown. Nearest the camera is A52-43, delivered in November 1944. VIA HARS

humid conditions experienced in and to the north of Australia was of major concern right from the start. Some predicted that the glue would turn to paste, causing catastrophic structural failures. In response, DHA issued a lengthy, reassuring technical bulletin, but it is doubtful whether the wording inspired complete confidence! The final paragraph said: “It is to be admitted […] that the durability of this type of construction under the severe climatic conditions prevailing in our tropical areas has not yet been satisfactorily proven. It is not anticipated, however, that any major difficulties will arise which attention to careful maintenance cannot solve. First batches of aircraft from local production will be fabricated using Casein glue; later batches will, however, largely employ Urea Formaldehyde glue of the best proven type, and it is anticipated that such aircraft will be far more resistant to the high humidity conditions pertaining in the tropics.”

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A site at Bankstown airfield just outside Sydney was chosen for construction of the final assembly building, completed in early 1943. The first Mosquito to get air under its wheels in Australia was a ‘pattern’ aircraft shipped from Hatfield and flown at Bankstown by Sqn Ldr Bruce ‘Tin Leg’ Rose, RAAF — who had lost a leg after striking the propeller of a Beaufighter from which he was baling out — on 17 December 1942. It was powered by Rolls-Royce-manufactured Merlins, replaced by Packard Merlins in March 1943.

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The enthusiasm, dedication and efforts of the DHA management and staff were rewarded when Wg Cdr Gibson Lee took the first Australian Mosquito, FB40 serial A52-1, into the air from Bankstown on 23 July 1943. It was only 12 months after John Mills had returned from Hatfield. With all major problems seemingly

resolved, 370 examples were ordered by the RAAF. DHA predicted the delivery of 50 by the end of 1943, and a production rate of 50 per month through 1944. Unfortunately, these forecasts proved to be wildly optimistic. Only one aircraft had reached the air force by early 1944, and a grand total of 18 locally produced Mosquitos had been delivered as of the end of that year. Attempts to ramp up production encountered major obstacles. Among them were sub-contractor delays, faulty materials, a twist in the starboard wing associated with the fuel tank door, a shortage of labour — both skilled and unskilled — at a time when other industries were at full stretch meeting wartime orders, plus production stoppages and aircraft groundings following the structural failure of two Mosquitos. The first occurred on 19 June 1944 during a demonstration flight at Bankstown involving A52-12, the 12th aircraft off the production line.

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John Mills was the intended passenger, but he relinquished his seat at the last moment to Peter Rockingham, DHA’s supply manager. Piloted by Hubert Ross Walker, a test pilot seconded from CAC, the aircraft broke up at low altitude “during pull-out from a high-speed dive”, as witnessed and reported by Mills. Both occupants lost their lives. The wreckage was subject to intensive investigation, focusing, of course, on the glued joints, but Mills concluded: “there had not been any glue joint failure, each fracture showing timber coming away with the glue intact and maximum glue strength had been maintained. We concluded that there had been flutter starting at the wingtip causing tip failure and progressive peeling of the wing surface which continued rapidly.” Merv Waghorn wrote later, “a long cable was sent to Hatfield describing in detail how our wing appeared to have disintegrated and we expected a response expressing criticism of

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our competence. To our surprise, the cable in reply was quite short, did not criticise us, and stated that ‘we note your wingtip broke up progressively whereas sometimes it comes off in one piece’, our first realisation that structural failures of Mosquitos had occurred elsewhere. “An interim modification was developed to the wingtip attachment comprising a bolt passing vertically through the tip of each spar locking the Bakelite bolt strips to the spar. This diminished the likelihood that a

possibility. It consisted of a 1/16in plywood strip running from the rear spar right around the leading edge and about 1.5in wide, glued to the wing skin and wingtip skin.” There were indeed similar failures elsewhere. No 82 Squadron, RAF arrived in the Burma theatre with training commencing in late 1944. That November, the port wing of Mosquito FBVI HP919 disintegrated on a low-altitude practice bombing mission. Both occupants, Flt Lt A. Parker and navigator Alf Newman,

ABOVE: Bankstown’s final assembly facility, with wings produced by General Motors Holden being mated to fuselages. VIA HARS

‘The aircraft broke up at low altitude “during pull-out from a high-speed dive”’ fluttering wingtip would start peeling off the wing skin but did nothing about the fact that the wingtip was attached to the wing for only about half its chord and hence could still flutter. Later on I introduced a further modification to preclude this

were killed on impact. This was almost certainly the type of failure alluded to by the parent company in its reply to Waghorn’s report on the similar Australian mishap. A major quality deficiency was then discovered on a wing just delivered

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ABOVE: Numerous FB40s nearly ready for flight-testing at Bankstown. VIA HARS

BELOW: The completion of the first Mosquito flight in Australia. Pattern aircraft DD664, a MkII, was shipped over from Hatfield and took to the air from Bankstown on 17 December 1942. The pilot, Sqn Ldr Bruce Rose, can be seen descending from the cockpit; just visible at the foot of the ladder is John Mills who is apparently assisting Rose. VIA STEVE MILLS

from GMH, leading to a temporary crisis in relations between the two companies. John Mills recorded: “we discovered that some wings delivered from GMH were defective when wing MM121 was damaged by a crane and, during the repair, it was discovered that there had been faulty fitting of the top spar cap to the spar web. All aircraft were grounded around July/August 1944 for detailed inspections which included samples trepanned from the top skin and windows cut in the front spar to enable the wing/spar glue joint to be checked.” Merv Waghorn was sent immediately to GMH where, he reported, “I quickly saw that they were not following the correct procedure before gluing the heavy timber cap on the top of the front spar. The proper procedure was to dry-fit it with the surfaces to be glued coated with blue chalk. It then had to be planed by hand until the chalk demonstrated by registering on the spar top that the clearance was small enough to give a

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good glue joint. They were just taking the component as it came from one of the sub-contractors, coating it with glue, and whacking it into place. “I immediately spoke to the man in charge of wing production and told him to stop assembly as he was making unsafe wings. This led to an argument and I was soon wafted into the office of the chief executive, a big, fierce man who made it clear that stopping a GMH production line was a heinous crime, almost unthinkable, and he got very angry. He rang Murray Jones who arranged for John Mills to visit GM to resolve the issue.”

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A very tall man, Mills was well known for his amiable and friendly nature, but when required he could call on his commanding presence to assert his viewpoint or requirements. By then, with a year’s experience in dealing with sometimes recalcitrant sub-contractors, he was embroiled in discussions with the GMH chief executive, but the outcome was not in doubt. GMH agreed to Mills and DHA chief inspector Bill Isbister taking up temporary residence at its factory, followed by the permanent positioning there of three DHA inspectors. Unfortunately, further problems at GMH were uncovered following a second — fatal — structural failure. On 31 January 1945, serial A52-29 broke up while flying from Williamtown, north of Sydney, with the RAAF. Again DHA launched an investigation. It found, “our inspections of glue joints between the top upper skin to front and rear spar booms indicate that wings up to serial

49 may be unsatisfactory and remedial action should be taken before any further flying.” Between then and May 1945, 31 Mosquitos were inspected, of which only six were declared satisfactory. Enhanced production methods were introduced, but rectification work to the affected aircraft caused further delays to the whole programme. The first two structural failures related above were both witnessed by a handful of individuals, but a third had a much larger audience. Although the aircraft in question was not DHA-produced, the very public event must have shaken confidence in the structural integrity of the Mosquito. DHA was contracted in 1945 to assemble 12 Mosquito FBVIs for No 618 Squadron, RAF. One of them, HR576, took off from Bankstown for an air test on 2 May 1945. It was piloted by Flt Lt David Rockford accompanied by LAC Charles Boydell, who was enjoying the privilege of a flight in a Mosquito. Instead of operating over the usual countryside test zones, Rockford headed towards Sydney. At 11.30hrs, both wings separated from the fuselage over the densely populated suburb of Petersham. The wings — each complete with engine — spiralled down. Fortuitously they landed on roads instead of houses, while the fuselage shattered and the cockpit area containing the pilot impacted in the schoolyard of Petersham Girls’ School, just outside two classrooms where 60 students were at lessons. The passenger was thrown out and landed some distance away. Wreckage examination found no evidence of structural deficiencies. This, coupled with the nature of the failure, led to the finding: “it was strongly

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suspected that a too vicious pull-out from a dive had caused disintegration, possibly caused by unauthorised and misjudged aerobatics.” In late 1944 John Mills, now aged 29, became chief engineer of DHA. He moved to the corporate headquarters, now in the city of Sydney. Travelling via the Qantas ‘double sunrise’ Catalina service across the Indian Ocean, he also made his third visit to Hatfield, where he compared notes on wing manufacture and spent time with Ronald Bishop, the Mosquito’s chief designer, discussing future de Havilland developments. However, Australian Mosquito production was still handicapped by line stoppages and groundings, compounded by changing requirements from the RAAF on the role of the aircraft. Australian-made examples would play only a minor operational role before the end of the war in August 1945. The first wartime activity by DHA-built Mosquitos was in photo-reconnaissance to the north of Australia. The configuration of 23 such aircraft was changed from FB40 to PR40/41 standard during production and, with No 87 Squadron, they progressively become operational in small numbers from May 1944. These aeroplanes were supplemented in mid-year by 76 imported from British factories, of which 23 were PRXVIs. DHA Mosquito A52-2 completed nine operational PR sorties in June 1944 covering Java, Borneo and the Philippines, including one long-range return flight of 3,600km (2,235 miles). The first recorded offensive action by a DHA-built FB40 was in March 1945, when A52-526 of No 1 Squadron, flown by Plt Off A. Barras, strafed barges on the New Guinea coast. However, the squadron did not reach full strength until July 1945, so combat missions were few in number. As for structural durability, in the course of a few weeks of operation

by No 1 Squadron, “the steamy wet conditions in Labuan (Borneo) had a marked effect on Mosquito serviceability due to extreme adverse effects on wing fabric which began to lift, and to plywood which started to swell on some aircraft. As a result, the squadron was ordered back to Australia”. Two No 87 Squadron Mosquitos flew from Labuan in January 1946, “the extreme wet conditions causing undesirable effects similar to those encountered by No 1 Squadron the previous year”. While structural failure was not imminent as a result of these defects, prolonged operation in the tropical climate would obviously have led to serious deterioration not repairable in the field. These problems were confined to manufacture and operation under wartime conditions. DHA manufactured a total of 212 Mosquitos and the aircraft served with distinction post-war, predominantly on photoreconnaissance and mapping duties in the relatively dry environment of southern Australia. There were no major structural problems by the time No 87 Squadron recorded the type’s final operational flight in RAAF service in 1953.

DHA’S LEGACY

Post-war, DHA manufactured 190 Vampires between 1949 and 1960, and designed and produced the Drover 10-seat feeder airliner. It was later involved in various sub-contractor programmes until 2000 when the company, now named Hawker de Havilland, was purchased by Boeing. Today HdH is in the forefront of structures technology, manufacturing composite and alloy components for a range of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. After the Boeing purchase, the entire DHA archives dating back to 1927 were placed in storage with an uncertain future. Fortunately, retired HdH staff recovered the voluminous files, including a complete set of Mosquito drawings. They were transferred to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society facility at Illawarra airport south of Sydney, where they are being digitised by a team of ex-HdH people and are available for historical research. The drawings are now a valuable source of reference for current and completed Mosquito restorations.

John Mills was appointed chief engineer of British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA) when it was founded in 1946. He remained in that post until BCPA amalgamated with Qantas in 1954, becoming engineering production manager and later spending two years with Boeing as Qantas’ resident engineer co-ordinating the production and delivery of the carrier’s first 707. He subsequently occupied other executive roles in Qantas Engineering. Mills died on 30 March 2016, at the age of 101.

TOP: An air-to-air study of A52-1, the first DHAmanufactured Mosquito FB40. BAE SYSTEMS

BELOW: Mosquito PR41 A52-306 of No 87 Squadron was photographed at Bankstown in 1952. AEROPLANE

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MO OSQUITO O Masterpiece

Mosquito TIII TV959 has come a long way since being a static exhibit with one wing sawn off. This is the story of its return to airworthiness for the Flying Heritage Collection — complete with an exclusive pilot’s eye view WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: GAVIN CONROY

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M

onday 26 September 2016 was another historic occasion at Ardmore, New Zealand. On that day, the Flying Heritage Collection’s de Havilland Mosquito TIII TV959 roared into the sky in the hands of Dave Phillips, following a rebuild that started back in 2011. It increased to three the world’s airworthy population of the type. Following closely behind the Mosquito during that first flight was Spitfire IXT MH367 as chase aircraft, with the author in the rear seat to document the occasion. The Mosquito accelerated quickly and it took some time to catch up. When we finally caught it, we flew line-astern in close formation to inspect the undercarriage and make sure it was up correctly, to check that the gear doors were closed, that there were no oil/glycol leaks, and so on. Following that inspection, Dave — who had Keith Skilling with him in the right-hand seat — performed some stalls, tested different flap configurations and cycled the gear a couple of times while we flew close by to keep an eye on things. Having spent 30 minutes in the air, Dave returned to Ardmore and finished off with a landing that could only be described as a ‘greaser’. It was an impressive feat considering that his last flight in a Mosquito was in early 2013,

at the controls of FB26 KA114 KA A — now with the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, USA. A few minor adjustments needed to be made following the first flight. The aeroplane then went on to fly three further times for more testing, and for the images that accompany this story. It was dismantled in late October and shipped to its new home with the Flying Heritage Collection at Paine Field in Everett, Washington State. TV959’s return to the skies took place nearly four years to the day since Mosquito KA114 KA A flew for the first time on 27 September 2012 following restoration by Avspecs and Glyn Powell’s team. To have two ‘Mossies’ flying in such a short space of time must count as one of the most significant triumphs in the warbird world to date. Some people thought that KA114 KA A would never fly, that it was too difficult a job. Not so, however, for a bunch of Kiwi engineers and Americanbased warbird owner and collector Jerry Yagen. There looked to be the possibility of a Mosquito flying again before the rebuild of KA114, KA A following many years of research by Glyn Powell, but it took Jerry’s backing, along with the trust and friendship he has with Warren Denholm of Avspecs, to finally see a ‘Wooden Wonder’ being rebuilt to fly.

BELOW: Keith Skilling and Warren Denholm flying Mosquito TIII TV959 during its last post-restoration test flight out of Ardmore. The cameraship was a Yak-3 piloted by Graeme Frew, with the rear canopy removed.

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F H C MO SQUITO

TOP LEFT: Some of the Avspecs team nailing on the outer skin to complete the main part of the wing structure. TOP RIGHT: The new fuselage for TV959 taking shape in Glyn Powell’s facility. ABOVE LEFT: Arrival of the fuselage at Ardmore on 17 February 2015. ABOVE RIGHT: The end of July 2015, and it’s nearly time to mate the wings to the fuselage.

As KA114 was being restored, the engineers had huge challenges to overcome. Jerry Yagen stayed committed, even tracking down components himself as work progressed. Jerry always said that a rebuild like this could only be done in New Zealand due to the multitude of skilled people, their ‘never give up’ attitude, their ‘number eight wire’ mentality when it comes to creative problem-solving, and a Civil Aviation Authority that works with restoration teams on projects like this. The Mosquito is a very complex aircraft that could not be rushed. Not only were these guys re-creating history with KA114, but they were also reverse-engineering components when originals were not available. The

RIGHT: The completed cockpit, showing well the TIII’s seating arrangement and dual controls.

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learning curve was huge, which in the end made rebuilding TV959 a more straightforward proposition. Many pieces of the puzzle were joined with KA114, which could be regarded as the ‘pioneer’ aircraft. When KA114 flew for the first time in 2012 it had taken around eight years from the beginning to the first flight. TV959 took just five, and the next Mosquito won’t even need that long. TV959 was the perfect donor aircraft. It had been on display at the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth for many years, hanging from the ceiling with one wing section cut off to save space, but nearly all the original metalwork was in the airframe. Ownership changed in 1992 from

the IWM to The Fighter Collection, and then during 2003 to the Flying Heritage Collection, who stored it for several years. The FHC commissioned Avspecs to bring TV959 back to airworthy status in 2011. By that stage it was clear that KA114 was going to fly — it was just a matter of when. Glyn Powell competed all the woodwork on KA114, but on TV959 he built the fuselage while Avspecs completed the wing and the entire fitout. Glyn had built Mosquito fuselage moulds from scratch many years earlier. He had always wanted to see a Mosquito fly in New Zealand again. Now he has seen two. So good was TV959’s condition that the first thought was to restore the original fuselage with a new wing, but such was the age and state of the wood and glues, which had sat for decades, that it was decided to build a new fuselage from scratch. As work on that got under way, Avspecs was busy completing the wing and restoring many of the parts that came from TV959. It had far more original parts than KA114, so that alone sped up the project. Where possible parts were cleaned, inspected and painted before being put back into the aeroplane. A lot of work was done on both sets of cowlings, with fittings and fixings being refitted. The fuselage arrived at Avspecs in February 2015. When the fuselage and wing are completed they are joined together for a few days, everything

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lined up and foundation work put in place. Both sections are then taken apart again, and over the next few months the fuselage fit-out takes place. The silver dope is added, and once no more can be done to the fuselage it and the wing meet again, this time permanently. Anyone who has stood next to a Mosquito knows how tall the aircraft stands. Access is difficult, so the next part of the restoration involves the machine being put into a level ‘flying’ position. It is only when work on the propellers, undercarriage and so on needs to begin that the aircraft is brought down into a conventional ground attitude, standing on its undercarriage. As TV959 is a dual-control TIII version, the team had difficulty fitting out the instrument panel inside the tight confines of the cockpit, so they came up with the idea of building a custom-made stand. They assembled the entire panel on a work bench before putting everything into the aeroplane. This approach saved a lot of time, not to mention many bumped heads and grazed knees getting in and out of the aircraft. It was just one of many occasions when Avspecs thought ‘outside the box’ to make the whole process easier, thus reducing time and expense. All the flying controls and associated equipment were overhauled and reinstated, putting TV959 back into full dual-control configuration. As this was going on, a massive plumbing job was proceeding in the fuselage, along with the engine installation. The Merlins were overhauled by Vintage V12s of Tehachapi, California, while back in New Zealand the complex set of four radiators was built by Replicore in Parua Bay, and the props overhauled by Safe

Air in Blenheim. These companies were involved with the rebirth of KA114, too. A network of different companies in New Zealand builds significant components for the type, the latest additions being full sets of brand-new exhaust stubs. A remarkable range of skills and experience can be found in this tiny country, to the extent that it must be considered the world leader in Mosquito restoration.

