Aeroplane Monthly 2017-02

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VULCAN TO THE SKY

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

The full story from Dr Robert Pleming ...and what now for XH558?

A DREAM FULFILLED

RAF amputee solos a Spitfire

COBRA BITES

P-39 and P-63 exclusive air-to-airs

Bay of Pigs pilot interview

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Contents

February 2017

Vol 45, no 2 • Issue no 526

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66 74

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60 NEWS AND COMMENT 4

FROM THE EDITOR

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NEWS • Bristol Freighter to return home? • Hudson unveiled in Canberra • RAF Museum fighter shuffle • New-build BE2 arrives in Ardmore … and the month’s other top aircraft preservation news

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FEATURES 22

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

REGULARS 15

SKYWRITERS

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Q&A Your questions asked and answered

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HOOKS’ TOURS More outstanding colour images from Mike Hooks’ amazing collection. This month, a selection of classic Lockheed aircraft

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BOOKS

106 NEXT MONTH

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AMPUTEE SOLOS A SPITFIRE Losing a leg was no barrier to Alan Robinson going solo in the Supermarine fighter, thanks to the Boultbee Flight Academy BAADE 152 The 152 jet airliner designed by Brunolf Baade proved to be the death knell for East Germany’s fledgling aircraft industry VINCENT AND BAFFIN In New Zealand, the Subritzky family is resurrecting two inter-war British classics — the Vickers Vincent and Blackburn Baffin GLADIATORS AGAINST MUSSOLINI In 1940-41, the Gloster biplane fighters were part of the Allies’ first line of attack — and defence — against Italian forces in East Africa AEROPLANE MEETS… DR ROBERT PLEMING The boss of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust reflects on the story of XH558’s return to flight, and the future of this most famous ‘V-bomber’ MOSS MA1 AND MA2 The attractive British light aeroplanes made by an unusual family firm — one founded by five flying brothers

See pages 20-21 for a great subscription offer

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

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P-39 AND P-63 Exclusive air-to-air coverage of the Commemorative Air Force’s Bell Airacobra and Kingcobra ROLLS-ROYCE EXPERIMENTAL DEPARTMENT In 1937, a photographer for The Aeroplane visited Rolls-Royce at Hucknall during a crucial period in engine development DATABASE: SOPWITH TRIPLANE NE Pete London on the First World War fighter that made an immediate impact in the air war over the Western Front

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IN-DEPTH PAGES

100 BAY OF PIGS PILOT Following the death of Fidel Castro, a pilot for Cuba’s air arm recalls his part in the Bay of Pigs operations COVER IMAGE: Vulcan B2 XH558 captured during one of its final sorties before grounding in 2015. 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

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E D I TO R

wasn’t surprised that our ‘Aeroplane meets…’ feature on Royal Air Force Museum chief executive Maggie Appleton caused quite a reaction. People care hugely about our national collections, and quite right too. So, I can understand some degree of surprise at reading that the RAFM is to loan its Spitfire XIV to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. It is, after all, the RAFM’s sole example of an important Spitfire mark. Personally, I was delighted. Pima is an excellent museum, one that has done much to preserve British aircraft and present them to a different audience. To the Blenheim (in Canadian-built Bolingbroke form), Gannet, Gnat, Harrier, Hunter, Hurricane, Jet Provost, Lightning, Lynx, Shackleton, Vampire and Viscount, the ‘Spit’ will make a fine addition. It will be properly caredfor, and fill a gap in Pima’s collection. Sure, a MkXIV has little link to America, but to the vast majority of visitors that won’t matter. And it’s not as if the temporary loss of another of the RAFM’s Spitfires is especially noteworthy in the wider scheme of things. The museum has five examples on display at Hendon and Cosford, so the type is hardly lacking. In fact, I would like to see more interchange of exhibits in the aviation museum world. Of course it’s not as easy to transport, or find space for, a complete aircraft as it is for a smaller museum artefact, but plenty of cases show how it can be done. To take one example, it seems a shame that the RAFM has such fine aeroplanes as its replica Vickers Vimy, the ex-Lindbergh Miles

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Mohawk and, soon, the Westland Wallace fuselage in its Stafford store. None is likely to go back on show at Cosford or Hendon any time soon; they would surely be better served by being on display elsewhere. Once the RAFM’s redevelopment and its contribution to the RAF centenary celebrations are out of the way, I am of the view that it should consider the active pursuit of future loans as a key element of its policy, especially if they bring mutual benefits. Likewise, one wonders whether the IWM’s Bolingbroke, which has now been stored at Duxford for close on 15 years, might profitably be found a new home — one where the restoration could be completed — while remaining part of the museum’s collection? No-one underestimates the logistical challenges involved in such arrangements, nor the need to ensure that all the necessary conservation criteria are met. But there are plenty of opportunities out there, and ripe for the taking if the will exists. There’s something of a change in our pages this month, as Mike Hooks relinquishes his ever-popular Q&A column. Our thanks to him for nurturing and compiling it so diligently — Q&A continues to be an Aeroplane staple, and an excellent way of interacting with all of you who write in. But Mike will still contribute regularly, and Q&A from now on is in the experienced hands of Barry Wheeler. Welcome to him. Ben Dunnell

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CONTRIBUTORS THIS MONTH

@HistoryInTheAir

Pe t e LO N D O N

Andreas M E T Z M AC H E R

Santiago R I VA S

Barry WHEELER

Pete is a former manager with BAE Systems and Finmeccanica. A fulltime writer, he focuses mainly on aviation history. He has written for aircraft magazines since 1983 and is currently researching the life of aviator-designer John Porte. Pete caught the aeroplane bug as a boy, after his father took him to see a beached Saunders-Roe Princess flying boat. Other interests include music; with his trusty bouzouki, he’s played many festivals including Glastonbury.

Although he started out as an aviation author when he made a documentary for a German TV station about the history of Gotha aircraft, Andreas’s interest in the subject dates back to building models in his youth. Aside from aviation in Gotha, his home town, he is interested above all in the service histories of aircraft and their pilots. This month he covers another East German subject — the ill-fated 152 jet airliner, the first prototype of which was lost on its second flight.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Santiago started his career as an aviation and defence journalist and photographer in 1997. Since then his work has appeared in more than 70 different media outlets around the world. Currently he specialises in Latin American aviation, both historic and modern. He has published books in six countries. Santiago’s work has taken him to most Latin American nations, the majority of whose armed forces he has covered, and to Europe.

A life in aviation journalism began in September 1960 when Barry joined Flight, taking over as production editor and learning to fly. In 1971, his modelmaking hobby became his ‘day job’ when he headed up technical research at Airfix. A decade later, he became editor of the Joint Services Recognition Journal within the Ministry of Defence. Barry left to become editor at Air International in 1991; two years afterwards he moved to Air Pictorial, which morphed into Aviation News, a title he ran until retirement in 2009.

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AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

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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

Help needed to bring Freighter home

Bristol Freighter NZ5911, pictured at Ardmore during April 2015, could soon become the only example of the type in the UK. TIM BADHAM

On 29 November 2016 Iain Gray, chairman of the Bristol Aero Collection Trust (BACT), announced that a Bristol 170 Freighter will be brought back to Filton for restoration at the new Aerospace Bristol museum and learning centre, subject to the necessary funding being raised to transport it from New Zealand. There is currently not a single ‘Biffo’ preserved in the UK, the last example to be extant in its home country, C-FDFC, having been written off in a take-off accident at Enstone, Oxfordshire during July 1996. The prospective returnee is former Royal New Zealand

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Air Force Freighter 31M NZ5911, which flew in to Ardmore aerodrome, Auckland on 31 August 1978 and has been parked there ever since. The corpulent cargo-hauler is the last of eight Freighters that were acquired by Dwen Airmotive from the RNZAF. During 2004 Dwen advertised the Freighter for sale as a package with several tonnes of airframe and engine spares, but by early 2016 the firm had decided to clear the site at Ardmore and scrap the Freighter. Demolition of the surrounding buildings began in September, but fortunately the BACT was able to negotiate a deal to

save the aircraft from destruction in the nick of time. Freighter NZ5911 was the last but one of an order for 12 Freighter 31Ms for the RNZAF, and was built at Filton in 1954. It arrived at Whenuapai on 4 May 1954, entering service as a dual-control trainer. It made its last flight with the air arm on 14 December 1977 and was stored at Whenuapai until making its final flight to Ardmore. From a total of 214 Freighters built between 1945-58, just 10 complete examples survive: three in Canada, two in Australia, one in Argentina and four in New Zealand.

On 6 December a spokesman for Aerospace Bristol — which is due to open at Filton during the summer of 2017 — announced that it had secured the shipping costs to transport the Freighter to the UK from New Zealand and had launched an urgent appeal for donations to cover packing and land transportation costs. Anyone who wishes to help bring the Freighter home, and help plug a yawning gap in the UK’s aviation heritage sector, should visit aerospacebristol. org/donate or telephone 0117 931 5315.

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

Hudson goes on show at Canberra The Australian War Memorial’s Lockheed Hudson IV, A16-105, went on display near the Virgin Australia check-in desks at Canberra Airport on 19 December, following six years’ work at the AWM’s Treloar workshops to restore the bomber to its December 1942 configuration. Acquired by the AWM in January 2001, the machine spent a brief period on display in the museum’s Anzac Hall before being taken to the Treloar facility where restoration began in September 2010. The most complex task has been the installation of a Boulton Paul turret, which had been absent since the aircraft was civilianised post-war. An invaluable source of parts has been the damaged rear fuselage section from Hudson A16-128, which contained a large proportion of the structure missing from ’105 to support the upper gun turret. A large number of structural components have been manufactured and fitted into the lower airframe, including the tunnel gun position. The beam gun positions have been added, and the radio operator’s room

The recently completed Hudson IV A16-105 after its unveiling at Canberra Airport on 19 December. VIA GREG KIMBALL

directly behind the pilot reconstructed. The project has required the fabrication of more than 5,800 parts and tools, extensive research into an accurate colour scheme and internal equipment fit-out, and a major reconditioning of the

airframe. The restoration was made possible by a collaboration between the AWM, Canberra Airport, and the Virgin Australia Group. The Hudson will be on show at the airport until the end of 2018. It originally arrived in Australia

during early December 1941 and was initially used as a trainer. Between December 1942 and January 1943 it saw operational service in Papua and New Guinea, carrying out supply flights during the Allied advance on Buna, on Papua’s north coast.

Aussie Comper Swift completed

Comper CLA7 Swift VH-UVC will soon take to the air for the first time in more than 60 years at Omaka airfield near Blenheim, New Zealand, following a complete rebuild with JEM Aviation. It is hoped that the 1932-built machine will make its first public appearance at the Classic Fighters show at Omaka in April, after which it will return to its owner, vintage aircraft

collector Roy Fox at Bankstown in south-west Sydney, Australia. Fox also owns the world’s only surviving de Havilland Gipsy III in line-powered Comper Swift, VH-ACG. JEM director Jay McIntyre told Aeroplane, “The Swift arrived in Blenheim in January 2014 and a complete rebuild was started immediately. We were lucky in that virtually all the metal components were still with the

The 90hp Pobjoy Niagara on Swift VH-UVC being run for the first time since rebuild at Omaka in mid-October 2016. PETER R. ARNOLD

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

aircraft and in very good condition, requiring only inspection, sand-blasting and repainting. Virtually all the wood has been replaced for varying reasons. Overhaul of the engine was a minor challenge as, although quite simple in many regards, the design of the Pobjoy Niagara is somewhat complicated for 90hp! Modern brakes and a tailwheel have been fitted for operations at her eventual home in Bankstown.” Originally built in 1932 at Hooton Park, Cheshire and registered G-ACAG, the machine made its first flight with Nicholas Comper at the helm on 14 November that year. Comper took the machine on an extensive tour of Europe during 1933, but the following year it was sold to the Australian Aero Club (Victorian Section). It arrived at Port Melbourne aboard the SS Ormonde on 24 September 1934, and was test-flown at the start of the

following month at Essendon, Melbourne. ’UVC hasn’t flown since the port undercarriage collapsed on landing at Bundaberg, Queensland, on 27 July 1962. Jay McIntyre adds: “We are hoping to fly ’VHC towards the end of January. It received a New Zealand CAA certificate of airworthiness in late November, but we have a few small details to attend to before flying her for the first time, not least of all ensuring the scratch-built electronic ignition units are up to the job. These have been fitted for increased reliability over the old BTH magnetos, which had a bit of a reputation as hand grenades. Test flying will be completed in New Zealand. VH-UVC has been finished in what we believe to be a pseudo-authentic scheme to replicate G-ABRE, in which Arthur Butler flew from England to Australia in 1931.”

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News

Fighter reshuffle at Hendon

Hurricane I P2617, wearing its original No 607 Squadron codes, being moved to the main exhibition hall at Hendon. RAFM

Spitfire I X4590 and Bf 109 Werknummer 4104 in the main Hendon hall, but not yet in their final positions, on 15 December. RAFM

On 15 December, Hurricane I P2617 left the RAF Museum’s recently closed Battle of Britain Hall and moved into the main display hall, prior to going on show ‘tail-to-tail’ with a trio of other 1940 combat veterans. The other three aircraft are Spitfire Ia X4590, in which Plt Off S. J. Hill of Middle-Wallop-

Spitfire; and Fiat CR42 MM5701, which force-landed on a beach at Orfordness, Suffolk on 11 November 1940 after suffering a broken oil pipe while escorting Fiat BR20 bombers mounting a raid on Harwich. Another former inhabitant of the Battle of Britain Hall,

based No 609 Squadron was credited with a half-share of a Ju 88 near Lymington on 21 October 1940; Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 Werknummer 4104, operated by 2./JG 51, which made a belly landing at Manston, Kent on 27 November 1940 after being shot up by a Biggin Hill-based

Zuch on show at Krakow

Messerschmitt Bf 110G-4/R6 Werknummer 730301, will soon go on display next to Lancaster I R5868 in Hendon’s Bomber Command Hall, a location far more appropriate for this late-war, night fighter version of the Bf 110 than its previous home in the Battle of Britain display.

New wings for Roland In the First World War display hangar at Kraków, the LFG Roland D.VIb fuselage — another sole survivor — now has a set of wings which were manufactured in New Zealand, but these are unable to be fitted at present due to the space constraints of the new exhibition layout, opened in 2014. Mike Shreeve

The sporty-looking Zuch 2 SP-BAM, now on display at the Kraków museum. MIKE SHREEVE

At the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków, an example of the indigenous LWD Zuch 2 trainer recently went on display in the main building following a full restoration. The machine, SP-BAM, was the second production example and has been in the museum’s collection since retirement in the mid-1960s. The prototype of this tandem trainer was built in

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1948, powered by a Czechoslovakian 160hp Walter Minor six-cylinder in-line engine. A supply of engines could not be guaranteed for production aircraft, so the design was modified to use a second-hand ex-Luftwaffe Siemens-Halske Sh 14A radial, of which plentiful supplies were available in post-war Poland. Five series production examples of the radial-engined Zuch 2

were built by LWD in Łódz´ in 1950, and were used by Polish aero clubs into the 1960s. However, they suffered both from the increased drag of the radial engine over the original in-line design, and an inability of the worn second-hand powerplants to meet their rated output of 160hp, only about 75 per cent of that figure being achieved in service. Mike Shreeve

BELOW: The fuselage of the Roland D.VIb, 350 of which were built during 1918. The recently delivered reproduction wings sit alongside. MIKE SHREEVE

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

BE2 arrives at Ardmore

BE2e reproduction ZK-PXA having its 90hp RAF 1a engine run up at Ardmore on 18 December. DAMON EDWARDS The star exhibit at the gala opening of New Zealand Warbirds’ new visitor centre at Ardmore aerodrome, just south-east of Auckland, on 3 December was newly arrived Royal Aircraft Factory BE2e reproduction ZK-PXA. This dual-control version of the BE2e

is the fifth new-build BE2 reproduction to emerge from the workshops of The Vintage Aviator Ltd (TVAL) at Wellington, and made its maiden flight on 15 September 2016 with Gene DeMarco, production manager and chief pilot of TVAL, at the controls. It is painted in the

markings of the aircraft flown by William Rhodes-Moorhouse to bomb a railway junction at Kortrijk, Belgium, on 26 April 1915. He was severely injured by small arms fire during the attack, and sustained further wounds from ground fire while flying back to base. Rhodes-

Moorhouse died the following day, and was posthumously awarded the VC. The aircraft has been gifted to New Zealand Warbirds by a benefactor, and joins several World War Two aircraft at the facility including Spitfire IXT MH367/ZK-WDZ.

Historic C-46 heading for Israel A Curtiss C-46 Commando that was used during AugustSeptember 1947 to fly Iraqi Jews to safety in Israel has been saved from the scrap man in Alaska, and is now destined to go on display at the Atlit Detention Camp Museum, 12 miles south of Haifa, Israel. The clandestine rescue mission, named Operation ‘Michaelberg’, was mounted due to the increasing persecution of Jewish residents in Iraq by their Arab neighbours. The British authorities had denied the Jewish community’s petition to allow Iraqi Jews to enter Israel legally, so a plan to smuggle them into the country was devised. The operation was planned by the AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

Aliyah Bet group, part of Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary organization that operated in Israel in defiance of the British Mandate. Former Israeli Knesset speaker Shlomo Hillel — who had been involved in ‘Michaelberg’ — learned of the continued existence of the historic C-46, 44-78628/ N23AC, which was derelict at Fairbanks, Alaska. In midNovember, the aircraft, latterly registered N23AC, was crated for delivery to Israel by sea. It is expected to arrive at Atlit by the end of January. The Atlit detainee camp was established by the authorities of the British Mandate for Palestine at the end of the 1930s in an effort

C-46 Commando N23AC at Fairbanks, Alaska. It is due to arrive in Israel by the end of January. PETER MARSON

to prevent Jewish refugees from entering Mandatory Palestine. It was declared a National Heritage Site in

1987. The museum is dedicated to the history of pre-Israeli state immigration efforts. www.aeroplanemonthly.com 9

News

Qantas ‘Super Connie’ moves During the early hours of 12 December 2016, the Qantas Founders Museum’s Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation

N4247K was transported nine miles from Manila International Airport to the nearby seaport, from where it

will be shipped to Australia in mid-2017. Currently displayed at the museum in Longreach, Queensland, are Qantas’ first

Boeing 707, a Boeing 747, a Douglas DC-3, a Consolidated Catalina and replicas of several early-era aircraft.

BELOW: Still bearing the name of its last operator, Winky’s Fish, on the cheatline, L-1049 Super Constellation N4247K is gingerly moved from Manila Airport early on 12 December. QANTAS

South Australian museum forging ahead Construction of a new, 1,200-square metre display hangar at the South Australian Aviation Museum in Port Adelaide was due to be completed before Christmas. The first two aircraft to enter the building will be recently completed Avro Anson I EF954 and de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou A04-225, which arrived by road at the museum from the Oakey Army Aviation Centre in Queensland in June 2016. Construction of the $5-million building began in September, with $205,000 of the cost being met from the Commonwealth Government’s National Stronger Regions Fund. The Anson was the first aircraft taken on charge by the museum back in June 1984, and was due to be rolled into the new hangar almost exactly 72 years after being delivered to No 6 Service Flying Training School at RAAF Mallala, 30-odd miles north of Port Adelaide, on 28 December 1942. Once in position, the former crew trainer will be painted in its original No 6 SFTS markings. Acquired via the

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Commonwealth Disposals Commission by Mallala-based farmer Reg Franks in May 1947, it was donated by him to the nascent museum 38 years later. Restoration of the rarest aircraft in the collection, Fairey Battle I N2188, moved on apace

during 2016, the museum president Peter Van Dyk saying, “the Battle has advanced more this year than in the previous 10”. The tail section including the fin, rudder, tailplanes, elevators, tailwheel and tailcone is approaching completion, while a

non-running Merlin engine has been acquired and is being used to ensure that the engine cowlings can be properly fitted. It is hoped to have the fuselage complete and the undercarriage fitted by the end of 2018.

Anson I EF954 in the restoration hangar at the South Australian Aviation Museum. PETER R. ARNOLD

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

Carvair could fly in 2017

The wonderful sight of Carvair N89FA having its Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engines run up. It is hoped it will fly again during 2017. RICHARD VANDERVORD

At Gainesville Airport in the far north of Texas, it is hoped that one of the world’s two potentially airworthy examples of the Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair, N89FA Fat Annie, will fly again during the spring of 2017. The Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engines have been run successfully, and work has been carried out on the undercarriage and the paintwork, but plans to ferry the former British Air Ferries machine to Chino, California during 2016 for a full overhaul were thwarted by last-minute regulatory problems.

There have been suggestions that the Carvair — which was acquired by owners South African Air Lease during 2012 — could even be destined to join the display circuit in original period colours, although the ability of this unique design to carry unusual loads cannot be overlooked. The machine, originally registered G-ASHZ, was the ninth of 21 Carvairs built by Freddie Laker’s firm Aviation Traders Ltd (ATL) at Southend and Stansted. The ATL-98 was a conversion of the Douglas DC-4 with an 8ft 8in-long extension to the

forward fuselage, which featured a bulbous hump to accommodate the flightdeck, a sideways-hinged nose door, and a redesigned and enlarged vertical tail section. In July 1963, ’ASHZ became the fourth Carvair to go into service with British United Air Ferries, bearing the name Maasbrug. During September 1967, BUAF changed its name to British Air Ferries and ’ASHZ was rechristened Fat Annie, a name it bears to this day. The machine left the UK in 1979 after being acquired by Dallas, Texas-based Falcon Airways and registered

N89FA, but within a year that cargo hauler failed. After several further changes of ownership, during 2003 the machine went to Gator Global Flying Services of Grayson County, Texas, seeing limited use on ad hoc cargo charters. It achieved fame in August 2005 when it was used for a series of extraordinary parachuting missions during the World Freefall Convention in Rantoul, Illinois, dropping some 80 jumpers on each flight and setting a record for the largest number of people to ever fly in a Carvair.

Orbis DC-10 hospital to Pima The latest exhibit at the ever-expanding Pima Air and Space Museum in Arizona is the second production Douglas DC-10, N220AU, which arrived on 7 November. For the past 22 years the historic airliner has been operated as an airborne eye hospital by the international non-profit organization Orbis

International, and visited 78 countries. The aircraft first flew on 29 January 1971. It was retained by the manufacturer until going to Gatwick-based Laker Airways in June 1977 as G-BELO. It flew with the fleet name Southern Belle until the much-loved airline ceased operations in February 1982.

RIGHT: The Orbis DC-10, N220AU, on final approach for the last time on 7 November. PASM

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

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News

Gugnunc goes on show

The Handley Page HP39 hanging in the Science Museum’s new Winton Gallery. The name Gugnunc, at first unofficial, came from a baby talk word used by a character in the Pip, Squeak and Wilfred cartoon that ran in the Daily Mirror newspaper. SCIENCE MUSEUM

A full 82 years after it was presented to the Science Museum, the unique Handley Page HP39 Gugnunc G-AACN went on show in the new Winton Gallery at South Kensington on 8 December. The experimental biplane is suspended in the centre of the gallery, which is dedicated to “the importance of mathematics in our everyday lives.” The dramatic curving overhead structure and overall layout of the gallery was designed by Dame Zaha Hadid — who died in March 2016 — to represent the field of turbulence created by the wings of the aeroplane, the intention being to demonstrate how mathematical practice has helped to solve real-world

problems. The gallery has more than 100 other exhibits on show, including a German equivalent of the Enigma machine. The HP39 was built specifically to compete in the Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Competition, and made its first flight from Cricklewood aerodrome on 30 April 1929. The 150hp Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose-powered sesquiplane boasted full-span leading-edge slats on both the upper and lower wings, the outer slats on the upper wing being automatic and independent of any other control. The remaining slats were linked to flaps on the trailing edge. When a critical angle of attack was reached, the slats would open and automatically lower the flaps.

The aircraft had a speed range of 33-112mph, and a landing distance of just 21 yards. The competition was devised by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, with a $100,000 main prize and five $10,000 secondary awards for aircraft that achieved certain requirements. Among the necessary criteria, competing machines had to be capable of getting airborne from a standing start in 300ft and then clear a 35ft barrier located 500ft from the start point; land over a 35ft obstacle with a maximum 300ft roll-out; demonstrate hands-off stability for five minutes at any airspeed between 45 and 100mph in gusty air; and have a top speed of no less than 110mph.

The contest was to be staged at Mitchell Field, New York, between 30 April-1 October 1927, but of the 27 original entrants only 15 aircraft arrived, the HP39 being the only non-American entry. Three aircraft were withdrawn before flight trials began, a further two crashed in preliminary tests, and eight failed to meet any of the necessary requirements. Only two entries, the HP39 and the Curtiss Tanager, made it to the final stages of the competition, during which members of the Handley Page team noticed that the Tanager was fitted with leading-edge slots of a patented Handley Page design, for which no licence had been obtained. After the Tanager was declared the winner, legal action ensued, and at the end of an 18-month court case Curtiss finally admitted a ‘technical’ infringement. Meanwhile, the HP39 had returned to Cricklewood for further experimental duties. In October 1930 it was purchased by the Air Ministry and sent to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough for official performance testing with the service serial K1908. On 25 October the Gugnunc flew in a display at Croydon alongside the Westland Pterodactyl IV and a Cierva C19 autogyro, the strong wind enabling the formation to fly backwards across the aerodrome. This spectacle proved so popular that repeat performances were staged at several RAF Displays at Hendon. In July 1934 the HP39 was struck off charge and presented to the Science Museum. It had been in storage, latterly at Wroughton airfield, ever since.

Yankee gets an A-4

Douglas A-4C Skyhawk BuNo 148543 arrived at the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run, Michigan on 2 December 2016. It is now on display on longterm loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida. The lightweight strike aircraft has

been painted as BuNo 148442 of VA-216, based on the USS Hancock and flown by Lt Cdr Paul Galanti, who achieved 97 combat missions over Vietnam. He was shot down and captured on 17 June 1966, and spent seven years as a PoW until being released during February 1973.

RIGHT: The newly delivered A-4 Skyhawk at the Yankee Air Museum on 3 December. YAM

12 www.aeroplanemonthly.com

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

Hangar Talk STEVE SLATER

John Moffat 1919-2016

Lt Cdr John (‘Jock’) Moffat, pilot of the Fleet Air Arm Fairey Swordfish whose torpedo was credited with crippling the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941, died in Perthshire on 11 December at the age of 97. Born in Kelso during 1919, Moffat served in HMS Ark Royal, HMS Argus, HMS Furious and HMS Formidable. In his 60s he took up private flying, and was an active member of the Scottish Aero Club into his 90s. A staunch supporter of the Fly Navy Heritage Trust, during the spring of 2016 Jock marked the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the Bismarck by raising nearly £15,000 to help keep the Royal Navy Historic Flight Swordfish flying.

The late Lt Cdr John Moffat. DENIS J. CALVERT

Italian P-51 wreck recovered The substantial remains of an Italian Air Force P-51D Mustang were recovered from a depth of 200ft at Lake Garda in northern Italy on 2 December. The fighter had crashed into the lake on 7 August 1951 after suffering engine problems. The parts are destined to go on display at the Volandia Park and Museum of Flight near Milan Malpensa Airport.