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Engine runs began in the middle of August 2016. They ran flawlessly, so that was another big job ticked off. Undercarriage retraction testing and many other pre-flight checks were completed that month, and in

September TV959 was granted its airworthiness certificate following a two-day inspection by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority. The aircraft was given the fitting registration ZK-FHC for test-flying in New Zealand. Dave Phillips made the maiden postrestoration flight of KA114, and had the same honour this time. Beforehand, he spent hours in and out of TV959, preparing for every eventuality. Keith Skilling needs no introduction either. He and Dave shared the testing of KA114 and each flew around 20 hours in that aeroplane, vital experience when the time came to fly another ‘Mossie’. One major surprise was the colour scheme chosen for TV959 during its flight test programme. Warren Denholm confirmed earlier in 2016

ABOVE: The next Mosquito project for Avspecs, FBVI PZ474, having its wing and fuselage trial-mated in mid-October 2016.

BELOW: The No 75 Squadron, RNZAF markings with serial NZ2337 were only worn during the Mosquito’s flight-testing in New Zealand.

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ABOVE: Overhauled by Vintage V12s in California, the Merlin 25s fire into life on TV959 during August 2016.

that he wanted to add the markings of No 75 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force, to the aircraft. The overall silver dope finish was a close match to the original, and — with the blessing of FHC — Marty Canlon of Tauranga produced the large-format decals. The markings were added about two hours before the aircraft’s public roll-out. So, TV959 now had a real New Zealand connection. The aircraft

world, apart from those coming out of New Zealand. Contrary to some reports, at the time of writing Avspecs was not working on any other Mosquito rebuilds apart from PZ474. Some sources have suggested that the company is building at least one complete aircraft for UK-based owners — in fact, it may be helping as a parts contractor or providing advice, but that is all. One feels the time has

‘A remarkable range of skills and experience can be found in New Zealand’

RIGHT: A very satisfied Glyn Powell after TV959’s successful maiden post-restoration flight. JILL PHILLIPS

depicted was NZ2337, a Mosquito FBVI destroyed in a hangar fire at Ohakea in June 1950. Its code letters were YC-F, which, when viewed on the port side, read F-YC — as close as Warren could get to FHC. It was a nice way to honour one of the most historic and important squadrons in the RNZAF. When the aircraft arrives at its new home, the FHC staff will paint it in its final World War Two-era scheme, so stay tuned in early to mid-2017 to see the end result. With KA114 and now TV959, two Mosquito restorations from Avspecs are flying in the USA. A third will be completed in 2018, and it is heading to the States as well. Work on this airframe, Mosquito FBVI PZ474, has commenced. The fuselage and wing underwent a trial fitting just a week after TV959 made its last flight in New Zealand. It could be completed and flying within two years. Although other ‘Mossies’ are being restored to fly, progress has been slow. Apart from the airworthy VR796 in Canada, it will be many years before a further example flies anywhere in the

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come for a collector or syndicate to pool the necessary funds to have a Mosquito rebuilt in New Zealand and bring it ‘home’ to Britain as a finished, flying aircraft built to the highest

standards, and able to remain airworthy for decades. There are several different airframes or parts collections in the UK that would make for perfect donor aircraft, so the opportunity certainly exists. A period of two years is needed to build the wing and fuselage, and another two years (possibly less depending on the donor aeroplane) to fit the airframe out. For anyone able to finance such a project, there is currently no queue after PZ474, so it is the ideal chance to put a plan in place. The sooner the wood work is started the better. It won’t be long before four Mosquitos are flying in North America. In fact, this will probably be the case at some point in 2018. How nice it would be to have one back in UK skies… Continued on page 57

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F H C MO SQ Q UITO

From thee COCKPIT WORDS: DAVE PHILLIPS

T

V959 was the first Mosquito I ever saw in the flesh. It was 1982, and looking at it hanging from the ceiling of the Imperial War Museum in London with one wing sawn off it seemed obvious to me that it would never fly again. I lamented the fact that I would probably never get to see such an attractive and charismatic aircraft in the air.

But life is full of surprises. Fast forward 30 years, and thanks to the efforts and perseverance of Glyn Powell, the entrepreneurial skills of Warren Denholm and his Avspecs team, and the leap of faith taken by Jerry Yagen, not only did I get to see a Mosquito in flight, I did so from the inside. That was Mosquito FB26 KA KA114, A which took to the air in 2012. Fully three years and 364 days later,

I was to repeat this experience with Mosquito TIII TV959. Keith Skilling and I were lucky enough to be able to share the testflying of both aircraft. Flying with Keith is always agreeable, for there are few current aviators who have his breadth of expertise with World War One and World War Two aircraft. In particular, his long acquaintance with, and knowledge of, the Merlin engine

ABOVE: A chance to enjoy the Mosquito’s superb handling over the lush New Zealand landscape.

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F H C MO SQUITO — its nuances, sounds and personality — is enlightening and reassuring. I think we both felt a very strong sense of responsibility not only to the owners of these aircraft, but also to the craftsmen who recreated them, and the classic aircraft community as a whole.

Stewart (ex-Royal Canadian Air Force) in particular was very useful. George removed much of the threat of the swing on take-off that the Mosquito has something of a reputation for. By using his ‘zeroboost’ technique — running the

‘A lot of time was spent in the cockpit to become familiar with the aircraft’ They are such precious creations; the possibility of any harm coming to them did not bear thinking about. Preparation for the first flight of TV959 was straightforward as we had been through the whole process four years earlier. The most valuable resources then were the veterans who had much time on the Mosquito, and the many pilot report-type articles in back issues of magazines like this one. There was a lot of good advice from these sources, but the counsel of David Ogilvy vyy (ex-RA RAF, A Skyfame and Shuttleworth Collection) and George

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engines up to zero boost (30in of manifold pressure on an American aircraft) on the brakes, then immediately going to take-off power upon brake release — symmetrical take-off power is established at the very beginning of the roll, and any subsequent swing is easy to deal with. Touch wood. David’s very lucid discussion on the consequences — frequently fatal — of getting a little low and a little slow on a single-engine

approach made a deep impression. New Zealand has relatively few long runways, but it is a good idea to go and find one of them if you do have to shut an engine down, as the only comprehensive cure for ‘low and slow’ syndrome is to locate a runway long enough to cater for a ‘hot and high’ approach. Further preparation involved consideration of options should any of the systems fail — engine-related, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic and so forth. We practised raising and lowering the flaps and landing gear with the hydraulic hand pump, a lengthy process and a good substitute for going to the gym. We equipped ourselves with a stand-alone VHF system, a GPS for back-up speed indication, and a chase aircraft — a two-seat Spitfire IX, so as not to spike the Merlin symphony. The Spitfire represented the ultimate in independent air speed indication, if we flew in formation with it. It also acted as the photo ship, so we could prove afterwards that it all really did happen.

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As the aircraft neared completion, a great deal of time was spent in the cockpit to become familiar with it. While the basic control layout is the same as with KA114, there are plenty of differences. The major one, of course, is the dual control fit. The observer’s seat in an operational Mosquito is set lower and slightly aft of the pilot’s seat, allowing more freedom of movement for both crew members. With the TIII, however, the seats are side-by-side, putting the crew shoulder-to-shoulder in the narrow cockpit. For this reason, the large switching console on the right-hand cockpit wall — housing electrics, radiator flap controls and fuel gauges — has been removed, its contents being redistributed on the instrument panel in front of the right-seat pilot. I recently read a wartime RAF RA A Mosquito pilot’s autobiography in which he mentioned how one of the bigger-built squadron pilots preferred to fly a particular aircraft as he reckoned it had more room. He was rubbished by the rest of the unit until

they checked with a tape measure and found that it was indeed 2in broader at the shoulders than other airframes. It seems that the aircraft built by the London Transport Company were a little wider, presumably due to a slightly imperfect fuselage mould.

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The dual control installation on the Mosquito trainer — stick, rudder, throttles, and brakes — is a triumph of engineering, fitting as it does into the very small amount of space available. Climbing aboard is a nightmare as there is almost nowhere to put your feet and knees as you enter the cockpit. By pulling a pin on the base of the right-hand side control column you can decouple it and push it forward to the instrument panel. The only practical value of this is to allow the pilot in the right seat an easier exit while bailing out, as the left-seat pilot can retain pitch control with his still-connected control column.

Starting the engines was a little more complicated with this aircraft as its Merlin 25s have a pressure carburettor. Electric boost pumps are used to prime the engines, but the fuel shut-off valves — awkwardly located on a bulkhead behind both pilots — have to remain closed until the engine fires to avoid flooding the carb. The cockpit is so cramped that you cannot simply reach behind to open the valve. Your arm has to pass over the head of the other occupant, and then down behind the seats to open or close the valve. The best division of labour seems to be to get the right-seat pilot to start the engines, with his easy access to the throttles, magnetos and boost pumps, while his left-seat colleague opens the shut-off valve as soon as the engine starts. I suspected that pneumatic braking from the right-seat control column on TV959 would be difficult and unreliable since it was an ‘add-on’, with a long bicycle cable snaking down the control column and disappearing under the instrument

BELOW: Both Dave Phillips and Keith Skilling relished the opportunity to once again fly an Avspecs-restored Mosquito.

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F H C MO SQUITO

ABOVE: Ex-Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot Dave Phillips in the ‘hot seat’. Prior to flying TV959, he prepared meticulously for every eventuality.

panel. However, it is every bit as good as from the left-hand side. TV959’s first flight was delayed time and again by poor weather and/or the absence of Keith and I due to work or, in Keith’s case, a prior commitment to fly an Albatros D.Va replica over the Western Front in France for a WW1 commemoration. I warned him before he left that quite a high proportion of Albatros pilots who did this in the past did not come back. In fact, his aircraft was subsequently brought down, but not by enemy fire. Fortunately, Keith survived the campaign and was on hand for the Mosquito’s first flight in late September. Taxiing, run-up and take-off were all very similar to ’114. Once airborne, ’959 needed no trim adjustments at all, and power-off stalling was very benign — a slight nodding in pitch with negligible wing drop. This is worth reflecting upon: a big, hand-built

Likewise, the only technical problems arising were minor teething issues, resolved after one flight. This from an aircraft with eight possibilities for a fluid leak (hydraulic, fuel, oil and two lots of coolant) and brand-new electrical and pneumatic systems. The overall finish is that of very highquality furniture, such that you only reluctantly climb aboard with your shoes on. If Avspecs ever start making cars, then I want one.

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Airborne handling was lively with nice control harmony. Configuring the aircraft for landing, we were again reminded of the colossal drag increase that occurs when the landing gear and flaps are lowered. As a consequence, the final approach is flown with what would be regarded as a cruise power setting in many aircraft.

‘Airborne handling was lively with nice control harmony... The test schedule was completed with very little fuss and bother’ wooden aircraft, with a large gyroscope on each wing and a somewhat modest fin and rudder… and, just like its predecessor, it flies hands-off with no trim required and stalls rather like a Cessna 172. I think the guys who built and rigged it deserve an enormous accolade.

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It is tempting to leave the final flap selection until late in the approach, as if an engine failed there would be a bit less drag to contend with. However, flap extension causes a very marked nose-up trim change, and if you don’t keep up with it the resulting tailheaviness can be conducive to allowing

the speed to fall — adding to your grief should an engine fail, and perhaps destabilising your approach. Further insurance could be gained by utilising a steeper approach path and a higher threshold crossing height, but this would be uncomfortable at Ardmore airport, Avspecs’ home. The 4,000ft runway is adequate but not luxurious for a Mosquito. Crossing the threshold at 105kt, the throttles are positively closed, turning the props into spoilers, and the aircraft settles onto the main gear with little tendency to bounce and a satisfying exhaust crackle from both engines. Normally — but not always — there is little tendency to swing until the tail drops and aerodynamics reluctantly give way to brakes as the primary ‘keep straight’ mechanism. Differential braking is then required, but it is virtually impossible to apply exactly the right amount, and a dance begins with rudder and brakes, making corrections to the corrections until you slow to taxi speed. The air test schedule was completed quickly, with very little fuss and bother. Almost before the engines had cooled, the next project, an ex-RNZAF Mosquito, was wheeled into the workshop for mating of the fuselage with the wings. This third aircraft is — like its two predecessors — destined for a home in the USA. Hopefully the ‘production line’ will remain open until there are also Mosquitos resident in Europe and the southern hemisphere.

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TV959: history at a glance 1945 1945-63

1963-64 24 June 1964

Built at Leavesden; delivered to RAF on 29 August as TV959 Served with various units: in order, No 13 Operational Training Unit, No 266 Squadron, No 54 OTU, No 228 Operational Conversion Unit, No 204 Advanced Flying School, Home Command Examination Unit, Fighter Command Communications Squadron and No 3 Civilian Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit Allocated to Imperial War Museum; stored at Exeter Transported to RAF Bicester

1965-89

Displayed in the IWM’s main building in the London borough of Lambeth 1989-92 Stored by IWM at Duxford 1992 Purchased by The Fighter Collection as potential restoration project 2003 Sold to the Flying Heritage Collection, but stored until 2011 2011 Arrived at Avspecs for rebuild 26 September 2016 Flew for the first time following rebuild November 2016 Shipped to the Flying Heritage Collection in Seattle, Washington

Many accounts of TV959’s history — including that in the news pages of the October 2016 issue of this magazine — have referred to the aircraft as taking part in the making of ‘633 Squadron’, wearing serial MM398 and code letters HT-P. However, Alan Johnson of Air-Britain casts doubt on this. “I think this arises from a magazine report at the time which does not seem to be born out by the facts”, he writes. “As a much younger man I spent some time at Bovingdon in 1963 watching the filming of ‘633 Squadron’ but the only TIII (with its flat fighter-type windscreen) I remember there was TW117, which is now in the museum at Gardermoen, Norway. Likewise, the other ex-No 3 CAACU TIII, RR299/G-ASKH, did not appear in ‘633 Squadron’ as it was flown to Hawarden on 12 July 1963 and did not fly again until 8 September 1964. It did, however, take part in the later filming of ‘Mosquito Squadron’. “I believe that ‘MM398/HT-P’ was in fact Mosquito TT35 RS715, which was found by Stuart Howe at the MGM Studios [at Borehamwood] in 1973, still wearing those markings. My notes suggest that TV959 remained at Exeter after being allocated to the IWM in 1963 until it left by road for Bicester on 24 June 1964”. If any reader can confirm this either way, please do get in touch. Ben Dunnell BELOW: Both of No 3 CAACU’s Mosquito TIIIs airborne out of Exeter, TV959 nearest the camera with RR299 leading the break. TV959 was on strength from 1959-63. AEROPLANE

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ABOVE: On display at the IWM at Lambeth, Lambeth sans starboard wing for space reasons. AEROPLANE

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AV RO 504 R EPLICA

ROERevival Produced in Argentina and purchased by A. V. Roe’s grandson as a flying tribute to the great aviation pioneer, this superb replica Avro 504K is now gracing British skies WORDS: MATTHEW BODDINGTON PHOTOGRAPHY: DARREN HARBAR

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ABOVE: Matthew Boddington flying Avro 504K replica G-EROE near Old Warden last summer.

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AV RO 50 4 R EPL ICA

ABOVE: The Pur Sang replica 504 arrives at Sywell in June 2015.

VIA MATTHEW BODDINGTON

E

ric Verdon-Roe is the grandson of Sir Alliott Verdon-Roe, founder of the great British aviation institution that is Avro. Eric is always interested in anything related to his legendary ancestor Alliott’s aeronautical life, especially his links to Avro and Saunders-Roe. In 2010, Eric began thinking about how best to mark the centenary of the Avro 504, which first flew in July 1913. As it was the aeroplane built in the largest numbers during the First World War, he felt it needed to be celebrated in the same way as such arguably more famous types as the Sopwith Camel. Eric learned that Jerry Yagen, founder of the Military Aviation Museum at Virginia Beach in the USA, had recently taken delivery of an airworthy replica 504 made by Pur Sang, a company in Argentina. Pur Sang has a reputation for building replica Bugatti and Alfa Romeo cars of the 1920s and ’30s. Its interest in the 504 stemmed from the fact that the newly formed

he visited the factory in Paraná and met the owner Jorge Anadón. Eric professed himself stunned by the range of machinery the company had available to build the reproduction 504s, all of it in the outbuildings of Jorge’s home. Inspecting the third replica 504 that Pur Sang was constructing, Eric was impressed by the workmanship. He agreed that one should be brought to the UK in time to celebrate the type’s centenary. A book could be written about how difficult it was to import the 504K into Britain, but c/n 002, registration LV-X 430, was finally released from customs just in time to appear at the Goodwood Revival in September 2013. There it was joined in a static display by replicas of A. V. Roe’s 1908 Biplane and his 1909 Triplane, the first all-British aeroplane to fly. The aircraft was assembled at Goodwood by Tony Bianchi and Personal Plane Services. Afterwards it was disassembled and transported to PPS’s facility at Wycombe Air Park. Then began the process of getting the

‘Eric Verdon-Roe felt that the Avro 504 needed to be celebrated along with more famous types like the Sopwith Camel’ Argentinean Air Force was equipped with 10 Avro Gosports, bought from A. V. Roe & Company in kit form in 1925 and assembled in Argentina. There was thus a particular local affection for the type. Pur Sang has also constructed several static 504 replicas for museums. Hearing that representatives of Pur Sang would be attending Rétromobile, the well-known classic car show in Paris, Eric agreed to meet them there. This was followed by a trip to Argentina in early 2011, when

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machine onto the UK register and issued with a UK permit to fly. The 504 stayed at Booker until early June 2015, when Eric made the decision to move the aircraft to Sywell under the care of the author and the ‘Biggles Biplane’ team who had been responsible for the rebuild of — and now operate — the wellknown Royal Aircraft Factory BE2c replica. It was dismantled by Steve Green and Rory Cook, with Eric and Geoffrey New assisting, and transported by road to Sywell.

Light Aircraft Association (LAA) chief engineer Francis Donaldson had inspected the 504K, and a list was prepared of the information required by the UK authorities from the manufacturer Pur Sang. Although the aircraft had been constructed to original drawings and the airframe built exactly as per the genuine Avro article, there were still significant differences between the old and new 504s. The main change was the installation of a modern

nine-cylinder, 150hp Rotec 3600 radial engine in place of a rotary. This meant that the aeroplane had an electrical system, which of course the original did not. For ease of operation, the Pur Sang example has disc brakes fitted. The engine installation required a new mount, which had to be stressed. To do this we needed drawings from Pur Sang. What with a time difference, a big language barrier and a certain attitude to urgency, this took a long while and a lot of e-mails. Finally, stress engineer John Tempest had sufficient information to be able to certify it. As no wiring diagram existed for an Avro 504, one had to be drawn up for submission to the authorities. Meanwhile, to comply with modern requirements the aircraft must be fitted with shoulder harnesses for both the pilot and passenger. Only the pilot’s seat was thus equipped, which did not meet British requirements. This involved a total redesign of the aircraft’s structure behind the pilot’s seat and new belt attachments for the shoulder harnesses. A complete survey of the structure was carried out and some of the non-aviation attaching nuts and bolts replaced with aviation-spec hardware. The aircraft’s covering was not up to UK spec — all the flying surfaces had to be re-stitched and re-tapped. To do

this, the metal fittings were removed from the wings and tail surfaces, work carried out by Steve Green. When they were completed and returned to Sywell, it was necessary to repaint the surfaces before the fittings could be put back in. With this all done, the aircraft was once more assembled and rigged at Sywell, and made its second UK appearance on static display at the 2015 LAA Rally. It was met with great enthusiasm, being the first

Argentinean-registered aircraft to attend the event. Displayed alongside the ‘Biggles Biplane’ BE2c and an original 1914 Vauxhall D-type staff car, the Avro was awarded the Pooley Sword for best replica. The work required by the UK authorities had now been completed, but unfortunately there was a small snag. The aircraft was still not registered in the UK, and this could not happen until it had been removed from the Argentinean

ABOVE: Late August 2015: re-assembly was under way, and rigging about to commence.

VIA MATTHEW BODDINGTON

BELOW: Film paint being applied during November 2015. The 504 will be seen in the still-to-be-revealed movie during 2017.

VIA MATTHEW BODDINGTON

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AV RO 50 4 R EPL ICA

RIGHT: The aircraft ft’s t civilian markings resemble numerous 504s produced during the 1920s.

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register. There ensued another long period of waiting for the Argentinean authorities to confirm that the 504 had been deregistered and for the correct paperwork to be provided. It finally arrived in early February 2016, and the machine was placed on the UK register as G-EROE. While awaiting confirmation of the de-registration from Argentina we received an interesting ’phone call from Simon O’Connell of Shoot Aviation. He was looking for a large World War One aeroplane to take part in the filming of a major Hollyw ywood w blockbuster in the UK, and could we help? Well, if an Avro 504 might fit the bill then maybe we could. After some negotiation the 504 was booked for the role, and with temporary markings applied it was once again dismantled and

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transported by road to Tilbury Fort, Essex, for a week of shooting. The identity of the movie involved cannot yet be divulged, but the results will been seen in UK cinemas during 2017.

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Filming complete, the 504 again travelled by road back to Syw ywell w to once again be assembled and rigged. By this time we knew the registration it was going to wear, so the opportunity was taken to apply it as the airframe was put back together. Eric had decided that he wanted the aeroplane to represent a civilian 504 rather than wear a military scheme; this would mean that it would have a large registration across the wings, but down the fuselage Eric wanted the wording ‘AVRO’ as many 504s

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had during the 1920s. This required an application to the CAA AA A for a dispensation to not display a fuselage registration. Although the CAA AA A regularly issues dispensations to carry military markings, it is not normal to do so for an unusual civilian scheme. The relevant people at the authority were very understanding, but they were in unknown territory. As of now they have given us temporary permission pending further evidence of 504s carrying the Avro logo in the 1920s, so if anyone out there has any photos we would love you to get in touch. All that remained was to await deregistration in Argentina. Once the UK registration was in place, the aircraft was weighed, and all the paperwork submitted to the LAA AA A and CAA AA. A Again we waited.

In April 2016 — almost three years after the Avro had arrived in the UK — it was cleared to fly with the issue of its first Permit Flight Release Certificate (PFRC). All that was needed now was for the weather gods to play ball, and it took a while. At Sywell on the evening of 5 May 2016, the 504 finally graced UK skies for the first time. The first thing that strikes people as they walk up to it is the physical size of the aeroplane. With a span of 36ft, a length of 29ft and height in excess of 10ft it’s a big machine, certainly if you compare it to its Second World War equivalent the Tiger Moth. The front is dominated by the big, round cowling hiding the Rotec radial engine and the large wooden skid between the mainwheels. Pre-flighting the aircraft is mainly taken up with preparation of the Rotec. As with any radial the main concern is oil build-up in the lower cylinders. Three manifold drains are fitted to the cylinder intake tubes, and these need to be opened to drain any accumulation of engine oil. With the drains open the propeller is pulled through at least one turn for each cylinder to make sure that no oil remains in the lower ones. A stepladder is required for access to the engine oil tank, which must be checked to see that its contents are sufficient. After all, the oil that was in the lower cylinders will now be residing on the grass below the aeroplane! Behind the oil tank is the fuel tank, which — although there is a simple fuel gauge in the cockpit — has to have its contents checked visually by means of a very high-tech calibrated stick. The walk-round is all standard stuff, but you are immediately aware of the myriad struts and wires that hold the thing together, all of which must have the correct tension and be securely in place. Clambering up into the rear cockpit again gives you the impression of the size of the aeroplane. For those with shorter legs it’s quite a reach to get your foot into the step on the lower fuselage side. Once installed in the seat and firmly strapped in, the fuel and oil cocks on the port

LEFT: Matthew reports that the replica 504 is a “delight” to fly once in the air.

‘Clambering up into the rear cockpit gives you an impression of the size of the aeroplane’ and starboard sides of the fuselage are moved to the ‘on’ position. The starting procedure for the Rotec is somewhat different from the original rotary engine and is a self-contained affair, rather than requiring the assistance of a prop-swinger.

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AV RO 50 4 R EPL ICA With the fuel pump energised to prime the engine and the choke moved to the fully closed position, the engine starter can be pushed. At least five full revolutions of the prop are needed to check for hydraulicing, and the ignition switches can be moved to ‘on’. If all is well, the Rotec will burst into

discovers that the modern powerplant is something of a retrograde step. The better reliability comes at a price, and as the Rotec is unable to swing a propeller of the original size the performance certainly suffers. Even so, once airborne the replica 504 is a delight and immediately

‘Once airborne the replica Avro 504K immediately brings a smile to the face’

BELOW: It is hoped that 2017 will see regular public appearances by the new 504, some of them as part of the Great War Display Team.

life and settle into a gentle purr once the choke is selected ‘open’. Now that the engine has been allowed to warm up, the usual mag checks and so forth can be done before the chocks are waved away. Although chocks are used normally, the wheel brakes are more than adequate to hold the aircraft at engine run-up. Taxiing requires care in anything but completely calm conditions as, even with the wheel brakes, the fully castoring tailskid will cause the aeroplane to try and weathercock at every opportunity. That said, the rudder is very effective, and with care and anticipation the 504 can be kept under some form of control. The take-off is carried out into the prevailing wind. Opening the throttle causes reasonably rapid acceleration, followed by what can only be described as levitation into the air. The climbout is somewhat sedate, and one

brings a smile to the face — as long as you don’t want to get anyw ywhere w too quickly, that is. A sedate 55-60mph cruise is what you get, and the controls are as you would expect from this era. The ailerons are most accurately described as ‘interesting’ and best used to balance a turn rather than initiate it, the elevators are light, and the rudder very powerful. Turns should be done in a reasonably flat attitude, as too high a bank angle will cause the aeroplane to slide uncontrollably into the turn — not good if you are low down.

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The landing approach is a very slow affair, care being taken to allow for the drag of all those struts and wires. Height is maintained until you’re closein and can soon be lost. In the event of an engine failure you won’t be gliding very far, that’s for sure! After a slow

touchdown and a roll of a few yards, as the tail makes contact with terra firma and the stick is pulled into your stomach you feel the blade at the rear of the long skid digging into the grass to arrest your progress. Taxiing back to the hangar and sitting there going through the shutdown process, you cannot help but have a grin on your face and the theme tune to ‘Wings’ in your head. Since gaining its PFRC the 504 has completed more than seven hours of trouble-free flying. A minimum of five was required by the LAA AA A for certification. The association’s chief test pilot Dan Griffith has flown the aircraft to assess its performance and written a comprehensive report. Throughout the certification process, Francis Donaldson and the entire LAA AA A team have been incredibly helpful and supportive. By the time you read this, we hope to have the full permit in place and it will be great to get the 504 out and about in 2017. It is planned that, for certain appearances, it will join the Great War Display Team. Eric and the Verdon-Roe family hope to keep the aircraft in the UK and fly it as part of a tribute to Alliott and the Avro line. It is intended that either shares may become available in the 504, or that some form of trust will be formed to support its operation. If anyone is interested in being involved, I’m sure Eric would love to hear from you.

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meets

ROLF

MEUM As the son of a flying father, it was no surprise that this amiable Norwegian got into aviation himself. In parallel with a military career came an interest in historic aircraft and display flying that’s brought some wonderful experiences in the warbird world

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t’s only natural that there should be so many family connections in the aviation world. Having a close relative — normally, but not exclusively, a parent — involved with aeroplanes can open up opportunities that otherwise might remain closed. Being around aircraft becomes a way of life, and flying can very easily end up in the blood. On the historic aircraft scene, the likes of the Hanna, Grey, Hinton, Salis and Grace dynasties are proof positive, and many other well-known pilots can likewise say that aviation is in their genes. Rolf Meum knows all about that. It was a hugely proud moment when he was able to take his father Kjell flying this past September in the Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron’s two-seat Vampire, for Meum senior, still a highly active pilot at the age of 85, had last been in one of the de Havilland jets 65 years earlier. The Historical Squadron is the latest of the many warbird operators for which Rolf has flown, his stint with the Old Flying Machine Company having been the longest, and in many ways the most special. He still holds dear the memory of working and flying alongside Ray and Mark Hanna in their

operation’s prime. But this is a man with close on four decades of display experience to call on, and a vast fund of stories. Rolf ’s father started his Royal Norwegian Air Force career as a 17-year-old engineer in 1948. He worked on the Spitfire, Junkers Ju 52 and Fieseler Storch, and got his private pilot’s licence. Selected for military pilot training, he went to Waco, Texas, to learn to fly the T-6 Texan. Moving on to the advanced stage at Williams AFB, he flew some of the first T-28A Trojans. His jet conversion took place on T-33s and F-80s, followed by graduation in 1951. Rolf came along in 1958. “I was a bit overdue, which resulted in my mother being flown from the Kilen seaplane base right next to the runway at the old Oslo-Fornebu airport in a Luscombe Silvaire on floats and treated to steep turns. A few days later, I came out. “With a father flying for SAS, we travelled a lot. Any time there were loan deals for pilots coming up, he would jump at it and we’d see the world. As a wee lad, we moved to Kenya, and shortly thereafter to Tokyo. It was around the time we came back to Norway that, I’ve been told, I said I wanted to be a pilot. I had my first

WORDS: BEN DUNNELL

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ABOVE: Rolf Meum in the cockpit of the Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron’s SB Lim-2 at Duxford this past September. He taxied the Polish-built, two-seat MiG-15 on the rainy Saturday of the IWM show. VIA ROLF MEUM

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meets RO LF MEUM glider flight from a frozen lake outside Oslo in a Scheibe Bergfalke, with a Swedish group that came there for their Easter camp. I went flying with my father in a Taylor J-2 Cub, which is still flying — a friend of mine owns it, and I’ve been invited to fly it again. That was in 1962; it was the first time I took the controls of an aircraft and tried to fly it myself. My mind was made up. “The first airshow I can remember was at Kjeller air base outside Oslo. I went up there with my father, who was going to fly a Fairchild Cornell in a balloon-bursting competition. Unfortunately it was pouring with rain, with a low ceiling, so all the flying was pretty much cancelled. Everybody was disappointed, so the resident test pilot — because Kjeller is where they overhaul all the Norwegian military jet fighters – thought he’d give it a try. They pulled out an F-86F, and I recall that gleaming, polished aluminium Sabre taking off with this black smoke trail, doing a big 360 around the town, coming back and doing a slow roll down the runway. It did this two or three times before it landed”. Years after that formative experience, Rolf would get to display a Sabre for himself. “A little while later we were off to Anchorage, Alaska. This time it was for SAS — my father was based there because they flew the polar route with DC-8s from Norway across the North Pole to Anchorage, and then Anchorage to Tokyo. We stayed there for a couple of years, and that was when aviation really took hold. “The flying up there was absolutely magnificent, and insane. As a kid, flying a Cub on floats with my dad out of Lake Hood — probably the largest seaplane base in the world — and on skis from a frozen lake in the wintertime was amazing. We used to fly out into the wilderness to fishing camps. Almost next door was an airfield called Merrill Field, famous for its café with about 300 plastic model aircraft hanging from the roof. Sometimes my brother — also a pilot — and I would go down there to look at aircraft and be gone for hours, with everybody looking for us. “In Alaska I got into flying model aircraft, free-flight stick gliders and all

and I learned how to fly it with him as my instructor. Being aerobatic, obviously we had to do aerobatics. I taught myself with model aircraft and we’d then go and practise in the Citabria. Competition aerobatics were non-existent in Norway at that time, but I was reading a lot about it. I must have been 14 when Neil Williams’ book ‘Aerobatics’ came out — I got it as a Christmas present, and once I’d opened it every other present under the tree was forgotten. Everybody was stunned that I could be so interested in a book. “It all took off from there. At 14 years old, I started flying gliders, and did about 50 hours in them. I was flying the Citabria with my father in the back seat as a ‘safety pilot’, and doing my PPL. Once I had a solo permit in the Citabria, at about 17-and-a-half or 18, we went off to an airshow at Fyresdal, southcentral Norway, and I was approved to do a display. We towed gliders, we threw out the parachute jumper, and did the aerobatics. We were three-quarters of the whole show!

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“When I finished school in 1977 I went into the military. I went through the air force selection flying on Saab Safirs at Værnes airport near Trondheim, graduated from that, and in early ’78 went to Williams AFB, Arizona, for my undergraduate pilot training on T-37s and later T-38s. But, bitten by the bug, I found the local airfield — Falcon Field outside Mesa. There were some great guys there: Wes Winter, Dave Meade, Newton Phillips, with Great Lakes and Pitts Specials. I joined the IAC 69 ‘Spinners’, the local chapter of the International Aerobatic Club, and very quickly started competing. I ended up in third place in the Arizona state aerobatic championships at Casa Grande. “I saw there was an SNJ at Falcon Field — it was owned by a local furniture shop owner called Tom Brundrett. He agreed to take me for a ride in it if I paid for the fuel. That was the start of my warbird flying. In the back of my mind the whole time were my father and his friends talking about Harvards and Spitfires and so

‘My brother and I would go down to the local airport and be gone for hours’ that. At the age of seven I was back in Norway, and my father put me in touch with a guy who ran a prop overhaul shop in Oslo and was also the leader of a model aircraft club. I joined it at the ripe old age of seven, and from then on — to this day — I’ve flown model aircraft. They’re a bit bigger now, and much more sophisticated”. Indeed, Rolf has a fine array of large-scale radiocontrolled models, including jets. “When I was about 11 or 12 my father bought a Champion Citabria,

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on. I figured I’d got to try it. I went on to check out on the Harvard and flew another one, a MkIIa. “The guy who owned that, Michael Clarke, eventually bought a P-51D Mustang. It was named after his wife, Unruly Julie. My introduction to the Mustang in 1978 was with another famous warbird guy from back then, Jim Orton. He started showing me the ropes, what to do and what not to do. One of the things was taking it down to the stall with gear and flaps down,

and simulating a go-around adding too much power. It just torque-rolled, which was a real eye-opener. “Michael Clarke then sponsored the purchase of an ex-firebomber B-17 for the Confederate Air Force Arizona Wing. I became a colonel in the CAF back in 1978, and got to fly as co-pilot on that B-17 with Jim Orton. It was like a big four-engined Cub. That aircraft is known as Sentimental Journey, and it was painted in those colours while I was there. Three of us — Greg Yates, Jim and I — spent a whole weekend on the alignment of the big blue stripe on the tail. It’s a double-curved surface, so to make it look straight is difficult. I guess ever since they’ve copied them from our original handiwork! “So here I was flying a little bit of warbirds, a little bit of aerobatic aeroplanes, and a whole lot of military jets. When I graduated, I got the rating of ‘exceptional’; I think my score in the flying part of the programme was 96.4 per cent. My dad came over for the graduation — we had the formal ceremony at the base chapel where we got our wings, and then there was a pause of a few hours before the reception and the dinner in the officers’ club. He and I got in the car and drove to Falcon Field, got a Great Lakes out and went flying up in the Superstition Mountains. That was spectacular, to the point that we almost missed the graduation dinner…” It was 28 years since Rolf ’s father had himself graduated at Williams. Back home in 1979, Rolf started out on the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s operational conversion unit for the Northrop F-5A/B, 718 Skvadron at Sola. “In the midst of that”, he says, “I still had to fly aerobatics, so on the weekends I went home, and eventually I went off to Sweden and won the first Nordic aerobatic championships in an Acro Sport. When I graduated from the OCU I was supposed to go to Bodø and fly the F-104 Starfighter, but they managed to lose one of their two-seaters so they couldn’t take any new pilots on. Instead I went to 338 Skvadron at Ørland to fly the F-5.” This brought with it a rare accolade. In the autumn of 1979 Rolf was declared limited combat-ready on the Northrop fighter, still aged just 20. This made him NATO’s youngest front-line pilot. However, he wasn’t initially on the front line for very long, because when his two-year tour was over Rolf was posted to Sheppard AFB, Texas, as one of the founding instructors of the EuroNATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program (ENJJPT). Again, he was flying the T-38 — and a lot more in his spare time. “That’s when the aerobatics and the warbirds really took off, those four years. When I got there, a day or so before I even checked in to the air force base, one of the first things I did was go to the local airports and check out what was there. At Wichita Falls I met a very nice gentleman named Ralph Parker, who

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

ABOVE: About to go flying in a Ka-8 glider at Notodden, Norway, in 1973. VIA ROLF MEUM

ABOVE RIGHT: Acro Sport LN-BGK, Rolf’s winning mount in the 1979 Nordic aerobatic championship. VIA ROLF MEUM RIGHT: Williams AFB near Phoenix, Arizona, 1978: Rolf’s first air force solo, in a USAF Cessna T-37. VIA ROLF MEUM BELOW: In the right-hand seat of the Confederate Air Force’s LB-30 Liberator Diamond Lil with captain Joe Coleman. VIA ROLF MEUM BELOW RIGHT: Intercepting a Soviet Air Force Tu-16 ‘Badger’ with a Royal Norwegian Air Force F-5A north of Lakselv, northern Norway, during 1980. VIA ROLF MEUM

BOTTOM: With Ralph Parker’s AT-6D N83H at Kickapoo Downtown Airport in Wichita Falls, Texas, ready to go to Harlingen for CAF Airsho 84. VIA ROLF MEUM BOTTOM RIGHT: Going vertical in the Scandinavian Historic Flight’s P-51D Old Crow. TOR NORSTEGARD VIA ROLF MEUM

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meets RO LF MEUM

ABOVE: A relaxed moment for Rolf and Mark Hanna at the 1990 Schaffen-Diest show in Belgium. VIA ROLF MEUM

ABOVE RIGHT: Talking to King Harald V of Norway after a display at Bodø in Spitfire MH434. METTE LIUM VIA ROLF MEUM

RIGHT: Over Cap Gris Nez in the Old Flying Machine Company’s F4U-4 Corsair N240CA. JOHN RIGBY VIA ROLF MEUM

BELOW: Getting airborne in the OFMC’s TBM-3E Avenger N6827C at the 1992 Duxford Classic Fighter show, with Steve Hinton in The Fighter Collection’s Hellcat. JOHN DUNNELL

BELOW: ‘007’ and Rolf in an L-39 during the filming of ground scenes for ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. VIA ROLF MEUM