Aussie Mustang flies

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-18 Mustang A68-199 made its first flight in nearly 38 years at Tyabb, Victoria on 15 December. The former Royal Australian Air Force fighter, now registered VH-URZ, arrived at Tyabb for restoration in December 2002, and was acquired by current owner Peter Gill during 2012. AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

As Donald Trump prepares to give up his personal Boeing 757 for the bigger aircraft that comes with his next job, perhaps it is time to take a closer look at his new company vehicle and its past history. It is of course best known as ‘Air Force One’, but, strictly speaking, one of the most famous aeroplanes in the world is not an aircraft at all. ‘Air Force One’ is merely a radio callsign, applied to any USAF aeroplane upon which the President of the United States is travelling. Today ‘Air Force One’ is usually associated with the current Presidential transports, two VC-25s, a military designation for Boeing 747-200 airliners specifically configured for the role. They follow a line established more than seven decades ago. In 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt travelled to meet Churchill and Stalin at the Yalta conference in a Douglas C-54 Skymaster which was modified with a sleeping area, radio telephone and a retractable elevator to discreetly lift Roosevelt in his wheelchair. That aircraft was rather ingloriously nicknamed the ‘Sacred Cow’. Subsequent Presidential transports were given rather more dignified titles by their incumbents. Roosevelt’s successor Harry Truman named his aircraft Independence after his home town in Missouri. When Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced the last propeller aircraft, the Lockheed VC-121A Constellation, into Presidential service his two successive machines were named Columbine I and Columbine II after the state flower of First Lady Mamie Eisenhower’s home state, Colorado. It was 48-610 Columbine II that made aviation history. In December 1953, with Eisenhower on board, it was on a flight over Richmond, Virginia. Identified by air traffic controllers simply as ‘Air Force 8610’, an overworked controller confused that with a similar airliner flight number, 8610, and the two aircraft were given clearance to enter the same airspace. Thankfully a mid-air collision was avoided, but the unique ‘Air Force One’ callsign was created to ensure that such a mistake could never happen again. Columbine II had other special features including

O Our monthly comment ccolumn on the historic a aircraft scene

additional soundproofing and communications equipment, marble flooring in the Presidential area and a mahogany desk where Eisenhower wrote his famous ‘Atoms for Peace’ speech that he gave to the United Nations General Assembly in 1953. The President used the aircraft extensively, including flying to Korea to meet troops stationed there, but the VC-121 was relegated to secondary duties when, in 1962, the Kennedy administration entered the jet age with the purchase of two VC-137 Stratoliners, modified long-range Boeing 707s. As recounted by Tony Harmsworth in our June 2016 issue, Columbine II, though, proved a remarkable survivor. It was retired to Davis-

originally earmarked as a source of spare parts, but then the Smithsonian Institution contacted Christler and told him of its history. The aircraft was partially restored during the 1980s and flew at a number of airshows, but the cost of maintaining it proved beyond Christler’s means. In 1990 the VC-121 was flown to Marana Airport, Arizona, where it languished for more than a decade, awaiting sale. A quarter of a century later the aircraft was acquired by Dynamic Aviation, a specialist aviation business working in areas such as pest control and airborne fire control. After a year of work in the blistering heat of the Arizona desert, Dynamic Aviation’s engineers returned

‘Columbine II proved to be a remarkable survivor’ Monthan Air Force Base for storage during the late 1960s and was later sold to Mel Christler, a Wyoming businessman who owned a crop-dusting and fire-bombing business, using old military aircraft and airliners to drop fire-suppressing chemicals on wildfires. The ‘Connie’ was

Columbine II to a ‘ferryable’ condition, which late last year allowed it to be flown to their headquarters in Virginia for further restoration. It is set to open a new page in the history of this unique aeroplane — a volume that is clearly a long way from being closed just yet.

ABOVE: President Dwight D. Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower on the steps of VC-121A 48-610 Columbine II.

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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.

‘United in Effort’

Your excellent coverage of the life and times of the Shorts Belfast freighter in the December edition brought back many memories of my time at RAF Brize Norton in the mid-1970s. We had recently disbanded the Britannia strategic fleet of Nos 99 and 511 Squadrons and believed we could look forward to continued operations with the Belfasts of No 53 Squadron, now at the peak of their operational efficiency. But a revised plan was evolving and, as station commander at the time, it was my job to relay the changed circumstances to the several hundred aircrew and ground engineers now facing an uncertain future. The technical disbandment of the airframes followed as ordered, and soon all 10 Belfasts were on the ground at RAF Kemble, making an unmistakable fix for passing pilot/navigation exercises. But the human dimension was far-reaching with unexpected family disruption, changes to housing and school plans and new postings. Ironically, the Belfasts themselves went on to serve much the same national interests as before but now in the civilian colours of HeavyLift. Formal disbandment took place on 17 September 1976. The members of No 53 Squadron could proudly claim that they had received 10 Belfasts from industry, operated them highly effectively for 10 years, and were now returning all 10 aircraft to the civil list. On one well-remembered occasion all 10 Belfasts were airborne together in one enormous ‘Balbo’ formation. The last formal flight, by Belfast XR366 Atlas captained by Flt Lt Laurie, took place on 3 May 1977 across many locations in the UK. The question of where to lay up the squadron standard was the subject of much discussion by the air staffs and senior chaplains.

Belfast to Germany

In 1969 I flew in a Belfast as an Army captain from Brize Norton to RAF Gütersloh in Germany with two FV432s in the hold. These are small tracked armoured personnel carriers, weighing 14.5 tonnes each. We were taking about 30 vehicles to BAOR (the British Army of the Rhine), two of which — for a trial — would go by air. Prior to the flight I was sent on an airportability course for instruction on how to load and tie them down in the aircraft, but in the event the RAF would not let us do that, insisting they did it themselves. We took off from Brize in late afternoon and I was invited up to the flight deck. By the time we reached Germany it was dark, and the biggest problem in the cockpit was that the map light did not work, so the flight engineer was told to fix it. Then on approaching Gütersloh the pilot asked for the length of the runway, and as he apparently thought it rather short he asked for the safety barrier at the end of the runway to be erected, which did not improve my confidence. However, all went well. For me it was a very enjoyable experience and a successful trial. Richard Unwin, Lt Col REME (retd) AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

ABOVE: The prematurelly retiired d Bellfast C1s in open storage at RAF Kemble. PETER R. MARCH

No 53 Squadron’s badge evokes strong Scottish links with a St Andrew’s cross and thistle ‘slipped and leaved in front of a saltire’, and the overwhelming view of the squadron and station was that the last resting place of the retiring standard should be St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. Thus it was on 18 September 1976 that we flew up to Turnhouse in a Belfast with OC 53, Wg Cdr Crawford Simpson, at the controls. The next day the standard was laid up in St Giles’ in the presence of serving and former squadron members, ground engineers and their families with ‘ne’er a dry eye’ in the cathedral. A great squadron — ‘United in Effort’. Richard Bates

‘Shack’ far from home

The excellent article on the AEW Shackleton in your December issue reminded me of a visit by a Shackleton MR2 to NAS Norfolk, Virginia, in 1967. I was then the Martin-Baker technical representative with the US Navy Atlantic Fleet. On arrival at the fighter class desk, where I resided in the headquarters, I started getting calls informing me that there was a Lancaster on the flightline. This I just had to see, and I went down to have a look. There in all its glory stood not a Lancaster but a gleaming Shackleton, contrasting strangely with the Crusaders, Skyhawks and other fast jets. I soon tracked down the crew and, as a fellow Brit, did my best to help them. They had just arrived from Ballykelly and were en route to Greenwood, Nova Scotia to collect a group captain and return him to Northern Ireland. It was so nice to talk to fellow countrymen and share some British humour and news of home after two years away. In civvies, we had a very merry evening at the officers’ club sing-along at the Little Creek amphibious base — I got the whole crew into my station wagon with eight of us on the bench seats and four, sardine-fashion, in the back!

At the office next morning I heard the story of their arrival. As they approached the Virginia coast at 2,000ft they contacted Norfolk air traffic for joining instructions and were asked to climb to 3,000ft. After a pause the Shackleton’s captain replied, “It’s taken the whole Atlantic to get this high!” They duly joined as requested. I went to see them depart that evening, but they found that a flap jack bolt had sheared and punctured the flap. When they asked for fabric and dope to make a repair it was the last straw and those gathered broke into gales of laughter. It was decided that a flapless take-off would be OK. In the crystal-clear afterglow of evening we watched a Crusader roar down the runway with a 30ft diamond-pattern afterburner flame, rotate and climb near-vertically until out of sight. As they boarded, the Shackleton captain — who had neither denied nor confirmed the story of his arrival — shrugged his shoulders and said, “Huh, just watch our take-off!” I’m sure that, like me, the rest of the crowd had goose-bumps at the unique sound as the ‘Growler’ lumbered down the runway and turned slowly for Canada. Brian A. Miller, Penn, Buckinghamshire

www.aeroplanemonthly.com 15

Skywriters

ABOVE: The Omaka museum’s superb reproduction of ‘Grid’ Caldwell’s SE5a. JIM TANNOCK/OMAKA AVIATION HERITAGE CENTRE

‘Grid’ honoured

It was a good article on ‘Grid’ Caldwell in the December edition. Your readers might be interested to know that his deeds are vividly recorded in Peter Jackson’s Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre at the top of New Zealand’s South Island. A full-scale, authentic replica of his SE5a shows the famous crash-landing. Coincidentally, Caldwell was CO of the nearby RNZAF Base Woodbourne during World War Two. I’ve visited the centre and it’s very good indeed, with the added attraction that it’s interesting to the non-aviation-minded as well. Any Aeroplane reader who visits New Zealand should try to include it on their itinerary. Mike Wicksteed

wonderful memories and gave me an opportunity to see the world. It also involved me in a trade which has kept me employed in the aircraft industry all my working life — I still work three days a week for Multiflight at Leeds Bradford Airport, and I’m only 74! I hope to be at the Scampton Airshow in September 2017; it would be wonderful if any of the airmen I knew during my service career were there and we could meet again. Gerry Athorne, Otley

Wing and a prayer

The article in December’s Aeroplane about the Fulmar spurred me to look up a passage in my late ‘big’ brother’s (unpublished) memoirs of his time as an electrician in the Fleet Air Arm from 1944-46.

After basic training he was posted to RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire (soon to close in the latest defence cuts) for a five-month technical course, and he recounts the following concerning the Fulmar. “The Fulmar’s folding wings, unlike later types, did not operate automatically; instead, they were lowered back into position alongside the fuselage by the groundcrew after a locking pin had been removed from the junction of the nose and the wing’s leading edge. We were gathered in the angle between the port wing and the fuselage as the sergeant instructor explained that gravity would help the wing to swing back when the locking pin was removed. A keen student standing near the pin said, ‘What, like this?’ and removed it. Everybody, including the sergeant, jumped clear as the wing scythed backwards — except one trainee furthest from safety, standing close to the fuselage, towards which the wing was now swinging like a horizontal guillotine. He stood transfixed, as did we, expecting to see him decapitated or cut in half. But the Fulmar’s wing flaps, by sheer good fortune, had been left in the down position, creating a rectangular gap in the trailing edge. It was this gap which imprisoned the trainee as the wing crashed back against the fuselage; a metre either side would have finished him. The consequent bawling-out from the sergeant was hardly needed. We had learned that aircraft can be almost as deadly on the ground as in the air, and we never needed a second lesson.” The photo in the article of the FAA Museum’s aircraft clearly shows this lifesaving gap! After training my brother Dennis was posted to India and, on the war’s end, to Singapore. Terry Hancock, Cherry Willingham, Lincoln The editor reserves the right to edit all letters. Please include your full name and address in correspondence.

Friends reunited?

Having subscribed to Aeroplane for some considerable time, I was pleased on receiving the March 2016 edition to see the front page and the inside article on the ‘V-Force’. When turning to the centrespread I was even more pleased and surprised to see my 18-year-old self in the background with other groundcrew overlooking the battery pack, which was used for the quick start procedure (I am second from the right). I believe it was a QRA practice for a Farnborough display. The above story probably doesn’t warrant a letter, but when the 2017 calendar arrived (Aeroplane December 2016) and there was the same photo for October I thought it was probably fate, and worth trying to connect with past friends. No 617 Squadron was my first posting after leaving St Athan. Can you imagine the pride at being part of such an iconic squadron, and also working on the ‘V-bomber’? I followed this with No 38 Squadron on Shackletons at RAF Luqa, Malta for two-and-a-half years, and my final posting was with No 543 Squadron at Wyton on Victors. They were happy days with

16 www.aeroplanemonthly.com

ABOVE: Gerry Athorne is second from right among the groundcrew in the background of this famous No 617 Squadron Vulcan ‘scramble’ shot. AEROPLANE

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

Holiday Guide

Q&A Changing of the guard

After some 25 years providing the Q&A pages, compiler Mike Hooks writes: “My advancing years have encouraged me to hand over the column and I am delighted that Barry Wheeler, a friend of more than 50 years, has agreed to take over the reins. Barry has been involved in editing a number of aviation titles during a long career in aerospace journalism and takes over this new task with enthusiasm. But remember: without your input, Q&A would not exist, so please continue to support it. I shall be hovering in the background, and continuing to provide Hooks’ Tours and other features from time to time.”

THIS MONTH’S ANSWERS Engine rotation

query in the January issue Q Aasked why British radial

engines rotate counter-clockwise, most Merlins clockwise and all American radials clockwise. Former naval pilot Brian Toomey responds with memories of his US Navy training in the 1950s. He recalls moving from Harvards to stubby-wing F8F Bearcats and, on his first familiarisation flight in the Grumman fighter, experiencing how unbelievably strong the torque effect was on take-off. Back in the UK on Sea Furies with 811 Squadron at RNAS Arbroath, the reversed torque effect was less than in the Bearcat, but the problem was managed “with difficulty” until it became merely part of flying the type.

A

18 www.aeroplanemonthly.com

COMPILER: BARRY WHEELER

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

RAF sayings

Q

In the January issue, we queried the origin of the term ‘two-six’, which was familiar to many National Servicemen as well as those in the regular ‘mob’. Don Burnett recalls his flight sergeant regularly using the term. He believes it originates from French practice, since “un, deux” would be very difficult to differentiate in a howling gale, as would “trois, quatre, cinq”. Colin Pomeroy is certain that the expression is naval in origin and harks back to the days of muzzleloading cannon. A gun crew consisted of six men and the story — sometimes disputed — goes that crew members 2 and 6 pulled the loaded gun to the gun port for firing. The full order by the gun captain would have been “two, six — heave!” Alex Ellin, aerospace engineering lecturer at Teesside University, also maintains that it comes from naval tradition and is now connected with the RN field gun competition as a direction to crew numbers 2 and 6 to “heave”.

A

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

January’s issue carried a detailed answer from Mike Hooks. A further e-mail adds to the story. Tony Cook was a sergeant fitter on the No 92 Squadron Hunters at Farnborough that year, and remarks that he doesn’t think the combined Lightning/Hunter formation flew a loop. Tony remembers the day as glorious, with Doug Bridson opening 92’s show in a

A

THIS MONTH’S QUESTIONS German ejections

Lightnings and Hunters

a Hunter/Lightning Q Regarding display at Farnborough 1962,

Hunter F6, coming down the runway at zero feet and max speed before pulling up into a vertical rolling climb, vanishing into the blue. Being in charge of the aircraft’s Form 700, Doug came back to Tony to sign off. Beaming, he asked, “How do you spell knackered?” Squadron boss Brian Mercer told him years later that Bill Bedford had said it was very naughty of Doug, as he had bent the aircraft a bit. Jim Jobe also witnessed the display, remembering in particular the earth-shattering take-off by the 25 aircraft. The Hunters rolled first, while the Lightnings engaged afterburners and took off over the Hunters, which kept low before climbing for altitude. In those days, press photographers crouched alongside the runway, braving the ear-splitting din — and presumably still having the pictures to prove it! Jim adds that the serial given as XF321/X should be XF521/X.

Copson is curious Q Victor about the pioneering

BELOW: Some might have found the Sea Fury tricky to handle during a carrier deck take-off due to the amount of torque, but one had to come to terms with it. AEROPLANE

emergency use of German ejection seats during the Second World War and writes, “The first recorded live emergency ejection was by test pilot Flugkapitän Helmut Schenk when he used the compressed-air Heinkel/Draeger seat in the Heinkel He 280 jet on 13 January 1942. This seat had been tested successfully in late 1941 when the first live ejection was made from the back of a Junkers Ju 87. “Less familiar was another emergency ejection, albeit an unexpected one, by Junkers test pilot Flugkapitän Hans Pancherz. The Ju 390 V-1 had been fitted with a modified Ju 288 seat by Draeger, which used compressed air and was armoured so the pilot would have some protection if the seat hit the tail. According to Pancherz, on 15 July 1943” — which was three months before the first flight of the Ju 390 on 21 October, meaning the incident must have involved a Ju 290 — “the aircraft had entered a sudden, violent pitch down due to overstressing the elevators, having tried to enter a dive at some 348mph. This tore the compressed air tanks loose, starting the ejection sequence by first blowing off the pilot’s canopy roof, which should have disconnected the control column. Pancherz states that this was AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

ABOVE: The first live ejection from a Junkers Ju 87 operated by the Rechlin test centre.

“Another less well-known fact is that the spring-type catapult seat tested in the Me 163 Komet is believed to have been similar to the Stanley Yankee system fitted to the post-war Douglas Skyraider, which was possibly based on that fitted to the Komet. There is even less on the development of the parachute-delayed opening device used by Me 262 pilots, where a simple ring device delayed pack and parachute opening at high speeds by way of a simple sliding ring, allowing pilots to eject without breaking their necks. “Any information on the Ju 87 development aircraft and confirmation, correction or denial of the above information, as well as details on the seats in the He 162, Me 262, He 219 and Do 335, would be welcome.” Quite a request, Victor. Perhaps I can start the responses by suggesting that two German sources say that Pancherz was actually ejected from Ju 290 Werknummer 0156/SB+QF over the Rechlin area on 15 July 1943, and not the prototype Ju 390. A number of He 219 night fighters were shot down by RAF Mosquitos over Europe, the first live ejection being on the night of 11-12 April 1944, when Gefreiter Werner Perbix and Unteroffizier Herter of NJG 1 based at Venlo, the Netherlands, ejected safely after being attacked by a Mosquito of No 239 Squadron. The following month, on 19-20 May, Lt Otto Fries and Fw Alfred Staffa did likewise, only to repeat the process on 16 January 1945, thus achieving the dubious honour of each having two ejections to their names. Regarding the He 162, pilots from JG 1 known to have ejected from this type were Lt Rudolf Schmidt on 20 April 1945, Fw Erwin Steeb the following day, and Hptm PaulHeinrich Dahne on 24 April (he died as a result of not first opening the canopy). On the Dornier Do 335, an armoured ejection seat was fitted as

A

LEFT: The early Heinkel/ Draeger ejection seat was a simple affair, but saved a number of German pilots.

swiftly followed by his being ejected from the aircraft and being knocked unconscious for a few seconds. “The column did not disconnect. He came round in time to release the seat and activate the parachute sequence, enabling him to land with just bruised knees. The clearly amazed co-pilot, surprised by Pancherz’ sudden, unexpected departure, recovered control to land the aircraft safely back at Dessau. Pancherz states that the second Ju 390 was not flown and that the Ju 390 V-1, coded GH+UK, was broken up at Dessau shortly after this incident.

standard. In an emergency, the pilot went through a sequence of buttons from front to rear on the starboard side of the cockpit. The first blew off the rear propeller, the next blew the top fin off, the third armed the seat, and the fourth blew the pilot from the cockpit — provided the hapless pilot had first jettisoned the canopy. Such was the speed of the hood leaving its location that at least two pilots lost an arm during trials. Can readers offer additional information to augment or correct the above?

Fokker at Brighton

King would like to Q Geoff know whether anyone can

provide details on the accompanying photograph. It was taken on 9 May 1940, and shows a Royal Netherlands Navy Fokker T.VIII on the shore at Brighton, Sussex. The date is understood to be correct and is interesting as the following day the Germans invaded the Netherlands; the Dutch Royal Family did not leave the country until the 13th, courtesy of HMS Hereward. The crowd by the floatplane was told by the police not to take any pictures, but this hasty shot taken by a neighbour of Geoff King has survived to record the unusual event. The Sussex coastal holiday town was hardly a ‘secret’ location, so what was the purpose of the trip?

ABOVE: The interesting picture of the Dutch Fokker T.VIII at Brighton.

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.

• Aeroplane contributor Air Cdre Phil Wilkinson

— a former Canberra B(I)8 pilot himself — writes with reference to the picture at the bottom of page 103 of the January issue, captioned as showing the “pilot’s eye view” from a B(I)8 making a run at a Libyan range target. “If that was his view”, says Phil, “who was flying the aeroplane? That’s the view through the nose, as seen by the recumbent navigator (or hitch-hiking spare pilot on occasion). To compare and

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

contrast that view with what the pilot’s eye told him (and best recorded by the nose-mounted F95 camera), check out page 82 of the December 2007 Aeroplane, where a similar view from the prone navigator’s position is contrasted with what I was seeing as I pressed the camera button over that piece of desert.”

• Jerry Vernon provides a correction to the news item in the November 2016 issue on the first

post-restoration flight in Norway of CF-104D Starfighter 637/LN-STF. He points out that none of the two-seat CF-104Ds supplied to the Royal Canadian Air Force (637, then serialled 104637, having been among them) were built by Canadair; serials 12631 to 12668, later changed to 104631 to 104668, were manufactured in California by Lockheed. Their delivery from Lockheed is detailed on the relevant RCAF record cards.

www.aeroplanemonthly.com 19

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A MPU TE E S O LO S A S PI TF IR E

In the

footsteps of

Bader

Just as in World War Two, a pottentially life-changing disabillity may be no barrier to flying solo in a Spitfire. Thanks to o the Boultbee Flight Academy and its Spitfire Sccholarship, RAF serviceman Alan Robinson has pro oved exactly that WORDS: BEN DUNNELL

‘‘A

little over fi fivve years ago l woke up in a hosspital bed to find my legg gone. The simple things previously taken for granted werre to become the greatest challenge, su uch as walking. I was sure I wouldn’t bee able to ride a bike again and thoughtt that gaining a pilot’s licence would be out of the question. I thought beingg unable to achieve my dream would probably

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be a reggret that would haunt me for the rest of my life.” So said Sgt Alan Robinson of the effects of his motorcycle accid dent in 2011. The RAF RA A engineer had his right leg amputated above the kneee, but as time went on he resolved thatt he was not about to let that get in th he way of his ambitions. During 2013 he passed his microlight general skills test, proving that he could fl flyy aircraft in

that class, but Alan was far from done. In Novembber 2016, he weent solo in a Supermarine Spitfire. How he got to that poin nt was thanks to the Goodwood-based Boultbee Flight Academy. Using its two-seat Spitfire IXT SM520/G-IL LDA, during 2013 it launched itts Spitfire Scholarship with the support of the Royal Family’s Endeavour Fund, an organisation that provides funding to

ABOVE: Sgt Alan Robinson aft fter t his successful first solo flight in the Boultbee Flight Academy’s Spitfire IXT SM520. ALL PHOTOS ANDY ANNABLE/BOULTBEE

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A MPUTE E SOLOS A SPITFIR E

ABOVE: Caption

CREDIT

ABOVE: HRH Prince Harry with the two successful Spitfire Scholarship candidates and other leading lights in the scheme. With him on the aircraft’s wing is Steve Boultbee Brooks, founder of the Boultbee Flight Academy; in the front row, instructors Chris Hadlow (left) and Phill O’Dell (right) flank Alan Robinson and Nathan Forster. Both Chris and Phill work for Rolls-Royce, which is one of the scholarship’s other backers, along with Scott Investment Partners.

schemes aimed at aiding the recovery of wounded, injured and sick service personnel through sporting and adventure challenges. The objective of the scholarship was to give two such individuals the chance to solo a Spitfire, thus experiencing flight in one of its most exhilarating forms. It was very appropriate to be flying from Goodwood. As RAF Westhampnett, the satellite for Tangmere, the West Sussex airfield was the location from which Gp Capt Douglas Bader made his last wartime flight — the ‘Circus’ escort mission over northern France on 9 August 1941 during which he baled out when his Spitfire Va was brought down. At today’s Goodwood Aerodrome, a statue of Bader commemorates the link. Now the Spitfire Scholarship has made another connection. Before Robinson, Bader is believed to have been the last amputee to have flown solo in a Spitfire, during his brief service in the post-war RAF.

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Only one other is known to have done so: double amputee Colin ‘Hoppy’ Hodgkinson, who lost both legs during pre-war pilot training for the Fleet Air Arm when his Tiger Moth was involved in a mid-air collision. Despite this, and serious burns, he returned to flying with the RAF.

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Converting to Spitfires, Hodgkinson’s first posting in December 1942 was to No 131 Squadron, also at Westhampnett. He scored two kills, but in November 1943 he further emulated Bader when, now with No 501 Squadron, he baled out of his stricken Spitfire over France — the aircraft having suffered an oxygen system failure during a weather reconnaissance sortie — and was taken prisoner. Repatriated prior to the war’s end, ‘Hoppy’ resumed flying as a ferry pilot, and later flew Vampires in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.

Both men were much in mind when the Spitfire Scholarship was launched. From the start of the Endeavour Fund’s involvement, Prince Harry has been a very active supporter. Early on he visited Goodwood to meet the candidates, seven having made it through to the final stage. From those, two would be selected to progress to Spitfire training. At RAF Cranwell in October 2014, their flying skills were assessed in a Chipmunk. Alan was chosen as one of the successful pair; the other was former Parachute Regiment member Nathan Forster, badly injured by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. Alan’s progress was rapid. He converted his microlight licence into a light aircraft private pilot’s licence, passing the test in a Cessna 152. From that, in 2015 it was on to the Chipmunk, and taildragger conversion. “After my first few lessons I felt that I really wasn’t getting it and didn’t think I ever would”, he wrote. Soon, though,

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

with experience came increased confidence. Largely under the tuition of Dieter Sinanan, he soloed the Chipmunk, and then progressed to the academy’s T-6G Texan. In some ways, Alan told Aeroplane, the T-6 was the most challenging aspect of the training programme, “just from the point of view of finding something that worked with the prosthetic. It’s got almost a ‘van-like’ seating position, and in the natural position that I wanted to sit in I couldn’t get any leverage through the rudder pedals. That, coupled with the fact that it’s got toebrakes, made it an absolute nightmare. But after about three or four hours we worked out that if I lowered the seat down quite a lot, so I wasn’t using my normal eye-line, and pushed the pedals out a little bit, I could find a position where I could operate the rudder and toe-brakes fairly well. From that point on, it went quite nicely.” The Spitfire was now an attainable goal. “Ergonomically, the Spitfire

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worked much better”, says Alan. “It doesn’t have a steerable tailwheel, and the brakes are just on a hand-operated lever on the control column. Ground handling — steering and using the brakes — was an awful lot easier. The biggest problem I found with the Spitfire was speed control. It’s such a slippery aeroplane, and I found I really had to speed up all my thought processes to keep up with it. Change your pitch attitude a very small amount, and all of a sudden you’re going 10-20mph quicker. “My instructor” — John Dodd — “was quite pleased with the way I was performing, even when I had doubts. Once I started catching up, all of a sudden it came together.” On 20 November, with less than 150 hours in his logbook, Alan went solo on SM520, much to the delight of Boultbee Flight Academy managing director and seasoned Spitfire pilot Matt Jones. “To watch an initially extremely inexperienced pilot now soloing the Spitfire is one of the highlights of my own flying career”, said Matt, “especially seeing what it meant to him.”

switch had been turned off the tears came. “It’s impossible to put the experience of this achievement into words — how it feels and what it means. Put simply, I have achieved a childhood dream, but as a boy I could not have known a devastating accident would be the catalyst to that dream becoming a reality.” Alan, who is stationed at RAF Waddington, now wants to start flying

TOP: Alan Robinson is believed to be the first amputee since Douglas Bader to fly a Spitfire solo. ABOVE: A flypast by Alan in the Boultbee Spitfire.

‘It was utterly overwhelming. Once the final switch was off, the tears came’ Alan reflected: “When the moment came, the emotion of five years of highs, lows, frustrations, successes, doubts, fears, the desire to make my family proud and honour the memory of my father, was all compressed into 10 minutes of flying. It was utterly overwhelming, and once the final

more aerobatics in light aircraft, and hopefully to get into the airshow scene that way. “I also plan to become an ambassador for disabled aviation”, he says, “proving a focus on ability not disability, and challenging the perception of disability among able and disabled people alike.”