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had a Pitts S-1S and a Piper Aztec. I got to know Ralph very well. We talked about aircraft, and he said, ‘Maybe I’ll get a T-6’. He bought an AT-6D, N83H, and I started flying with him. “I’d been flying a Harvard in Norway when Anders Saether bought his aircraft, LN-TEX, in 1979. I showed Anders how to do aerobatics, so I had an aerobatic instructor rating from the Norwegian CAA. Now I had to teach Ralph how to fly his T-6. He was one of those guys with the economic means to just do what he wanted, and he wanted to fly. “Obviously I got back into the Confederate Air Force in Texas. I became a member of what we called ‘Traron One’ or ‘VT-1’, the trainer squadron, with a lot of Harvards. Because of my instructor capability in the air force I did a lot of formation instruction, and ‘VT-1’ used to have a formation school at Denton airfield north of Dallas/Fort Worth every year. One year we had 42 Harvards and T-6s there, and over a long weekend we got everyone so much up to speed that we had all 42 in formation.” Having been fully rated as a CAF pilot by Archie Donahue, a World War Two Wildcat and Corsair ace, Rolf flew a Harvard in the 1984 Airsho at Harlingen. He became one of very few Europeans ever to display at the Confederates’ showpiece event. His time in the States was coming to an end, but not before he was able to finish the process he’d started with the Mustang in 1978, and finally get checked out on a ‘proper’ warbird. “Ralph Parker had bought an F4U-5NL Corsair, which he was flying. My ‘farewell present’ was to fly that. Howard Pardue gave me my letter of authorisation on the Corsair — we used to fly down to visit him at Breckenridge quite often, and I got to know him pretty well.” The burgeoning mid-1980s European warbird scene was good news for Rolf on his return home. He was busy on 336 Skvadron, again flying the F-5, but pretty soon Anders Saether had P-51D Old Crow based in Norway, and he’d persuaded a friend to buy a T-28C, N2800Q. These aircraft and Anders’ Harvard were the nucleus of the Scandinavian Historic Flight. In 1986, Rolf checked out on the Mustang and Trojan, and kick-started the next phase of his warbird career. “Just a few weeks later”, Rolf recalls, “we flew across to Duxford. Anders had already been over to some of the shows there, and met Ray Hanna and Stephen Grey. The day after, we went off to Brize Norton to do our first show. Everybody else was at North Weald for the Fighter Meet, but Brize Norton was just a Saturday show, so that afternoon we flew to North Weald just to watch. Anders’ Mustang was put into the show, with Ray flying it in the big flyby with a Northwest Airlines 747. Afterwards I was invited to fly up to Duxford with the T-28 in formation with the OFMC’s Harvard, and Carl Schofield leading in

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the P-40. From then on we did a lot of flying at Duxford.” A big year was 1989. There was the filming of ‘Memphis Belle’, of course, in which Rolf flew the SHF’s P-51. “Then there was an airshow in Norway at which Mark was stuck with both the Spitfire and the Corsair. Pete Jarvis was going to bring the Buchón up, but it had some problems with the canopy and he had to leave it, so Mark asked the organisers if they’d take a Corsair instead. He went back to England and ferried that to Norway. I was asked if I could fly the Corsair back with him, since I had the letter of authorisation and a valid US licence. That’s how I started flying for the OFMC.” By now Rolf had left the air force and joined Scandinavian Airlines, initially on the DC-9 fleet as a first officer, then a simulator instructor and a co-pilot. The next step, becoming a long-haul co-pilot on the Boeing 767, suited him down to the ground. “You had three, four or five-day trips and then three, four or five days off, so I’d land in Copenhagen, change clothes and take the jump-seat of the ‘smoker’ [the DC-9] to London. I’d get a taxi up to Duxford, and off we went to a show somewhere.

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“I flew Spitfire MH434 for the first time in 1990. Anders was putting on a display at Gardermoen near Oslo that he called the Historic Airshow 90. We’d done a show at Billund in Denmark the weekend before, where I’d flown the Corsair. I took it from there to Karlstad in Sweden, and then across to Fornebu. All the OFMC aeroplanes were at Fornebu, so they had to be transferred to Gardermoen. I remember getting a call from Mark Hanna, asking if I could fly the Spitfire. I think I broke some speed limits trying to get there before the aeroplane disappeared! My first flight in ’434 was from Fornebu to Gardermoen, with Mark flying chase in the Buchón. I reckon I’m one of the few pilots who’s done his first Spitfire flight with a ‘109’ as wingman. “I found the Spitfire a very gentle, docile aeroplane to fly, but it will bite

little aeroplane. If you start pushing it, especially at high speed, the controls load up and become very heavy.” As time went on, Rolf flew more and more of the OFMC’s aircraft, including the ex-Iraqi Fury ISS. “Of all the piston fighters I’ve flown, that is probably the bee’s knees. Beautiful handling, exceptional performance. It’s one of those aeroplanes in which, when you take off, everything feels right. You’ve got good visibility, you’ve got a wonderful wing, you’ve got so much power that you don’t know what to do with it.” Chances also arose with some of Duxford’s other warbird operators. For the 1993 Memorial Air Show at Roudnice in the Czech Republic, The Fighter Collection needed someone to fly its P-40M Kittyhawk, accompanying Stephen Grey in the Wildcat. The trip there was Rolf ’s first flight in a P-40. “The next day”, he says, “we went out to the airfield for our first briefing, and all of us flying the Western aeroplanes were called off into a separate room. There were guys in there in black suits with earpieces, and we were wondering what the hell was going on. They said they needed to know if we were willing to fly a separate mission; they couldn’t tell us what it was, and those who didn’t should leave now. I looked at Stephen, because it wasn’t my aeroplane. He said it sounded too interesting to turn down, so we went for it. It turned out that they were going to put President Havel in [Plane Sailing’s] Catalina, and we flew as his honorary escort over Prague.” British-based warbirds were in great international demand, and the OFMC’s aircraft travelled widely. In 1992 came the first of Rolf ’s three appearances at the ILA at Berlin-Schönefeld, flying Spitfire MH434 alongside Ray in the Buchón and Mark in the Mustang. This presented a unique opportunity. “We flew formation aerobatics, which was the first time they had been flown in Germany since the Ramstein disaster. We had a wonderful time.” Home in Norway for 1994’s big Gardermoen show, Rolf both organised the flying and took two slots in the programme. For the opening act, he was in Spitfire PRXI PL965 alongside

‘I broke some speed limits getting to Fornebu before the Spitfire disappeared’ if mistreated. The harmony of some of its controls leaves a bit to be desired, but put it all together and it becomes magic. It is one of those aircraft which has the aerodynamic warnings to the point that you can fly it heads-up all the time. It talks to you. And, contrary to what some people say, the Buchón is a very nice-flying aircraft as well. It has some peculiarities — obviously, takeoffs and landings are a different matter — but in the air, if you fly it in the heart of the envelope, it’s a delightful

the PBY-5A Catalina that was soon grounded for exhibition in the Bodø museum. “Some parachutists jumped with a really big Norwegian flag. As they descended the Catalina and the Spitfire came in from the south, and as we departed to the northern edge of the airfield there was a big formation of 36 jet fighters coming in the opposite direction. I did a solo display after that. The next thing I did was to lead a jet formation of all the types we could muster that had been in the Royal

ð

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meets RO LF MEUM Norwegian Air Force, with me in the ‘T-bird’” — the OFMC’s CT-133 Silver Star — “Mark in the Sabre, Stellan Andersson in a Vampire, an operational F-5 and F-16, and an Italian Air Force F-104.” The growth of the OFMC jet fleet meant more new types in Rolf ’s logbook. Aside from the ‘T-bird’ and Golden Apple’s F-86A Sabre, he was the main display pilot of the SB Lim-2A, the Polish-built, two-seat MiG-15. This he describes as, “Very nice in a lot of respects; you need to watch it carefully in other respects. The Sabre was a lot more refined, whereas the MiG has some aerodynamic issues at both high and low speeds. It had a tendency to tighten up in turns — you’d get to a certain g and then wanted to keep turning harder and harder. There was a paragraph in the pilot’s manual which I remember exactly: ‘Warning: Very dangerous. At 545kt equivalent speed you will get uncommanded input in pitch and roll, together with reversal of the sidegliding control’. The MiG has automatic speed brake deployment at Mach 0.92, so I doubt many ever got supersonic in one…” There was a lot of film flying, too, most memorably the making in 1995 of the James Bond movie ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. For this Mark Hanna flew the Real Aeroplane Company’s L-39 Albatros, and Rolf the manufacturer Aero Vodochody’s demonstrator example. “It was almost eight weeks in the Pyrenees. I did all the ground stuff from the back seat, with James Bond in the front. It was quite challenging taxiing on the 11° sloping runway at Col de Peyresourde. But I did about 50-60 hours of flying too, and there was some tremendous flying. We were cleared down to 15ft. “Obviously, the touch-and-goes on the runway were the most exciting. Mark was doing them one day — it was really critical, because you came in at 145kt in level flight, and as he started to flare he went to full take-off power. He had to touch down, put the nosewheel on the ground, rotate and be airborne in 300 yards on an 11° up-slope. During this touch-andgo you actually lost about 30kt of air

inside the door, listing all the pilots and what they were current on. I was quite proud because there were only two of us cleared to fly everything, and that was Mark and myself. “If we’d had a long working day or two and it was beautiful weather, the Spitfire, the Mustang or something would be sitting out on the ramp, and at the end of the day we’d decide to go and have a flight. We’d go five minutes out the back, dogfight like crazy and come in to land. After one of these, with Ray, Mark and myself, we couldn’t help ourselves from doing a few flypasts when we came back to Duxford. We landed — it was a bit after-hours — and we saw [airfield manager] David Henchie coming round the corner. Ray was standing there and, seeing the way Henchie was walking towards us, said, ‘I think we’re in the shit’. We seemed to be in the shit a lot! But we had some fantastic times. Those were golden years at Duxford. “One summer I did 75 hours on Spitfires. We had such high currency at the OFMC. There was one day when I flew five different types: I started by air-testing the Fury, then a flight in the Harvard, a display in the MiG, then the Mustang and finishing up in the Hunter”. The Hawker jet was another new type for Rolf, the OFMC having acquired several ex-Swiss Air Force Hunter F58s.

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Alas, the good times were not destined go on forever. “When Mark passed away [in 1999], things changed a lot at the OFMC. We were in the first year of the Breitling Fighters when that happened — Nigel Lamb took over running them — and, later, quite a lot of the aeroplanes were sold off.” At the controls of MH434, Rolf flew his last display for OFMC at the Swedish Air Force’s 75th anniversary show at Uppsala in 2001, a formation aerobatic two-ship alongside Lee Proudfoot in the P-40E. However, he carried on flying at Duxford for the Aircraft Restoration Company. Several times he displayed Spitfire LFXVIe TD248 and FRXVIIIe SM845, as

‘We had some fantastic times at OFMC. Those were golden years at Duxford’ speed. The point was that if you flared 1ft too low, you were staying on the mountain, and it was going to be a good imprint…” No wonder Rolf looks back on this era with such fondness. “I was very much involved in the OFMC. I spent a tremendous amount of time at Duxford — sometimes a week or two at a time. I’d help hold the fort with Sarah Hanna if Mark was out travelling and Ray was away, I’d spend time with the engineers in the hangar. There was a pilots’ board

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well as the CT-133, now owned by the Golden Apple Trust. Most of the OFMC’s Hunters went to Scamptonbased Hawker Hunter Aviation for defence contract work, and Rolf flew a bit for them, too. For 2007’s airshow at Sola, Rolf ’s mount was different again. He captained an SAS Boeing 737, festooned for its performance with Norwegian TV cameras. But, he says, “I’d started having major issues with my back, and flying less and less. Just

two weeks after flying the display in the 737 I lost my medical. I went through three years of different medical checks and treatments — they were very hard times physically. It’s not changed today, it’s just that I’ve managed to train up, do things differently, and live with it. “I went three or four years without any flying, but then I started getting into it again. In 2012 I called TFC to ask them to bring the Hawk 75 to Norway [for events to mark 100 years of Norwegian military aviation]. Stephen Grey said OK, on condition that I could fly it. By that time I was flying again — Harvards and other things — so I went to Duxford, did some training on TFC’s Harvard with Pete Kynsey, and got checked out on the Hawk. Then I got some sort of virus, which knocked me out completely for almost two weeks. There was nobody else who could do it, so that stopped that whole project. I’ve been kicking myself ever since.” Even so, the growth in Norway’s historic aircraft scene brought Rolf back into the classic jet world. That summer, air force F-16 pilot Maj Martin ‘Tintin’ Tesli had his newly acquired CT-133 delivered, and Rolf started flying it. He made a welcome return to Duxford for a display in September 2013, but for most of the time since then the ‘T-bird’ has been grounded at Kjevik with fuel hose issues. However, Rolf — who’s helping look after the aircraft while ‘Tintin’ is in the US converting to the F-35 Lightning II — says it should resume flying in the late spring of 2017. The invitation to join Kenneth Aarkvisla and Per Strømmen in the Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron came prior to the 2016 season. With Kenneth often flying the organisation’s SB Lim-2, another pilot was required to lead Per in the Vampire duo. “I’ve had a very good time”, says Rolf. “We started out being very cautious with all the new regulations, and me being new to the type, but gradually we’ve worked up the routine and worked out how to utilise the rules more efficiently.” That’s something Rolf knows plenty about. For many years he was a display authorisation examiner for the UK CAA, and since the early 1990s he has been a leading light in the establishment by its Norwegian equivalent of a robust DA system. In the summer of 2015, he flew his 1,000th public display, and there should be many more to come. It’s not all about historic aircraft for Rolf. He and a friend are Pilatus agents in Scandinavia, specialising in the PC-12 single-turboprop utility transport. For fun he flies a Vans RV-6, and he still enjoys the simple pleasures of light aeroplanes like the Piper Cub. “You don’t have to be at 400mph with your hair on fire all the time”, he says. But having been involved with some of the great names, operators and displays in a classic period for European warbirds is something Rolf will always cherish.

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ABOVE: After flying TFC’s Hawk 75 at Duxford in 2012. VIA ROLF MEUM LEFT: Rolf’s first Hunter experience was in the OFMC’s ex-Swiss F58s. Here he’s on the right wing of a box-four led by Mark Hanna at 1996’s Duxford Classic Jet and Fighter Display; the other aircraft are Barry Pover’s GA11 XE689 and Kennet Aviation’s T7 XL616. BEN DUNNELL RIGHT: An Historical Squadron trio this autumn: Kenneth Aarkvisla in the SB Lim-2, Rolf and Per Strømmen aboard the Vampires. RUDOLF HOLM BELOW: Displaying the OFMC’s SB Lim-2A G-OMIG at the Royal International Air Tattoo 97. PETER R. MARCH BOTTOM: About to perform an annual air test from Kjevik on Martin Tesli’s CT-133 Silver Star. VIA ROLF MEUM BELOW RIGHT: Like father, like son. Kjell Meum with Rolf after their recent Vampire flight. VIA ROLF MEUM

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A IR CR E W: RA F CH IN O O K

RAF CHINOOK CREW ABOVE: RAF Chinook HC1s provided support for UK forces engaged in the multi-national peacekeeping force in Lebanon in 1983-84. Here, a No 7 Squadron aircraft comes as a welcome sight to the troops based in Beirut as it makes another supply run.

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he Boeing Chinook is one of the most remarkable and successful aircraft in history. Like its fellow heavy-lifter, the Lockheed Hercules, it has been used to carry and deliver people and equipment into — and from — a varied range of challenging locations.

Well-established in US Army service when introduced by the RAF in 1980, the Chinook HC1’s work for the British armed forces was typified by one example, ZA718/BN, better known as ‘Bravo November’. The sole survivor of the Argentine attack on the Atlantic Conveyor transport ship, it was active throughout the Falklands War,

surviving a second near-loss during the campaign after hitting the water at speed in appalling weather. This same aircraft, much upgraded, continues to serve as a Chinook HC4. Three crew members have been awarded DFCs for their actions while flying it. RAF Chinook roles are air assault, troop transport and battlefield casualty

RIGHT: An RAF Chinook HC1 pilot exercising the type’s remarkable agility during the 1980s. JAMES KIGHTLY

FAR RIGHT: A crewman on the ramp during Exercise ‘Jebel Sahara’ in the North African desert, ready to call any hazards to the pilot during landing. SAC NEIL CHAPMAN/ DEFENCE IMAGERY

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AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

Aircrew A Aii rcrew WORDS: JAMES KIGHTLY ARTWORK: IAN BOTT (www.ianbottillustration.co.uk)

View from the office…

The pilot of the Chinook can sit in either seat, but the aircraft is normally flown from the right-hand seat. It is flown using the cyclic control, the collective/ thrust lever, and yaw pedals. Originally equipped with standard mechanical ‘steamABOVE: A Chinook training driven’ gauges, current flight over Snowdonia, Wales. RAF models have IAN FORSHAW/DEFENCE IMAGERY been upgraded with multi-function flight instruments and navigation display systems, retaining the older engine and transmission instruments. The view forward and to the sides is excellent, with low ‘quarter-lights’, although less so when cockpit armour is fitted.

I was there… Flt Lt Ian Fortune

evacuation (casevac). Its equipment lift capabilities can see it carrying up to 10 tonnes of freight internally or as underslung loads from the three cargo hooks. The type is able to transport up to 55 troops (or even more in an emergency), but more normal figures are 24 to 40. As with all helicopters, the Chinook can perform nonspecialist search and rescue during peacetime and operationally. The crew usually consists of two pilots and two crewmen, which is increased with other specialists depending on the task. The Chinook is a relatively simple helicopter to fly, though it can be a complex one to operate. In the hover and at low speeds, the combination of the automatic flight control system (AFCS), the aircraft’s sheer mass, and its tandem rotor design make it stable, yet responsive. Above 40kt (46mph) it handles rather like a fixed-wing machine; the cyclic is used to select an angle of bank, then centralised to maintain it. Without the AFCS, the aircraft is very sensitive as the rear rotor is marginally more efficient than the forward one. Thus, the Chinook has a tendency to want to swap ends! Pilots have to use their feet a lot more,

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and crews spend plenty of time practising ‘stab out’ flying. The capability of the aircraft brings unique challenges. Crews need to learn and maintain proficiency in dozens of skills, such as trooping, air assault, electronic warfare, carrier operations and ‘FARPing’ (forward refuelling of other aircraft), as well as the more prosaic ones such as instrument flying. The load hooks enable three separate loads to be carried simultaneously, requiring careful crew co-operation and trust, especially when operating with night vision goggles. Selected crews receive even more training in special forces tasks. Combat-ready crews are expected to master all of the skill sets during their work-up, and to employ them at short notice. In Iraq or Afghanistan, they would do this in extreme heat — sapping the aircraft’s performance, and increasing crew fatigue — and with the constant threat of attack from small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and shoulder-launched missiles. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Many thanks to Paul ‘Foo’ Kennard, former RAF Chinook pilot.

The fourth crew member from Chinook ‘Bravo November’ to be awarded the DFC, in 2010 Fortune landed ZA718 under fire for a casualty rescue. During the evacuation, 12 shots ABOVE k ZA718 ABOVE: Chi Chinook entered the cockpit. One bullet ‘Bravo November’, then in ricocheted and hit his helmet at HC2 configuration, the attaching point for the night releases decoy flares over vision goggles, gashing his face. Afghanistan. “At first, confusion reigns POA SEAN CLEE/DEFENCE IMAGERY really. I didn’t know what had happened in the first second or two. Once I’d realised I felt quite a sense of elation that I’d just been hit by a bullet and that I’d survived. When you’re flying it, although it’s like flying any of the other frames we have, there is just a little something there, a little bit of extra magic from time to time.”

Paul ‘Foo’ Kennard

“The over-riding impression when you start to fly the beast is power! At a light weight the aircraft will comfortably climb at over 3,000ft per minute… vertically. That’s better than a Spitfire or Mustang off the deck. It will out-accelerate, out-climb and out-stop any light aircraft. The power controls provide astonishing manoeuvrability for an aircraft of its size, as those that have seen the RAF display will attest.”

Anonymous RAF pilot

“Fighter affiliation in the ‘Wokka’ was awesome — even two A-10s had difficulty — and power margins impressive. On leaving the fleet to go to Gazelles, I was told to expect a sports car — ugh! The Chinook was faster, more fun and could lift more than almost anything else we have in the military… It could even fly for ages with the overload tanks on — OdihamNîmes or seven hours over the Atlantic [on search and rescue duties after the 1985 Air India Boeing 747 bombing], and the seat was even comfortable.”

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

The RAF Museum at Hendon has a display, ‘Chinook — Big Windy in the RAF’. A forward fuselage mocked up as ‘Bravo November’ is on show, with details of the type’s history.

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DATABASE HAWKER HORSLEY WORDS: MATTHEW WILLIS

Page 82 VERSATILE AND ADAPTABLE Page 86 CHANGING CONSTRUCTION METHODSS Page 88 THE HORSLEY IN SERVICE Page 91 LONG-DISTANCE FLIGHT ATTEMPTS AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

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| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

ABOVE: Horsley II J8024 of No 100 Squadron overflies its base at RAF Bicester, Oxfordshire. AEROPLANE

IN DEPTH IN-DEPTH PAGES

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Developpment

As a day bomber, the Horsley perhaps left something to be desired, but it proved versatile and adaptable

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oday, the Hawker Horsley day bomber and torpedo bomber is something of a footnote in the history of the RAF and the company that created it. It did, however, represent a significant advance on the previous generation of aircraft. Apart from being successful in its own right, it allowed the RAF to prove that land-based aeroplanes were a viable defence against seaborne threats while developing the tactics and techniques for torpedo attack. The Horsley also paved the way for the Hart series of light bombers and even the Hurricane through the construction techniques it pioneered. In 1923, the standard RAF day bomber was the WW1-era Airco DH9A. The Air Ministry had already begun to regard its bomb load (a maximum of 660lb, and no single bomb bigger than 230lb) as inadequate. Initially, the ministry put its hopes in the Fairey Fawn, which, as it transpired, could barely outperform the DH9A or carry a greater war load. That August, it issued Specification 26/23 for a singleengined day bombing landplane. The aim was clearly to carry larger bombs than the existing standard type — the alternative loads specified were a single 550lb bomb or two 250lb bombs at a range of 500 miles, with a crew of two. The specification required the use of the Rolls-Royce Condor engine, which implied that an aircraft somewhat

larger than the DH9A was expected. The Condor had originally been developed with large, multiengined bombers in mind, and was earmarked for the huge Handley Page V/1500, before delays led to that type being powered by four Eagles instead. In 1923, the Condor was developing well in excess of 600hp, compared with the 400hp of the Liberty used by the DH9A. Four companies responded to the tender: Bristol with its Type 90 Berkeley, Handley Page with the HP28 Handcross, Westland with the Yeovil, and Hawker with the Kingston. The Kingston was soon renamed the Horsley after Horsley Towers, Sir T. O. M. Sopwith’s gothic house in Surrey. Two prototypes of each were ordered, and the Hawker aircraft were allocated the serials J7511 and J7211. The design was chiefly undertaken by Sydney Camm, under the leadership of chief designer W. G. Carter. It was in some respects conventional, but the wings were designed with a thick, bi-convex high-lift Göttingen 426 section, which also provided plenty of room for fuel. The first Horsley was of all-wood construction, like the Handley Page but unlike the Bristol and Westland designs, which had mixed wood and metal structures. In fact, the Bristol Berkeley was designed to be all-metal but the prototypes were built with wood-framed wings to expedite construction. The first Horsley, J7511, made its maiden flight in March 1925. It

was the second of the four designs ordered as prototypes to do so, only the Handley Page Handcross having flown before the end of 1924. J7511 was delivered to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Martlesham Heath for performance trials that May, joining the Handcross. The Horsley was found to be capable of lifting a military load of 1,390lb (including crew and equipment as well as bombs). So laden it could maintain a speed of 111mph from ground level to 10,000ft, with a maximum climb rate of 1,130ft per minute. The Air Ministry’s Aeronautical Research Committee deduced from the Martlesham tests that the Horsley was aerodynamically superior to the DH9A by a factor of 1.30. The Horsley was clearly better than the Handcross, which had not been helped by an engine seizing. A month after the Horsley arrived at Martlesham, the Handcross departed for the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough to take part in experiments with radio, and no further interest was shown in the design. The Bristol Berkeley and Westland Yeovil, which arrived in May-June 1925, also proved of greater interest for experimental purposes than as operational aircraft. Although further prototypes were ordered of each, none received a production contract. In truth, though the Horsley was evidently the most suitable of the submissions, they had all proved

BELOW: Second prototype Horsley J7721, pictured in 1925, was the first to incorporate metal structure in its forward section. AEROPLANE

HAWKER HORSLEY

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

ABOVE: The first prototype, J7511, performed adequately in testing. VIA MATTHEW WILLIS

ABOVE: Hawker initially developed the torpedo-carrying Horsley as a private venture, J8006 being the first such example. AEROPLANE

than with welded structures. As Sigrist put it, any “chippy with a spanner” could effect repairs. This construction was used to one degree or another on all subsequent Hawker aeroplanes up to and including the Tempest of 1943, but the first service type to incorporate it was the Horsley. The second prototype, J7721, was constructed in the new method from the engine bearer to the back of the pilot’s cockpit. In addition, the wing centre-sections now incorporated metal ribs, although the spars were still all-wood, built-up box structures. J7721 took to the air on 6 December 1925. Meanwhile, J7511 had been modified to bring it closer to the improved second prototype. Most obviously, its radiators — which had been sited on the sides of the fuselage — were exchanged for a single, rectangular radiator under the nose, with triangular valances

fairing it into the fuselage lines. The cowling panels were revised in response to criticism from No 11 Squadron, which carried out service trials. The first 10 Horsleys were built as all-wood MkIs, based on the improvements to J7511, while subsequent aircraft had the partial metal structure pioneered by J7721, and were known as MkIIs. Trenchard was far from convinced that the Horsley was the answer to the RAF’s future needs. In particular he was concerned about the equipment the service had demanded but which had not been included. It seemed that, far from equipping all the RAF’s day bomber squadrons, the Horsley might not go beyond the initial small production run. In January 1927 Trenchard wrote to the member of the Air Council for Supply and Research (AMSR), Sir John Higgins, stating: “You will recall that after I accepted the Horsley I

was told that it would be necessary to make several modifications to this machine (including widening the fuselage) to take service equipment. This I was told would impair the performance of the production in comparison to the first experimental machine… I have been told, that the machine has been almost as much spoilt as the [Vickers] Virginia was.” As the tests on J7721 and the early production Horsleys progressed, however, it became apparent that the opposite was in fact the case. Higgins sent Trenchard a report comparing the productiontype machine with the earlier prototype, noting: “you will see that performance has been improved”. The Air Ministry’s director of technical development, J. L. Forbes, added: “The result is creditable to the makers and demonstrates that with careful detail design the meeting of Air Ministry installation

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| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

somewhat disappointing. None were capable of carrying the loads specified by the official requirement at the appropriate load factors, which stated the necessary margin of strength in the main structures. In addition, access to the Horsley’s engine was considered poor. The prototype returned to Brooklands for modifications after its service trials. However, the Horsley had done enough that the Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Hugh Trenchard, selected it for limited production on the strength of the report from Martlesham in June 1925. The order for a second prototype, serial J7721, had been confirmed in late 1924, but Hawker delayed construction well into 1925 for a number of reasons. This was a risky strategy — if J7511 had been lost or seriously damaged, a not uncommon occurrence for a military prototype, Hawker would have had no replacement with which to continue trials, though the pressure was somewhat relieved with a contract for further development (Specification 22/25) and a small production order for 40 Horsley Is. The delay enabled Camm to introduce some notable improvements, and it was this that turned the Horsley from a moderate success to a much more significant one. It allowed Hawker to take into account new load requirements called for by the Air Ministry in future bombers (expressed in Specification 23/25), the equipment the Horsley would be required to carry, and, most importantly, to incorporate metal structures. Hawker first flirted with metal construction on the experimental Hornbill fighter, which was developed around the same time as the Horsley and used the same powerplant. The Condor was a huge engine for a small, single-seat fighter, and to help the airframe take the loads Carter and Hawker’s joint managing director Fred Sigrist developed a welded steel forward fuselage frame. Carter left Hawker in 1925. By that time Camm and Sigrist had been convinced of the benefits of metal construction, though Camm had reservations about the practicality of welding, which at the time was a specialised craft and practically unknown in RAF maintenance ranks. Instead, he advocated a system that in effect replicated wooden structures in metal, with round tubes swaged to square sections and bolted or riveted together with the aid of sheet-metal joint pieces. Thus, airframes did not need a specialist welding shop to assemble. Moreover, construction and maintenance was much easier

DATABASE

DATABASE HAWKER HORSLEY were well-placed for reading by the bomb aimer. In contrast to the first prototype, maintenance of the production Horsley was “remarkably easy”. Most parts of the engine and aeroplane were easy to access for adjustment and cleaning. The engine cowling was simple to remove, apart from the underside panel behind the engine. The aircraft was still not perfect. Martlesham pilots found there was a large difference in trim fore and aft with varying engine rpm and air speeds. It was too great to be overcome with reasonable pressure on elevator and rudder controls, though longitudinal trim could be achieved through adjusting the tailplane incidence. The Horsley ABOVE: A demonstration of torpedo-dropping by Horsley II S1246. VIA MATTHEW WILLIS lacked a trim tab on the rudder, requirements need not in all cases The Horsley was found by the This was the first single-engined and the only means of trimming involve a loss of performance.” A&AEE to be stable at all speeds, RAF bomber to incorporate the new directionally was with the use of To some extent this had been and though the controls were fairly course setting bombsight. It was a an adjustable bungee cord on the achieved through the careful heavy at high speed they were very big step forward in accuracy and rudder bar, which was insufficient to redesigning of the airframe and a responsive. It was easy to fly and flexibility, but required a fuselage allow feet-off flying at lower speeds. weight saving amounting to 149lb, suitable for night flying, aided by large enough for the bomb aimer The factory continued to work on at least partly thanks to the metal its wide-track undercarriage, and to lay prone on the floor of the these detail matters, but Hawker structures. The revised aircraft was its extreme reluctance to spin. The aircraft, sighting through a hatch or also had its sights on bigger prizes. able to carry a greater load, was aircraft was steady in a dive up to window. The layout for operating During 1925, when the Air approximately 4mph faster at all the maximum speed of 185mph. Its the bombsight was described as Ministry was considering Horsley altitudes, and had a significantly pilot-adjustable tailplane incidence “comfortable and convenient” by development and production, it better rate of climb than was the meant it could be trimmed to fly the A&AEE, and importantly the had tidied up its requirements for case before. hands-off. air speed indicator and altimeter day bomber loads as 520lb ‘normal’

HORSLEY TESTBEDS

The Horsley had a long and successful career as an engine testbed. It was large enough to accept the more powerful engines that began to appear from the late 1920s, had sufficient fuel capacity to allow endurance testing, and was stable and easy to fly. Early use of a Horsley with a non-standard powerplant was very much with a future development of the aircraft in mind. The Armstrong Siddeley Leopard 14-cylinder radial was, at the time of its appearance in 1927, the most powerful air-cooled aero engine in the world, promising 800hp. The potential to improve the performance of the Horsley while saving weight was of great appeal to Hawker, and the company made strong representations to the Air Ministry to develop the aeroplane with this type of powerplant, stating that it could be fitted with minimal alteration — something over which Trenchard expressed doubt. The first Horsley to be so fitted was J8620, which received a direct-drive Leopard I in early 1928. The aircraft was indeed identical to a standard Horsley but for the engine mount and cowling, another advantage of the bolted-up tubular structure. However, the early Leopard was rough-running, shed a lot of oil and did not improve performance. Things improved with the geared Leopard II and III, but the Air Ministry again declined to order the type into production as it believed that better aircraft designs would be available by the time the Leopard was mature. The Leopard-powered Horsley did much to contribute to the engine’s development, however, and was put into production for the Danish Navy, although only two were built. A notable use of a Horsley purely for engine development occurred when J8620 was re-engined with a Junkers Jumo IV diesel in February 1936 “to ascertain the characteristics of this type of engine and general suitability in flight”. Two units were tested, one for 53 hours, the other for 43. The Horsley once again contributed in an oblique way to the success of the Hurricane, when two examples were earmarked to assist with development of the Rolls-Royce Merlin. The testbeds were used to gain certification for the early marks of Merlin, as well as different propellers.

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ABOVE: Leopard-engined Horsley J8620 first flew in 1928, but was not a great success. AEROPLANE

ABOVE: S1436 was on the strength of Rolls-Royce’s experimental department at Hucknall for Merlin engine trials. AEROPLANE

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HAWKER HORSLEY the performance is only affected in certain respects to a slight extent which we think you will agree is an achievement of very great value.” The Air Ministry looked seriously into the possibility of employing the Horsley as an interim night bomber to replace the ageing Virginias, but in the end decided that the compromises were too great. The improved Horsley had significantly better performance than the Virginia, could carry about the same bomb load and was easy to fly at night, but its range was somewhat shorter and the view less good for navigation. Furthermore, Trenchard had other reasons to reject the night bomber Horsley. “I have frequently said that I do not consider the Condor a suitable engine for the service”, he wrote. “I therefore do not wish to perpetuate the only type that has this engine.” The ministry did, however, seize upon the Horsley torpedo bomber, as it wanted a machine to be based at Singapore to protect the island and its important naval base. The RAF was then engaging in a ‘turf war’ with the Royal Navy, vying, as in the words of the Coast Defence Flight diary, “to prove that shorebased torpedo squadrons could be as effective as heavy guns for the defence of coast lines and harbours.” The Air Ministry issued Specification 24/25 for such an aircraft towards the end of 1925, but the aircraft selected from the official tender process would not be available for years. The Torpedo Horsley completed its contractor’s trials in January 1927 and was sent to the Torpedo Development Flight at Gosport for torpedodropping trials in February, then to Martlesham for performance trials during March.

BELOW: Horsley II J8621 was the final aircraft from the second main production batch. AEROPLANE

The tests proceeded so smoothly and quickly that by May a decision had been taken to form a flight of Horsleys in the torpedo bomber role. The Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe remarked that “effectiveness and feel of the three controls is unusually well harmonised. This is considered to be a particularly good quality in any aircraft”, adding, “no defects of design or construction have been observed during the time that the aircraft has been undergoing tests at this Establishment, and the trials have been completed without any modifications having to be carried out to the aircraft. This, in the recent experience of the Establishment, is so unusual as to be worthy of special comment.” One benefit of Hawker’s lobbying was to prove the Horsley’s ability to carry a bigger bomb load in the day bomber role. Without any structural alteration, the Horsley torpedo bomber could take a single 1,500lb armour-piercing bomb, a ‘B’ (anti-ship) bomb and two 250lb bombs, two 500lb and two 250lb bombs, and two 500lb and four 112lb bombs; with each of the specified loads it could also take four 20lb bombs for sighting and practice purposes. This represented three times the useful load of the Horsley’s predecessors. Hawker had not stopped development of the Horsley, and in early 1927 offered an allmetal version. This was a logical development, having proved the success and practicality of the metal structures in the composite MkII. The wood-framed rear fuselage was replaced with one built up from square-ended steel tubes with warren-girder side bracing and wire

cross-bracing. The joints linking bracing tubes with the longerons were by fishplates and hollow rivets. Flotation bags were fitted aft of the gunner’s cockpit. In place of the built-up wooden wing spars, Hawker developed its famous ‘dumb-bell’ spar, with tubular booms built up from steel strip, joined with a ‘wandering web’ and strengthened with plates or tubes where strut sockets and other fittings were placed. The wing ribs were of duralumin tube with Warren girder bracing. Samples of these structures were provided to the Royal Aircraft Establishment, which ascertained the loads the metal ribs and spars could sustain, and in some cases suggested improvements. A contract for a prototype was issued, and J8932 first flew in April 1927, going to the A&AEE the following month. The report from Martlesham noted: “The construction is rigid and robust. It is simple in design and should present no difficulties to Service personnel in its maintenance”. Tests with various military loads continued into 1931, by which time the all-metal Horsley was well established in service. By this time, aircraft of newer design were beginning to surpass the Horsley. While the type was frequently seen at testing establishments for many years to come, its presence was increasingly concerned with technology that would benefit other machines. A hallmark of the Horsley’s development was how quickly new versions appeared and how well-sorted they were from the beginning.

| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

and 1,040lb ‘extra’. The evolution of the Horsley took account of this, thus safeguarding against its rapid withdrawal, an ignominy that had befallen the Fawn. At the same time, a parallel specification, 24/25, was released for a land-based torpedo bomber. Hawker considered that the Horsley could meet the load requirements with a minimum of modification. As well as its improved load-bearing abilities, the undercarriage had been designed as a split unit to allow large bombs to be carried beneath the fuselage, which made it straightforward to add a central torpedo crutch. The company therefore prepared Horsley J8006, stressed for torpedo carriage, as a private venture. This machine was accepted for testing at Martlesham in late 1926. The Hawker management even took the bold step of proposing the Horsley as a night bomber to replace the Vickers Virginia. Sir T. O. M. Sopwith wrote to the Air Council in January 1927: “You will recall that this machine was designed primarily as a [DH]9A replacement for day bombing but we venture to suggest that it succeeds in performing all the duties now allocated to that type, and in addition is eminently suitable for night flying and long distance work… We have fitted up one Horsley as a coastal defence torpedo carrying machine and to illustrate the possibilities of the type, we give a table of comparative performances between the machine with the standard military load of 2,950lb, and the same machine equipped for coastal defence including torpedo where the military load is 4,696lb… It will thus be seen that with an increase in load of 1,746lb

DATABASE

Technical Details

New methods of construction were reflected as the Horsley evolved

T

ABOVE: The forward fuselage of one of the long-distance Horsleys, showing the seating accommodation, extra internal tankage, and the engine mounting. AEROPLANE

he Horsley was an unequal-span, unequal-chord biplane with dihedral on the lower planes, ailerons installed on the upper planes only, and slight sweepback on both. The wing cellule was in ‘one-and-a half-bay’ configuration with a wide centresection forming the inner wing panels out to the first close-set

Horsley/Dantorp specifications POWERPLANT Horsley: Rolls-Royce Condor III/IIIA/IIIB, 670-730hp Dantorp: Armstrong Siddeley Leopard III, 846hp DIMENSIONS Length: Span: Height:

Horsley 39ft 2in (11.94m), Dantorp (landplane undercarriage) 38ft 4.5in (11.70m) 56ft 9in (17.30m) 13ft 2in (4.01m)

GROSS WEIGHTS Horsley: 9,552lb (4332.7kg), Dantorp floatplane 10,420lb (4726.4kg), Dantorp landplane 8,230lb (3733.1kg) CREW

interplane struts, which were of ‘N’ configuration. The first 10 aircraft had planes of full wood-frame construction, but the majority had metal ribs to the upper centre-section and lower stub wings. The last production batches were all-metal with steel strip/tubular spars and duralumin ribs. The upper wing centre-section contained the two main fuel tanks. In service, aircraft were fitted with automatic slots on the upper mainplanes. Tail surfaces followed a similar pattern. The Dantorp, the torpedo bomber version produced for Denmark, was fitted with a rudder trim tab, which the Horsley lacked. The main undercarriage was split with separate tripod mounts and stub axles. Wheels were Palmer or Dunlop, with no wheel brakes fitted, and a tailskid. A detachable float undercarriage was available but only used in service on the Dantorp. The fuselage was a conventional wood framework in the MkI, with a forward fuselage of typical

Hawker bolted/riveted steel tube in the composite MkII, and a full all-metal frame in the later MkII. All-metal aircraft have sometimes been retrospectively called the MkIII, but never when the aircraft was in service. The pilot’s cockpit was just behind the upper wing centre-section, the gunner behind. The Dantorp’s rear cockpit was elongated to fit a navigator in front of the gunner. All surfaces were fabric-covered apart from the nose, which was clothed in detachable aluminium panels. Weapons were a fixed, forwardfiring Vickers 0.303in gun in the upper nose decking to port, and a flexible Lewis 0.303in gun mounted on a Scarff ring in the rear cockpit. Skeleton bomb carriers for 112lb or 230lb bombs could be fitted on the lower mainplanes and for 550lb bombs under the fuselage, and a light series store carrier could be mounted beneath the wings or fuselage. Later aircraft were modified to fit universal bomb carriers.