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resden, 4 March 1959. A column of black smoke marks the beginning of the end of a dream — the dream of an aviation industry reborn in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The second test flight of the 152 V1, the first German turbinepowered transport aircraft, had ended in catastrophe. The four-engined design to which the GDR had pinned so many hopes had been developed under considerable difficulty in a country still recovering from the ravages of war. Above all, it bore the hallmarks of former Junkers engineers, who had been taken to the Soviet Union once Red Army troops had occupied the eastern portion of Germany at the end of the war. When these engineers were allowed to return to Germany in 1954, they brought with them Project 15.2 — the design for a four-engined commercial jet aircraft, in turn based on the EF 150, a twin-jet bomber that they had designed for the Soviet Union. ‘EF’ stood for Entwicklungsflugzeug, or ‘development aircraft’, a project code used for non-series Junkers aircraft types. The head of the new construction bureau was former Junkers engineer Brunolf Baade. As was the case with the Western Allies, German aviation engineers had to provide development assistance to the Soviets once the war had ended. The Soviets did not lose any time,

It was the last of the Junkers line, but East Germany’s 152 jet airliner is best-known for being an ignominious failure. How did it become so — and why did the first prototype come to grief? WORDS: ANDREAS METZMACHER

introducing a crash programme to address the serious technological shortfall in their aircraft industry. After the Soviets occupied the Junkers works in Dessau in the spring of 1945, they immediately resumed various projects, including the Ju 287 jet bomber and the Jumo 012 jet engine. This continued for a year, before the Soviets closed off Dessau to the outside world on 22 October 1946. Around 1,800 technicians, designers and pilots were forced to pack their belongings and, along with their families, were transported on the long rail journey to the Soviet Union. At secret engineering offices deep in the Soviet interior, they were made to work together with other forcibly relocated technicians from Arado, Heinkel and Siebel. Their assignment: to develop new jet aircraft and engines for the Soviets. They found technical conditions at least partially similar to those they had enjoyed in Germany. The Soviets had dismantled Nazi factories in their occupation zone and transported them wholesale to the USSR, where they were rebuilt. Examples included the Junkers aircraft engine plant that was moved from Köthen to Chernikovsk in the Urals. When the German workers returned to their homeland in 1954, they found an entirely different country waiting for them. Nine years after the end of the war there was no longer an

aviation industry in East Germany. All aircraft works within the Soviet occupation zone had either been dismantled or demolished, and subcontractors were no longer available. The one exception was the Junkers factory in Dessau, which remained essentially intact until 1953. Up to this point it had been planned to produce the MiG-15 jet fighter under licence there. However, after the workers’ uprising in the GDR on 17 June 1953, the Soviets lost confidence in the East Germans and confiscated the MiG-15 kits that had already been delivered. Despite this, the plan to develop an East German aviation industry remained, and with it the commitment of the Soviet Union to support it. The GDR leadership did not opt for Dessau, where many former Junkers employees had returned to their old factory, but instead for Dresden, around 200km (124 miles) distant. Here, on the site of the former Luftwaffe Luftkriegsschule (Air Warfare School) at Dresden-Kl Klotzsche l airfield, suitable conditions would have to be created. Meanwhile, development of a new jet engine was to be undertaken in Pirna, south of Dresden, while manufacture of the powerplant itself would take place in Ludwigsfelde near Berlin. Moscow planned to order 100 examples of the new passenger aircraft, providing the crucial basis for an economically battered East Germany to proceed. But before it could begin in earnest the project suffered its first setback. Important construction documents for the aircraft that had already been drafted in the Soviet Union would have to remain there. As a result, the schedule was delayed from the

outset. This would not be the only hurdle that the Soviets placed in the way of the programme, which was by turns encouraged by Moscow, and then repeatedly hindered. Nevertheless, they provided aid in the form of construction plans for the Ilyushin Il-14P twin-engine commercial aircraft. Between 1956 and 1958, VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden produced 80 examples of the Il-14P for use by the GDR and for export. As first designed, the new aircraft was to carry 24 passengers over a range of up to 3,000km (1,864 miles) and achieve a cruising speed of 850km/h (528mph). It was intended to provide a smaller supplement to the much larger Tupolev Tu-104. Power was to come from four Pirna 014 jet engines with a thrust of 32kN (7,194lb) each. The powerplant was a direct development of the Jumo 012, which had been designed by Junkers for the Ju 287 bomber and then completed in the Soviet Union, and the BMW 003 and 018. As of 1955 the project carried the designation 152, continuing the Junkers series. In view of the good reputation that Junkers commercial aircraft enjoyed all over the world, Brunolf Baade, a former Junkers designer, proposed the designation Ju 152. However, the GDR leadership refused. Although the engineer Hugo Junkers had been ousted by the Nazis and died in 1935, bomber aircraft built under his name had clearly damaged his reputation during World War Two. At the same time, the communist leadership of the GDR did not adopt the suggestion of calling the aeroplane the Baade 152. It was considered that an aircraft built jointly by workers and engineers should not bear the name of one individual. And so it was officially called the 152.

A first flight was planned for 1956, but the start of work proper was delayed. In 1957, Brunolf Baade re-drafted the project as a more economical aircraft carrying 48 to 73 passengers over a range of about 2,500km (1,553 miles). With this, it came closer to the capabilities of the Tu-104 and thus became a direct competitor to the Soviet airliner.

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For the forthcoming flight tests of the 152, several crew members were recruited who had relevant wartime experience on multi-engine Luftwaffe aircraft, but none of them had ever flown a jet aircraft of this size. So as to train them for the special characteristics of jet propulsion, three Tu-104s were chartered from the Czechoslovakian airline ČSA and the Soviet Aeroflot. The prototype 152 was presented to the public in Dresden on 1 May

ABOVE: The fuselage of the 152/I V1 takes shape in the Dresden factory.

SAMMLUNG SCHINNERLING

OPPOSITE: The first 152 prior to its initial flight on 4 December 1958, with groundcrew, pressmen and, presumably, state security operatives in attendance at Dresden-Klotzsche airport.

ELBE FLUGZEUGWERKE GMBH

‘What looked like a finished aircraft was actually just an empty shell, without engines’ 1958, in the presence of GDR State Secretary Walter Ulbricht. But the unveiling was more illusion than reality. What remained concealed from the assembled press was the fact that what looked like a finished aircraft was actually just an empty shell that had been pulled out of the assembly shop, and which was still without engines. Nor could the roll-out hide the fact that the project was now two years behind the original schedule.

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ABOVE: Jubilation at the end of the 152’s inaugural test flight.

SAMMLUNG SCHINNERLING

RIGHT: The ceremonial roll-out of the 152 on 1 May 1958 was not quite all it seemed. DRESDEN AIRPORT

BELOW: The Pirna 014 axial-flow jet engine was not ready in time for the first prototype.

SAMMLUNG SCHINNERLING

At the beginning of December 1958, the 152 was finally ready for flight tests to begin. Since the Pirna 014 engines had not yet been completed, the prototype would initially be powered by four Soviet

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Tumanski RD-9B turbojets, each producing 30.9kN (6,947lb). By 3 December taxi tests had been completed successfully, some of them up to take-off speed, and it was decided to carry out the first flight

the next day. With bright sunshine, cloudless skies and an outside temperature of 8°C, conditions at Dresden-Klotzsche were ideal. The prototype 152/I V1, with the registration DM-ZYA and carrying a three-man crew comprising captain Willi Lehmann, co-pilot Kurtz Bemme and flight engineer Paul Heerling, was ready for the maiden flight of the first German passenger jet. To provide a better view for take-off and landing, the navigator’s seat in the glazed nose was removed, so it was only a threeman crew that taxied to the end of the runway. Lehmann released the brakes at 11.18hrs on 4 December and the 152 V1 was on the move. It was planned to complete an extended circuit with landing gear and flaps deployed. After around 900m (2,953ft), the aircraft lifted off the runway and quickly gained altitude. Lehmann immediately had to respond with control inputs, as the 152 drifted slightly to the right. Even in horizontal flight, the tendency

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to drift right could not be completely trimmed out. Clearly, the engines were not producing uniform thrust. To Lehmann it seemed as if they were receiving an irregular fuel supply. Nevertheless, the aircraft was stable once in the air. Following several circuits, Lehmann waggled the wings as he flew over the enthusiastic Dresden workers, who were following the test flight from the ground. The aircraft was back on the tarmac after 35 minutes.

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Exactly three months later, on 4 March 1959, it was time for the second flight. Following a sortie of approximately one hour, it was planned to make some low-altitude passes for the benefit of a camera crew, to produce a film about the 152 for a presentation by Baade at the Leipzig Trade Fair. For this, Willi Lehmann was to begin a descent and then present the cameras with a low-level pass at relatively slow speed and with the undercarriage retracted. As well as Lehmann, Bemme and Heerling, navigator Georg Eismann was on board when the 152 began this flight at 12.56hrs on 4 March. The crew completed the pre-defined test programme as planned. Then, shortly before reaching the airport, Lehmann began the descent for the planned filming. The aircraft was at an altitude of around 100m (328ft) when

ABOVE: As the 152/I V1 climbs out during its maiden flight, a good view is provided of the unorthodox — and, for a commercial airliner, unsuitable — undercarriage arrangement, with tandem landing gear and wingtip outriggers. SAMMLUNG SCHINNERLING

it suddenly entered a steep dive. It was impossible for the crew to increase thrust and to recover the 152, which was already too low. It hit the ground

The crash meant that the planned flight of the 152 to the Leipzig Trade Fair that afternoon was now an irrelevance. There it had been planned

‘The aircraft suddenly entered a steep dive. It was impossible to recover the 152’ 6km (3.7 miles) from the airport. The four-man crew had no chance of survival and were killed instantly.

to impress no less a guest than Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet state and party leader, who had announced the Soviet

BELOW: The 152/II V4 is towed past three Dresden-built Il-14Ps — the nearest two destined for Romanian airline Tarom — at the factory airfield in March 1960. SAMMLUNG SCHINNERLING

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Union as the largest customer for the aircraft. However, instead of a written purchase agreement for more than 100 examples, a cancellation followed a few months later. The Soviets were

The exact cause of the accident remained under lock and key for many years. Although a commission investigated the crash, it was immediately taken over by the Stasi,

‘The GDR regime pulled the plug on the 152 on 5 April 1961, and broke up the fledgling East German aircraft industry’ no longer willing to buy aircraft from the GDR, be it the 152 or any other model then under development in Dresden.

TOP: Prof Brunolf Baade (left) talking to head of construction Fritz Freytag (right). Freytag left for West Germany in October 1960, joining Weserflug in Bremen. He was later involved in the Franco-German Transall C-160 transport aircraft programme as its technical boss.

SAMMLUNG SCHINNERLING

RIGHT: Final assembly of the 152/II V4 at the head of the Dresden production line. DRESDEN AIRPORT

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the GDR secret service. Only after the end of the GDR did more detailed information become available. The commission was unable to find any

technical problems in what was left of the aircraft that could have caused the crash — the design fault in the fuel system stayed hidden — and assigned principal responsibility to the crew. Since this report was not published it gave rise to much speculation. It is obvious that the aircraft crashed after suffering a stall when transitioning to the descent. What led to the extreme angle of descent, whether the result of crew control inputs and/or a technical malfunction, remains controversial to this day. Most probably, the aircraft was simply too slow and too low. With an abrupt descent, the engines were clearly starved of fuel by a construction fault in the fuel system. In such a situation, Lehmann was thus unable to increase thrust or, if he was, the engines responded with a delay. Whether the engines were functioning during the descent, or whether they lost power and then spooled back up, is still uncertain. Testimonies that followed the crash are contradictory as regards this point. Perhaps the crew’s inexperience with the behaviour of jet engines also played a role in the accident, though Lehmann had been able to gain enough flying time on jet-powered aircraft including the Il-28 and the Tu-104. However, we do not know whether he had been able to undertake such low-level, low-speed flying in a jet. It was probably a combination of both technical and human failures that led to the crash. Despite the loss of the first prototype and any Soviet order, construction work continued. The 152/I V2 was a fatigue test airframe for static tests and was identical to the V1. Building of the V3, which resembled the V1 with the exception of its Pirna engines, was abandoned in favour of the improved V4. The next airworthy prototype was therefore the 152/II V4, which differed significantly from the V1. Finally, the Pirna 014 A-0 engines were installed, flight-testing having begun on board a factory-operated Il-28 testbed — the first of two such aircraft operated. The navigator’s nose glazing on the original 152 gave way to a permanently installed radar. The tandem landing gear with two supporting wheels was omitted in favour of a three-wheel retractable undercarriage with the main units housed in the engine nacelles. Because of the new undercarriage, the entire structural analysis of the aircraft had to be recalculated and the airframe reconstructed, since the engine nacelles and the wings were subject to entirely different forces. At this stage of development, there were even considerations that the 152 should be converted to a low-wing planform. Baade refused, since such a change would have led to further delays.

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On 26 August 1960 there occu urred the first flight of the 152/II V4, DM-ZYB, with a crew comp prisin ng Heinz Lehmann as pilot, co-pilott Gerhard Güttel and flight engineer Bernhard Jendrusch. The 22-min nute sortie was trouble-free, all systems working well with the exception of some minor items. The aircraft was docile once in the air and the new Pirna powerplantts proved themselves too, running without problems. Another test fl flight of 20 minutes with exactlyy the sam me flight programme took place on 4 September. This time, the factoryy’s Il-14 DM-ZZB accompanied thee V4 as a camera aircraft. No-one suspected that it was documenting the last fl flight of a 152. The test flight went relatively smoothly, but afterwards the crew w still felt that the crash of the 152//I V1 might have been related to a faultt in the fuel system. Further fl fliights were dependent on this being checked. Erring on the side of caution, on 7 September the V4’s nosewheel was rolled into a pit and, in this simu ulated nose-down position, fuel began too be removed from the aircraft. The teests showed that the fuel tanks — wh hich were made of rubber — were pulled together in the wings by a lack off ventilation, and sometimes even torn out of their fi fixxtures. Instead of fuel, air was sucked into the engines. The same effect was found in both wings. Itt was thus proven that the engines wou uld no longer be reliably supplied witth fuel during a descent. Since the ru ubber tanks could not be modified in a safe manner, a complete redesign of th he fuel system was deemed necessaryy. The third flying prototype, the 152/ II V5 DM-ZYC, had meanwhile been completed. Its fl fliight test programme was su upposed to begin on 7 September

ABOVE: Not the result of a mishap, but the 152/II V4 with its nose in a pit during ground testing on 7 September 1960, the aim being to simulate the eff ffects f of a nose-down flying att ttitude t on the aircraft ft’s t fuel system. SAMMLUNG SCHINNERLING

1960. However, after the fuel su upply problems were uncovered in thee V4, this aircraft remained on the grround and was only used for taxi tests. Two months later, on 1 Novvember 1960, the main civil aviation administration of the GDR withdrew the 152’s flight permit due to the faulty fuel system, and demand ded further amendments. The proggramme had run its course. In the mean ntime the East German leadership had given consideration to cancellin ng it, and Brunolf Baade himself wass not unaware of these discussions. Cautious estimates indicated that it woulld be 1964, once major reconstructioon work had been completed, before the first production aircraft could fi finally

TECHNICAL DATA : 152/II V4 Powerplants: Four Pirna 014 A-0 turbojets, 7,261lb (32.3kN) thrust each Wingspan: 88.6ft (27m) Length: 103ft (31.4m) Height: 31.5ft (9.6m) Empty weight: 63,978lb (29,020kg) Cruising speed: 497mph (800km/h) at 38,058ft (11,600m) Maximum speed: 569mph (915km/h) Range: 1,510 miles (2,430km)

be deliveered to a customer. By this point, th he type would no longer be competitive. The GDR regime pulled the plug on the 152 on 5 April 1961, and decided to break up the fledgling East German aircraft industry. Long delays and spiraalling costs had made this

BELLOW: The 152/II V5 being tow wed onto o the facto ory airfi field. This aircraft ftt nev ver flew.

ELBE FLUGZEUGWEERKE GMBH

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ABOVE: The part-restored 152 with constructor’s number 11 at Dresden Airport’s 80th anniversary open day in 2015. It is owned by the Verkehrsmuseum Dresden (Dresden Transport Museum). DRESDEN AIRPORT

move entirely unavoidable. Developing and constructing the 152 reportedly consumed up to 2 billion East German marks. It was a huge sum for the already economically stifled GDR. The Soviet Union’s decision not to take any of the 100 aircraft that it had verbally committed to was the death sentence for the project, which had been based upon this expected order. The possibility of the 152 finding other

foreign customers was considered extremely unlikely. Under these conditions, production would never have been an economic proposition.

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All prototypes up to the 152/II V7 and six pre-series aircraft that were already in production — intended for the East German Lufthansa and

the GDR military — were scrapped. A single fuselage was preserved, the hull bearing construction number 011. It was stored for many years on the military airfield at Rothenburg, before it was taken to Dresden airport in 1993 and part-restored by Elbe Flugzeugwerke. All other aircraft projects from Dresden were cancelled too. The most advanced was Project 155, a commercial jet designed as a successor to the Il-14, and for which even a wooden mock-up was built. Like the Projects 153 and 154 (a twin-engined turboprop transport with seating for 56-82 passengers, and a fourengined turboprop seating 70-108, respectively), the 155 would have had to compete with Soviet aircraft and thus had no real sales chance in an Eastern Bloc dominated by the Soviet Union. New engines from Pirna were planned for these various developments. The Pirna 014, specially developed for the 152, did not power any other aircraft apart from the prototypes of the 152 and the Il-28 testbeds. Those engines built ended up being converted for use as gas generators or ship turbines. From then on, the VEB Flugzeugwerft Dresden served only to repair aircraft. Today, the company belongs to the Airbus Group as Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH and is mainly involved in the conversion of passenger aircraft to cargo configuration.

TESTBED TRIO

Three specially modified test aircraft supported the 152 programme. The first was Il-14 DM-ZZB, the initial example built by the VEB plant in Dresden. A scale model of the 152’s horizontal stabiliser was mounted on top of its fuselage for aerodynamic trials in flight. The Il-14 flew for the first time in this configuration during 1958. Airflow measuring strips stuck onto the assembly were monitored from the open side door. Early flight tests of the new Pirna 014 A powerplant were conducted on an Ilyushin Il-28R, DM-ZZI, modified for this role by the MAB Schkeuditz facility in Leipzig. A single such engine was positioned in an under-fuselage gondola, while an extra fuel tank and test recording equipment were located in the bomb bay, and

a test engineer was carried in the navigator’s station in the nose (the navigator moved to a position behind the pilot). The aircraft’s maiden flight with the Pirna engine aboard took place from Dresden on 11 September 1959. A second Il-28R, DM-ZZK, joined the effort in February 1960. Different versions of the powerplant were tested, all performing well. Following cancellation of the 152, DM-ZZI made the last ever flight connected with East Germany’s ambitious aircraft building programme on 20 June 1961. Suitably de-modified, both of the Il-28Rs went on to serve with the LSK/LV (Luftstreitkräfte/ Luftverteidigung), the East German Air Force, as target tugs. Ben Dunnell

Il 14 DM-ZZB DM ZZB flying with the scale model of the 152’s ABOVE: Il-14 horizontal tail mounted atop its fuselage. SAMMLUNG SCHINNERLING

Il 28R DM-ZZI DM ZZI with the Pirna 014 engine ABOVE: The final flight of Il-28R underneath took place on 20 June 1961. SAMMLUNG SCHINNERLING

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V IN C E NT A ND BA FF I N R ESTO R ATI O N S

BAC CK FROM THE DEA AD

At a private location near the New Zealand capital Auckland, a father and son are painstakingly resurrecting unique surviving examples of two British aircraft from the inter-war years — a Vickers Vincent and Blackburn Baffin WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER R . ARNOLD

EXCLUSIVE REPORT

H

ow many times have we heard the refrain, “If only we’d saved one of those”? How could they have burnt a Dornier Do 217 in the mid-1950s, or let a substantially complete Handley Page Halifax at Radlett go to the scrapyard in 1961? Notwithstanding the logistics of preserving aircraft of that size, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but how we regret it now, 50 or 60 years down the line. And if we couldn’t save a glorious de Havilland Hornet or Sea Hornet, an operational Westland Wyv yvern v or a Supermarine Spiteful, what chance for some of the not-so-glamorous heavy vyw yweights w of the 1930s, a period from which there is a multiplicity of missing types? Step forward retired Air New Zealand engineer Don Subritzky. Don’s passion and foresight for collecting

what some might have considered ‘old junk’ knows no bounds. His collection goes back to the early 1970s and has included a couple of Spitfire wrecks from Kiriwina Island in New Guinea, of which JG891 is now flying in the US and EF545 is with Guy Black in the UK. The sheds on his property contain an Airspeed Oxford, an Avro Anson, a Gloster Meteor TT20, several Hawker Hinds, a Percival Proctor, a Westland Wasp and a Fairey Battle ‘starter kit’, while a serviceable Percival Provost is kept at nearby Dairy Flats airfield. Don’s current focus is on a Blackburn Baffin while son Steve continues to work on a Vickers Vincent, both types having previously been considered extinct. On a recent visit I was privileged to persuade Don and Steve to extract the aircraft from their cramped accommodation for outside photography. The Vincent was a 1934 design, basically a development of the Vildebeest but carrying long-range internal fuel tanks in place of the torpedo bay. It was used for army cooperation duties, mainly in the Middle East and India, and was an archetypal aircraft of the British Empire. Nearing the end of their RAF RA A service, some 60-odd examples were transferred to the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1939 and given new serials in the range NZ300 to NZ361. A fortuitous stencil on the armament trough panel revealed Don’s example to be NZ311, formerly K6357 of the RAF. RA A K6357 had served with No 55 Squadron in Iraq before being shipped aboard the SS Gamaria to Auckland, arriving on 17 July 1939. It was assembled at No 1 Aircraft Depot and taken on charge at Hobsonville. NZ311 was allotted for air gunnery

duties at the Air Observation School at Ohakea from December 1939 to January 1940 before going to No 22 Army Co-operation Squadron, also at Ohakea, between October and November 1942. It was finally transferred to No 1 Operational Training Unit at the same base in April

TOP: The typically unergonomic cockpit of K6357. ABOVE: The Vincent remains at Don Subritzky’s home in 1972. VIA SUBRITZKY FAMILY

LEFT: Vickers Vincent K6357/NZ311 on a rare venture outside at the Subritzky family’s premises at Dairy Flat, just north of Auckland.

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V I NCE NT AND BA FF I N R ESTOR AT I O N S

ABOVE: Don Subritzky with a Baffin control wheel donated by an RNZAF technician.

1943 for drogue towing before being reduced to spares on 4 November 1944 due to airframe deterioration. The broken-up parts were thereafter dumped in a pit in Marton, some 10km (six miles) north of Ohakea, only to be recovered by Don on an expedition in 1972. From the outset Steve Subritzky made no pretence that this would ever be a potentially flying restoration. The Vincent was to be a static exhibit, restored to the highest level both internally and externally for eventual museum display. In consequence, it has proved possible to treat and conserve three quarters of the aeroplane’s original steel fuselage spaceframe structure. Period cockpit fittings and furniture have been meticulously sought, acquired and fitted, and are a joy to behold.

and thus it will mainly be used for patterns. The wing ribs are principally all the same, making the wing reconstruction a relatively easy though time-consuming task. The Baffin was at one time the Fleet Air Arm’s standard torpedo bomber. Like the Vincent, it was introduced

‘Steve Subritzky made no pretence that this would be a flying restoration’ This is a big aircraft, standing no less than 13ft 6in (4.1m) from the ground to the upper wing centre section. It only just squeezes through the door of its workshop accommodation. Although a considerable amount of wing structure and spar material is extant, its lightweight, delicate construction has not fared too well,

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in 1934. It offered little performance benefit over its predecessor, the Blackburn Ripon, and was only in service for a couple of years before being declared obsolete and replaced by the Fairey Swordfish by September 1937. Twenty-nine redundant Baffins were acquired by the RNZAF. Used to equip

various territorial squadrons, they were fully operational by the start of WW2. As with the Vincents, all were given new serials in the range NZ150 to NZ178. Don’s Baffin was NZ160. It was built as a Ripon IIc and converted, its FAA serial being S1674; it spent a period with the code ‘5’. The aircraft was shipped to New Zealand on the SS Waiwera in 1938 and brought on charge with No 1 Aircraft Depot at Hobsonville. However, it came to grief in 1941 and was broken up at Rongotai. On a mission to recover a Fairey Gordon from New Zealand’s Southern Alps in the mid-1970s, Don and Charles Darby carried on to Pigeon Bay to inspect what was left of the Baffin and ended up recovering most of the parts they could see at that time. Further parts were found on two subsequent trips.

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During previous visits to Don’s workshop I had seen the recovered remains of the Baffin and wondered what he could possibly do with them. Three years on, the parts have been transformed into a recognisable fuselage. The Finnish Air Force used the Ripon operationally in WW2, and with the aid of a number of representative drawings acquired from Finland — further assisted by information supplied by the RAF Museum — Don has re-created the aft wooden structure and bracings to nearairworthy standard. Wonderful work. A Pegasus engine, however, is still on the shopping list. Forever the collector, Don showed me his two latest acquisitions, a pair of Britten-Norman Trislanders. For sure, in 30 or maybe 40 years, somebody will be saying, “I’m so glad he saved them.”

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ABOVE: Blackburn Baffin S1674/ NZ160 has been proceeding well, the aft wooden structures having to be re-created. LEFT: An air-to-air view of Baffin S1674, before it was re-serialled by the RNZAF. DON NOBLE COLLECTION

Later in my travels I called in on Don’s elder son Mike, now based in Victoria, Australia, where he has a very well-equipped aviation and vintage car restoration business. He had just completed the almost scratch-build of a pair of Spitfire XIV wings for an

Australian client. They simply exuded quality. I guess it must be in the genes, for Mike had a little project tucked away for the future, the beginnings of a Westland Wapiti… but that is another story.

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E A ST A FR IC AN G LA DIATOR S

GLADIATORS against Mussolini

In 1940 and d into i t 1941 1941, Gl Gloster t Gladiators Gl di t off RAF and d SSouth th Af African i Ai Air Force units were part of the Allies’ first line of attack — and defence — against Italian forces in East Africa. Despite their obvious inadequacies, the biplanes performed gallantly WORDS: PETE LONDON

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O

n 10 June 1940, Benito Mussolini declared war on Britain and France. Italian forces entered southern France, the conflict there lasting barely two weeks. In Africa the situation was different. Italy’s North African ambitions, its military defeats and the intervention by Germany’s Afrika Korps are familiar stories; less well-known is the East African campaign, launched by Mussolini from his colonies of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. The three linked territories sat on the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia landlocked but Italian Somaliland overlooking the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, and Eritrea’s coastline running along the Red Sea toward the Suez Canal. From its East African airfields Italy’s Regia Aeronautica was able to conduct attacks

against British shipping passing through the region. Surrounded by Italy’s possessions, a thin strip of land formed British Somaliland. To the east of Ethiopia was the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and to the south Kenya. Across the Gulf of Aden, facing British Somaliland on the southern tip of Arabia, sat the key British-controlled port of Aden. Britain’s air power in these territories was meagre, many colonial aircraft being antique compared with those at home. Numerically the Italian air presence was far superior. But Britain was fighting for its life over its own skies. More modern types could not be spared. The most advanced fighters facing the Italians in East Africa as of June 1940 were mainly Gloster Gladiators. At Sheik Othman airfield, just north

of Aden’s port, No 94 Squadron was commanded by Sqn Ldr Freddie Wightman. Responsible for the port’s air defence, 94 flew eight Gladiator IIs with eight MkIs in reserve. That month, eight Gladiators of ‘B’ Flight, No 112 Squadron led by Flt Lt Pete Savage arrived at Summit airfield in the Sudan, 3,000ft above sea level in the Red Sea Hills. A ninth joined later. Four of those aircraft were temporarily detached shortly after their arrival to Port Sudan. Kenya’s air defence was provided by the South African Air Force’s No 1 Squadron, which flew Hawker Furies and a handful of Hurricanes. In May 1940, though, many of its pilots had travelled to Abu Sueir in Egypt to start training with Gladiators, the intention being to re-equip with the type.

BELOW: A No 94 Squadron group photograph taken at Sheik Othman airfield, Aden. A Gladiator forms the backdrop, revealing black-and-white undersides. Sqn Ldr Freddie Wightman is in the centre of the front row. ALL PHOTOS VIA PETE LONDON

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E A ST A FR IC AN G LA DIATOR S

TOP: Gladiator N2284 of No 94 Squadron after the visit of Fiat CR42s to Berbera airfield on 8 August 1940. ABOVE: On 1 August 1940, No 112 Squadron Gladiator I K7974/ RT-O, flown by Plt Off Oliver Green, shot down a Caproni Ca133 bomber near Gedaref in the Sudan. ABOVE RIGHT: On 14 August 1940, a Gladiator flown by No 1 Squadron, SAAF’s Lt Adrian Colenbrander damaged a Ca133. Sheltering from the sun under an umbrella, he recounts the story of the action.

During the Norwegian and Belgian campaigns the Gladiator was outclassed by Luftwaffe aircraft, but the Regia Aeronautica’s types were less up-todate. In the East African theatre the leading Italian fighter was the Fiat CR42 biplane. Operated there by the autonomous 412a, 413a and 414a Squadriglie, the CR42 was fast if lightly armed, and was equipped with neither armour nor wireless. Immediately following Italy’s declaration of war, Savoia-Marchetti SM81 bombers began raids against Port Sudan and Aden. Generally, the only warning of the enemy’s approach came from widely-dispersed railway stations, should aircraft pass over them. These messages reached the fighter bases by telephone, sometimes after the enemy aircraft had bombed. At first unopposed, on 13 June the Italians were caught for the first time over Aden by No 94 Squadron. In the early hours four Gladiators were scrambled from Sheik Othman, including N2290 piloted by Fg Off Gordon Haywood. In a single attack Haywood hit an SM81 based at Diredawa, Ethiopia. It crashed in

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flames, though two crewmen survived and were captured. That day too, nine SM79s approached the port. Two were damaged by 94’s biplanes flown by Plt Off Stephenson and Sgt Price. Stephenson succeeded in stopping his target’s starboard engine but its return fire damaged the Gladiator. Breaking off, he put down at Bi’r am Makhnuk, a well west of the port.

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The Italians attempted a raid on Summit during the early evening of 16 June but were seen off by ‘B’ Flight, No 112 Squadron. In the face of two Gladiators flown by Plt Off Gordon Wolsey and Sgt E. Norman Woodward, the two S81s turned away and jettisoned their bombs. At dawn on the 17th, three Gladiators from the same flight

intercepted a lone aircraft in the vicinity of Erkowit airfield, south of Port Sudan. Led by Fg Off Richard ‘Dickie’ Whittington they began a stern attack, but rather than responding with weaponry the crew of the target aircraft fired a Verey light. It turned out to be No 47 Squadron Vickers Wellesley K7742 from Erkowit, its distinctive underwing nacelles having been removed. No-one was injured, though the Wellesley’s starboard wing was riddled with holes from the Gladiators’ bullets. The matter was settled later that day over a glass of Tops, Summit’s favoured drink consisting of half a glass of lemonade and a top of beer. No 94 Squadron played a part in an unlikely episode on 18 June involving the Italian submarine Galileo Galilei. On patrol in Gladiator N2279, Gordon Haywood spotted the craft on the surface off Aden and called up assistance. A Blenheim and

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a Vincent joined the attack, both bombing the Italians. The arriving armed trawler HMS Moonstone tore a hole in the submarine’s conning tower. The destroyer HMS Kandahar also appeared. Galileo Galilei surrendered and was towed to Aden, her crew taken prisoner. By the end of June, 94’s aircraft were attacking targets across the Red Sea. On the 28th N2279 and N2294 successfully strafed an Italian fuel dump at Macaca, near Assab airfield on the Eritrean coast, in company with a Blenheim of No 39 Squadron. The Blenheim bombed, but missed. However, using incendiary ammunition the Gladiators, in the hands of Freddie Wightman and Plt Off Alan Carter, set fire to some 100 drums of petrol and alcohol. Before any opposition appeared the British aircraft made good their escape. ‘B’ Flight of 112 bagged its first enemy the following day. Hearing an engine above, Plt Off Jack Hamlyn took off in Gladiator L7619 to investigate. Climbing flat-out over Port Sudan, above the moored ships he caught an SM81 on a bombing run. The Savoia spotted the fighter and turned out to sea but Hamlyn closed to around 30 yards. During a quarter attack, which turned into a stern chase, he fired more than 1,000 rounds. His target burst into flames, pieces damaging the Gladiator. Two of

the SM81’s crew were picked from the water. 94’s Gladiators encountered the CR42 for the first time on the morning of 2 July, the Fiats flown by the newly formed 414a Squadriglia. Attacking Assab airfield, Wightman in N2283 destroyed one CR42 on the ground before a pair appeared in the air, having

L9042 came down while attacking fuel dumps south of Assab. Alan Carter died, the crash having been caused by ground fire rather than air combat. Two days on, two of the unit’s fighters collided while patrolling off Aden. Plt Off Bartlett parachuted from N2279 and was picked up, while Plt Off Hogg made a safe return to base.

‘Generally the only warning of the enemy’s approach came from railway stations, should an aircraft pass over’ taken off to quell the assault. He turned inside one and fired into its cockpit. The Italian fighter was set ablaze and crashed near the aerodrome. Sgt Bill Dunwoodie tussled with the second Fiat. He loosed a burst of fire into its Fiat A74 RC38 engine, which stopped. As it glided to earth Dunwoodie attacked again and the CR42 struck the ground hard, though subsequently it may have been repaired and returned to service. Eight days afterwards, accompanied by a Blenheim, 94 effectively wiped out 414a Squadriglia when three more CR42s were destroyed on the ground. The Italian unit was disbanded, and the exposed Assab airfield abandoned. The first East African Gladiator casualty came on 13 July, when 94’s

No 1 Squadron, SAAF had brought Gladiator reinforcements from Egypt to the East African theatre by the month’s end, splitting them between Khartoum and Kenya. A detachment of 94’s aircraft moved to Berbera, the capital of British Somaliland, as Italian forces were concentrated at the border. A Caproni Ca133 bomber was reported near Gedaref in the eastern Sudan on 1 August. Scrambled from Gedaref ’s polo field, Gladiators of 112’s ‘B’ Flight investigated: K7986 with ‘Dickie’ Whittington, L7619 with Plt Off Chapman at the controls, and K7974 flown by Plt Off — later Air Cdre — Oliver Green. Green caught the raider first, his bursts causing its starboard engine to start smoking. The Caproni force-landed, its crew being

BELOW: These Gladiators served with both Nos 1 and 2 Squadrons, SAAF. Nearest is N5851; the further example, N5815, also flew with No 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron.

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E A ST A FR IC AN G LA DIATOR S

ABOVE: Wearing his tin helmet at a jaunty angle, Capt Brian ‘Piggy’ Boyle of No 1 Squadron, SAAF is pictured with N5852. While flying this example Boyle shot down two enemy aircraft; he was the most successful SAAF Gladiator pilot.

BELOW: No 1 Squadron, SAAF Gladiators in a remote setting. In the foreground is N5813, which also served with No 2 Squadron.

local people who had been bombed by the Italians. Hearing of his victory, they killed a goat for a feast in his honour. After forays a few miles into Sudanese and Kenyan territory, on 3 August Italian forces invaded British Somaliland. Overwhelmed by superior numbers, as British and colonial troops withdrew Gladiators flew covering missions from Berbera. Two Fiat CR32s and a 413a Squadriglia CR42 strafed the capital’s airfield on the 8th, destroying 94’s Gladiators N2284 and N5778, and damaging N5890 beyond repair. In Kenya, meanwhile, three Caproni Ca133s attacked the northern town of Wajir on 14 August. A single Gladiator flown by No 1 Squadron’s Lt Adrian Colenbrander intercepted the enemy and succeeded in damaging one aircraft, the squadron’s first action. Over in the Sudan, ‘B’ Flight, No 112 Squadron was re-designated as the independent ‘K’ Flight. Three of the South African unit’s Gladiators, led by Maj Schalk van Schalkwyk, attacked two CR42s over Kassala in the eastern Sudan on 18

September. One enemy aircraft was seen to spin and crash. The other was pursued to its airfield at Tessenei, Eritrea, where it crash-landed, shared by 2nd Lts John Coetzer and John Hewitson. A detachment of 1’s aircraft subsequently travelled to reinforce ‘K’ Flight, shuttling between Azzoza and Port Sudan airfields. The squadron’s Kenyan-based Gladiators temporarily became No 2 Squadron, SAAF at the end of the month, but in October the aircraft reverted to 1’s ownership.

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A trio of South African Gladiators led by Capt Brian ‘Piggy’ Boyle encountered three 412a Squadriglia CR42s on 4 October, over the Sudanese border town of Metemma. Again, two kills were claimed though only one CR42 was actually shot down, its pilot baling out. The victor was Lt Servaas de K. Viljoen. The Italians in turn claimed an unconfirmed kill of their own, but South African records show just a damaged aircraft, that of Boyle.

Twelve days later, 412a Squadriglia CR42s attacked Gedaref airfield, destroying two antique Vincents (reported by the Italians as Gladiators) together with eight No 47 Squadron Wellesleys. No 1 Squadron hit back on the afternoon of 18 October, attacking 412a Squadriglia’s airfield at Barentu in Eritrea. Between them ‘Piggy’ Boyle in N5832, Lt Andrew Duncan and Lt Robin Pare shared the destruction of three CR42s as they tried to take off, then strafed the airfield’s Ca133 and SM79 force before returning safely to Azzoza. November opened with another South African victory. Boyle, Duncan and Pare were escorting bomb-carrying Gloster Gauntlets of No 430 Flight, RAF to targets in northern Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ca133s were spotted, Duncan making a successful attack on one from below and astern. The Italian went into a dive. Two injured crewmen managed to bale out before the aircraft crashed. No 1 Squadron soon fought again with 412a Squadriglia, near Metemma. Lt Leonard ‘Polly’ Theron claimed one CR42 shot down, the pilot of which baled out; ‘Piggy’ Boyle (N5852) another, and Duncan a third, though the Italians recorded only one loss. The first offensive of the Second World War by British and Commonwealth forces began on 6 November, an attack to retake the Sudanese border town of Gallabat and nearby Metemma. Gladiators from ‘K’ Flight and No 1 Squadron covered the action, patrolling over the assaulting troops. Support came too from Gauntlets, Hardys, Vincents and Wellesleys. The Italians reacted strongly, a force of between six and eight 412a Squadriglia CR42s attacking three ‘K’ Flight Gladiators from out of the sun near Metemma, and destroying all of them. Flt Lt Pete Savage in L7614 went down in flames over Gallabat, having fought off four or five CR42s for 15

15 minutes. Plt Off Harry Kirk baled out of K7969 and was taken prisoner. Jack Hamlyn’s L7612 was damaged, but he managed to put down and survived. In the same area Schalk van Schalkwyk, by then 1’s commanding officer, fought a lone battle in N5855 against the CR42s. His plight having been reported by ground troops, ‘Piggy’ Boyle took off from Azzoza in N5852, racing to help. Arriving at the scene he saw van Schalkwyk’s Gladiator on fire. The pilot baled out with his clothing alight. Boyle then fought a desperate action of his own, being wounded as the CR42s attacked. Finally N5852’s engine stopped, but he made a successful crash-landing in no-man’s land. The British attack on the ground was bombed by Ca133s escorted by CR42s. Gladiators responded, ‘K’ Flight’s Fg Off Jack Hayward in K7977 seeking vengeance for his flight commander’s death. During their time serving in Egypt and then the Sudan, Savage and Hayward had become great pals. Hayward led his section into a large formation of CR42s. After a long scrap he was set alight and crashed fatally. Lt John Coetzer claimed a fighter shot down, as did Robin Pare, though Italian records show no such CR42 losses; perhaps these aircraft were merely damaged. Near the MetemmaGondar road, two Ca133s were lost to the guns of Andrew Duncan and fellow Gladiator pilot John Hewitson in N5824.

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The fort at Gallabat finally fell on the evening of 6 November, but the Italians recaptured it the very next day, their bombers pressing home attacks against Allied ground troops, and the Regia Aeronautica for the moment controlling the local airspace. Again No 1 Squadron fought the CR42s, one being claimed by Robin Pare near Metemma. Sadly, Schalk van Schalkwyk succumbed to his burns, and Capt Gerald Le Mesurier took temporary command of the squadron. Recovered by Indian troops, ‘Piggy’ Boyle spent several weeks in hospital and received the DFC for his bravery in going alone to his CO’s aid. 20 November saw No 94 Squadron’s final Gladiator victory when Wightman and N5627 destroyed an SM81, intercepting it over Aden before dawn. With the target held in searchlights, Wightman fired incendiary

three of the biplanes set upon a single CR42, destroying it. In the New Year, 1 received a new CO, Maj Laurie Wilmot, and moved to Tessenei airfield in Eritrea, which had been liberated from the Italians. Gladiator N5822 was lost over Aroma, Sudan on 12 January, Lt John Warren falling under the guns of a CR42. Hurricanes provided cover as the Gladiators strafed Gura airfield in Eritrea on 27 January, damaging several Ca133s, SM79s and SM81s. Five Gladiators — accompanied by Hurricanes — took on an estimated 10 CR42s and a formation of SM79s near Gura on the 29th. The South Africans made stern and head-on attacks. Enemy casualties were not entirely clear to them but they claimed five fighters, two downed by the Gladiators. The Italians recorded no losses, though three CR42s were seriously damaged.

ABOVE: A rare airto-air photograph of a No 1 Squadron, SAAF Gladiator patrolling over the flat East African scrubland.

‘Hearing of Green’s victory, the locals killed a goat for a feast in his honour’ ammunition into his enemy’s port wing root and cockpit. The SM81 went into a long dive before crashing into the sea off Khormaksar. Wightman visited the rescued pilot in hospital, who turned out to be Diredawa’s (former) station commander. Several Hurricanes arrived with No 1 Squadron over the last few weeks of 1940, but it also received more Gladiators. On 27 December

Six No 1 Squadron Gladiators hit airfields in the Gondar region on 3 February. South of Gondar they found an airstrip with five Ca133s, strafing them and claiming all as destroyed. A second airfield was then attacked, and when enemy fighters appeared ‘Piggy’ Boyle achieved his final Gladiator victory. Boyle pressed his attack home so closely that he could see the rank badges on the Italian pilot’s uniform.

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E A ST A FR IC AN G LA DIATOR S RIGHT: Lt Leonard le Clues Theron of No 1 Squadron, SAAF straps into his mount.

The 413a Squadriglia CR42 went down smoking, and there was no parachute. All the Gladiators returned safely, but Lt H. P. Smith crashed on landing after his starboard tyre burst. 412a Squadriglia lost two more Fiats to 1’s Gloster fighters on the 5th; soon afterwards, the remaining biplanes were

detachment of Gladiators to Berbera to support Allied ground forces in their recapture of British Somaliland. No 1 Squadron’s surviving Gladiators were taken on charge by No 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron — formerly No 1 Squadron, Southern Rhodesia Air Force, which had moved from its

‘Quote to write and insert in here please’ ‘Quote to write and insert in here please’ BELOW: Under the Kenyan sky, two Gladiators of No 2 Squadron, SAAF shelter from the sun.

moved on and the South African unit became all-Hurricane. In the meantime ‘K’ Flight’s new CO, Flt Lt John E. ‘Ian’ Scoular, had opened his East African account with the destruction of an SM79 on 22 February, while escorting Blenheims. Freddie Wightman was awarded the DFC, while during March 94 sent a

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Kenyan bases to Gedaref, Kassala and Khartoum. The unit was charged with army co-operation and reconnaissance, flying Hardys and Lysanders as well as its newly acquired fighters. In the fierce battle for the Italians’ Eritrean stronghold at Keren, on 16 March 1941 Plt Off Peter Simmonds in N5789 was attacked by a CR42, which

damaged his Gladiator. Simmonds fought back successfully, the enemy machine crashing and exploding. Three aircraft from 237 strafed Italian forces at Ad Teclesan, Eritrea, at the month’s end. Simmonds in N5853 was hit by anti-aircraft fire and force-landed, but managed to evade capture and reached friendly troops. He went on to share in the obliteration of a Ca133, a CR42 and an SM79 on the ground, becoming 237’s most successful Gladiator pilot. ‘K’ Flight left the East African theatre for Palestine and 94 reequipped with Hurricanes, numerous Gladiators passing to No 3 Squadron, SAAF. Though the biplanes played a reduced part in the subsequent East African fighting, as Allied ground forces advanced into Italian territory 3 was employed on ground support. The unit suffered several accidents, perhaps partly the result of flying such venerable and well-used aircraft. Though their aerial strength had dwindled, Italian resistance on the ground continued almost throughout 1941. The Gladiators’ time had all but passed, but on 24 October Lt Lancelot Hope of No 3 Squadron, SAAF based at Dabat, Ethiopia, attacked a CR42 reconnoitring near Ambazzo, north of Gondar, closing to just 20 yards. The Fiat caught fire, spun into the ground and exploded, the last enemy aircraft shot down in the East African theatre. The remaining Italian forces surrendered on 27 November 1941. During a campaign fought in harsh conditions, far from home with little support, the small band of Allied pilots and their Gladiators had acquitted themselves more than capably against their Regia Aeronautica adversaries.

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meets

DR ROBERT

PLEMING The chief executive of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust reflects on the highs and lows of XH558’s remarkable return to flight – and on what the future holds for this most famous ‘V-bomber’

I

t remains one of the greatest stories in aircraft preservation: how a four-engined jet bomber, long retired by the RAF and thought grounded for good, flew again in civilian hands and spent eight very successful seasons as the airshow circuit’s biggest attraction. Yet it happened, and it was memorable. When Avro Vulcan B2 XH558 took to the air from Bruntingthorpe on 18 October 2007, one man among those watching did so with particular pride, and not a small degree of apprehension. With much vision and energy, Dr Robert Pleming, chief executive of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust (VTST), had been instrumental in making the whole thing happen. The maiden flight demonstrated that what many had thought impossible could, in fact, be done. Yet the challenges — financial, technical and many more — were far from over. By the time XH558 ended up being grounded in October 2015, it is estimated that the whole project had consumed more than £26 million, all of it from the public. Today the aircraft’s flying days are over. It sits in taxiable retirement at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, the former RAF Finningley, itself an ex-Vulcan base of much renown. But VTST’s ambitions for the future run further. To that end, Robert travels regularly from his home in Hampshire to

XH558’s South Yorkshire base, and it was during one of these trips that we met. Given part of his background, it seemed appropriate to choose a suitably academic venue, so just before Christmas we talked over a very relaxed lunch at the University of Sheffield’s excellent Inox Dine restaurant. “We lived under the flightpath of RAF Northolt”, Robert says of his childhood, “and I constantly saw Dakotas and similar flying overhead. So, aviation is in the blood, but there are probably genes involved in it as well. My mother was in the WAAF met section during the war, and she has my undying jealousy for having a flight in a Mosquito during 1946, before she was demobbed”. Robert himself got his gliding wings at RAF Halton on a Slingsby Sedbergh, and at the age of 17 was awarded an RAF flying scholarship. In 1968 he went solo on a Cessna 152, “but I never actually got my PPL, because going through A-levels, university and so on there was never any time, or indeed any money, to do it. “I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to St John’s, Oxford, and did my BA in physics. I did better than I was expecting — better than everybody was expecting — and I was invited to do a DPhil, which is what Oxford calls a doctorate, at the nuclear physics lab. We were designing an experiment to go on the sharp end of what was then the Super Proton

WORDS: BEN DUNNELL

48 www.aeroplanemonthly.com

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

ABOVE: Dr Robert Pleming in 2016, when the Vulcan to the Sky Trust bought Canberra WK163. PA IMAGES

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

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ð

meets DR RO BE RT P LEM I NG Synchrotron at CERN [the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva], which was pretty much leading-edge at the time, 40 years ago. “It became very obvious that if I was going to carry on in the academic world, I would be ‘middle-rating’, as it were. I thought I didn’t want to middle at something; I wanted to be top. I was involved in a lot of work with computers, and I decided to go into the world of computing — I applied to IBM, and I joined them in January 1977. I got to some quite senior positions in the end, and then in 1994 I was headhunted by Cisco Systems. They wanted a mature and experienced manager to take over as technical director in the UK. This was the start of the internet explosion, and it was a real ride. The business just took off. When I joined we were about a $50-million business in the UK. By the time I finished it was something like $1.5 billion. That was over six years.” However, it was time for a change. “By then I was 49, a European-level director, and frankly burnt-out”. As an enthusiast, Robert had seen Vulcan XH558 flying at many airshows during its time with the RAF’s Vulcan Display Flight, and loved it. He signed the petition organised in 1992 to try and keep the aircraft flying in RAF hands. This, of course, proved unsuccessful. “As an engineer, my gut feeling was that this aircraft could be kept flying. I actually took my son out of school on 23 March 1993 and we watched from RAF Benson, which was the initial point for its final tour of the UK. I remember saying to myself, ‘This is wrong. I’m going to get it flying again’. Hostage to fortune…” That flight ended at Bruntingthorpe, XH558 having been bought by the Walton family with a view to an eventual return to the air. “It wasn’t until 1996”, Robert recalls, “that I took the first step of talking to David Walton and asking, ‘Where are you on this?’ I knew they’d bought all the spares and the rest of it. He said that the CAA was telling them that they needed a corporate response, which was interpreted as needing British Aerospace on board. I thought that the

the spring of 1999, we got to version 18 of the project plan. I’d formed a good relationship with a guy called Jeff Fellows, who was the corporate-level technical planning director for BAe. He provided a lot of really helpful advice, and he took our plan in to the committee that would need to take the decision. “In May 1999 I got the call — I was at Brussels Airport, I seem to remember — when he said, ‘Robert, you’ve done it’. At the top, we’d got the support from [BAe chief executive] John Weston and [chairman] Dick Evans. There were some conditions, like ‘no money’. I’d found a way of solving the key problem, which was that to provide this support required technical input from the design engineers within BAe, and they had no spare resource to do that. The solution I came up with, which everybody bought into, was that the design office at Marshall Aerospace would do the technical work, and then it would receive what was entitled ‘no technical objection’ from BAe. So, BAe” — BAE Systems from later in 1999 — “had a relatively lightweight task of looking at the output from Marshalls’ work.

❖

“Something we realised in hindsight was that all the companies that needed to be involved like Dunlop, Smiths and so on thought, ‘Oh, they’ll never do it’. There was obviously a lot of gulping in their throats when they realised, ‘They might’! We ended up basically doing a type certification for a complex-category ex-military aircraft. We had absolutely superb support from BAE, Marshalls, Rolls-Royce and all of the OEMs [original equipment manufacturers]. Some of it we had to pay for, some of it was for free. “One of the big conclusions I’ve come to in the last few years was that the power of the vision of getting this very significant aircraft back to flight was a vision that people bought into. They could see it happening and they could see the value. If it had been the only Vulcan in existence, I would have been the first to say, ‘Don’t even try’, but because there remain a number of

‘A low point was when we came to the conclusion that commercial sponsorship wasn’t going to work for the restoration’ key was clearly getting BAe convinced that there was a credible project that could result in a safe aircraft. “David had been talking to a number of people who were able to offer expertise. I basically formed a project team in 1997, and for a couple of years we focused on all the issues that we needed to get right for a credible project to come together. Eventually, in

50 www.aeroplanemonthly.com

Vulcans around the country, some of them under cover, it was worth doing. “We trotted down the path of starting to do things, but of course the major challenge was raising the money. The estimates for the project went up from £2 million to £3.75 million when we did the lottery bid, and the actual end number when we got the permit to fly was about £7 million.

“In 2000, we thought that, as long as we got the funding, we could get the aircraft back to flight in a couple of years. I remember thinking when I left Cisco [in 2000] to pick up the role fulltime — unpaid, at the time — that I’d give it a couple of years and see where we got to. Well, life changes. Once you start down the path on something like this, you can’t give it up. “We realised by the end of 2000 that the fundraising campaign wasn’t getting the traction it needed to. That was when Felicity Irwin came on board and put a huge amount of effort in to moving the whole of the fundraising and PR side forward, with great success. Up until that time, the Waltons were funding the activity, but they decided they could no longer be involved. As with all of these things, though, everybody’s made a contribution. It really is a case of ‘success has many fathers’. We couldn’t have achieved what we achieved if the Waltons hadn’t decided to buy the aircraft, purchase the spares and take the first few steps towards discovering what was needed to return the aircraft to flight.” VTST was formed as a registered charity in 2002, allowing public fundraising to be stepped up. ACM Sir Michael Knight was its first chairman. Robert remembers, “When we started fundraising, we didn’t have charitable status. Our friends down at Southend, the Vulcan Restoration Trust, accepted the donations… Within their objectives as a charity, they funded the work on the aircraft that we were carrying out then, the so-called ‘soft start’ — taking things off it, preparing them to be overhauled — in response to receipts we could give them, because they were allowed to support any Vulcan. That worked really well. “A low point was when we came to the conclusion that commercial sponsorship wasn’t going to work for the restoration, for a number of reasons. Probably the primary reason was that we could not demonstrate a return on the sponsorship in the sort of timescales that work for commercial companies. If they gave us a million quid, they would want to see a million’s worth of value within about six months. We couldn’t do that. Also, the various schemes we had for collecting donations were collecting at a relatively slow rate. It became very obvious that we needed a major injection of funds, and that’s when we considered applying for a lottery grant. “Felicity had noted that the Tank Museum at Bovington had got a grant to bring back to running condition a German tank. Why couldn’t we do this with an aircraft? In the Heritage Lottery Fund’s terms and conditions there was a statement saying they didn’t fund projects whose aim was the restoration of aircraft to flight. However, lower down, it said, ‘We will entertain requests for exceptions to our policies’. That’s the route we went down.

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

“The first HLF application, in hindsight, was weak. We hadn’t really hit their requirements for things like access, interpretation and education on anything like the level required. That was rejected in November-December 2002. But the response the HLF had from the public to that decision was huge, and it turned round their attitude. They provided some very helpful guidance on what would be a successful application, and I basically sat down for three or four months in the early part of 2003 writing 110,000 words for an all-singing, all-dancing HLF application. “That went in, and was considered by an HLF board of trustees meeting in December 2003. At the same meeting they were also considering the lottery funding for the National Cold War Exhibition [at the RAF Museum Cosford]… of course, there was an aviation theme in the world with the centenary of the Wright brothers’ first flight, and the last flight of Concorde. For a short time I’d had to go and get a different job for another IT company, and I received the call there saying that

we’d got the first-stage approval, which is the key one. I resigned from the company I worked for the following month, and we set off down the road.” At that stage the grant was for £2.5 million, though the HLF ended up contributing a total of £2.7 million. As Robert recounts, “There was a lot of work to be done between then and actually getting the money in. It wasn’t until February 2005 that we purchased the aircraft from the Waltons. It was so important to keep linkage in to the OEMs over that time, so I personally paid for our logistics manager to stay on in his role, making sure that we still had those connections. That’s the sort of thing you have to do, though. “The way the HLF works is that they know the total project costs, — £3.75 million at the time — and they give you a percentage of that. In our case it was about 65 per cent, but you’re not allowed to start until you can show you’ve got the [remaining] funds. We had to raise £1 million, and Felicity got on with it. Such was the enthusiasm for getting the aircraft back to flying condition that we did it.