Horsley: two (pilot and gunner) Dantorp: three (pilot, wireless operator/navigator and gunner) ARMAMENT Bombs: Four 20lb (9kg) or 8.5lb (3.9kg) for sighting/practice, plus eight 112lb (51kg)/two 230lb (104kg) or 250lb (113kg) and two 520lb (236kg) or 550lb (250kg), or one 1,100lb/1,500lb bomb or 2,097lb torpedo Guns: One Vickers 0.303in (fixed, forward-facing), one Lewis 0.303in (flexible) PERFORMANCE Maximum speed: Cruise speed: Range: Service ceiling:

Horsley 129mph (208km/h) at sea level, Dantorp 127mph (204km/h) at 2,000ft 120mph (193km/h) 1,302 miles (2,095km) max fuel with 1,000lb bombs, 558 miles (898km) max fuel with 2,600lb bombs Horsley 14,000ft (4,267m), Dantorp (landplane) 17,750ft (5,410m)

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ABOVE: A 2,000lb torpedo being loaded underneath a No 100 Squadron Horsley. AEROPLANE

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HAWKER HORSLEY

DATABASE | Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

Hawker Horsley

Hawker Dantorp

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In Service

Though it never went to war, the Horsley saw varied service at home and abroad

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T

ABOVE: This three-ship of No 100 Squadron Horsley IIs is led by J8602. AEROPLANE

he first RAF squadron to receive a production Horsley was No 100 (Bomber) Squadron based at Spitalgate, Lincolnshire, which acquired a single example in August 1926 to help prepare to replace its Fawns. By the end of the year, both 100 and another Fawn unit, No 11 (Bomber) Squadron at Netheravon, were fully equipped with the Hawker aircraft. The entry into service of the Horsley seems to have proceeded smoothly as the units learned their new aircraft’s characteristics. However, the first loss occurred on 18 March during a practice formation by No 11 Squadron’s ‘A’ Flight to Hawkinge. The Horsleys flew into fog, and Plt Off Priestman’s aircraft J8012 was destroyed, killing Priestman and his passenger Pickering. In April and May, No 100 Squadron participated in experimental trials of wireless telegraphy and radio telephony. The unit undertook a number of long-distance flights maintaining aircraft-to-aircraft communication by radio telephony, while steering was directed by direction-finding. No 11 Squadron was detailed that same month to carry out a goodwill tour of towns and cities. Four

aircraft flew to Leeds on the 21st, Liverpool the following day, Bristol the day after that, and Nottingham on the 25th. The usual routine of RAF bomber squadrons in peacetime was a sequence of training, ‘flag-showing’ and inspections by senior figures in the RAF and Air Ministry. Each year the Horsley squadrons would attend a training camp at Weston Zoyland to carry out intensive training in air firing and bombing, usually around April for No 100 Squadron and May for 11. The routine included cooperation with other forces to help them train and develop tactics. In June 1927, two flights from 100 transferred to Weston Zoyland to perform anti-aircraft co-operation training with the batteries stationed at Watchet, towing targets for the gunners. Around 7,000 rounds of ammunition were directed at the Horsleys’ towed sleeve targets over the training period, and some night flying was even done for experiments using star shell to illuminate attacking night bombers. A similar programme was carried out the following year. While 100 was working with the anti-aircraft forces, five Horsleys from 11 flew from Netheravon to Gosport, to provide an escort to

the Duke and Duchess of York (the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) who were returning aboard HMS Renown from a tour of Australia and New Zealand. They picked up the battle cruiser in the Channel and remained overhead until Portsmouth was reached. The unit received a telegram of thanks from the Duke the following day. Ironically, during August the squadron located the Duke of York’s HQ and ‘bombed’ it during the Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) exercises, even returning to hit the same target again the same afternoon. The squadron’s diary records how practical the Horsley was during these exercises, noting that “no difficulty was found in getting the machines out, bombed up, and started ready for the raid in the time allotted, i.e. 30 minutes. In some cases the raids were successful, others were intercepted”. Both squadrons furnished a flight for September’s Southern Area Command tactical exercises on Salisbury Plain, carrying out reconnaissance and bombing armoured forces. This was something of a departure for the Horsley units, which rarely operated in close co-operation with ground assets.

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HAWKER HORSLEY

CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY

Both hH Horsley l squadrons d tookk part in the 1928 ADGB Command Exercises. A detachment of six aircraft from 100, led by Wg Cdr L. T. R. Gould MC, transferred temporarily to RAF Andover and conducted seven morning and evening raids on targets in London and the surrounding area. No 11 Squadron flew the same number of raids, its objective also being London. Another RAF unit was set up with Horsleys in the summer of 1928, with quite a different purpose. The Coast Defence Torpedo Flight was established in July, and gained its first aircraft in August when the commanding officer, Sqn Ldr A. W. Mylne, and two officers flew three Horsley torpedo bombers from Henlow to Donibristle near the Firth of Forth. The flight’s officers would all study at the Royal Navy torpedo school, HMS Vernon — indeed, one of its earliest members was a naval officer, Lt Martineau. Although the unit’s aircraft would be based at Donibristle, the torpedo workshop was set up at Turnhouse, in the belief that aircraft loaded with a torpedo could not take off safely from Donibristle. This meant that aircraft had to fly to Turnhouse to load up before carrying out their assigned mission and then return to Donibristle. Until the workshop was completed, the aeroplanes could only drop non-running dummy torpedoes. Later it was proved that the Horsley could operate safely with a torpedo from Donibristle and the workshop was moved. Nevertheless, a great deal of value could be gained from this and carrying out ‘light attacks’, using lights to indicate the dropping point and taking camera footage to assess if a hit had been made. The flight was officially redesignated as No 36 Squadron in October 1928, and on 15 November Sqn Ldr Mylne dropped its first running torpedo, the workshop at Turnhouse having been completed earlier in the month.

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That same month, Th h N No 11 Squadron gave up its Horsleys and re-equipped with Westland Wapitis, ahead of a planned transfer to India. Seven of the unit’s aircraft were collected by No 100 Squadron. 11’s place was taken in March 1929 by No 33 Squadron, operating Horsleys from Netheravon. Just after Christmas 1928, No 36 Squadron received orders “to concentrate on torpedo training, and be ready by the middle of the year 1929 to give a demonstration

to prove that h shore-based h b d torpedo d squadrons could be as effective as heavy guns for the defence of coast lines and harbours”. The dangers of this kind of flying were soon dramatically demonstrated when Fg Off Howes hit the water, two days after he was posted to the squadron. Neither he nor his gunner were injured, but the airframe and engine had to be returned to the manufacturers for overhaul. In keeping with its orders, 36 tackled its task with enthusiasm.

ABOVE: Part of the Special Reserve, No 504 (County of Nottingham) Squadron based its Horsleys — such as J8613 — at Hucknall.

VIA MATTHEW WILLIS

During D i April, A il an attackk on a towed target was flown before the Under-Secretary of State for Air, Sir Philip Sassoon, and in August a similar demonstration was made for Trenchard, who expressed himself “highly impressed”. Mock attacks with dummy and running torpedoes were executed throughout the year on warships going to and from Rosyth: HMS Argus and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla in May, Argus and HMS Repulse (twice) in June. In every case the aircraft were judged to have scored several hits. 1929 saw the first export success for the Horsley when the Greek Navy purchased six composite MkII torpedo bombers. These aircraft were based at Tatoi, near Athens. One was rigged as a VIP transport with the other five performing coastal defence. No 100 Squadron inspected and test-flew examples of the new Hawker Hart and Avro Antelope day bombers in 1930. Both had considerably better performance than the Horsley, though could not carry nearly as big a bomb load. By the early 1930s, however, the chief interest in the Horsley was swinging from day bombing to the torpedo role. No 33 Squadron exchanged its

ABOVE: Three machines from No 100 Squadron low over their home station of Bicester, with J8024 in the lead. AEROPLANE

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| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

Hawker Horsley II S1451 No 36 Squadron, RAF

DATABASE HAWKER HORSLEY until 1932, when its Horsleys were exchanged for Vickers Vildebeests. 504 still had Horsleys in 1933, after an uneventful career with the aircraft, when one of the more dramatic incidents occurred. A six-ship formation was flying into Hawkinge during a training exercise when a strong gust of wind struck the aircraft. It drove J8025, flown by Flt Lt Hartridge and AC Connett, into a hangar, which was destroyed by fire along with six Blackburn Dart aircraft within. 504 converted to the Westland Wallace in 1934. It left 36 as the RAF’s only operational Horsley unit, until it too re-equipped with Vildebeests the following year, bringing to a close the type’s operational use by the air arm. The last operational Horsleys were ABOVE: Danish Navy Dantorp serial 202 with wheeled undercarriage. AEROPLANE those in foreign service. In 1933, Horsleys for Harts in March 1930, arriving at RAF Seletar. The only Denmark took delivery of two actuating gear, and also to have a bringing the number of Horsley problem experienced was a leaking examples of the Hawker Dantorp greater tendency to ‘hunt’ when day bomber squadrons back down fuel tank on Mylne’s aircraft, S1437, (a portmanteau of ‘Danish’ and flying low over the sea, than the to one (with No 15 Squadron at at Point Victoria. Mylne took over ‘Torpedo’) HBIII for coastal patrol. old type”, but was satisfactory the A&AEE to be equipped with another machine while a spare tank These were similar in most respects overall. The aircraft were loaded Horsleys in the event of war). That was flown out from Karachi. A to the standard all-metal Horsley at Birkenhead onto the SS City October, though, a day bombing distance of 3,540 miles was covered but with several refinements, seating of Barcelona. Though S1441 was unit of the Special Reserve, No 504 dropped during loading, damage was at an average speed of 91mph. three crew members and powered by (County of Nottingham) Squadron, light and it was repaired on arrival. an Armstrong Siddeley Leopard IIIA The squadron continued with was formed with the type. radial engine. They were allocated The aircraft were shipped to its torpedo training, carrying out Even peacetime flying could to naval units 9.LG and 1.LF and Karachi, from where they would practice attacks and working with be dangerous. On 12 June 1930, were sometimes carried aboard the be unloaded to fly on to their Royal Navy ships. Occasionally, an Horsley J8005 of No 100 Squadron ultimate destination — a journey fishery protection vessel Ingolf for expensive running torpedo would collided with a Bristol Bulldog from of around 3,500 miles — in two reconnaissance. go missing during an exercise (it No 3 Squadron during practice There were plans for the Danish flights travelling several days apart. was customary to recover them for an air display. The pilot of the Navy to licence-build more This was to take advantage of the with a support vessel), whereupon Horsley, Sgt F. E. O’Meara, was opportunity to test an air route an advertisement would be placed Dantorps, but funding never killed, though his gunner, LAC between Karachi and Singapore, by in the Straits Times offering $40 for materialised. The two HawkerHagan, bailed out safely. The which the latter might be reinforced its return! Unfortunately, over the manufactured aircraft were still in damaged Bulldog was able to land. in the event of an attack. ‘B’ Flight next few years several members of service when Germany invaded in left Karachi on 3 December under the squadron lost their lives, usually April 1940. The Greek aeroplanes In August 1930 it was confirmed were also still in service during that No 36 Squadron would transfer the command of Flt Lt Plenderleith, from crashing into the sea while followed six days later by ‘A’ Flight practising torpedo attacks. World War Two, but were probably to Singapore and be re-equipped under Sqn Ldr Mylne. The flight Back in the UK, No 100 all destroyed in 1941 without with the all-metal Horsley, as the was completed in easy stages, Squadron moved from Bicester to going into action, though some latter was preferable in the climate stopping at Jodhpur, Allahabad, Donibristle to take over from 36 accounts suggest that they of the Far East. The new type was Dalla, Akyab, Rangoon, Tavoy, in the coastal defence role. The undertook anti-shipping raids found by the squadron to be the Victoria Point and Alor Star before unit continued in this manner in the Adriatic. “more sensitive on the tailplane

Hawker Dantorp 202 Danish Navy

CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY

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Insigghts

HAWKER HORSLEY

DATABASE

Long-distance flights and the pilot’s perspective

THE LONG AND THE SHORT In 1927 the Horsley might have achieved a coup that assured its place in the history books. Again, though, it was to be overshadowed. An ambitious long-distance flight was planned. It had been eight years since Alcock and Brown’s pioneering Atlantic crossing, and in that time Britain had not secured a single distance record. Many long-distance flights had been made, but these tended to be cross-country efforts in stages, focused on building air links with the far-flung areas of the Empire. The suggestion arose, probably from the then Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Hugh Trenchard, that the RAF should attempt a nonstop flight from Britain to India, a distance of around 4,000 miles. This was an immensely ambitious undertaking; the non-stop record then stood at 3,353 miles.

The RAF did not have available a type with the obvious ability to carry enough fuel, and with sufficient reliability, to cover the distance. However, during the extensive testing of the Horsley, fuel consumption trials had been completed at Brooklands by Flt Lt Charles Carr from the Air Staff. These included comparisons of various combinations of fuel and bomb loads in which the total weight of the machine was kept the same as the torpedo Horsley. They showed that an endurance of 14 hours could be achieved at 93mph with 334 gallons of fuel and 1,000lb of bombs — quite remarkable for a single-engined type. Hawker’s study into the feasibility of using the Horsley as a night bomber confirmed the possibility of carrying the considerable overload at night.

ABOVE: Flt Lts Charles Carr (left) and — complete with pipe — Leonard Gillman with J8607 at Cranwell. AEROPLANE

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The type had other attractive qualities for long-distance flying. It was stable, easy to fly, and could be trimmed to fly hands-off at different speeds and loads using its adjustable tailplane. Further fuel consumption and overload tests were done with the long-distance flight in mind, Hawker test pilot P. W. S. ‘George’ Bulman undertaking much of the work. Two composite MkII aircraft from the second production batch, J8607 and J8608, were earmarked, and relatively minor modifications made. These were mostly concerned with increasing fuel tankage to approximately 1,100 gallons (compared with the standard working capacity of 218 gallons). In addition to the standard wing tanks, several large tanks were constructed to fill the space in the fuselage between the engine and the cockpit, including the upper deck, with another fitted under the fuselage behind the radiator. The pilot’s cockpit was moved aft slightly to accommodate as much fuel as possible around the centre of gravity. The gunner’s cockpit was replaced with a second forward-facing seat and a small opening, sufficient for navigation, aft of which a camp bed was installed to enable the pilots to sleep if the opportunity arose. Flt Lt Carr, who had undertaken the fuel consumption trials, was chosen as lead pilot, with Flt Lt Leonard Gillman as his co-pilot. Both were experienced in longdistance flights. RAF Cranwell was the nominated base for the record

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| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

ABOVE: The first of the long-distance record Horsleys, J8607, during flight-testing at Brooklands in the hands of ‘George’ Bulman. AEROPLANE

DATABASE HAWKER HORSLEY

ABOVE: Plenty of attention for J8607 at Cranwell prior to its long-distance record attempt. AEROPLANE

attempt as it had one of the longest runways in the country, although it only had a smooth enough run when the wind was due east or west. A hangar was given over to the effort and the two machines were readied on site. Preparations completed, the flight was scheduled to leave Cranwell on 16 May. However, as the wind direction was critical for take-off, it was not until 20 May that the conditions were right. Carr opened up the throttle, whereupon the wind promptly veered to the south-west, forcing him to turn somewhat off the approved surface onto rougher ground. J8607 ran into a shallow gully, which actually jolted the machine into the air, but the undercarriage took the shock and Carr made a gradual turn to bring the Horsley onto its eastward course. The take-off had been achieved in less than 800 yards.

Three Horsleys from No 100 Squadron escorted J8607 as far as Manston, where a flying boat relieved them, flying with the longdistance machine until it reached

Ostend, Belgium. Reports came in from Wiesbaden, Germany some hours later that the Horsley had been seen passing overhead and all appeared to be well.