“Before starting work we needed to recruit a technical team, not only for ourselves within the Vulcan Operating Company [then the operating arm of VTST] but also Marshalls, who had to get technicians on board and get their design office engineers up to speed. What’s not widely known is that we paid for and developed a 13-week technical training course on the Vulcan, covering all of the necessary topics. It wasn’t until August 2005 that work began, but there were various problems along the way. “The initial project plan looked like a 14-month restoration. It ended up being 26 months. We discovered huge amounts of corrosion in the space above the undercarriage bay […] caused by water thrown up from the wheels. Things basically took an awful lot longer than we expected. The CAA wanted the design office to do virtually a complete safety case for the aircraft; I think 45 systems were removed from the aircraft, and Marshalls had to do a safety case for each one of those removals, a tremendous amount of work. That’s where costs started

ABOVE: With XH558 in the Bruntingthorpe hangar during March 2005, when the aircraft had just been bought from the Walton family. PETER R. MARCH RIGHT: Work on the Vulcan only started in earnest once the Heritage Lottery Fund grant had been confirmed. PETER R. MARCH

ABOVE: Robert Pleming with the crew members behind the successful maiden flight: from left to right, pilots Al McDicken and David Thomas, air electronics officer Barry Masefield and crew chief ‘Taff’ Stone. PETER R. MARCH

LEFT: At the roll-out in August 2006, the VTST team and XH558 were saluted by the BBMF’s Lancaster. PETER R. MARCH

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

ð

www.aeroplanemonthly.com 51

meets DR RO BE RT P LEM I NG escalating through the roof. There were some difficult times with Marshalls over that period about the continuing, month-on-month escalation of the cost estimates.

We’d covered everything and I was very happy that it would be OK, but at the back of your mind is always, ‘What happens if…?’ In the end, it was an absolute success.”

‘We’d covered everything and I was very happy that the first flight would be OK... In the end, it was an absolute success’ “Then we had the famous roll-out in August 2006. We projected running out of money at the end of August, and the whole team was put on one month’s notice on 31 July. That triggered the most amazing fundraising effort, which in that month raised about £1.3 million. Sir Jack Hayward put half a million towards that, and it enabled us to carry on. But as we approached the first test flight, Marshalls ended up being incredibly generous in terms of accepting that we weren’t going to pay them because we hadn’t got the money. Hats off to them — we couldn’t have carried on. It was £1.3 million that they basically wrote off. But we did it!” They did. 18 October 2007 was a day no-one involved with the Vulcan will ever forget. “I had to sit back and watch as everybody did what they needed to do”, says Robert. “It was down to the engineers, it was down to the aircrew. Everything seemed to go so smoothly. There was a high degree of expectation, and an incredible atmosphere. We had about 200 or 300 people there on the airfield, but around the airfield several thousand people eventually turned out. I was hoping that there would be no problems and expecting that it would all go smoothly.

It was. Pilots Al McDicken and David Thomas, accompanied by Barry Masefield as air electronics officer, conducted a trouble-free test flight that sunny afternoon — the Vulcan’s first since March 1993. Understandably, Robert wouldn’t let himself celebrate too soon. “One of the guys who was there was a very good friend of mine, Angus Laird, who used to fly Vulcans in the RAF. He’d told me I’d never do it. After it took off, he offered me a glass of champagne. I told him, ‘Angus, no — wait ’til she’s back on the ground…’”

❖

After half an hour, she was. “There was laughter, there was clapping, there were some tears — there was relief. We’d done it. It really was a huge team effort; I was only lucky enough to be the leader”. The likes of engineering director Andrew Edmondson and business development director Michael Trotter, both long-time VTST mainstays, were crucial to success, but there were many more. With XH558 flying, Robert now hoped that a commercial sponsor might be found. “But in 2008 we went into the global banking crisis and the

recession. We ended up sitting just in the wrong place”. Airbus came forward with support; so did aerospace software firm Aerobytes thanks to the enthusiasm of its boss Eddie Forrester, and there were other backers from industry such as fuel companies supplying lubricants, but there would be no main sponsor. “When we got to board level with sponsorship discussions, they cited three things: that it was a nuclear bomber, that airshows are unsafe, and that the environmental impacts were horrible — it was noisy, pumping out vast quantities of CO2. We never seemed able to get past those things.” Between the maiden flight and the debut display, a test-flying programme needed completing. “We also had to sort out the substantial debt that we’d run up with Marshalls, and to generate funds to keep going. We had some substantial donations from supporters.” Back in the air in the spring of 2008, a priority was to check out XH558’s new avionics fit, the only substantial change compared with the aircraft’s configuration in its RAF days. This gave some problems, but the most worrying moment was when the aircraft had to position into Cottesmore for a compass swing. “That’s when we got the mayday, because they had a fire indication from the AAPP [auxiliary airborne power plant]. I was driving up to Cottesmore when I got the ’phone call telling me. You have no idea what that feels like! There have been two horrible occasions I never want to go through again. There was that one, and the other was the nosewheel hang-up at Prestwick [in September 2015]. You go through the worst-case scenarios in Continued on page 57

ABOVE: She flies! The Vulcan gets air under its wheels again at Bruntingthorpe on 18 October 2007. VTST

52 www.aeroplanemonthly.com

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meets DR RO BE RT P LEM I NG Continued from page 52 your head, but luckily they both ended up satisfactorily.” Things weren’t ready for the aircraft to join the display circuit at the start of the 2008 season, but the CAA issued the Vulcan’s permit to fly just in time for the RAF Waddington International Air Show in early July. Where better to debut than at a former Vulcan base? Before an enthralled sell-out audience, XH558 was the showstopper to end them all, flying both solo and in an Avro formation with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Lancaster. Robert had just been through major surgery to resolve a problem with his neck, but he wasn’t about to miss it. “I can still hear it in my head. The only thing you could hear was the four Merlins. The crowd was so good, because it was obviously a very significant moment for them as well.” Even such proof of the Vulcan’s popularity failed to ease VTST’s financial situation. Only with the

support from Aerobytes augmenting public donations did XH558 make it to the summer’s big events. Bad weather, an undercarriage problem and an enforced engine change cancelled several of 2008’s appearances, and at the end of the season there was a minor crisis when, after taking part in a flypast over Farnborough to mark the centenary of Samuel Cody’s first powered flight in the UK, a brake system issue grounded the aircraft at the Farnborough airfield. All of these things ate further into the trust’s funds, and the need to appeal to the public’s generosity would never go away.

❖

“We’ve been to the brink several times. Every year we had to put her through a more-or-less significant winter service. We devised a pledge mechanic, whereby we knew how much it was going to cost and said what the target was. We’d only start the work when we’d got to the target; we didn’t

call in the pledges until we’d reached it. That was really successful, year on year. It ranged from £400,000 to about £800,000. Over time we also had to modify the aircraft to install fatigue life extension mods, one of which, in about 2010, had never been done before and was designed especially for us. “We had some hugely lucky breaks. At one of those moments when we were thinking, ‘Crikey, we’re not going to make it’, I got an e-mail one Friday evening from somebody asking me to give them a call because they wanted to donate some money. It was the most extraordinary conversation: ‘My mother’s left a portfolio of shares that, for tax reasons, we’d like to donate to the Vulcan to the Sky Trust’… I said, ‘Oh, that’s very kind of you. Thanks very much for letting me know. What do we need to do?’ He said it was rather a lot of money, and that we’d need to involve solicitors. How much? £435,000. You think there’s someone up there looking after us. This happened more than once…”

ABOVE: XH558 arrives at Waddington for its first show appearance in VTST’s hands, affording a chance to capture it with the airfield’s resident Vulcan, Falklands veteran XM607. DENIS J. CALVERT

ABOVE LEFT: One of the Vulcan’s many formations with the Red Arrows, this one mounted during the aircraft’s last Royal International Air Tattoo appearance in 2015. BEN DUNNELL LEFT: What a way to make a debut. The remarkable Avro formation at Waddington’s 2008 show, Vulcan led by Lancaster. KEITH BLINCOW/ AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM

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meets DR RO BE RT P LEM I NG Once XH558 was flying, it needed to move base as Bruntingthorpe was not especially practical as an operating location. “We went down to RAF Lyneham, who were very accommodating and had a hangar. We managed to get some limited public access at weekends for tours and the like, but it wasn’t anything like what we wanted to do. We used Brize Norton as an operating base for a time as well. The RAF were absolutely super. They did as much as they could do without spending money. But it was clear to me that we needed to be on a commercial airfield, so we could deliver on our public access — interpretation, education — objectives. We started talking to Robin Hood Airport [now Doncaster Sheffield Airport] in 2007, and it’s been brilliant there for the last five years.” As time went on, the Vulcan’s popularity never seemed to wane. There were many memorable appearances, many unique formations — too numerous to mention here. But Robert also remembers the moments that didn’t go so well. “In 2012, for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, we were invited to open the Thames Pageant. A few days before we managed to blow two engines”. This happened on take-off from Doncaster, caused by the ingestion of silica gel desiccant bags that had been left in one of the intakes. “It was a classic example of the Swiss cheese effect: a combination of distraction, a checklist not being updated to reflect a procedure that Rolls-Royce had asked us to do, time pressure. My relief was palpable when it turned out that the engines were two of our oldest. “That was another subject of consternation, in that Rolls-Royce did apply some constraints on the use of the engines. We had to measure usage with a device that measured the N1 [low-pressure compressor stage] rpm, and there was an algorithm to change that into cycle usage, a measure of how the life of the engine was being consumed. The net effect of that was, basically, to take their lives down from 1,200 hours TBO [time before overhaul] to about 200 hours per

that, about 345 or so. We always knew that ’558 was the fleet leader in terms of structural fatigue life, and that it was inching up towards the ultimate limit. Again, we could have flown on for about two more years. But at that point there was absolutely no question: full stop. There was no engineering data which would allow us to carry on beyond that.” Unfortunately, the aircraft’s three technical authorities — Marshalls, Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems — brought things to a close. They took the collective decision to cease their support at the end of 2015, even though the aircraft could have carried on. According to Robert, “They cited ‘lack of technical competence’, which even now I find difficult to believe. We fought it for four months or so, trying everything we could. We lined Cranfield Aerospace up to be the engineering authority, but then the manufacturers came back saying that they wouldn’t release the technical data to Cranfield. If they don’t have the technical data they can’t do the job.

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“I think the real reason, in my view, is that these companies are a lot more risk-averse now than they ever were before. I have to say, if we tried to do now what we did with the Vulcan, we would not get off the ground. When we started off there was a degree of enthusiasm about flying heritage aircraft that doesn’t seem to exist in the manufacturers now, especially post-Shoreham. They probably thought to themselves, ‘What’s the upside to this? Where’s the shareholder value?’ It’s probably the decision I would have taken had I been so risk-averse. But life isn’t fun without taking managed risks.” The end came in October 2015. Quite apart from a full season of displays around the UK, including that electrifying performance on the Saturday of the Royal International Air Tattoo in the hands of Kev Rumens, there were several national tours. The aim was to take the aircraft to as many people, not least its supporters, as possible. During June, XH558

‘Companies are more risk-averse now. If we tried to do what we did with the Vulcan, we would not get off the ground’ engine. We reckoned that, with the engine life management process that we had in place in 2014-15, we had enough available to go on for 2016-17 and do the 10 years. But, sadly, that wasn’t going to happen. “Our commitment to the HLF was 250 flying hours, notionally 25 hours a year for 10 years. We ended up flying considerably in excess of

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overflew the locations of all the other ‘V-bombers’ in the UK — including the RAF Museum London, something about which Robert was particularly pleased. Then in October were mounted two final celebratory tours, one in the north, the other in the south. Just before that, reports emerged of photos showing the aircraft being barrel-rolled at height during a transit,

aerobatics being prohibited under the terms of its permit to fly. The CAA investigated, but came to the decision that it would take no action. Nor was the aircraft in any way harmed. All was clear, then, for XH558 to embark on its last public hurrah. Over two days it covered much of the mainland UK, large crowds turning out to see it. As Robert explains, there were concerns on the part of the Doncaster Sheffield Airport management about the numbers of people turning up to watch from the airfield’s boundaries, to the extent that the tour could easily have been called off. “It required some negotiation”, he says. For that reason, the date and time of the aircraft’s very last flight were only confirmed at short notice. It happened on 28 October. The timing wasn’t right for Robert, who couldn’t be there. “I was about to have a new aortic heart valve”, he remembers. With Bill Ramsey and chief pilot Martin Withers at the controls, the sortie was a short affair, but very significant. Never again will a Vulcan fly. Of course there has been criticism along the way: that the running of VTST itself was too expensive, that the Vulcan took up money that could have gone to other airshow bookings or other aviation heritage causes. Robert responds, “The team that did all this was actually really small, bearing in mind what is needed to keep an aircraft of this size and complexity going. You couldn’t do it on a voluntary basis. For example, our fundraising had to reach levels of professionalism that we could only get to with help. I know I’ve been criticised for being paid, but my salary is similar to that of other charity chief executives. “For air displays, for what we were charging you could probably get five or six Spitfire displays. However, the draw of having the Vulcan on a programme was huge, so that sort of balanced it out. The spectators wanted us. As for taking money away from other activities, I think we might be guilty of that, but thousands of supporters just wanted to see the Vulcan fly, so may not have donated to other aircraft. We always knew we were not going to go on forever. In my head it made sense to do as much as we could do in the time that we had, and I hope people agree with that.” Now XH558 is firmly ensconced at Doncaster Sheffield. Is this the best place for it, some have wondered? After all, while public hangar access and taxi runs are possible, Doncaster isn’t exactly on the tourist trail. Robert responds, “As an operational commercial airport, it is a destination, and it’s got a huge catchment area. The heritage connection is obvious”. VTST considered both Elvington, given the regular fast taxi runs staged there, and Cranfield because of the potential link to the university, but Doncaster remained the location of choice.

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“We took the decision on the basis that, given all of the factors, it was the right place to be — especially our desire to develop what we call the Etna Project. Doncaster Sheffield Airport has a 30-year plan to develop an Aero Centre, with a whole lot of different activities around the airport. They’ve bought up huge amounts of land. We’ve been talking to them for some time about our desire to build a new type of visitor and inspirational activity, to inspire youngsters into engineering and aviation. It’s based around the concept of the Eden Project in Cornwall. That gets people up-front and close to the biosphere; we want to do the same with aviation and engineering. The reason it’s called Etna is because Etna was the location of the workshop of the god Vulcan. “The airport has allocated 30,000 square metres of space where we could build this facility. At £18-20 million, it’s a big investment. What we want to do is migrate what we’re doing now into Etna, but it will take a number of years. We probably couldn’t do this elsewhere. There’s the Enterprise Zone

status, there’s the catchment area, there’s the very real need within the South Yorkshire region for fourthquartile educational attainment and inspiration. The whole thing came together, and it’s the right place.” Part of these future plans is Canberra B2/6 WK163, acquired by VTST for restoration to airworthiness in June 2016. The former Scorpion-powered world altitude record-breaker has not so far elicited the hoped-for funding support, so it may not be ready as planned for the RAF centenary celebrations in 2018. The Canberra Restoration Project will now be ‘spun off’ as a separate entity, and there is the possibility of a bid to the HLF. Being required to move to a smaller hangar is bringing its own pressures, not least — in the short term — when it comes to public access. But with the Vulcan, Canberra and the recent loan of static Swift F4 WK275, this is an important collection of British Cold War jets. Robert is not someone afraid of taking on new challenges and commitments. He is chairman of the British Aviation Preservation

Council, an august organisation with some major issues to tackle — the need to involve new generations in aircraft conservation, aeroplanes sitting outdoors in all weathers, museums coming to the end of their leases and many more. He has had the idea of establishing an All-Party Parliamentary Group on aviation heritage, soon to be formed, and he is a trustee of Young Engineers, helping encourage children of school age into careers in engineering and aerospace. As he says, “I’m a problem-solver, and that’s what we need to teach the young to do.” Looking back on the XH558 story, Robert stresses the team element. “I’m so proud that we did it. The only way you can achieve something like this is as a team. We’ve done something that an awful lot of people said was impossible”. But even after all the ups and downs of the past 20 years, one emotion overrides all the others. “It’s been so much fun”, he says. “It’s been a blast.” For more information and to donate, visit www.vulcantothesky.org LEFT: A dramatic air-to-air from XH558’s final weeks of flight. GAVIN CONROY

BELOW LEFT: Bill Ramsey and Martin Withers get airborne with a plume of spray for the Vulcan’s last ever flight. STEVEN COMBER

BELOW: The Vulcan and Canberra B2/6 hangared at Doncaster Sheffield. VTST

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MOSS MA1 A ND MA 2

Like a rolling stone

The history of inter-war British aviation is littered with light aeroplanes that showed potential, but never achieved commercial success. The Moss MA1 and MA2 were two of the many WORDS: BEN DUNNELL

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ive brothers, all of them pilots. Aviation certainly ran in the Moss family from Chorley, Lancashire. Even so, it was a brave and rather unusual decision by Brian, Geoffrey, Richard, Ronald and William to set up their own firm, its stated aim to design, manufacture and repair “aircraft of all kinds”. And they did build their own aircraft, even if series production proved out of reach. Pretty good they were, too.

The previous Moss family business was in a somewhat different field. At a Chorley works, H. S. Moss and Co manufactured and supplied paints and varnishes. Without huge fanfare, Moss Brothers Aircraft Ltd was established as a private company on 1 January 1936. On this The Aeroplane later reported, “The firm is no relation to the sartorial Friend of all the World in general and of our brethren from overseas in particular [a reference to Moss Bros,

the gentlemen’s outfitters] but we may justly hope that it may become as popular and as prosperous.” It adopted a sensible approach. There were no grand promises, no claims that could go unfulfilled. The press knew that Moss Brothers was designing a new light aeroplane, “from which”, Flight stated, “an exceptional range of performance was expected”. But that was about all. By the time the press published preliminary details of the Moss MA1 in May 1937, it had already flown. Registered that January, G-AEST was a tandem two-seat, low-wing cabin monoplane, fairly conventional-looking but attractive. The chosen engine was a Pobjoy Niagara III seven-cylinder aircooled radial of 95hp, enough to give the MA1 a cruising speed estimated as “rather better than 120mph”, though Flight pointed out that full performance figures were still unavailable. Moss, the journal said, had aimed to produce an aircraft “at a reasonable price which

would cruise at something well over 100mph, yet land very slowly and provide as good a view for the pilot as is possible in a tractor machine. Initial trials have shown that the ideals have been largely achieved.” In an age when the biplane still held sway, the MA1 looked well-placed. There were few comparable offerings from British manufacturers, the Miles Whitney Straight — flown the previous May — being one. A two-seater, albeit of side-by-side configuration, it boasted

experience. William was the oldest (at 36) and most seasoned. As of 1937 he had been a pilot for nine years, and held Argentinean and US licences alongside his British one. He also owned a Cirrus III-engined DH60 Moth. Three of the brothers had commissions in the Reserve of Air Force Officers, and two possessed commercial and instructors’ licences, one having held an instructorship with the Flying Club of Northern Rhodesia, and the other being honorary instructor to the Lancashire

BELOW: Geoffrey Moss with the MA1 in open configuration at Hanworth in September 1938. ALL PHOTOS AEROPLANE

‘In an age when the biplane still held sway, the Moss MA1 looked well-placed’ generally similar performance. When launched, Miles sold the Whitney Straight for £985. Moss foresaw the MA1 costing just £750. In coming up with their new machine, the Moss brothers took into account their own prior flying

Aero Club. The youngest pair were members of the Oxford University Air Squadron. In a tortuous metaphor, The Aeroplane wrote, “So although rolling stones may gather no moss, apparently Mosses may become rolling stones and gather valuable knowledge.”

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MOSS MA1 A ND MA 2

TOP: The original cabin MA1 was — like the Mosscraft that followed — an aircraft of conventional construction, allwood with plywood covering except for the fabric-covered ailerons, elevator and rudder. ABOVE: The ‘sports model’ MA1 originally had hinged decking covering its twin cockpits, which could be opened to ease ingress and egress. ABOVE RIGHT: A good view of how far forward the front seat of the Mosscraft was. The racing number 31 was applied to the cabin MA1 for its abortive participation in the 1937 King’s Cup.

That piece went on, “One may reasonably expect the Moss Bros to have some ideas about flying and they have. They have set out to produce their ideal two-seat light aeroplane…” It stressed the desire for maximum visibility from the front cockpit, from which the MA1 was to be flown. “[The] pilot sits in front of the wing. He can thus see almost vertically downwards. The long windows behind the pilot should give a view backwards to either side”. Behind the passenger was “plenty of space for baggage and a locker for golf clubs.” The MA1’s public debut was scheduled for a very high-profile stage: the 1937 King’s Cup Air Race, held at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, on 10-11 September. Its nominated pilot was William Moss, for what Flight in its pre-race preview called “his first serious essay at racing in this country”. But as Charles Gardner streaked to victory in red-and-gold Percival Mew Gull

G-AEKL, the Moss machine remained ground-bound. Its certificate of airworthiness had been issued by the Air Registration Board (ARB) a few days earlier, but The Aeroplane reported that G-AEST “arrived just too late to compete.”

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Returning home to the airstrip next to the Moss plant in Chorley, the MA1 — now being dubbed the Mosscraft — was subject to various detail changes. A modified cowling, increased elevator movement and a fully trimmed, soundproofed cockpit with enhanced instruments were among them. In October 1937, Flight said admiringly how it had “given perfect satisfaction from the moment of its first flight”. The elevator modification, it continued, “is being provided as a luxury rather than because it is quite necessary.”

Mosscraft specifications Engine Length Span All-up weight Max speed Cruising speed Stalling speed Price

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MA1 (cabin)

MA1 (open, pre-war)

MA2 (open)

Pobjoy Niagara III, 95hp 23ft 3in 34ft 1,400lb 130mph 120mph 37mph £750

Pobjoy Niagara III, 95hp 23ft 3in 34ft 1,400lb 135mph 122mph 37mph £695

Blackburn Cirrus Minor, 90hp 23ft 3in 34ft 1,400lb 120mph 105mph 37mph £690

The journal’s correspondent was clearly much taken with the MA1’s performance in operating from the Chorley site: “The field is very small and rough, has a steep slope in two directions, and is partially surrounded by trees”, he wrote. However, “the more serious test work” was done at Blackpool’s Squires Gate airport. The piece noted that, “With a momentarily dying interest in such types it is pleasant to see progress with one more attempt to produce a practical and inexpensive ideal — though the brothers may eventually decide that the market does not warrant the effort and expense of production… Certainly it appears to be a little too useful (the cruising speed is 120mph and the landing speed about 40mph) to become merely the product of a private owner’s hobby…” This and other contemporary reports confirmed that an open-cockpit, dualcontrol variant was scheduled to appear the following year. Flight likened it to the Miles Mohawk. In a March 1938 edition, it said, “The original version of the machine was arranged with full cockpit enclosure, but later versions may be of the more conventional separatecockpit design, according to the wishes of the purchaser.” The open Mosscraft broke cover in September 1938. Its unveiling followed demonstration flights for the press at Hanworth’s London Air Park, the aircraft having again just missed the King’s Cup. Flight called it a “two-

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seater sports model”, its dual controls rendering it suitable for Civil Air Guard use. Although it had the same dimensions in span and overall length as its cabin predecessor — and again used the Niagara engine — this was, to all intents and purposes, a different machine. Why, one might ask, did the muchmodified open MA1 carry the same registration as the enclosed type? The relevant ARB papers in the National Archives fail to help here. One file is missing and the other offers no clues. The Moss Brothers Aircraft archives are presumably long-gone. Even bearing in mind the more laissez-faire attitudes to paperwork that prevailed at the time, this is a strange case. If it was the cabin MA1 rebuilt with a new fuselage, something not clear from period magazine accounts or G-AEST’s registration documents, one might still have expected it to be re-registered. As for the “sports model” itself, “Flying round the congested neighbourhood of Hanworth and Heston”, The Aeroplane said after a trip with Geoffrey Moss, “the uninterrupted view all round gave one a feeling of security, which is definitely lacking in the older types of biplane trainer. The visibility from the Mosscraft is particularly good when gliding in to land with flaps down and motor off. The nose is a long way below the horizon, the approach steep and the control excellent.” A more extensive assessment was undertaken by Flight’s H. A. Taylor. Its flying characteristics, he opined, were “markedly pleasant from all points of view, and show that real stability and safety can be combined with adequate manoeuvrability”. There was “little change of trim when the machine is flown solo or two-up”, and “absolute stability in all axes”. Stalls proved benign, and Taylor again praised the take-off and landing performance, especially given the “microscopic

and far-from-level field” in Chorley from which the Mosscraft habitually operated. The split, mechanically actuated trailing-edge flaps were substantial in size for an aircraft in the MA1’s class. For the era, they were also quite uncommon. “With the flaps in the fully down position”, Taylor wrote,

official flight trials because of the aircraft’s similarity to its predecessor. Compared to the Pobjoy-powered MA1, the MA2 had a slightly slower maximum speed and probably a little less take-off performance, but it was a more practical trainer. “An interesting little point”, Flight wrote, “is that, in order to offer easy entrance with close

‘The uninterrupted view all round gave one a feeling of security, which is lacking in the older types of biplane trainer’ “the approach is extraordinarily steep”. Considering a future trainer version, reported as being “in course of construction”, he considered that “it might be advisable for instructors to discourage their full use until the more advanced solo stages”. There was the odd criticism, including “a chilling draught which arrives from behind” in the rear cockpit and a lack of feel from the rudder pedals, but otherwise the open Mosscraft met with approval.

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With the growing threat of war, this was not the best time for a small manufacturer to develop a new private aircraft, or ab initio trainer, and expect much in the way of sales success. Civilian flying would clearly be much curtailed by hostilities, and large-scale orders to meet military requirements placed for established designs from bigger companies. Nonetheless, Moss Brothers pressed ahead with the third member of their aircraft family. The MA2 was registered as G-AFMS on 2 January 1939, and made its maiden flight on 14 May that year. This was the open-cockpit trainer version, powered by a four-cylinder, 90hp Blackburn Cirrus Minor in-line piston engine. It was possible to abbreviate

fitting, and consequently comfortable, cockpit openings, the entire decking over the two separate seats hinges over sideways with the screens.” The MA1 was also subject to alteration that year. The aircraft’s ARB paperwork lists, “Modifications to engine cowling, instrument board, engine installation, dual control, tail skid repairs, engine mounting, fin attachment and top decking.” As of November 1939, any hopes of major Mosscraft manufacture had evaporated. In Flight’s words, “Production of the type is at present being confined to a batch laid down before the war”. Registrations were reserved for second examples of both the MA1 and MA2, G-AFHA and G-AFJV respectively, but neither was completed. Still in open-cockpit configuration, G-AEST was stored for the duration. What had happened to its original cabin fuselage since the ‘change’ into the open sports model is unknown. Might a clue be provided by what happened to G-AFMS? On 9 December 1940, this MA2 was removed from the British register. It had been given an enclosed cabin fuselage, ready to be flown in Canada. It remains unconfirmed to what extent use was made of G-AEST’s former fuselage, if any. There are visual similarities,

BELOW: The MA1 was always intended to be flown from the front cockpit, whether in closed or open form.

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MOSS MA1 A ND MA 2 but noticeable differences, such as the extent of the cockpit glazing. The 8 January 1942 edition of Flight told readers, “A Mosscraft has been demonstrated at Toronto by Ronald Moss”. It went on to say that two of the other Moss brothers “are testing Lockheed aircraft in England”. Re-registered CF-BUB, the MA2 made a successful flight over the Rocky Mountains from Vancouver to Toronto — quite a feat for such a small aeroplane — and continued on to New York.

average — third-slowest in the 13-aircraft race — being no barrier to a fifth-place finish, and qualification for the final. G-AEST finished it only 10th, the winner being ‘Nat’ Somers in a Miles Gemini. Undaunted, the Mosscraft were back for 1950. William was to fly the MA1 and future Hawker chief production test pilot Frank Bullen the MA2, the latter described as an ‘MA4’ in Flight’s King’s Cup entry list and report. This may have had something to do with a modification made earlier that year,

‘Flight called William Moss “one of the too-few men with the knowledge and ability to manufacture light aircraft”’

BELOW: With a Welsh dragon emblem on its tail, the MA2 takes off from its Fairwood Common base in 1954.

Both Mosscraft were revived postwar. Following its North American sojourn, G-AFMS came back to Britain in 1947 and was restored to the UK register on 17 August 1948, its listed owner William Moss. Overhauled at the Chorley works, G-AEST became a single-seater with its rear cockpit covered over, a modification denoted in its new certificate of airworthiness. The MA1 kept the Niagara engine, while the MA2 retained its Cirrus Minor. Both aircraft were entered into the 1949 King’s Cup, part of the National Air Races meeting at Elmdon, Birmingham, on 30 July-1 August. Again there was a last-minute panic when, according to Flight, the MA2’s C of A document was “mislaid”. Poor weather in the north prevented the MA1 from flying up to collect it, “so arrangements were made to send it down by road”. This time, however, both Mosscraft would have a chance to make up for their pre-war racing disappointments. The King’s Cup format involved three heats and a final. Ronald Moss flew the MA2 to seventh place in heat two, at an average speed of 120mph. The third heat saw a notable result for William and the MA1, a 126.5mph

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whereby the rear seat was removed and a 10.5-gallon overload fuel tank fitted in its place. However, all paperwork still refers to the MA2. On Saturday 17 June, both aeroplanes took the start at Wolverhampton Airport. Moss was the oldest competitor in the race. During the second lap, tragedy befell him. The MA1, according to Flight’s description, “lost height during a low, tight turn and broke up on striking the ground near the Newport pylon, the pilot being killed”. Moss was 49. Flight called him “one of the too-few men with the knowledge and ability to manufacture light aircraft.”

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Moss Brothers Aircraft carried on for a while in the wake of this tragedy. The company kept the MA2 until January 1953, when it was sold to Tom Hayhow of Bagshot, Surrey. The boss of a marine salvage company, he was a serial setter of capital-to-capital flying records, holding 28 in all. Hayhow thought of using the newly acquired Mosscraft for a London-Belgrade record attempt in April 1953, but took his Auster Aiglet, G-AMOS, instead. In this he went missing in the Austrian Alps, the

aircraft being found on a mountain south of Salzburg several weeks later. That his body was located elsewhere indicates that Hayhow survived the crash but died of exposure. A group of Swansea-based owners, later formalised as the Fairwood Group of the Popular Flying Association, bought G-AFMS after Hayhow’s death. They too were keen air racers. The MA2 took part in such events as the 1954 Welsh Air Derby at its Fairwood Common base, though it failed to score a top-six position in the three-lap contest around the Gower peninsula. More successful was an outing in a spot landing competition staged as part of an Anglo-French air rally at Swansea in 1956, co-owner John Eynon being judged the winner. Unfortunately, the MA2 also fell victim to an accident, albeit a non-fatal one. On the evening of 7 July 1958, the machine was flying between Lympne, Kent, and Fairwood Common when it crashed near Brecon. Apparently, the ARB file relates, G-AFMS was off-course. “It would appear that the pilot attempted to land, and opened up to circle for another approach when the engine cut, due it is assumed to fuel starvation when the aircraft was climbed at a steep angle. Following the engine failure the aircraft went into a spin to the left, the port wing tip being the first part of the aircraft to hit the ground. It then cartwheeled over, when the engine became detached and the wreckage finished up in a vertical tailup position”. Not surprisingly, the MA2 was declared a write-off. That was the last time a Mosscraft flew. How sad that two aeroplanes that showed such promise should end up both being lost. But that was not quite the end. For fully 50 years, since February 1967, both MA1 G-AFHA and MA2 G-AFJV have been registered to Carl Butler of Coventry. It has not proved possible to ascertain the status of these airframes, in spite of reports that the MA2, at least, was being worked on. Looking into the Mosscraft story, one cannot help but feel that greater recognition is deserved.

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CA F COBRA S

COBRA

BITES

The Commemorative Air Force’s two Bell fighters, the P-39Q Airacobra and P-63F Kingcobra, fly together again WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: LUIGINO CALIARO

A

mong the many warbirds operated by the Commemorative Air Force, the distinctive mid-engine Bell fighters occupy a special place. Its P-39 Airacobra is one of just two currently flyable, while only two other P-63 Kingcobras remain airworthy apart from the CAF’s example. Seldom, sadly, has it proved possible to fly them as a pair in recent years. Separate incidents required the Cobras to undergo quite lengthy periods out of action, but now all that has changed. During the recent Wings over Houston airshow, the CAF was able to display the two fighters together, and Aeroplane arranged an exclusive photo sortie with these rare birds. P-39Q-5-BE 42-19597/N6968 is operated by the CAF’s Central Texas Wing, based in San Marcos. It returned to the skies during 2015 after a rebuild that lasted almost five years. The aircraft suffered a crash on 3 July 2010, when its pilot landed short of the runway at Tyler-Pounds Regional Airport, Texas, and the port wing hit the approach lights. Damage was significant, involving about threequarters of the wing leading edge, the port main undercarriage door, the centreline drop tank and both wing flaps, amongst other things. The Airacobra was nonetheless flown back to San Marcos with the landing gear locked down. The repair process involved great efforts on the part of the CAF’s engineers and volunteers. Numerous technical problems delayed completion. Finally the P-39 made its first post-rebuild flight on 15 March 2015.

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The Centex Wing’s example was the second P-39Q-5 built by the Bell factory. It was officially delivered to the Army Air Force on 25 May 1943 but was on loan to Bell at Buffalo, New York, until that July. On 29 December 1943 the aircraft was flown to Cincinnati, Ohio, before being transferred to Laredo, Texas in January 1944. By June of the same year it had gone to Harlingen, Texas to support gunnery training. No longer useful to the AAF, 42-19597 was making a cross-country flight to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation scrapyard to be disposed of when the engine failed. The pilot landed at a crop-dusting strip in Hobbs, New Mexico, where the aircraft was abandoned. It was later moved to a schoolyard display at Capitan High School in Lincoln, west of Roswell.

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The Airacobra was bought by Hobbs-based Joe Brown, who donated the hulk to the Confederate Air Force in 1962. At that time the aircraft had only 392 recorded flying hours. It was dismantled and trucked to Harlingen where, in 1968, Don Hull of Sugarland, Texas began to restore the fighter to flying condition. It flew again on 21 October 1974. John Stokes, founder and first leader of the Centex Wing, bought the P-39 and again donated it to the CAF. Several years on static display ensued, but the Airacobra returned to flight once more on 9 June 2001. For some years it flew in a Soviet Air Force scheme before being painted in the livery of Miss Connie, a P-39 used by

the 350th Fighter Group that flew in North Africa and Italy. A minor landing incident occurred at Gillespie County Airport in Fredericksburg, Texas on 18 April 2005, when the Airacobra’s CAF pilot had to divert due to bad weather. The aircraft left the runway and rolled into a fence, resulting in slight damage to the propeller and the leading edge of one wing. Repaired, it was given the livery of the P-39N used by 2nd Lt Bill Fiedler of the 347th Fighter Group based at Guadalcanal, the only pilot to gain ‘ace’ status on the Bell type with five kills of Japanese aircraft — three A6M Zero-sen fighters and two D3A ‘Val’ dive-bombers — between January and June 1943. Apart from the Airacobra, the Centex Wing also supports B-25J Mitchell Yellow Rose, a beautiful Beech C-45, an AT-6 Texan and the restoration of a BT-13 Valiant. All these aircraft, and several others that are privately owned by CAF members, can be seen at the wing’s hangars at San Marcos, which are open on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The CAF’s P-63F Kingcobra 43-11719/N6763, meanwhile, is maintained by the P-63F Sponsor Group based in Pearland, Texas. It is among the rarest warbirds flying today, as one of only two P-63Fs ever manufactured. This version was based on the P-63E, but was powered by the Allison V-1710-135 engine rated at 1,425hp. The most distinctive external difference was the F-model’s higher tail and enlarged carburettor air intake scoop. This Kingcobra was accepted by the Army Air Force on 13 September

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EXCLUSIVE AIR-TO-AIRS

The Commemorative Air Force’s P-39Q Airacobra and P-63F Kingcobra in formation near Houston, Texas.

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C AF CO BR A S 1945, the only other P-63F having been delivered to the AAF AA A that April. Neither saw much in the way of service, particularly 43-11719. In 1946, with just in excess of 24 hours on the clock, it was sold into civilian hands. The machine was bought by one H. L. Pemberton, who used it to compete in the 1946 Thompson Trophy race in Cleveland, Ohio — won, incidentally, by future Boeing test pilot ‘Tex’ Johnston aboard a P-39Q. However, the P-63F was never heavily modified for racing. Several changes of hands followed, 43-11719 moving from Indiana to Florida, and then Georgia. On one

ABOVE: The markings on the P-39Q are those of the N-model flown by 347th FG Airacobra ace 2nd Lt Bill Fiedler. He lost his life on 30 June 1943 when his aircraft ft, t idling at the end of the Guadalcanal runway, was hit by a P-38 that had suff ffered f an engine failure during its take-off fff run.

occasion it was flown by that most famous American flying display showman, R. A. ‘Bob’ Hoover — he demonstrated it at an event in Alton, Illinois, on 30 May 1971. And still the Kingcobra hadn’t seen its last race, as it flew at Reno in 1976, owned at the time by Jack Flaherty from Hollister, California.

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It was the P-63F’s subsequent owners, Bill and Don Whittington of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who decided to donate it to the Confederate Air Force. The aircraft joined the CAF

‘No longer useful to the Army Air Force, the P-39 was being flown to a scrapyard to be disposed of when the engine failed’

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fleet in 1981. It soon became apparent that some quite significant airframe work was required, N6763 undergoing major structural repairs to the starboard wing spar and, later, the door framework. While the Kingcobra was airworthy again by August 1983, a greater degree of sponsorship was required for its continued operation. This was provided as the years went on by CAF Colonels John Kohlhaus, Mike Collier, Scott Rozzell and John Stofer. For several years the aircraft was painted in Soviet colours, but after some further restoration work was completed it re-appeared in the original silver livery

ABOVE: The Kingcobra shows off fff the somewhat unorthodox method of crew entry favoured by the Bell designers.

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CA F COBRA S

ABOVE PICTURES: The cockpits of the two Cobras — P-63 on the left, P-39 at right — reveal the addition of some modern navigational aids for practicality’s sake alongside the traditional round instruments.

used when it was in service with the AAF. On 15 October 2013, the P-63 suffered a mishap. The pilot was forced to make a gear-up emergency landing at Sky West Airport in southern Midland County, Texas, due to an inoperative fuel selector. After the crash the airframe sat dismantled in its hangar for almost 18 months, its fate uncertain. Luckily, within a few months, a new P-63F Sponsor Group was formed. Funds were raised, and restoration work began in the spring of 2015. The main efforts were concentrated on the engine, propeller and reduction gearbox. As

Group pilots and leader of the CAF ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ display, was at the controls. He reported: “The first flight was performed after two high-speed runs down the runway. The flight was 20 minutes long, circling over Pearland airport at 2,000ft. This time was spent checking the systems, specifically the fuel system and the landing gear, including a gear-down flyby. Engine pressures and temperatures were monitored very closely. Some minor squawks were found and fixed before the next flight the following day.” After the recent photo sortie, the author had the opportunity to talk with the Sponsor Group’s other pilot,

‘The Airacobra is agile and quick. The Kingcobra is fast, but has heavy controls in roll, especially at high speed’ forced landings go, the aircraft had not suffered too much structural damage. Just over a year later, it was airborne again. On 14 April 2016, it took off from its new home base at Pearland Regional Airport near Houston. Mark Allen, one of the P-63F Sponsor

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Craig Hutain, who has the good fortune to currently fly both of the Bell fighters. Craig has in excess of 31,000 flying hours as a commercial airline and warbird pilot. He flies the P-51 Mustang, T-6 and BT-13, and has spent six years as a regular airshow

performer in the ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ group. He is the right person to ask about the differences between the Airacobra and Kingcobra. “I first flew the P-39 in March 2015”, says Craig, “after its last repair. I now have more than 30 hours in it. I flew the P-63 for the first time in May 2016 and I have more than 20 hours in that type. I find the Airacobra to be agile and quick. It has good slow-speed manoeuvrability due to the shape of the wing airfoil. The

P-63 is fast, but has heavy controls in roll — especially at high speed — and nice elevators. Handling it requires a little more attention because of the laminar-flow airfoil. Low-speed manoeuvring can be a bit tricky. The Kingcobra also accelerates very quickly going downhill. We are investigating the addition of aileron servo tabs as a means of making it more comfortable in roll. “I find that both airplanes are marginally quieter than the Mustang.

Having the engine and the stacks behind the pilot makes them a bit less noisy. Neither airplane has a particularly good air vent system, but with the exhaust heat behind the pilot they are both comfortable temperaturewise as well. “The lack of nosewheel steering on both makes for somewhat challenging taxiing. The brakes on the P-39 are pretty old-school, so it is a bit more difficult. Also, the P-39 tends to get hot on the ground very quickly. The

BELOW: The P-63F is now immaculate again after repairs following its 2013 wheels-up landing.

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C AF CO BR A S RIGHT: A good view of the P-39’s small frontal area, which certainly improves its outright performance. BELOW: Both of the CAF’s Bell fighters were star performers at the Wings over Houston airshow this past autumn.

P-63 has a wider main gear, and thus is a bit easier to handle on the ground. “In my opinion, both are awesome airplanes. For example, while doing

found out, much to my surprise, that the P-39 is a rocket compared to the P-40. Apparently, the lack of frontal area really makes a huge difference.

‘I think the P-39 and P-63 are awesome airplanes, and highly misrepresented’ an airshow earlier this year, I had the opportunity to fly the P-39 in formation with a P-40 and a P-51. I was a bit worried that I would have a hard time keeping up with them. I

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Also, the sound of both the P-39 and P-63 is amazing. The exhaust stacks are just different enough from the P-40 that they really growl. Great-sounding airplanes!

“I think both are highly misrepresented among the fighters from the US inventory due to the lack of a two-stage supercharger. If we had the opportunity to get an honest, open account of the Bell fighters’ performance in Russia and the Eastern Front, I believe that they would have a much better reputation.” ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The author thanks Mark Allen, Craig Hutain, the P-63F Sponsor Group and warbirdnews.com for their assistance.

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

Commemorating the men and machines of the RAF’s strategic force

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Formed 80 years ago in the biplane era, Bomber Command was devised as a force that could deliver a hammer blow to potential aggressors. This 100-page special publication from the team behind FlyPast magazine pays tribute to the men of a mighty strategic force that played a significant role in the destruction of Europe’s totalitarian regimes. FEATURING: Details of every Bomber Command operational squadron, 1936 to 1968 The life and times of Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris, the command’s warlord Major milestones in the command’s history Bomber Command’s lesser known types Stories of aircrew on raids deep into Europe

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The wartime airfields and what remains today The present-day RAF squadrons that served with Bomber Command

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ROL L S-ROYC E E XP ER IMENTA L

POWER HOUSE

In pursuit of continued engine development, Rolls-Royce’s experimental department at Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, operated a rich variety of types — as were captured by The Aeroplane’s photographer in 1937. Their activities at that time offer a snapshot of a crucial period in powerplant progress WORDS: BEN DUNNELL

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OPPOSITE: An impressive array of Rolls-Royce’s Hucknall-based aircraft during 1937. In the foreground is Hawker Hart K3036 with under-nose radiator and three-bladed propeller; then comes Hart K2969 with pressure cooling, Goshawk III-engined Hawker High-Speed Fury K3586, Heinkel He 70G-1 G-ADZF, Miles Whitney Straight G-AEUZ, Hawker Horsley S1436 with Merlin power and, in the far distance, Fairey Battle I K7572. ALL PHOTOS AEROPLANE

ighty years ago, RollsRoyce found itself in the vanguard of aeronautical change. The RAF was about to set course on its great transition from biplanes to monoplanes — delivery of the first Battles and Hurricanes was but months away, the Spitfire’s flight test programme had begun. And key to all, of course, was the Rolls-Royce Merlin. First run as the PV12 on 15 October 1933, at which time it developed some 740hp, this private-venture 27-litre liquid-cooled V12 unit needed some perfecting, but by 1937 was producing more than 1,000hp in Merlin II form. The engine’s subsequent success can be put down to many organisations and individuals, but the efforts of the Rolls-Royce experimental department were key. After initial use of a company-owned DH9A, serial J8110, operated by de Havilland at Stag Lane, Rolls-Royce decided to set up an in-house flight test establishment. Its first location was at Tollerton near Nottingham, then home of National Flying Services’ flying school. A fleet of trials aircraft began arriving there in September 1931, starting with Hawker Horsley J8001, followed by Fairey IIIF J9173, Hawker Hart K2969 and Gloster Gnatsnapper II N227. Tests of different cooling systems were a major focus. For various reasons, the facilities at Tollerton were less than ideal for RollsRoyce’s work. It sought somewhere

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further from potentially prying eyes. During December 1934 a move was made to Hucknall, north-west of Nottingham, where two hangars were available. The Gnatsnapper and Hart were transferred, along with a small number of personnel. Capt Ronald T. Shepherd was chief test pilot, assisted by Ronald W. Harker. Ray Dorey soon took over as the site’s flight test manager. In 1935 several more Hawker biplanes joined the fleet: Harts K1102 and K3036, the latter powered for a time by a PV12, and High-Speed Fury K3586 with a Goshawk III. Hawker Horsleys S1436 and J8611 both received Merlins to bolster that powerplant’s development programme. But while all these aircraft were useful, as biplanes their relevance in relation to the engines and equipment under test was necessarily limited. As the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust’s Hucknall historian Dave Birch has written, “Any increase in performance gained from the installation of the many new innovations, concerning such things as radiators, oil coolers, exhaust systems […] was immediately cancelled out by the rise in drag from such things as open cockpits, two wings and their bracing wires, fixed undercarriages…” The obvious answer was a modern, fast monoplane, but which? Suitable machines from British manufacturers were in extremely short supply, so Rolls-Royce looked abroad. To the surprise of many, it went to Germany and bought a Heinkel He 70.

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ABOVE: For the benefit of The Aeroplane’s photographer, the Hucknall testers put up this formation of High-Speed Fury, He 70 and Battle. The Heinkel was grounded when war broke out, and never flew again, being scrapped in 1945.

This very sleek aircraft, intended as a rapid mail-carrier for Deutsche Lufthansa but adapted for various other roles, would allow the company to make better assessments of the effects of its technical developments on a current monoplane design. RollsRoyce paid £13,000 for a He 70G-1 model, originally completed with the German registration D-UBOF.

Heinkel installed a Rolls-Royce Kestrel V engine instead of the type’s regular BMW VI, and its test pilot Otto Cuno made the aircraft’s maiden flight on 16 January 1936. Following a short test-flying programme from the manufacturer’s Rostock factory airfield, Cuno delivered it — re-registered as G-ADZF — via Amsterdam and Croydon to Hucknall on 27 March.

The Heinkel and the various Hawkers formed the backbone of the Hucknall test fleet into 1937, the year when The Aeroplane’s photographer visited the Nottinghamshire aerodrome to capture Rolls-Royce’s activities there. The resulting images, which accompany this feature, offer an indication of how varied the aircraft inventory was — and provide us with

RIGHT: A group of Hucknall test pilots and engineers standing in front of Battle K7572. Among them are chief test pilot Ronald Shepherd, in the white overalls in the front row; next to him, on his left, is fellow test pilot Ronald Harker, and behind stands the third flying member of the team, Harvey Heyworth. Alongside Harker is the Hucknall facility’s manager Ray Dorey, and third from right chief powerplant engineer C. L. Cowdrey, who later went to Napier.

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LEFT: Hart K3036 with its large ventral radiator and three-bladed propeller. The aircraft had earlier been fitted with a PV12 engine for trials, but had now reverted to a Kestrel.

an opportunity to look at what those aircraft, and Hucknall’s circa 50 staff, were doing 80 years ago. A good deal of it was to do with cooling. “There is”, Flight wrote in September 1937, “not the slightest doubt that in our own Rolls-Royce engines we have the most highly developed liquid-cooled power plants in the world”. From basic liquidcooling using water, which necessitated a large radiator with resulting penalties in terms of drag, designs moved on considerably. Using high-temperature coolants, especially ethylene glycol with a boiling point of 197°C, permitted radiators with much smaller surface area. Some use was also made by RollsRoyce of so-called composite or semievaporative cooling, a combination of water and steam. Research done by Messrs F. W. Meredith and R. S. Capon of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough offered a breakthrough. This was the ducted radiator, which reduced the speed of the airflow before it reached the radiator itself. To quote Flight’s examination, “as the cooling effect is roughly proportional to the square of the speed, it is necessary to obtain low-speed cooling if excessive drag is to be avoided”. This was done by way of a cowl, or duct, and permitted the radiator to be larger without an adverse effect on drag. “The stream of air passing comparatively slowly through the radiator gives efficient cooling, but it becomes necessary to speed it up so

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

that it joins the main air stream at a speed not less than that of the aircraft, so the air passage is contracted.” And that wasn’t all. “The additional heat energy from the radiator causes the system to act as a kind of heat engine and may be considered as giving a jet propulsion effect. The propulsive efficiency becomes greater as the speed of the aircraft rises. Drag may be reduced to zero at 300mph.”

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Leading on from this, Rolls-Royce began to experiment with a system known as pressure cooling. Keeping a pressure of 25-30lb per square inch in the water system, Dave Birch wrote, allowed the water temperature at altitude to be brought up “to almost glycol operating temperature without boiling. As every schoolboy knows, the boiling point of water decreases as altitude increases due to the lessening of atmospheric pressure. Therefore, if a suitable pressure above that of atmospheric can be maintained in the cooling system, the boiling point can

relevant modifications and carried the programme on at Hucknall. By now equipped with a Kestrel XVI, the He 70 proved its worth throughout 1937, both at the RollsRoyce facility and at Farnborough. There were programmes of work to calculate the drag created by different radiator and exhaust systems, the Heinkel’s fine qualities as a test platform shining through. Evaluation of radiator configurations revealed a Rolls-Royce radiator with glycol coolant to offer the least draggy arrangement, slightly better than the same with water coolant; both were a little way ahead of a retractable ventral radiator using glycol. Regarding exhausts, replacing the more traditional manifold arrangement with an ejector exhaust, sending the gases straight back out behind the aircraft, made for useful improvements in top speed and the height at which full throttle could be used. Despite their advanced years, the Horsleys (see also the Database in last month’s issue) were perhaps most notable for their involvement in testing

‘Using ejector exhausts made for useful improvements in top speed and the height at which full throttle could be used’ be kept high”. And, in that way, the radiator size could again be reduced. Flight tests of Hawker Audax K2000 with its Kestrel XV engine so modified began on 3 February 1937. Once the problem of achieving the correct pressure within the cooling system had been resolved successfully, K2000 went to RAE Farnborough for trials that May, hence its absence from the accompanying photos. In its place, Hart K2969 was given the

different Merlin variants. S1436 notched up several ‘firsts’ during 1937, finishing off a 101-hour endurance test of the Merlin III over just six days in June, and on 7 September making the maiden flight of the new Merlin X. This was the first of the line to be equipped with a two-speed supercharger, the engine generating some 1,130hp. J8611 was detached to Farnborough, where the RAE conducted a 200-

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ABOVE AND ABOVE RIGHT: Development Merlins mounted on Hucknall’s external and internal test rigs. The former allowed engines to be tested in conditions simulating different attitudes of flight.

hour endurance test of a Merlin I. Afterwards, the engine was removed and taken back to the Hucknall facility for a strip-down and full inspection. Early problems with the coolant temperature thermostats were rectified, while two separate horn-pipe joint failings led to “the loss of considerable quantities of coolant, though immediate forced landings prevented any damage to the engine”. As for signs of engine deterioration, the only real problem was with cracks found in the cylinder heads, “which would limit the useful life of the engine”. Overall,

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though, performance was judged “satisfactory”. When it came to propeller trials, the ageing Horsley S1436 again came briefly to the forefront. It was given a constant-speed propeller with the Merlin X installation, but by now a newer and more suitable platform had

been received. This was Battle I K7572, delivered to Hucknall on 23 August 1937. It duly took on the brunt of constant-speed airscrew testing, and revealed a wide range of performance benefits. No wonder such propellers started to see more widespread use on production Merlin-engined aircraft.

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

Other early jobs for the Battle included fuel management trials. Miles Aircraft’s new M9 Kestrel monoplane advanced trainer arrived for a brief August stay. G-AEOC (at this time carrying temporary B Conditions marking U5) was the sole example ever built, fitted with a Kestrel XVI using glycol cooling. Very sleek in appearance, the design of the cowling and radiator installation owed much to the sort of practice furthered by RollsRoyce’s work on the He 70. Outright performance proved outstanding. While the M9 never entered series production, it did lead on to the M9A Master, built for the RAF in MkI form with Kestrel power before the Bristol Mercury radial-engined MkII took over. Here was yet another example of the transition from biplane to monoplane. It was not the only Miles machine on the airfield, for the experimental department had Whitney Straight G-AEUZ on strength as a communications and liaison platform. The pretty two-seat trainer and tourer also proved useful for continuation training purposes. Into 1938, Rolls-Royce’s experimental team took on new projects and new aircraft. Two more Battles, a Spitfire I and four Hurricane Is were received to increase Hucknall’s own monoplane fleet, while Armstrong Whitworth Whitley IV K7208 arrived for modification to Merlin II power and several years of employment as the resident multi-engined test ship.

The trusty He 70 was re-engined with a Peregrine I, which went on to equip just one operational type, the Westland Whirlwind. That particular programme may not have been as successful as hoped, but, no doubt about it, the Heinkel was 13 grand very well spent. Its contribution in all sorts of areas was invaluable. “How ironic”, opined Dave Birch, “that the very aircraft that had been chiefly instrumental in achieving this knowledge was from the country that was to become the enemy!” All that lay in the future when The Aeroplane visited Hucknall 80 years ago. Even so, no-one ‘in the know’ would have doubted how vital the work of the Rolls-Royce experimental

team was. As Flight said, it was “continually evolving installation improvements and offering suggestions to manufacturers who wish to make the most of the excellent qualities of the modern liquid-cooled powerplant”. Without the contribution of Hucknall, its growing band of staff and its motley assemblage of aeroplanes, the course of the air war when hostilities did eventually break out could have been very different. And 1937 had been an important year in ensuring that. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: With many thanks to Dave Birch of the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust.

BELOW: Merlin II-engined Horsley S1436 comes in to land. This aircraft flew for two-anda-half years at Hucknall, amassing 884 flying hours in the process.

ABOVE: Another view of the Hucknall line-up, this time from the other end. Rolls-Royce carried on using the Nottinghamshire airfield for experimental flight test purposes until 1972.

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Tours Tours

Mike Hooks began his aviation photography career in 1945 with a simple box camera, moving on to an Ensign folding camera in about 1948, and later to a Voigtlander Vito B. He converted to colour in the 1950s, and went on to build one of the UK’s most extensive archives of Kodachrome transparencies

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: MIKE HOOKS

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AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

LOCKHEED CLASSICS

This month we look at some Lockheed types — the most recent illustration is 37 years old! MAIN PICTURE: US Navy P2V-7 Neptune BuNo 135570 of patrol squadron VP-21 was a visitor to West Malling on 6 August 1960. The USN operated 148 Neptunes of this variant, the final production model with two 3,500hp R-3350 turbo-compound engines plus two 3,400lb-thrust J34 turbojets.