ABOVE: The ignominious end of J8608 in the Danube in Austria during August 1927. VIA MATTHEW WILLIS

ABOVE: A larger coolant radiator distinguished the second long-distance Horsley, J8608. VIA MATTHEW WILLIS

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The flight continued for some 34 hours, but during the night of 21 May J8607’s Rolls-Royce Condor stopped due to fuel starvation, probably due to an air lock or blockage in the fuel supply. The Horsley was crossing the Strait of Hormuz, where the Persian Gulf meets the Gulf of Oman, and Carr and Gillman were forced to ditch at about 20.15hrs GMT. The Horsley overturned on hitting the water and both men were thrown out, though they escaped harm and were able to swim back to the wrecked machine. The aircraft had crashed some three miles off Quoin Island, Oman and remained afloat — fortunately so, for Carr and Gillman, as there were sharks in the vicinity, though they were apparently repelled by oil leaking from the aircraft. The men tried firing flares to attract the attention of the Quoin lighthouse, but it was not until daybreak that they were noticed, whereupon the lighthouse directed the Shell tanker Donax to recover the men. It also picked up the damaged Horsley and took it to Abadan, which crucially meant that the aircraft’s instruments could be presented to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, including the barographs that would prove that it had not landed before its flight came to an end. It was confirmed that Carr and Gillman had beaten the existing benchmark by 66 miles to set a new record of 3,419 miles. Agonisingly, however, some time before the FAI had ratified this, Charles Lindbergh landed his Ryan NYP at Le Bourget to set a new record of 3,610 miles. Lindbergh had touched down at 22.22hrs GMT, meaning Carr and Gillman had been the record-holders for slightly over two hours, and that

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

HAWKER HORSLEY mostly identical to the previous machine except for a larger coolant radiator and modifications to the fuel system in the hope of preventing repetition of the previous failure. Many delays were suffered with weather and technical snags, but on 18 June — less than a month after the first flight — Carr and his new co-pilot Flt Lt Mackworth were ready. This time, the aircraft had not long taken off before one of the escorting Horsleys alerted Carr to an oil leak. This was highly dangerous as it left no time for Carr to burn

off fuel. The alternatives were to bail out or attempt a landing at almost full load. If taking off was tricky and dangerous at a weight of 14,000lb, landing was potentially lethal. On the other hand, abandoning a large aircraft full of fuel could lead to casualties on the ground. Carr elected to head for Martlesham Heath where he touched down expertly, saving the aircraft. There was no reason not to make a further attempt when minor repairs had been made, and Carr and a third co-pilot, Plt Off E. C. Dearth, took off from Cranwell on 2 August.

This time, the Horsley’s engine began to overheat (despite the larger radiator) over Austria, after around 700 miles. Without a suitable field to attempt a landing in, Carr once again elected for a forced landing on water, this time the River Danube. The Horsley pitched onto its back upon touching the surface. Although Carr was uninjured, Dearth was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken rib and punctured lung. The aircraft was recovered, but — perhaps understandably — no further attempts at a flight to India were made.

PILOT IMPRESSIONS

RAF service aircrew and test pilots generally liked the Horsley, even though it was far from being a high-performance machine. An anonymous Fleet Air Arm pilot of the 1920s and ’30s wrote in the August 1941 Naval Review of “the magnificent Hawker Horsley bomber, which was unquestionably one of the better types.” Pilots praised the Horsley’s stability, ease of flying, and above all the controls. “The flying qualities of this aircraft are very good”, a test pilot from the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment wrote in September 1929. “The response of the aircraft to control movement is rapid. Both the effectiveness and feel of the three controls is unusually well harmonised”. He added, “the aircraft is reasonably manoeuvrable, is easy to fly and would be quite comfortable to fly for long distances.” The Horsley’s stability was singled out for especial praise, this being a feature that contributed greatly to the type’s success in long-distance flight. “The aircraft is stable over the whole flying range, oscillations damping out at all speeds”, noted the A&AEE test pilot.

to the type in August 1930. “At the beginning of the month the all-metal type of Horsley, with which the Squadron was to be equipped at Singapore, was tested”, wrote the unit diarist. “Special note was taken of any peculiarities when dropping torpedoes. Although satisfactory, the new type was found to be more sensitive on the tailplane actuating gear, and also to have a greater tendency to ‘hunt’ when flying low over the sea, than the old type.” The Dantorp, if anything, handled even better than the standard Condor-engined Horsley. ‘The aircraft is very manoeuvrable, and is comfortable to fly”, concluded an MAEE test pilot in 1933. “The controls are reasonably light, well harmonised, and the response to control movement very good. ABOVE: Some very spirited low flying by torpedo-equipped Control at low speeds is very good, Horsley J8006 during 1927. AEROPLANE and there is no sign of loss of lateral Surprisingly, in view of the plane”. However, despite the aircraft’s control at the point at which the Horsley’s success in the torpedo long nose and bulky wing, the view elevator control tends to become bomber role, its thick upper wing for landing was considered “good ineffective. It is unlikely that it presented an inconvenience. “For from a straight glide.” would be inadvertently spun, even by fighting the view is good except The all-metal Horsley exhibited a comparatively inexperienced pilot. when climbing and turning”, the slightly different characteristics “It can be trimmed to fly A&AEE pilot wrote. “For torpedo to the composite MkII, as No 36 hands -off at any speed over attack the view is very bad due to top Squadron found when it converted the speed range.”

BELOW: No 100 Squadron aircraft operating from the vast grass expanses of Bicester — little changed today. AEROPLANE

| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

it had been eclipsed before it had been confirmed! Nevertheless, by all objective standards the flight was a great achievement. The Horsley had remained in the air for nearly a dayand-a-half, and covered a distance some 1,500 miles greater than Alcock and Brown’s Atlantic crossing. Undeterred, Carr resolved to try again. He and the other members of the record attempt party were convinced that it was still possible to achieve a direct flight to India, and thus break even Lindbergh’s record by a large margin. The second aircraft, J8608, was prepared. It was

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Events

COMPILER: BEN DUNNELL

During the ‘off-season’ from the UK’s major airshows, a variety of other events around the country helps keep the dedicated enthusiast busy. This month, Aeroplane showcases a few of them, from special open days to programmes of lectures. So, if you’re after an aviation ‘fix’ in the cold winter months, some of these may be just what you’re after…

HAC ‘At Home’ Days The Historic Aircraft Collection’s increasingly popular ‘At Home’ events at its IWM Duxford base offer a chance to find out more about this well-known operator’s fleet — Spitfire LFVb BM597, Hurricane XIIa ‘P3700’, Fury I K5674 and Nimrod II K3661 — and to get up close to the aeroplanes themselves. HAC pilots Charlie Brown and Dave Harvey host each event, aided by the collection’s groundcrew. In Duxford’s Battle of Britain hangar, Charlie and ‘Harvs’ offer their perspectives on flying the Spitfire, Hurricane and Bf 109, and answer any questions you may have. There’s also the

opportunity to watch some unique video footage. You can have your photo taken in the cockpit of Spitfire BM597, and shoot your own close-up imagery of the aircraft. Tea, coffee and cake rounds off the afternoon. Numbers are kept limited to ensure that every guest gets as much out of the occasion as possible, and the price includes admission to IWM Duxford. The next date is Saturday 21 January 2017. • Price per person: £70 • Booking/information: call HAC on 01580 830215 or visit historicaircraftcollection.ltd.uk

RAF Museum Spitfire Experience A regular attraction at the RAF Museum London in Hendon is the Spitfire Experience, which allows you to sit in the cockpit of Spitfire LFXVIe RW393 — an aircraft that actually served at Hendon from 1949-53 — and thereby gain a pilot’s-eye perspective. There’s no need to pre-book; simply turn up at the museum on any day and book your time slot. Note the access restrictions on the museum website. ABOVE: You can sit in Spitfire LFXVIe RW393 at Hendon. BEN DUNNELL

• Price per person: £10 • Booking: At the museum • Information: www.rafmuseum.org.uk

Royal Aeronautical Society lectures RAeS branches around the country, as well as the HQ in London, hold extensive programmes of evening lectures on aviation topics including many of an historical bent which will surely be of interest to Aeroplane readers. All are free to attend, and both RAeS members and non-members are welcome. Please check via the society’s website for details relating to admission to a few of the venues, and specific timings. Details of some of the next month’s lectures with historical themes are as follows:

11 January: The Story of Aviation at Broughton/ Hawarden — Beswick Building, University of Chester 12 January: Martin-Baker Ejector Seats — Cambridge University Engineering Department, Trumpington Street, Cambridge 17 January: VC10 Military Operations — BAE Systems Park Centre, Farnborough 19 January: The Spitfire and Seafire (talk by Rod Dean) — National Cold War Exhibition, RAF Museum Cosford 26 January: British Test Pilots — from the FAST Archives — Cobham Lecture Theatre, Bournemouth University 30 January: RAF Harrier in the Cold War (talk by

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

Gp Capt ‘Jock’ Heron) — RAeS HQ, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ 2 February: The Flying Exploits of Sir Arthur Marshall — Cambridge University Engineering Department, Trumpington Street, Cambridge 8 February: Nimrod Operations — Personal Lecture Theatre, BAE Systems Warton, Lancashire 15 February: The Day the Sky went Black (1985 Manchester air disaster) — Newton Building, Salford University 16 February: Flight-Testing the Bristol 188 — National Cold War Exhibition, RAF Museum Cosford 23 February: The Role of a Rolls-Royce Test Pilot (talk by Phill O’Dell) — Cobham Lecture Theatre, Bournemouth University 15 March: Nimrod — The Mighty Hunter — Deanwater Hotel, Woodford, Lancashire 15 March: Flight-Testing the Bristol 188 — staff restaurant, BAE Systems Rochester, Kent 23 March: The ‘V-Bomber Force’ and the Cold War — Cobham Lecture Theatre, Bournemouth University 12 April: Farnborough — From Cody to Concorde — Beswick Building, University of Chester 12 April: The Red Arrows — Personal Lecture Theatre, BAE Systems Warton, Lancashire 13 April: BAC One-Eleven Initial Flight Trials — British Airways Waterside Theatre, Harmondsworth

• Information: www.aerosociety.com

ABOVE: Charlie Brown (right) showing Spitfire BM597 to visitors to an HAC ‘At Home’ event. TOM DOLEZAL/HAC

Croydon Airport Collectors’ Fair

A range of aviation and military collectables, books, models and toys will be on sale at the Croydon Airport Military, Aviation and Model Collectors’ Fair on Saturday 8 January. The venue is the former Aerodrome Hotel, now the Hallmark Hotel, next to Airport House. The historic, preserved Croydon Airport control tower will be open for visits on the day, which begins at 10.30hrs. • Information: www.redhillairshow.co.uk

London Society of Air-Britain

On the second Monday of each month, the London Society of Air-Britain (LSA-B) presents an aviation talk at the Barley Mow pub, 104 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2EE. Each starts at 20.00hrs. The programme for the next few months is thus: 9 January: John ‘Smudge’ Smith — The history of Duxford and its satellite Fowlmere from 1917 to the present day 6 February: Rod Dean — Flying and Displaying Vintage Jet Aircraft 6 March: Graeme Douglas — B-17 and B-24 10 April: Mike Biddulph — The Percival Proctor

• Price per person: £7 for LSA-B members, £6 for LSA-B senior citizen members, £9 for visitors, £8 for senior citizen visitors (LSAB membership £17) • Information: www.air-britain.com/ lsab2.html

Readers are advised to check that events featured above are taking place as planned, in case of amendment after we went to press.

www.aeroplanemonthly.com 95

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Books Book of the Month Testing Tornado by J. David Eagles published by The History Press

This volume’s modest title fails adequately to sum up the breadth of David Eagles’ flying career, which started when he joined the Fleet Air Arm and did his basic flying training with the US Navy, and ended with his making the first flight of BAe’s EAP demonstrator. In this respect, the sub-title ‘Cold War Naval Fighter Pilot to BAe Chief Test Pilot’ comes closer to doing it justice. In covering so much of the ‘golden era’ of British aviation, Eagles’ accounts, recollections and observations provide a great record of an important period. His text is wonderfully written, is technical enough to satisfy the purist while paying equal attention to the human side of things, and is spiced with moments of suitably dry wit. It was while he was serving with 893 NAS and flying the Sea Venom that the squadron found itself at RNAS Brawdy for the 1959 Trafalgar Night dinner. His account of the evening’s events involving a very senior wardroom guest, dire warnings by a humourless commander to rein in high spirits and to ensure ‘a bit of decorum’, and an exploding serving platter of banana splits is truly memorable and encapsulates the very best (some might say worst) aspects of service life and humour. After graduating from ETPS, Eagles went on to the A&AEE at Boscombe Down, where he joined the naval ‘C’ Squadron which was then (in 1964) getting ready to qualify the Buccaneer S2 for use aboard carriers. It was during deck trials of the S2 aboard HMS Victorious that he was forced to eject, at 90ft and with the aircraft at 80° of bank, following a severe pitchup on launch. The whole episode is neatly described, including the results of a subsequent A&AEE investigation into the cause, and is illustrated with a photo of a seemingly cheery Eagles, post-ejection and on a stretcher, awaiting his return to the UK for hospital treatment. His subsequent test flying career with BAe at Warton, primarily on the MRCA/Tornado and leading up to the EAP's first flight on 8 August 1986, is well covered and gives an insight into the challenges of a multi-national programme. This illustrated autobiography provides a genuinely good read and comes most highly recommended. Disappointed you will not be. Denis J. Calvert ISBN 978-0-7509-6841-6; 9.25 x 8.7in softback; 160 pages, illustrated; £16.99

★★★★★

Miles Aircraft — The Post-War Years

by Peter Amos published by Air-Britain

Here is the third in the series by Peter Amos covering the complete history of Miles Aircraft — warts and all. It is the result of more than 40 years’ research by the author, who is determined that all the facts associated with the company and its eventual demise should be published, thereby correcting many previous reports. The result, of course, means a considerable amount of text on company business, reports and so forth, which may not be of interest to the layman but forms an essential part of the history. However, let’s concentrate here on the aeroplanes. This volume covers Miles’s activities in Reading and Newtownards from 194548. First comes the conclusion of the M52 story, which began in volume two. A large number of designs progressed no further than the project stage, but among them come the well-known production aircraft such as the Messenger, Aerovan, Marathon and Gemini. Production lists follow in various appendices, giving a brief, but sufficient, history of each airframe — these are expanded upon on the enclosed DVD and hard copy appendices, of which more later. Do take time to read about the various projects: the M54 civil transport resembling the DH Flamingo, the Aerovan Major, the M58 naval patrol fighter, the tail-less M63 with three jets, the Biro pens, Copycat printer and many more. Miles’s fertile imagination is clear. As mentioned, the book is supplied with a DVD containing appendices, plus a 352-page hard copy. The latter contains extended details of production lists for each type and more information than the DVD. As an example, reference to Gemini G-AKKB in the main book gives its brief history in 16 lines, while the hard copy has 145 lines, apparently listing its every move. The hard copy, soft-cover list of appendices — same page size and cover as the book — is not available separately, but you should get it as there are many more photographs. Inside, for instance, can be found much information about Hawk Trainer IIIs in Argentina, such as the registrations and aero clubs that operated the type, plus a list of their 260 accidents! This is an expensive set, but if you bought parts one and two you will need it for your collection. Reproduction is excellent as usual, and prices are considerably less for Air-Britain members — just ask! Mike Hooks

Reviews Rating ★★★★★

Outstanding

★★★★★

Excellent

★★★★★

Good

★★★★★

Flawed

★★★★★

Mediocre

Enough said

‘The author is determined that all the facts associated with Miles and its eventual demise should be recorded’

Main book — ISBN 978-0-85130-480-9; 9 x 12in hardback; 448 pages, illustrated; £47.50 Softback appendices — same ISBN and page size; 352 pages, illustrated; £19.50

★★★★★

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

ð www.aeroplanemonthly.com 97

Books The Secret MiGs of Bornholm

by Dick van der Aart published by Brave New Books

For the aviation author seeking to write about a subject not previously covered well in print, the Cold War period offers perhaps the richest pickings. So it is here, as experienced Dutch journalist van der Aart examines the three occasions on which Polish Air Force MiG-15s — two of them Polish-built Lim-2s — flown by pilots wishing to defect to the West landed on the Danish island of Bornholm. The first in particular was a great intelligence ‘prize’, offering as it did a chance not previously available to examine in detail the upgraded MiG-15bis variant. However, as is described here, the Danish authorities went against the wishes of certain major NATO partners and — following detailed examination, but not flight-testing — returned the fighter to the Polish authorities. This and much more is described in very well-researched detail by van der Aart, who makes use of a wide variety of archive sources and some extremely rare period photos. His text is excellent at describing the wider context of events, not least around the political and strategic position the Danes found themselves in at that time of the Cold War. There is some fascinating information here, a particular highlight being the discussion between British officials about the possibility of somehow “removing” a MiG-15 from Danish soil if the Danes continued to block requests for flight trials. In the event, by the third Polish MiG defection to Bornholm, RAF pilots had tested the MiG-15 for themselves — specifically, the North Korean example flown to Kimpo, South Korea, in 1953 in exchange for a bounty of US$100,000. This the author covers too, including how it was a hard landing in the hands of an RAF pilot, Flt Lt E. S. Chandler, that ended the aircraft’s flying career. A lot of the content here will be new to many readers, and the text reads well, too — as we ought probably to expect of someone from the Netherlands, the standard of English is generally high. A splendid addition to the range of literature available on Cold War military aviation. Ben Dunnell ISBN 978-9-40215-352-1; 9.5 x 6.75in softback; 146 pages, illustrated; £15.00 from The Aviation Bookshop (www.aviation-bookshop.com)

★★★★★

The American Bomb in Britain

by Ken Young published by Manchester University Press

In the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the ‘special relationship’ 98 www.aeroplanemonthly.com

between the UK and the USA led to the signing in 1946 of an agreement allowing the USAAF (as it then was) access to UK airfields, to allow the mounting of atomic strikes on the Soviet Union should the need arise. There remained an abundance of airfields in the UK capable of hosting nuclear-capable B-29s, and forwardbasing put a number of important Soviet urban-industrial targets within range. This is a comprehensive — if very expensive — account of dealings between the UK and US at government and military levels, and is the result of much ferreting through archive material on both sides of the Atlantic. It reveals some great examples of military planning and co-operation, frequent cases of mistrust and the occasional ‘bodged’ arrangement dreamt up in an attempt to keep both sides happy. The author covers strategic nuclear forces in the UK during the period until the mid-1960s, when the numerical build-up of USAF B-52s, air-to-air refuelling tankers and ICBMs rendered forward-basing in the UK far less important. Much here is both fascinating and historically significant, including details of a US offer to supply 90 B-47s to provide “a welcome strengthening” of RAF Bomber Command prior to the entry into service of the ‘V-bombers’, and the supply to the UK of US-made atomic weapons, initially for RAF Germany Canberra squadrons. Illustrations are relatively few and have not reproduced too well on the paper stock used. Your reviewer would only take issue with the caption on page 100, “A USAF Globemaster delivers the first Thor missile to RAF Lakenheath in 1960”. In fact, the first Thor arrived there, by Globemaster, on 29 August 1958 — exactly as predicted in the Daily Express of 25 August by the redoubtable Chapman Pincher, the paper’s defence correspondent. Denis J. Calvert

‘A lot of the content here will be new to readers’

‘Fascinating — but very expensive’

I ISBN 978-1-473-848818; 9.5 x 6.5in hardback; 264 pages, illustrated; h £25.00 £