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2: Lockheed off ffered f the JetStar in diff fferent f models with two or four engines, the latt tter t proving most popular. Seen at Gatwick, EP-VRP was an L-1329 JetStar 8 supplied to the Shah of Persia as a VIP transport. It remains extant — in good condition — at Mehrabad Airport, Tehran, with Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force serial 5-9001, though it has not flown for some years. 3: L-188 Electra N405GN of Great Northern being loaded with freight at Anchorage, Alaska, in April 1980. At least 57 Electras were converted to freighters, Lockheed modify fying y 40 with reinforced flooring and cargo doors on the port side. This example was broken up in June 1993. 4: TWA L-1649 Starliner N7306C at Paris-Orly on 17 June 1959. Lockheed built 44 Starliners and TWA was the largest operator with 29. Some were converted to freighters with the introduction of Boeing 707s on passenger routes. This one was scrapped in the early 1970s.

6: Two Lockheeds for the price of one — 12A Electra Junior N228M poses in front of Eastern Air Lines L-1011 TriStar N305EA during Transpo ’72. The 12A was re-registered N10PB in August 1972 and crashed the following year.

5: P-38L Lightning 44-53095, with its registration N9005 in tiny characters on the lower fin, was at the Transpo ’72 event at Dulles International Airport in Washington. Then owned by William Ross of Illinois, it later passed to the Lone Star Flight Museum at Galveston, Texas, and Tom Blair at Kissimmee, Florida. Today it flies as Thoughts of Midnite with Comanche Fighters.

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1917: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY

This 132-page special from the team behind Britain at War magazine, tells the story of the fourth year of the Great War.

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SPECIAL

Despite victories at the Somme and Verdun, the fourth year of the Great War saw no relaxation of Allied efforts.The war of attrition that had seen the incremental weakening of the German Army, and the German nation, had to be maintained, even accelerated, throughout 1917. Features include: The Zimmermann Telegram

With Germany increasingly being forced onto the defensive, the German Foreign Minister, Arthur Zimmermann, advocated a resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare.

The US Enters the War

On 2 April, President Wilson delivered a speech to the joint houses of Congress, in which he stated that the US had some ‘very serious’ decisions to make. These decisions related to the conduct of Imperial Germany, following its announcement of unrestricted submarine warfare

The Third Battle of Ypres

The Germans were demoralised and exhausted after suffering a catastrophic defeat at Messines, and the British artillery continued to hammer at the German positions to the south and east of Ypres.

The Battle of Cambrai

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The Passchendaele offensive had ground on for months with no sign of a breakthrough. Casualties had amounted to around 200,000 men and all that had been gained was a few hundred yards of ground. It was against this background that Colonel J.F.C. Fuller, proposed ‘a tank raid south of Cambrai’.

Rationing Begins

The actions of the German U-boats and the enormous demands the war imposed upon Britain’s merchant fleet, meant that food supplies in the UK came under increasing pressure in 1917.

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DATABASE SOPWITH TRIPLANE WORDS: PETE LONDON

Page 84 THE FIRST TRIPLANE FIGHTER Page 87 BUILDING ON SUCCESS Page 90 THE ‘TRIPE’ ON THE WESTERN FRONT Page 96 FROM THE COCKPIT AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

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| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

ABOVE: No 1 (Naval) Squadron’s Triplanes at Bailleul in October 1917. Nearest is N5454, formerly Hilda of No 8 (Naval) Squadron; behind are N5473 and white-finned N5472. AEROPLANE

IN-DEPTH IN DEPTH PAGES

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Developpment

Sopwith’s 1916 design pioneered the triplane fighter

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y the summer of 1915, Allied aircrew reports from war-torn France were noting a new enemy fighting aircraft fitted with a revolutionary weapon: a fixed machine gun firing forward through its propeller arc. With this armament the Fokker E.III ‘Eindecker’ enjoyed a notorious period of success: the so-called ‘Fokker scourge’. Similarly-equipped Allied types gradually appeared, including the Sopwith Aviation Company’s Pup single-seater, which entered service in the autumn of 1916. By then another Sopwith design was emerging, and in the race for advantage the company had taken a drastic step. Its new scout was a triplane. From the earliest attempts at aviation, use of the multiplane layout had been considered only occasionally. As far back as 1843 Victorian pioneer Sir George Cayley had pondered the triplane form, having examined engineer William Henson’s newly created Aerial Steam Carriage design. Cayley feared

for the structural integrity of the Carriage’s high-aspect ratio wings: “Would it not be more likely to answer the purpose to compact it into the form of a three decker, each deck being 8 or 10 feet from the other, to give free room for the passage of the air between them?” He turned theory to practice with his triplane ‘boy-carrier’ glider built in 1849, which “was floated off the ground for several yards” down the side of a hill. In 1866 engineer Frederick Wenham read his paper ‘On Aerial Locomotion’ to the newly formed Aeronautical Society of Great Britain. Today Wenham’s paper is seen as a classic, embodying some of flight’s first principles. Among his ideas was a glider with five superposed wings, though there’s no evidence he built it. Two years later, Henson’s former partner in the Aerial Steam Carriage, John Stringfellow, constructed a small steam-powered triplane model which generated lift while propelling itself along a wire. But it was 1909 before a successful powered, manned triplane

flew. That July, A. V. Roe (later Sir Alliott Verdon-Roe) took to the air in a small triplane he’d designed and built. Between 1909 and 1911 Roe constructed further triplanes, and a handful of other such machines emerged prior to the First World War. The war focussed attention on developing aeroplanes as weapons, but arming early aircraft wasn’t straightforward. Use of the pusher engine layout allowed forward-firing machine-guns with a clear field of fire, a further need being sufficient stability to provide an adequate gun and observation platform. Though pushers were generally slower than tractor types, tractors were harder to arm effectively. But with its interrupter gear Fokker’s tractor E.III was a leap ahead, and manoeuvrability of fighting aircraft when attacking each other became a vital requirement. Sopwith’s new type was the first triplane to go into combat action. Its wing form was chosen particularly to heighten agility in the air, but also to allow the pilot the best possible view of his

BELOW: The first Triplane, N500, at Chingford during the summer of 1916. Its single Vickers machine gun has been fitted. AEROPLANE

SOPWITH TRIPLANE

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ABOVE: N500 under construction at Kingston, its wings and engine in place. VIA PETE LONDON

structure of the machine will enable it to stand more bullets and shrapnel without collapse than the ordinary types. “The machines could be improved upon in the following points: a) the petrol system should be duplicated and tanks for at least two hours’ supply should be fitted. b) seat adjustable over 3 or 4 inches fore and aft for different sized pilots. It is suggested that a batch of these machines be turned out immediately without alteration and the design with one or two suggested improvements proceeded with for the second batch.” N500’s evaluation was punctuated by combat. Piloted by Australian Flt Sub-Lt Roderic Dallas, on 1 July the Triplane engaged two enemy biplanes near La Panne on the Flemish coast, hitting one (an Aviatik C-Type)

until its gun jammed. On 28 July N500 was damaged by flak and returned to Sopwith, but once repaired, at the end of September Dallas and his Triplane claimed an unidentified scout destroyed. During mid-July, the assessors in France had received a brusque wire from the office of the Admiralty’s Director of Air Services, ordering the Triplane’s trials reports, the hold-up of which was “delaying decisions on aircraft orders for the current quarter”. Having evaluated them, on 23 July the Admiralty ordered 40 Triplanes (serials N5350 to N5389), powered by the 130hp Clerget 9B. These would be built by Clayton & Shuttleworth of Lincoln, an agricultural machinery and steam engine concern that had been pressed into war work. Sopwith received a production order for 75 examples of the 130hp

Serial allocations PROTOTYPES: N500, N504 FOR RNAS: Sopwith production: N524, N5420-N5494; N6290-N6309. N5550-N5559 allocated but not built (contract cancelled) Clayton & Shuttleworth production: N5350-N5389; N533-N538 (twin-gun) Ilford Aero Works (Oakley) Ltd production: N5910-N5934 ordered, of which N5913-N5934 cancelled FOR FRANCE: New-build, Sopwith identities: F.1-F.10 Attrition replacements ex-RNAS allocation: F.11-F.15 Ex-French examples which returned to serve with the RNAS: N541, N542, N543, N5384, N5386 and N5387

‘Clerget Triplane’ (N5420 to N5494) on 1 September. Numerous examples in fact used the 110hp engine. The following day, six further 130hp aircraft were ordered from Clayton & Shuttleworth. These were allocated experimental serials N533 to N538 and would be equipped with two machine guns. A third manufacturer, Ilford Aero Works (Oakley) Ltd, received orders in December 1916 to supply 25 twin-gun Triplanes (N5910 to N5934). The following month, Sopwith was awarded a contract for a further 20 Clerget 9B-powered examples (N6290 to N6309). At least 10 more may have been delivered as spares. Oakley was a shop-fitting firm, like Clayton & Shuttleworth without previous experience of aircraft manufacture, but it didn’t take well to the new work. In June 1917 it was reported: “… the position at Oakley’s was very bad, and they were very much behind”. By November the firm had built but three Triplanes and the following month its contracts were terminated, N5913 to N5934 being cancelled. In the meantime, on 2 July 1916 Harry Hawker may have test-flown the second prototype Triplane, N504, from Brooklands to Chingford and back. If so, it was fitted with a 110hp Clerget while Sopwith awaited delivery of a 130hp example of the engine. It flew from Brooklands to Hendon on 26 August, and the next day

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surroundings. The central wing was positioned level with the eye-line, restricting vision only slightly. All three wings were of narrow chord, the top and bottom wings thereby limiting the view less than the broader wings of a comparable biplane. The narrow chord served to enhance manoeuvrability, minimising shifts in the wing’s centre of pressure with variations of incidence. In turn a relatively short fuselage could be adopted and moments of inertia in the horizontal plane reduced, so increasing agility. Sharing the wing area across three sets of wings rather than the usual two or one led to a relatively short span, giving a good rate of roll. Designed by Sopwith’s chief engineer Herbert Smith, the prototype Triplane was built at the company’s Kingston-upon-Thames premises under Admiralty contract CP117520/16. Work began in mid-April 1916, and efforts must have been extraordinary; the firm’s experimental department passed the aircraft for flight-testing on 28 May. Sent by lorry to Brooklands aerodrome, two days later the Triplane took to the air powered by a 110hp Clerget 9Z engine. The flight was made by Sopwith’s brilliant young test pilot, Australian Harry Hawker. It seems he had few doubts over his novel mount — watched by the company’s founder T. O. M. ‘Tommy’ Sopwith, within minutes of taking off he’d looped it three times. Flt Lt Leslie Hardstaff of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) also evaluated the machine. Quickly, on 16 June Sopwith released its Triplane to the RNAS. Serialled N500, it was delivered to Hendon, and thence Royal Naval Air Station Chingford. By 22 June it had arrived in France for trials with A Squadron, No 1 Wing RNAS, flying from Dunkerque and nearby Furnes on the Belgian border. By then it had received a Vickers machine gun and synchronising equipment. Guy Leather, a pilot with A Squadron, commented: “It is almost half as fast again as the Nieuport and climbs twice as fast. We shall hope to do great things with it”. In France N500 was christened Brown Bread. Sqn Cdr Alec Ogilvie headed Dunkerque’s aeroplane depot. Of the Triplane he noted: “This machine is undoubtedly far in advance of any fighting machines possessed by ourselves or the Germans as regards performance and fighting qualities. From the way it has been flown and handled by different pilots it is quite evident that it is strong enough. It is considered that the peculiar

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ABOVE: N5420, Sopwith’s first production example, was delivered to Dunkerque in November 1916. The following month, in the hands of No 1 Naval Squadron, it crashed at St-Omer and was damaged beyond repair. VIA PETE LONDON

visited the Royal Flying Corps at Farnborough. Flt Lt Hardstaff’s trials of N504 at RNAS Chingford generally mirrored the positive reports of N500, though he suggested improvements. “Loaded with 20 galls of petrol and 4 galls of oil, a 180lb pilot, 45lb Vickers gun and 33lb of ammunition; corrected speeds at heights up to 6,500ft, [speed] range between 113mph

and 118mph with 106mph at 10,000ft (engine speed around 1,200rpm). “Climb to 3,000ft is 2 mins 45 secs, to 6,500ft 7 mins 40 secs and 10,000ft 13 mins 5 secs. Stability is very good, landing speed 45 knots. Engine is English-built by Gwynne. More movement of empennage is required, the machine being tail heavy full-out on level and on climb.”

For most of the year N504 stayed in Britain under test, receiving a 130hp Clerget during September. In October it was evaluated for RNAS Eastchurch’s Design Flight by a prominent pre-war pilot, Australian Harry Busteed, who by then was with the service

as a Flight Commander; Flt Lt Jackson also flew it. The assessment concluded N504’s tail should be strengthened. Sopwith had completed its first and second production Triplanes, N5420 and N5421, by the end of September. Both travelled to Brooklands for trials. By October Guy Leather had climbed prototype N504 to an (unofficial) height in excess of 22,000ft, and its rate of climb had been found outstanding. Delivery of N5420 had been promised to the Admiralty by 30 September, but the machine finally arrived at Dunkerque on 8 November. The following day it joined A Squadron, No 1 Wing RNAS at Furnes, alongside Dallas’s N500. Flt Cdr Busteed flew N504 from Eastchurch to Dunkerque on 15 November, ready to join A Squadron on the 23rd. N5421 had moved to Clayton & Shuttleworth as a pattern aircraft, to assist production start-up. The Germans’ official critique of the Triplane, published following its appearance on the Western Front, was disdainful: it was, they claimed, liable to break up during violent manoeuvres, and avoided dogfights. In fact the aircraft became greatly respected by the enemy’s pilots, while a rash of different German and Austrian triplane scouts followed the Sopwith’s appearance, rather as if the Central Powers were striving to find the qualities embodied in the revolutionary little aeroplane.

BELOW: More than one nose-over was suffered by N500 during its eventful life. This incident probably occurred during 1916. VIA PETE LONDON

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Technical Details

The Triplane built on the success of the earlier Pup

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T

he Triplane incorporated many lines comparable with those of its Pup stablemate. Initially, power came from a 110hp Clerget 9Z ninecylinder rotary engine attached to an overhung mounting, and enclosed within a circular openfronted cowling. The cowling was merged into the fuselage’s flat sides using tapered fairings, which were created from spruce stringers attached to formers. Many production aircraft received the more powerful 130hp Clerget 9B unit. Petrol and oil tanks were positioned between the upper longerons, just aft of the powerplant. A synchronised, belt-fed Vickers .303in machine gun was mounted centrally on the fuselage decking ahead of the cockpit, firing forward through the propeller arc. The cockpit featured a spade-grip control column, and a padded screen intended to provide the pilot’s face with some protection from the machine gun’s breech in the event of a crash-landing. Fuselage construction was similar to the Pup’s, with spruce longerons and spacers crossbraced with wire to form a light but strong box girder. An ash diagonal on each side of the

leading bay, immediately aft of the engine, gave additional strength. Behind the cockpit, the fuselage upper surface consisted of a rounded decking along its entire length. The leading fuselage bay was covered with aluminium sheet, and inspection doors were let into the sides. Mounted on the inner starboard interplane strut was a wind-driven Rotherham fuel pump. The decking around the cockpit was reinforced with plywood, the remainder of the machine’s fuselage being fabriccovered. The Triplane’s tail assembly followed closely that of the Pup, in construction and profile. The adjustable tailplane employed a long leading edge with inwardraked tips; incidence range was between -2° and +2°, the usual position being +1.5°. Tail surfaces were of mixed construction and fabric-covered, and the fin and rudder structure of steel tube. The main undercarriage arrangements consisted of two streamlined-section steel-tube vee struts, joined by two steel-tube spreader bars, between which were located two half-axles. The half-axles were pivoted on the aircraft centreline, their vertical movement limited by rubber cord which bound them to the apex of

each vee. Palmer Cord Aero tyres of 700 x 75mm were employed. At 26ft 6in, the Triplane’s span was the same as the Pup’s. The wings featured dihedral of 2.5°, with incidence of 2°; chord was 3ft 3in, and gaps 3ft each. Adopting a prominent forward stagger, the wings were each built around two main spars of spruce placed unusually close together, their centrelines no more than 15in apart. The upper wing spars were solid; the middle and lower pairs were taken around the compression struts. Production aircraft featured normal fabric covering on their top centre-sections rather than the transparent material of the prototype. Ailerons were fitted on all six wings, hinged to the rear spars. The aileron control cables from the cockpit operated the lower ailerons; in turn, cables linked the three ailerons on each side. The middle wings’ roots featured trailing-edge cut-outs, allowing a useful view downwards. The main interplane structure consisted of a single broad-chord strut on each side, continuous from upper to lower wing, and taken through an aperture in the middle wing compression strut in line with its passage. The two centre-section struts

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ABOVE: A Sopwith Triplane head-on, revealing a marked absence of struttery. VIA COLIN OWERS

DATABASE SOPWITH TRIPLANE LEFT: A look inside the Sopwith Triplane’s minimalist ‘office’. Visible in this image are the spade grip control column and the protective padding aft of the Vickers breech; on the starboard strut, meanwhile, is the Rotherham fuel pump. The aircraft’s centre wings terminated just short of the fuselage, their cutaways usefully augmenting the pilot’s downward view. VIA PETE LONDON

were also continuous, attached to the fuselage longerons and streamlined over their exposed portions. The middle wings were attached to the centre-section struts by means of long rods inserted into stub fittings. Interplane bracing was straightforward, each side with a single landing wire and double flying wires, the middle wing receiving additional drag wires. In mid-1917 a temporary delivery and repair bottleneck arose due to a shortage of streamline-section flying wires. This was aggravated by some Clayton & Shuttleworth aircraft appearing with flying wires of smaller than prescribed cross-section. Changes to the design were few. In December 1916 Triplane N5423 was tested with its chord increased to 3ft 6in and area from 231 square feet to 257 square feet, but the modification wasn’t introduced to other aircraft. Trials were conducted using a 110hp Le Rhône 9J rotary engine, but

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Sopwith Triplane specifications POWERPLANT One Clerget 9Z rotary, 110hp or Clerget 9B rotary, 130hp (Le Rhône 9J rotary, 110hp, trialled) DIMENSIONS Span: Length: Height: Wing areas:

26ft 6in 18ft 10in 10ft 6in Upper 84 square feet; middle 72 square feet; lower 75 square feet (total 231 square feet)

WEIGHTS Empty: Loaded:

1,101lb (130hp Clerget) 1,541lb (military load 80lb, pilot 180lb, fuel and oil 180lb)

PERFORMANCE (130hp Clerget) Maximum speed at 5,000ft: Service ceiling; Endurance:

117mph 20,500ft 2hr 45min

ARMAMENT One Vickers machine gun (six Clayton & Shuttleworth examples, three Oakley examples and Sopwith-built N5445 had two Vickers guns; N5431 had Lewis gun in addition to Vickers)

again the change wasn’t taken up. No 8 (Naval) Squadron machines featured enlarged inspection panels aft of the cowling, this being a field adaptation, while Triplane N5445 received two Vickers guns and an enlarged rudder. A significant modification was the replacement of the original tailplane and elevators by units with smaller surfaces. With an area of 23 square feet, the Triplane’s first tailplane spanned 10ft 1in, while the elevators’ area was 11.8 square feet. The smaller tailplane had a span of 8ft with a 14-square foot area, the elevators reduced to 9.6 square feet. The new tailplane’s tips featured an outward rake toward the elevators. It’s said that the change was suggested by Harry Hawker, but it may have come about after a comparative trial at Dunkerque between a Nieuport Scout and a Triplane, both employing the 130hp Clerget. The Triplane was faster at 15,000ft, but the Nieuport could dive vertically at nearly twice the speed of the Sopwith. A Triplane that had been given the smaller tail was evaluated by the Eastchurch Design Flight, which subsequently reported: “The decrease in horizontal tail area has resulted in making the machine much more handy. The fore and aft stability is not so good but there is sufficient control to get the machine out of any position possible whilst fighting… it is considered that the alteration has improved the machine from a war point of view.” Notification of the revised tailplane’s introduction appeared in February 1917. Maintenance crews were instructed to modify the machines in their charge as the new surfaces were delivered, and to return the withdrawn tailplanes and elevators to Sopwith. The change served to improve control response, together with the Triplane’s diving and looping qualities.

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SOPWITH TRIPLANE

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In Service

Sopwith Triplane N5459 No 9 (Naval) Squadron, RNAS CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY

S

The impact of Sopwith’s new fighter was significant

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opwith’s aircraft was often referred to as the ‘Tripe’, and sometimes the more exotic ‘Tripehound’. Remembered particularly for its rate of climb, ceiling and impressive top speed, Raymond Collishaw wasn’t alone in feeling the ‘Tripe’s’ single gun was a weakness but, despite that, in service it made a startling impact. Four RNAS squadrons received it in quantity: Nos 1, 8, 9 and 10. Two further squadrons, 11 and 12, included the type on their strengths. By the end of 1916, the RNAS’s A Squadron had become known as No 1 Squadron — and later, to avoid confusion with RFC nomenclature, No 1 (Naval) Squadron. Led by Sqn Cdr F. K. Haskins, in February 1917 the unit moved to Chipilly near Amiens (and later, to Bellevue), becoming all-Triplane from the start of the year. By then several naval squadrons had been tasked

with assisting the hard-pressed RFC along the Western Front. Roderic Dallas flew with No 1 (Naval) Squadron, and on 1 February destroyed an LVG C twoseater with N5436. Flying the same ‘Tripe’, on 5 April he shot down an Albatros D.III. The following day 1 (Naval)’s pilots despatched three more Albatros aircraft, of which Dallas downed one. As the battle of Arras raged, April 1917 witnessed appalling losses for the RFC in France: the so-called ‘Bloody April’. Continuing to support that service, 1 (Naval)’s victors included Dallas, Flt Sub-Lt Thomas Culling, Flt Cdr Teddy Gerrard and Flt Sub-Lt Richard Minifie. Minifie was its highest Triplane scorer with 17 kills, five while flying N5446, 10 with N5454 and two with N6303. He won three DSCs and, at 19, became Australia’s youngest ace of the war. It seems Dallas’ size — he was a large man at 6ft 2in and 16 stone

— didn’t affect his fighting ability: he notched up 16 victories on the type. Gerrard claimed eight ‘Tripe’ kills, while 20-year-old Culling’s career was vivid but brief. His six victories with Triplane N5444 were made between 6 April and 20 May, before he was shot down and died on 8 June flying N5491. Over the summer 1 (Naval)’s pilots continued scoring. The early morning of 4 June saw an engagement between 10 ‘Tripes’ and a large group of German aircraft including Albatros scouts. A number of Nieuports and SE5s joined the fray. N5440 and Gerrard destroyed one enemy aircraft and shared the demise of a second with a Nieuport, though the Triplane was badly damaged by German fire. Altogether, 10 Triplane pilots from No 1 (Naval) Squadron became aces. The unit was truly multi-national and, as well as Canadians, included South African Capt Samuel Kinkead (six Triplane

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SOPWITH TRIPLANE

Flt Cdr Robert Compston opened his ‘Tripe’ account on 5 April, claiming a Halberstadt with N5471. All told he achieved 25 victories, nine with the Triplane; he received the DSC with two bars, and the DFC. Flt Lt Reginald Soar gained 12 victories, eight on the Sopwith machine. In August 1917 he too was awarded the DSC, “For courage and skill as a scout pilot. On 23 May […] he attacked a two-seater artillery machine, and as the result of a well thought out attack brought the machine down out of control. On 12 June […] he brought down two enemy machines [Aviatik Cs] out of control.” A victory on 29 June was followed by two more. “On 3 July […] whilst leading an offensive patrol […] seven Albatros scouts [were] engaged and he brought down one, out of control. On 13 July […] in company with Flt Lt Little, he attacked and drove down out of control one two-seater ABOVE: No 8 (Naval) Squadron’s N5468 Angel. The pilot is Flt Sub-Lt machine, following it down to within 1,000 feet of the ground.” Charles Jenner-Parson. VIA PETE LONDON Robert Little’s victories, too, LEFT: No 1 (Naval) Squadron Triplanes and pilots line up for their had accumulated. Typical of photograph at Bailleul in July 1917. VIA G. STUART LESLIE his earlier actions was a solitary Triplanes the following February. strict disciplinarian, of Maj Booker’s engagement while flying ‘Tripe’ Under Sqn Cdr Geoffrey Bromet, 29 victories 21 were on the Triplane N5469, as reported by a British from March the unit flew firstly and 17 with N5482 Maud. Fellow Army anti-aircraft unit. “At 6.45 from Auchel, near Béthune, and 8 (Naval) pilot Edward Crundall pm on April 7, 1917, a Sopwith later from St-Eloi close to Arras. wrote of him: “He hopes the war Triplane, working alone, attacked Everyone was kept busy, not least will go on forever because he loves eleven hostile machines, almost armament officer Flt Lt Harry air fighting, and if the war were all Albatros Scouts, NE of Arras. O’Hagan who devised a metal to end he is afraid he might not He completely outclassed the ammunition link system to replace be able to find a suitable job”. whole patrol of hostile machines, the canvas type, which when damp Later, on 13 August 1918, flying diving through them and climbing froze at high altitudes. Camel D9642 Booker claimed above them… The officers who The squadron’s leading aces were three Fokker D.VIIs destroyed but witnessed the combat report that Charles Booker, Robert Compston, succumbed to wounds received the manoeuvring of the Sopwith Robert Little and Reginald Soar. A during that combat. Triplane completely outclassed that

BELOW: Australian Roderic Dallas was the first pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft with the ‘Tripe’. Here he stands with a new example in France during late 1916. VIA PETE LONDON

| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

victories, all with N5465) and New Zealander Capt Forster Maynard (also six kills). Between January and November 1917 the unit’s ‘Tripes’ accounted for well over 100 enemy aircraft destroyed or sent plummeting out of control. No 8 (Naval) Squadron formed in October 1916 and received

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ABOVE: N6306 flew with No 10 (Naval) Squadron from May 1917, but on 24 June that year it was shot down. Flt Sub-Lt A. B. Holcroft somehow survived the crash and was interned in Holzminden PoW camp in the German state of Lower Saxony. VIA PETE LONDON

of the Albatros Scout”. During the exchange Little drove down out of control a Halberstadt D, or possibly an Albatros. On 30 April, Little’s citation for the bar to his DSC tells us, “with three other machines he went up after hostile machines and saw a big fight going on between fighter escorts and hostile aircraft. Flt Lt Little attacked one at fifty yards range, and brought it down out of control. A few minutes later he attacked a red scout with a

larger machine than the rest. This machine was handled with great skill, but by clever manoeuvring Flt Lt Little got into a good position and shot it down out of control.” All told, with 47 victories (24 on the Triplane) Capt Bob Little — featured in Aeroplane September 2015 — became Australia’s highest-scoring First World War ace. Moving on to Camels, sadly on 27 May 1918 he died, crashlanding in a field near Nœux after pursuing a Gotha bomber. Little

ABOVE: Canadian Raymond Collishaw commanded No 10 (Naval) Squadron’s Black Flight and became the leading Triplane ace, with 34 victories on the type. VIA PETE LONDON

ABOVE: Coded 15, Clayton & Shuttleworth-built N5387 flew with No 1 (Naval) Squadron and was named Peggy. Behind is N5425, coded 16. VIA PETE LONDON

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left a widow, Vera, and a baby son whom he’d nicknamed ‘Blymp’. His Triplane, N5493, was named after the boy. Formed in February 1917 under Sqn Cdr H. Fawcett, rather than travelling to the front No 9 (Naval) Squadron stayed mostly on the coast. Its ‘Tripes’ began arriving in April and by May the unit was at Furnes, also flying Pups. One of its leading pilots was American Capt Oliver LeBoutillier — four of his 10 victories were on the

Triplane, three with N5459. Later, flying a Camel, LeBoutillier would be involved in the combat that led to the death of Manfred von Richthofen. The unit moved in mid-June, arriving firstly at Flez near St Quentin. There were then stays at Bray Downs and Leffrinckhoucke. On 17 July Flt Sub-Lt Edmund Pierce destroyed an Albatros D.V, while a week later an ex-8 (Naval) pilot, Australian Flt Cdr George Simpson, bagged a foe with N5462. Flt Sub-Lt Francis Mellersh and N5377 claimed another scalp, and on 29 July Canadian Flt Lt Arthur Whealy despatched two Albatros scouts in under an hour. 9 (Naval) kept its Triplanes only briefly. By August Camels had arrived. Several pilots had achieved kills with the ‘Tripe’ and only one had been lost: Flt Sub-Lt Thomas Shearer spun out of control into the ground on 13 June 1917. Established in February 1917 at St-Pol, and led initially by Sqn Cdr Charles Breese, No 10 (Naval) Squadron began receiving Triplanes in May before moving to Droglandt airfield near Ypres. By then Sqn Cdr Bertram Bell had assumed command. In a short time 10’s B Flight, led by Raymond Collishaw, gained a considerable reputation. To help with identification, each flight’s aircraft received individual colours: A Flight’s mounts were picked out in red, B Flight’s in black, and C Flight’s in blue. Soon after Collishaw arrived, B Flight pilots began naming their

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SOPWITH TRIPLANE

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In August 1916 the French Naval Air Department ordered 10 Sopwith Triplanes. These were purchased for use by the St-Pol-based Escadrille de Chasse Terrestre du Centre d’Aviation Maritime de Dunkerque (more succinctly, the Escadrille), which used land-based scouts to protect both the Dunkerque station and French bombers operating in the area. The Triplanes were built at Kingston and powered by 130hp Clergets issued for free by the French. Though fitted with gun mountings they were delivered minus weaponry, each airframe priced at £1,000. French cockades and rudder stripes were applied, Sopwith allotting temporary identifiers F.1 to F.10, the ‘F’ indicating France. Deliveries began in December 1916, the French Navy installing the armament. During June and July 1917 France acquired five more Triplanes as attrition replacements; these came from the Admiralty and bore RNAS serials. Acquiring temporary marks F.11 to F.15 and all built by Clayton & Shuttleworth, the aircraft concerned were ex-N5384 to N5388. In French service, after an initial mistake in the issuing of identities the first batch of Triplanes was allocated serials SP.9 to SP.17 (SP standing for St-Pol), F.4 having been written off in a crash. They were painted with just the numbers, applied to fuselage sides and decking. The five later aircraft were coded using identities of struck-off examples, though N5388 may not have had its new number physically applied. Numerous French Triplanes were involved in accidents. The type wasn’t well-liked by its pilots, who felt it was delicate, and skittish on the controls. On 14 January 1917 F.4 suffered a mishap when its tail rose too high while taking off, causing the propeller to smash into the grass. After an uncontrolled hop F.4 came down hard, destroying its undercarriage. Only the engine was salvaged. During April two more were lost. Both SP.9 and SP.12 veered while landing in strong winds, and smashed their undercarriages. On 27 June, DH4 N5981 of No 2 Squadron RNAS crashed during take-off, landing on top of Triplane SP.17. Both aircraft were wrecked. A fatal accident occurred on 13 July, when the second aircraft to sport the identity SP.12 (ex-N5385) attempted a turn to port shortly after take-off. Spinning in from around 250ft, the machine caught fire. Its pilot, deputy Escadrille commander Lt de Vaisseau Georges Barbier, was killed. Four days later, SP.13 suffered fuel pressure failure and crashed just short of Coudekerque airfield, being written off after turning over. Triplane F.15 (ex-N5388) flown by Quartier-Maître Henri Jean le Garrec was shot down near Dixmude, Belgium on 3 September 1917 after a fight over the North Sea with aircraft of Jasta 35; the pilot died.