★ ★★★★★

A Airpower Classics

ISBN 978-0-7190-8675-5; 8.5 x 6.3in hardback; 304 pages, illustrated; £80.00

b Zaur Eylanbekov and by Walter J. Boyne W published by Air Force Association p

★★★★★

Gloster Javelin: An Operational History

by Michael Napier published by Pen & Sword Aviation

Having a favourite aircraft is something generally to be discouraged, much like having a favourite child. Yet your reviewer must admit to a penchant for the Javelin, this probably resulting from his living under the flightpath of RAF Odiham at the time No 46 Squadron introduced the type to service. As befits a volume with ‘an operational history’ in its title, there is little text given over to the Javelin’s origins, its design, its specification or its somewhat troubled development. For

t these aspects Maurice Allward’s ‘Postwar Military Aircraft: Gloster Javelin’ and w Richard Franks’ ‘Gloster Javelin’ can be R rrecommended. Napier is well qualified to write on tthe subject, having been an RAF fast jet pilot, albeit on aircraft a generation later p tthan the Javelin. He has been aided in ccompiling this volume by a number of ‘Javelin men’ — people he describes as ““aircrew and groundcrew, from ssquadron commanders to junior firstttourists, senior officers to NCO aircrew, ffrom engine technicians to instrument fitters” — whose recollections bring firsthand authenticity to the narrative. The text is organised by date band, by squadron, by command and by major exercise. The myriad problems affecting early aircraft are portrayed fairly, but entry into service was finally achieved in January 1956 with No 46 Squadron, albeit not without further difficulties aand the loss of the squadron ‘boss’ in a JJavelin landing accident just months llater. Numerous accounts describe ssquadron operations, deployments, eexercises, tactics and mishaps, with the JJavelin deployment to Zambia in 11965-66 — arguably the type’s most ‘‘operational’ use — covered ccomprehensively. There is a first-rate selection of previously unseen illustrations in black p aand white, sadly with only an ‘OK’ sstandard of reproduction, and an eexcellent colour section depicting JJavelin fins and their squadron markings. The volume concludes m with a 17-page listing of each individual Javelin, its squadron assignments and a column detailing any interesting happenings. A most useful work, which comes recommended. Denis J. Calvert

‘A most useful work’

‘Excellent artworks’

B Belonging to the ranks of coffee-table ttitles, this landscape-format offering contains the first 60 aircraft types featured in Air Force Magazine’s ‘Airpower Classics’ series. While this is an American publication, the range of machines is international, each depicted by Zaur Eylanbekov’s excellent aartworks and Walter Boyne’s accompanying a text, plus archive iimagery. Production values are high. TThis isn’t really one for the enthusiast, but may be a nice primer for someone b lless well-versed in the aircraft cconcerned. Ben Dunnell I ISBN 978-0-615-59499-6; 14.5 x 11.5in hardback; 136 pages, illustrated; $39.95

★★★★★ AEROPLANE JANUARY 2017

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25/11/2016 09:21

NUCL E A R CA NBER R A S

HIGH ALERT

The Canberra B(I)8 had its flaws, but when called upon to provide nuclear-armed quick reaction alert in Germany — or to respond to potential troublee in Singapore — No 16 Squadron’s examples of the English Electric attack aircraft stood ready, and its crews prepared WORDS: TOM EELES

A

fter my basic and advanced flying training courses, completed by March 1964, I was posted to Canberras. Yes, they were much less glamorous than Hunters or Lightnings but they were single-pilot, all the front-line squadrons were based overseas, and it was better than going to the ‘V-force’ as a co-pilot. A pretty good deal, really. The Canberra Operational Conversion Unit, No 231 OCU, was based at RAF Bassingbourn near Royston. It wasn’t an OCU in many ways as its equipment consisted of Canberra T4s, PR3s and B2s. The B2 was no longer in front-line service and was unable to undertake any of the weapon delivery profiles then used by the operational squadrons. As I was on the bomber course, it was a fairly relaxed experience with little pressure. After conversion to type we flew numerous cross-country navigation sorties at high and low levels, one trip to Wainfleet for some medium-level visual bombing — something I was never to do again — a short introduction to formation and gentle aerobatics in the T4, and that was it. The RAF had four Canberra strike attack squadrons based in Germany in the 1960s: Nos 3, 14 and 16 Squadrons were equipped with the Canberra B(I)8 and based at Geilenkirchen, Wildenrath and Laarbruch, while No 213 Squadron flew the B(I)6 from Brüggen. All four airfields were built during the mid-1950s and were located in the extreme west of Germany, close to the Dutch border. The B(I)6 was a modified version of the B6, but the B(I)8 was a new-build variant. The

pilot was accommodated at the rear of the pressure cabin in a revised cockpit fitted with a fighter-type canopy offset to the left, affording superb all-round visibility. There was only one navigator station, ahead of and below the pilot, and without an ejection seat. The navigator had a small chart table with a swivel chair and a prone couch in the nose for visual navigation. The nose was given additional glazing to provide a greater range of look-out. The B(I)8 was specifically designed for day/night low-level interdiction, had increased armour protection, and could be fitted with a gun pack in the rear of the bomb bay which carried four 20mm cannon and 2,000 rounds of ammunition. Flares could be located in the forward half of the bomb bay for illuminating targets at night, and it was possible to tote two bombs on underwing pylons. In the nuclear strike role, one nuclear weapon was carried in the bomb bay. The four Germany-based squadrons were assigned to NATO for tactical nuclear strike duties. The nuclear weapon was supplied by the US, and remained in their custodianship until released under a ‘dual-key’ arrangement requiring both British and American government authority. Each squadron maintained two aircraft on quick reaction alert (QRA) at 15 minutes’ notice to get airborne 365 days a year; these were positioned in a guarded compound close to the runway, guards being provided equally by UK and US personnel. In the 1960s these QRA sites were completely ‘soft’, so vulnerable to attack from the air or by special forces on the ground. Weapon delivery was by means of the low-altitude bombing system (LABS). This consisted of a gyro-

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driven pilot’s display, very similar to a two-needle ILS display, which could be set to release the bomb at either 60° (normal) or 120° of pitch (alternate). The display had a vertical needle that showed roll, and a horizontal needle that indicated pitch or applied g. There was also a timer, controlled by the navigator. For a normal attack, the aircraft would be flown at low level and high speed, 434kt, from an initial point (IP) towards the target. The navigator set the timer, taking into account the wind and the aircraft’s ground speed.

aircraft into a looping manoeuvre, the bomb being released automatically at 60° of pitch. He rolled out as he passed through the inverted attitude and escaped in the opposite direction, leaving the bomb to fly forward about three miles to impact close to or on the target. For an alternate attack, if no suitable IP was available, the pilot flew the aircraft to overhead the target and initiated the manoeuvre with his trigger, the bomb being released this time at 120° of pitch. The pilot continued as before, but the bomb flew up and then descended onto the target.

ABOVE: A good view of the offset canopy of the B(I)8, which afforded the pilot far better visibility than on previous Canberra variants. AEROPLANE OPPOSITE: A pairs take-off by No 16 Squadron Canberra B(I)8s XM269 and XM274. VIA TOM EELES

‘The QRA sites were completely ‘soft’, so vulnerable to attack from the air’ The pilot started the timer by holding down his trigger on the control column as he passed over the IP. When the timer ran out the display’s horizontal needle changed from indicating pitch to demanding the g required — about +3.5 — and the pilot pulled the

The pilot had control of a normal/ alternate selector switch — clearly, it was essential for this to be in the correct position for the type of attack undertaken. Quite a few crews carried out what they thought was an alternate attack but with the selector at normal,

BELOW: The tip tanks of XM265 have been removed to permit weapon delivery. VIA TOM EELES

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BELOW: No 16 Squadron exercised regularly alongside NATO allies. Here, in the late summer of 1964, Canberra XM268 leads a formation of four USAF F-105D Thunderchiefs from the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem during a squadron exchange. The ‘Thuds’ carried the same nuclear weapon as did the B(I)8s. Clearly visible beneath the formation is the Laarbruch QRA compound, with its two soft shelters housing the QRA aircraft, each guarded by an RAF and a USAF armed guard. VIA TOM EELES

throwing the bomb miles beyond the target danger area. LABS bombing was demanding work as the Canberra’s flying controls had no power assistance. It was certainly not very enjoyable for the poor navigator, who had no means of escape other than a manual bail-out through the crew access door if the pilot got it wrong. LABS attacks were remarkably accurate despite their somewhat rudimentary nature. I arrived on No 16 Squadron in September 1964. The first task was to become qualified to go into QRA, involving many hours of low flying in both Germany and the UK, practising navigation and IP-to-target runs as a two-man crew. Then there was the requirement to have delivered a certain number of 25lb practice bombs in both methods of LABS deliveries on weapons ranges. Peacetime rules for practice LABS bombing were very restrictive. We were not allowed to enter any significant cloud during the manoeuvre, and we could not do LABS bombing at night. This, in my view, had a significant effect on our operational capability, and I am sure the other side was well aware of these limitations. With the winter weather generally being poor in Germany we spent a lot of time doing LABS bombing on the ranges in Libya — at Tarhuna and El Adem — where

the weather was much better, but not representative of our likely area of operations in war. It took me three months to work up to operational status, allowing me to go on QRA. We were required to study our war targets extensively, each crew having a primary and secondary target. Target folders with full mission details were kept in secure, hardened accommodation and targets were generally large features such as airfields, air defence command and control facilities and military installations. They were located in East Germany, Poland and the Baltic area. We were not expected to return from these sorties, and the navigation information in the folders ceased at the target.

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Another nuclear mission considered quite likely was ‘selective release’. This envisaged launching a tactical nuclear strike into the land battle if a Soviet Army breakthrough had occurred; the procedures were practised during tactical evaluation (Taceval) exercises. In that era there was no concept of flexible response within NATO. If the Soviets crossed the Inner German Border, we would have gone into nuclear warfare straight away. It was interesting that we were never briefed on what to do if attacked

by an enemy fighter. The Canberra could have had a rearward-looking radar, Orange Putter, in the tail cone but none of our aircraft had it fitted. We carried no form of chaff or flares and the SAM threat was considered minimal at the heights we were expecting to fly. AAA would have been a major threat. At least our squadron commander, who had flown Hunters, gave us some unofficial tips on what to do if bounced by a fighter. We were not given any form of eye protection against nuclear flash, nor did we have NBC equipment or personal sidearms. So, how effective were we? The fact that the RAF fielded eight nuclear-armed aircraft on QRA all the time was a fair deterrent against adventurism by the Warsaw Pact. Other NATO nations also contributed to this posture. Had hostilities started, some of us would have got through by day, given the likely fog of war, but many would have fallen to AAA. Fighters and SAMs might have got one or two but not many. By night or in poor weather, our chances of success were very much reduced. None of us would have got back, but there would not have been much to get back to. Another question, never answered, was whether the ‘dual-key’ release arrangements would ever have worked, given the need for both the US and UK governments to agree in

what would have been a time of great confusion and tension. Our conventional capability, only ever used for non-NATO UK national tasks, was not very impressive. Although the B(I)8 was able to carry three 1,000lb bombs in the forward half of the bomb bay, they could only be delivered in straight and level flight, using a bombsight in the visual nose position. No such sight was fitted — the only delivery mode was a shallow dive attack and any bombs in the bomb bay would not fall clear of the aircraft in a shallow dive. Thus we were limited to the two 1,000lb bombs on the wing pylons, which could be dropped from a shallow dive attack. The forward part of the bomb bay was only used for the 16 flares used to illuminate targets at night, dropped from a straight and level overflight of the target. True, we had 2,000 rounds of World War Two-vintage 20mm ammunition, but doing night airto-ground gunnery or dive-bombing under our ineffective flares, most of which dated from the 1940s, was hairy to say the least. A very simple gunsight with a ‘ring and bead’ display was provided for weapon aiming. In retrospect, the Canberra B(I)8 was never really developed properly as a conventional attack aircraft, probably as a consequence of the RAF concentrating on its ‘V-bomber’ deterrent force. The American licencebuilt Canberra version, the Martin B-57, was far more capable. In early 1965, No 16 Squadron was stood down from its QRA commitment and deployed nine aircraft in the conventional role to reinforce the RAF in Singapore during the Indonesian confrontation. Being the most junior member of the unit I thought it highly unlikely that I would be able to take part in this detachment into what might turn out to be a war zone, as normally one would not be trained in conventional weapon

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delivery until at least 18 months into one’s tour. Nevertheless, I pleaded with the squadron commander to let me go, and to my astonishment he allowed me to join the detachment. I travelled out to Malaya very slowly, courtesy of RAF Transport Command in a Britannia. We stopped en route in Malta, Cyprus and Bahrain, where I was bumped off the aircraft to be

Singapore. I am assured that these no longer exist. Next day it was off to the squadron’s base, the airfield at Kuantan some 150 miles north-east of Singapore, close to the east coast. It had one 6,000ft runway, a short taxiway allowing access from the dispersals to the northern threshold, and no permanent accommodation. There was no formal

ABOVE: Warmer climes: XH209 on detachment to Tripoli. TOM EELES

‘Some of us would have got through by day, but many would have fallen to AAA’ replaced by a more senior officer. This was not difficult in my case, as I was probably one of the most junior officers in the RAF. I finally got on a Comet, which delivered me via Gan to Changi, where I was met by some of the squadron members and taken downtown to Bugis Street — quite an introduction to the fleshpots of

air traffic control and the nearest diversion airfields were in Singapore. Flying operations were very much VFR, and night flying was particularly challenging. A primitive electric lighting system marked the runway edges, but was hardly visible from the air. Goose-neck flares supplemented this, but there were only enough for

BELOW: A pilot’s eye view of a target on the Tarhuna range in Libya, south-west of the capital. TOM EELES

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ABOVE: The typical conventional weapons load carried by No 16 Squadron’s B(I)8s, exh hibited d here on the Kuantan tarmac. TOM EELES BELOW: A very Cold War-esque view of Canberra XM263 at Laarbruch in June 1971. The following year, 16 replaced the type with the Buccaneer.

DAVE LAWRENCE VIA ADRIAN M. BALCH COLLECTION

onee side of the runway, so one had to remember which side was marked. Theere were some very tall trees in the jun ngle not far from either end of the runway, so an engine failure afteer takeoff was not a pleasant prospect. The airfield was defended by some Th eldeerly 20mm anti-aircraft guns, origginally used to protect the Royal Navy vy dockyard in Singapore. They werre so unwieldy that it was doubtful whether they could ever have been broought to bear in the unlikely event of an Indonesian air raid. The flying was great fun but hot Th workk. Th The B(I)8’s canop py coulld not be opened, so temperatures inside soared on the ground, but there were

a few cold air blowers available to cool things down. In the air we rehearsed low-level navigation in pairs and fours, and spent quite a lot of time on the various weapons ranges succh as China Rock, Song Song and Asahan doing air-to-ground firing and shallow dive bombing. Sorties usually concluded with a practice attack on the airfield, as most of our potential targets in Indonesia were airfields.

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Night work consisted of flareillumiinated d dive-bbom mbing and d air-to-ground firing on the China Rock range. The firstt time this was

attempted there was no range safety officer at China Rock because the range party had been withdrawn at night, the area being considered at high risk from Indonesian infi filltrators. Clear range procedure was the order of the day, the crew having to ensure thatt they delivered their flares and bombs into the correct range area. Sadly, with h the rudimentary navigation aids in thee B(I)8, the gallant crew were not really sure where their flares had gone so were unable to identify fyy the target. Nexxt morning, all hell broke loose when thee 16 parachutes were found in the trees on th he maiinlland d some way from th he range. Initial reacttion was that they had been part of a supply drop from

LIFE ON THE JUNGLE’S EDGE

Conditions at Kuantan airfield were, as you might expect, on the primitive side. Communication with the outside world was by two ’phone lines routed to the nearby town’s telephone exchange. We lived in two-man tents and had a large marquee for an officers’ mess. The gents’ was a bucket surrounded by a canvas awning, and the ablution facilities were somewhat basic when compared to what we had left behind at Laarbruch. There were many slit trenches, surrounded by sandbags, which filled up with rainwater every afternoon after the inevitable tropical downpour and made quite reasonable baths. However, they presented a significant hazard to the unwary officer wandering back to his tent in the pitch-black tropical night after consuming a few cans of Tiger in the mess tent. Off-duty activities consisted of visits to Kuantan, which had not changed much since the days of the British Empire, swimming from the local beaches and occasional trips to Singapore for the weekend. On base we played volleyball, watched films in the makeshift open-air cinema, drank Tiger in the mess tent and sometimes went exploring in the jungle, which came right up to the airfield boundary. We were resupplied by air from Singapore on a regular basis, the Bristol Freighters of the Royal New Zealand Air Force being regular visitors. Because of the unique up-country nature of Kuantan, numerous visitors from HQ FEAF would appear. On one occasion we made the day for the visiting command fire officer by setting fire to the cookhouse facility. RIGHT: The airfield at Kuantan was a veritable ‘tent city’. TOM EELES

Indonesia to infiltrators in the jungle. Some explaining had to be done down at HQ Far East Air Force. Only once was the squadron called upon to conduct live offensive support operations. A task came in to provide three aircraft loaded with full gun packs of high-explosive ammunition to strafe an area of jungle in Johor Bahru where it was believed there were Indonesian infiltrators. A Scottish Aviation Pioneer from RAF Tengah provided forward air control. Naturally the squadron commander and the next two most senior pilots flew this mission, leaving us junior members of the unit frustrated on the ground. It was the first time No 16 Squadron had been in action since 1945. Eventually it was time to go home to Germany, as we were to be replaced by a Canberra squadron from Cyprus. To commemorate this detachment so far away from our normal home base we commissioned some Selangor pewter beer mugs, each marked individually. Mine is inscribed ‘JP’ for junior pilot, and is still much used today. The state of the navigation aids in the aircraft was by now not good. There were few spares in the Far East for the Doppler navigation system, which was different to the one used in locally based Canberras. The other aid we had was Decca, but there were no Decca chains outside Europe apart from one in the Persian Gulf. Our route home involved some long ocean crossings without diversions, so represented quite a challenge for the navigators. It was KuantanButterworth-Gan-Bahrain-AkrotiriMalta-Laarbruch, with night stops at each location to avoid jet lag. One

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aircraft was fitted with a radio compass — naturally, the squadron commander flew it. The groundcrew followed us each day in a Britannia. I flew as number two to the CO. On the Gan-to-Bahrain leg he announced that we were diverting to Masirah. I asked my navigator, a much older and wiser man than I, why. “I suspect the boss needs a new pair of desert boots”, he replied. “Masirah has the best selection in the Middle East”. After a couple of low passes to clear the goats and camels off the runway, we landed at this remote RAF outpost and bought our footwear. We had lunch in the officers’ mess — where we were

shown the door to the BBC TV room, which opened out onto the desert — before continuing on over the forbidding territory of the Sultanate of Oman to Bahrain. The final leg from Malta to Laarbruch was conducted as a nine-aircraft formation, the first time I had flown such a thing in an aircraft of this size. An unforgettable, if somewhat alarming, way to cross France at high level. The period spent at Kuantan was really an unforgettable experience for an inexperienced first-tour pilot. Flying in Germany and QRA seemed very mundane after the exciting times in the Far East.

BELOW: The squadron flag being flown from a parked Canberra during the Kuantan detachment. TOM EELES

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