Triplanes in line with their colour. So appeared Collishaw’s succession of ‘Tripes’ christened Black Maria (N5490, N5492 and N533), joined by Black Death, Black Prince, Black Roger and Black Sheep. Predictably the group became known as the Black Flight. Collishaw wrote of his opening Tripe engagement with B Flight: “…my first real scrap came [on] 1 June [1917] when I led B Flight in full strength — Reid, Sharman, Nash and Alexander [all Canadians] were the others — on a distant offensive patrol that took us over the Menin area. The Jastas [German Jagdstaffeln, fighter squadrons] seemed to be out in force, and we encountered enemy machines on three separate occasions… One of the formations we ran into was over Menin, three Albatros D.IIIs, and they were at about 14,000ft, a couple of thousand feet below us.

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I pushed my stick forward and the rest of B Flight followed as we dived on them in formation. I singled one of them out but was thwarted when my gun jammed.” Clearing his errant weapon, Collishaw rejoined the fight. “I managed to get into position again for a shot at another of the enemy, and closed to 30 yards or so before firing… As I fired I saw my tracers go right into him and he went down out of control, bursting into flames as he did so… Gerry Nash sent one down in the same scrap. He saw his tracers hit and the Albatros went down in a spin. “On the return we encountered three more of the enemy [one a two-seater Albatros]… I was again baulked by gun trouble. Ellis Reid, however, got away a short burst at long range and one of his tracers went right into the head of the gunner in the rear cockpit. Ellis

In turn, during their time with the Escadrille the ‘Tripes’ claimed two kills, two probables, two aircraft forced to land and one damaged. During the autumn of 1917 the unit began conversion to SPADs. Its Sopwiths were withdrawn, six survivors taking up RNAS service.

ABOVE: French Triplane F.5 wearing its initial, incorrect code (SP) 3, pictured in January 1917. VIA PETE LONDON

ABOVE: A line-up of Triplanes from the French Escadrille at StPol, near Dunkerque: from the left are 12, 16, 14, 11 and three anonymous examples. VIA PETE LONDON

pulled up and then dived again, and this time his fire went straight into the neck of the pilot. The last we saw of the two-seater, it was going down in a near-vertical dive, and I think there was very little chance that it ever pulled out.” His memoirs may have been colourful but Raymond Collishaw became the Triplane’s greatest exponent. Of his eventual 60 claims, 34 were made on the type. Fighting over the summer, B Flight’s victories grew. Flt Sub-Lt Ellis Reid claimed nine aircraft shot down in June 1917 and 10 in July, 17 of them with N5483 Black Roger. His DSC citation reads: “On 6 June 1917, he attacked and drove down one of four hostile scouts. This machine dived nose first into the ground and was destroyed. On the afternoon of 15 June […] he was leading a patrol of three scouts and encountered a formation of ten

enemy machines… he forced one machine down completely out of control. Next he attacked at a range of about 30 yards another hostile scout. The pilot of this machine was killed, and it went down completely out of control.” Flt Lt William Alexander mostly flew N5487 Black Prince. He claimed 11 victories on the Triplane. Typical of his engagements was that of 16 August, when he attacked two German scouts at about 3,000ft and one fell out of control. Four days later he came across three enemy scouts, pursuing until they turned to fight. One he shot down and the remaining two dived away. On 21 August he drove down out of control a German scout which had attacked another aircraft in his group. Flt Lt Gerald Nash and Flt Cdr John Sharman also became aces, with six and seven ‘Tripe’ claims

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| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

THE FRENCH NAVY ’S TRIPLANES

DATABASE SOPWITH TRIPLANE conditions. N5431 joined No 2 Wing’s E Flight, serving as part of the response to German air attacks on Salonika. It was flown by Flt Lt John Alcock, later of trans-Atlantic flight fame. On 26 March, though, Alcock overran Mikra Bay airfield. N5431 tumbled into a shallow ditch, overturned and was badly damaged. Shipped back to Mudros, the ‘Tripe’ was rebuilt and returned to service, joining No 2 Wing’s B Squadron, and later C Squadron. At some time in its career it was fitted with a Lewis gun in addition to the Vickers, mounted on the port side of the cockpit and firing outside the propeller disc. Flown by Flt Sub-Lt Harold Mellings, on 30 September it shot down an Albatros W.IV floatplane, one of three enemy aircraft caught approaching ABOVE: The sole Aegean-based Triplane N5431 at Mudros. In addition to the usual Vickers machine gun Mudros. All told, Mellings and N5431 it has been fitted with a Lewis gun on the cockpit’s port side. VIA COLIN OWERS despatched four or perhaps five respectively, though Sharman had aircraft simply folded up. Six days Triplane victories (two shared) foes, the last (an Albatros D.III) on soon left to lead 10’s C Flight. But later, Ellis Reid in Black Roger lost with N5389, N5458 and N5466. 29 November 1917. The Triplane the Canadians’ losses mounted. On his life to anti-aircraft guns. FitzGibbon flew with B Flight later hit a wall while landing and 25 June 1917, Nash was shot down Victories by pilots from 10 as well, eventually leading it and was written off. Harold Mellings east of Messines in N5376 Black (Naval)’s A and C Flights were far surviving the war. So did Raymond went on to fly on the Western Sheep, landing behind enemy lines. fewer. However, over June and July Collishaw, who rose to become an Front, but on 22 June 1918 he was Captured, he spent the rest of the C Flight’s Canadian Flt Lt John Air Vice Marshal. shot down and killed over Ostend. war as a PoW. Page claimed seven enemy aircraft, Meanwhile, in the Aegean theatre As well as the four principal Sharman was lost on 22 July, one shared. The day Sharman of war a solitary Triplane served. units, a handful of ‘Tripes’ flew possibly to anti-aircraft fire, though died, Page (who was flying nearby) This was N5431, which in January with the short-lived No 11 (Naval) there’s a disconnect between his also failed to return. Another 1917 arrived with No 2 Wing Squadron, which existed in France ‘Tripe’s’ reported position at the possibility regarding Sharman’s loss RNAS at the port of Mudros, on between March and August time and German claims for the is that the two collided. C Flight’s the island of Lemnos. Possibly 1917. A few were used by No 12 day. To confuse matters, it has also Flt Lt Desmond FitzGibbon, it was sent to assess the ‘Tripe’s’ (Naval) Squadron during its time been suggested that Sharman’s an Englishman, claimed five suitability for service in Aegean as a training outfit, and by RNAS

THE ‘ TRIPE’ WITH THE RFC The Royal Flying Corps was quick to show interest in the Triplane, though records of its plans to acquire the type are somewhat inscrutable. By June 1916, as the prototype appeared, an order for 50 examples was under consideration. Later, serials A9000 to A9099 were set aside for Triplanes, to be built by Clayton & Shuttleworth. Although the draft contract seems to have been from the Admiralty, these were non-RNAS serials. Serials A9813 to A9918 were also allocated to Triplanes, again to be built by the Lincoln company. No mention was made of Admiralty involvement; the machines could have been intended for the RFC. Also, high-level planning of resources identified the Triplane for use by No 65 Squadron, RFC. However, following debate and ill-feeling over resources between the Admiralty and the Air Board during the autumn of 1916 — and as part of a reshuffle of equipment stemming from the critical situation in France — in February 1917 it was agreed that an entire order of SPAD VII scouts originally earmarked for the RNAS would be re-assigned to the RFC. In return, the RFC passed its Triplane allocation to the RNAS. It’s very unlikely any real transfer of Triplanes took place between the services. The quantity of aircraft acquired by the RNAS was too small to have included machines planned for RFC operation, and just one example flew with that arm. This was the 130hp Clergetpowered N5430, acquired for evaluation. By November 1916 it had been transferred to the Testing Squadron at Martlesham Heath. In January 1917 it travelled to the Central Flying School at Upavon before returning to Martlesham, moving in June to the Experimental Station at Orfordness for armament trials.

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ABOVE: N5430 was the only Triplane ever to fly with the RFC. VIA PETE LONDON

Long after it was decided not to issue Triplanes to the RFC, N5430 remained. On 7 July 1917, leaving Orfordness piloted by Capt (later Air Cdre Sir) Vernon Brown, it was flown over London on an antiGotha patrol, but Brown’s machine gun malfunctioned. The Triplane flew five sorties against four German bombing raids. In October 1918 N5430 visited the Royal Aircraft Establishment; it survived the war, spending its final days flying from Sutton’s Farm airfield in Essex, later to become RAF Hornchurch. It was finally struck off in August 1919.

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SOPWITH TRIPLANE

DATABASE

Sopwith Triplane N5492 Black Maria B Flight, No 10 (Naval) Squadron, RNAS

CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY

No 1 (Naval) Squadron’s Triplanes generally carried individual unit numbers in white, these being applied to the fuselage sides. Fuselage cockades were frequently omitted. From autumn 1917 the unit took as its squadron identifier two white vertical bars, which were applied just aft of the unit number. Both red and white tail fins were occasionally adopted, as well as white or off-white wheel covers, and sometimes the aircraft had names including N5387 Peggy. Flown by Roderic Dallas, N5436 carried a large white ‘C’ on the fuselage together with a cockade. Aircraft of No 8 (Naval) Squadron wore no dedicated unit marking, but some included white or off-white wheel covers and fins. Various examples carried individual names painted in white beneath the cockpit or along the fuselage. These included N5439 Whitfield (this name was later deleted), N5449 Binky III, N5454 Hilda, N5464 Doris, N5468 Angel, N5482 Maud, N5493 Blymp, N6292 Lily, N6301 Dusty II and N6290 Dixie. Maud was given red, white and blue zig-zag fuselage bands, sometime varied as straight verticals; Blymp, Dixie and Dusty II all wore narrower bands.

Among No 9 (Naval) Squadron’s Triplanes was N5459, with a narrow red and white band diagonally across the fuselage terminating at the cockpit coaming, and a wider white fuselage band further aft. Another example displayed a large letter ‘M’ beneath its cockpit. The machines of No 10 (Naval) Squadron received colours according to their flights. Cowlings of A Flight aircraft were painted red, as were their metal panels forward of the cockpit. Fins and wheel covers were similarly coloured. B Flight’s Triplanes were likewise coloured black, and C Flight’s examples blue. Some B Flight aircraft were identified further by single letters applied in white to their fuselages indicating the pilot, for example ‘C’ (Collishaw) and ‘S’ (Sharman). B Flight’s machines wore individual names reflecting their identifying colour. French Triplanes were marked with their nation’s cockades and rudder stripes. The temporary Sopwith ‘F’ identities of the first 10 aircraft were indicated in small characters on the forward part of the fin. Individual Escadrille numbers were carried in white on the fuselage sides and decking.

Home Defence elements. On 22 July 1917 the Manston War Flight’s N5424, in the hands of Flt Sub-Lt G. K. Cooper, went up against a German daylight aeroplane raid, but evidently its synchronising gear was faulty. Cooper’s shooting damaged his own propeller and he made a forced landing near Chatham. As Sopwith’s twin-gunned Camel began to join front-line squadrons over the summer of 1917, the Triplane’s days became numbered. That said, No 1 (Naval) Squadron retained the type until November. Its final victory came on 13 November in the hands of Flt Cdr Herbert Rowley with N5472, an

Aviatik C being forced down out of control south-east of Nieuport. Just 13 ‘Tripes’ were with the RNAS by April 1918, including four at Chingford, four at Eastchurch, and the three Oakley machines at Manston. N5445 was under test at Grain with its experimental two-gun installation, while N5431 was in the Aegean. N5386 was selected for preservation, but that plan went awry and it was scrapped.

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LEFT: A captured Triplane at Adlershof airfield in Berlin. It has been fitted with a nonstandard fin, while the rudder still bears its British marking. VIA PETE LONDON

| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

TRIPLANE MARKINGS

Insigghts

ABOVE: N6295 joined No 8 (Naval) Squadron in May 1917, coded B, before moving to 10 (Naval) in July. With this aircraft Flt Lt H. J. T. Saint claimed an Albatros C and a D.V during August 1917. N6295 ended its career with No 12 (Naval) Squadron. VIA PETE LONDON

Pilots revelled in the Triplane’s agility

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D

uring the First World War, Maj Oliver Stewart MC AFC served with the Royal Flying Corps, gaining five victories with No 54 Squadron. Post-war he became aeronautical correspondent of the Morning Post, and wrote widely on aviation matters. In his book ‘The Clouds Remember’, Stewart recalled the Triplane with affection. “It would be difficult to analyse the feature […] that made it so attractive to fly. It seemed light and elegant yet wiry. And there was the visual effect of the triplane arrangement which made the pilot feel that he had unlimited quantities of lift available. The response to the controls was not of that lightning quickness exemplified by the Sopwith Camel, but it was by no means sluggish. At first it was thought that the Triplane could not be looped and flick-rolled with safety, but later it was made to do all the aerobatics of its time, and it did them well. “The Triplane spun rather slowly, and its flick roll was also rather slow compared with other machines of the time; but what it lacked in quickness it made up in the smoothness and grace of its movements. A Triplane looping looked like no other machine and gave the loops an individual quality. Irreverent pilots said it looked, when doing aerobatics, like an intoxicated flight of stairs.” Stewart also denied rumours that the Triplane had suffered from a “habit of twisting one of its planes

about the front spar so that control and stability were lost”. In fact, he remembered, “none of these faults was demonstrated to be inherent in the aeroplane, and as pilots got to know it better they got to like it better until, when it was superseded, it was allowed to go with regret.” Like Oliver Stewart, Capt Cecil Lewis had flown with the RFC. During May and June 1917 he gained eight victories. In his book ‘Farewell to Wings’, Lewis wrote: “The Triplane was a little beauty. The rotary engine, tank and pilot were all bunched close together so it could turn sideways or head over heels like a tumbler pigeon. Its three main planes carried all the area necessary for the load in such a small span that you could throw the Triplane from side to side like a leaf.” However, the aircraft wasn’t entirely without shortcomings. “The Triplane had one weakness — it couldn’t really dive and, it was alleged, the wings came off if it was pointed at the ground with engine full on. But nobody, as far as I know, had tried this to the limit.” In any case, Lewis liked the type: “[The Triplane] was so well balanced that it would fly hands off on the tail-trimmer, which other aircraft boasted they could do, but didn’t. It could do more than this: set the engine at three-quarter throttle and wind the tail well back and the ‘Tripe’ would loop indefinitely. I once did 21 loops in a row!” In his seminal ‘Sagittarius Rising’, Lewis added more praise. “[Of ]

all machines, the Triplane remains in my memory as the best — for the actual pleasure of flying — that I ever took up. It was […] so well-mannered, so feather-light on the stick, and so comfortable and warm… for its docility, for the lack of all effort needed to fly it, and yet its instantaneous response to the lightest touch, it remains my favourite.” How did the Triplane perform in action? Flt Cdr Raymond Collishaw led B Flight, No 10 (Naval) Squadron, and was the highest-scoring of the Triplane aces. He wrote: “The Triplane I found to be a delightful machine — in my estimation much preferable to the Pup… Apart from its manoeuvrability and its rate of climb, which was very good for its day, the Triplane’s main virtue was the extreme altitude that it could attain, and its performance at these heights”. This rate of climb in particular enabled the Sopwith repeatedly to gain tactical advantage over its foes. Collishaw continued: “The Triplane had its weaknesses… it could not match a machine such as the Albatros D.III in a dive… its main failing though, by comparison with the enemy fighters it faced, was its armament… it had but a single Vickers. The German fighters it was pitted against during 1917 had twin machine guns, and given […] comparable performance, it is hard to find a substitute for firepower. “Six experimental [Triplanes] were in fact fitted with twin Vickers, and

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SOPWITH TRIPLANE and Alfred Carter] considered the extra firepower would be more than offset by a reduction in its performance at height as a result of the added weight of the second

machine gun and its ammunition. Others, including myself, felt that a certain loss of performance would be acceptable in exchange for the extra gun. I found, in fact,

that although there was a definite loss […] over 10,000 feet, it was relatively slight, and having twice the firepower at my command […] made a big difference.”

ORIGINAL TRIPLANE SURVIVORS

Over the years numerous reproduction Triplanes have appeared — among them the Shuttleworth Collection’s superb Northern Aeroplane Workshops-built example ‘N6290’/G-BOCK, declared a ‘late production’ machine by Sir T. O. M. Sopwith himself — but just two originals survive. N5912 was the last of Oakley & Co’s three ‘Tripes’, delivered in October 1917. Briefly with Manston’s War School, in spring 1918 it joined No 2 School of Aerial Fighting and Gunnery (later renamed No 2 Fighting School) at Marske, where it was coded 94. Post-war it was kept at the Science Museum before a move in around 1932 to the Royal Airship Works at Cardington, where it was located in 1936 on the dump there. It was restored sufficiently to take part in that year’s Hendon Pageant, and that of the following year. Stored during the war, N5912 spent some time with No 5 Maintenance Unit at Kemble. Passing in 1950 to No 39 MU at Colerne for another refurbishment, in September N5912 appeared at Farnborough’s SBAC show. The following year it was displayed at Hendon, before joining the Historic Aircraft Store at Fulbeck. A further restoration by Hawker Siddeley at Dunsfold followed in 1961; three years later, the ‘Tripe’ appeared at the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

During October 1971 it moved to the RAF Museum at Hendon, its present keepers. The other survivor, N5486, was delivered in April 1917 to White City’s Central Supply Depot before being shipped to Russia for evaluation in May. For some time the aircraft retained its original markings, and was fitted with a ski undercarriage. Flying with the Imperial Russian Air Service, in the hands of Bolshevik forces after the October Revolution it acquired red star markings. For much of its life following shipment the Triplane seems to have been unarmed. There are reports of combats, but these have not been substantiated, and N5486 may have been used as a trainer or for reconnaissance. It’s also possible that the aircraft was attached to a unit known as the Bolshevik Special Purpose Air Group, serving during 1919 as the Russian Civil War raged. But without much proper support and based in a ravaged country of climatic extremes, it’s hard to believe N5486 stayed serviceable for long. Miraculously, though, it survived, and today can be seen at Monino’s Central Air Force Museum. That said, the ‘restoration’ is a sorry effort. The aircraft is painted a vivid overall blue, while it wears an alien cowling and a set of absurdly small wheels.

ABOVE: A visiting US Navy officer inspects Triplane N5912 on static display at the Fifty Years of Flying event at Hendon in July 1951.

ABOVE: For some time in Russia, Triplane N5486 retained its original markings, and was fitted with a form of ski undercarriage.

ABOVE: N5912 on display in the RAF Museum London’s GrahameWhite Factory building. BEN DUNNELL

ABOVE: The unarmed Triplane, ex-N5486, at Monino’s Central Air Force Museum. STUART CARR

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| Development | Technical Details | In Service | Insights

I was fortunate enough to obtain one [in fact, Collishaw suffered with machine gun trouble on this example, N533]… Some of the pilots [including William Alexander

DATABASE

Books Book of the Month

Britain’s Space Shuttle by Dan Sharp published by Crécy Publishing

The days when Britain thought of developing its own spacecraft now seem far-off indeed. The last major effort was British Aerospace’s HOTOL (Horizontal Take-off and Landing) project of the 1980s, eventually cancelled when the Thatcher government pulled its support. An earlier administration had ensured a similar fate for the British Aircraft Corporation’s attempt to develop a reusable spaceplane, one that went under a less-than-hard-hitting acronym: MUSTARD (Multi-Unit Space Transport and Recovery Device). This is the ‘Space Shuttle’ in the title of an absolutely outstanding new book by Dan Sharp, who has left few stones unturned in his quest to document the MUSTARD programme and what led to it. In this context, the volume — number five in Crécy’s ‘British Secret Projects’ series — will interest those more into aviation than spaceflight, for there is an extensive section on English Electric’s stillborn P42 that presaged MUSTARD. It produced more than 20 designs, among them enormous ramjet-powered deltas, much smaller spaceplanes and a great deal in between. Offshoots, also discussed here, included potential Mach 4-capable TSR2 successors. Moving on to MUSTARD itself, Sharp lays bare the very high-end research carried out at BAC’s Warton facility, aided by extensive study of archive documents and interviews with several of the men involved. He outlines rival schemes drawn up by other manufacturers, both British and mainland European, and discusses each of BAC’s many different MUSTARD concepts. Absolutely fascinating is the examination of how BAC may have contributed to NASA’s eventual Space Shuttle programme, but didn’t. In any case, Sharp opines, MUSTARD was “a Space Shuttle in waiting”, which “deserves to be remembered as a high point of British technological innovation during the 20th century.” Everything about this title sets a high standard. The first-rate text is accompanied by a splendid range of imagery, period drawings and illustrations appearing alongside some very fine new digital artworks. The design is smart and attractive (despite the odd slip, like the single line of text on page 51), the paper nice, and the reproduction praiseworthy. All in all, a most impressive work. Ben Dunnell ISBN 978-1-91080-902-0; 11.5 x 8.75in hardback; 264 pages, illustrated; £27.50

★★★★★

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Black Box Canberras

by Dave Forster published by Hikoki Publications

Given the English Electric Canberra’s extensive use by British military test and trials organisations between 1951 and 1994, it is perhaps surprising that no book on the subject has emerged until now. The result, however, is well worth the wait. Dave Forster’s extensive research has led to a volume of great quality, very well produced in traditional Hikoki fashion. Each chapter covers a different trials area, the overriding impression being the sheer range of programmes on which Canberras were used and the contribution the type made to new capabilities in a wide variety of fields. Especially interesting is the section on early ‘stealth’ experiments using radarabsorbent material on the Royal Aircraft Establishment’s Canberra B2 WK161, this following earlier efforts that employed, of all things, a Boulton Paul Balliol. And the work done with Canberras continues to pay dividends even more than 20 years after the last example in trials use was pensioned off. After all, the ASTOR (Airborne StandOff Radar) system that has proved so valuable in the RAF’s Bombardier Sentinel R1 fleet during numerous overseas operations was first tested aboard Canberra B(I)8 WT327 in the 1980s and ’90s. The text is well-written and readable, if rather lacking in first-hand accounts, while the selection of archive images — both colour and black-and-white — is quite outstanding. Reproduction is good, too. The only real flaw I could identify is the somewhat limited index, rendering what is otherwise a very useful reference volume less practical than it might be. That aside, ‘Black Box Canberras’ shows what can be done by a dedicated author and a publisher that understands the need for quality. It’s worthy of a place in the library of anyone interested in postwar British service aviation. Ben Dunnell ISBN 978-1-90210-953-4; 12 x 8.75in hardback; 256 pages, illustrated; £29.95

Reviews Rating ★★★★★

Outstanding

★★★★★

Excellent

★★★★★

Good

★★★★★

Flawed

★★★★★

Mediocre

Enough said

‘Worthy of a place in the library of anyone interested in post-war British service aviation’

★★★★★

All the Fine Young Eagles

by David L. Bashow published by Douglas & McIntyre When Great Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, there were more than 1,000 Canadian aircrew serving on active duty with the Royal Air Force. These were the CANRAFS,

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

Canadians in RAF service. Canadian fighter pilots served across numerous RAF squadrons, in No 242 Squadron — set up on 30 October 1939 to bring together suitable Canadian personnel — and later in specific RCAF units, numbered 400 and upwards. This is their story, from 242’s ill-fated excursion into France with its Hurricanes as part of the British Expeditionary Force in early 1940, through the Battle of Britain and right up to the end of the war. It is told in detail, with clarity, with a degree of humour and an understanding of the life of a fighter pilot that could only be supplied by another fighter pilot (author Bashow flew RCAF Starfighters for 10 years and wrote ‘Starfighter: A Loving Retrospective of the CF-104 Era in Canadian Fighter Aviation, 1961-1986 — Fortress Publications, 1991). This is a paperback book, but a substantial one. It is illustrated, if not extensively, with decently reproduced black-and-white images. The familiar Canadian names are all here, including George ‘Buzz’ Beurling, Russ Bannock and Willie McKnight. Where this title excels is in relating the little episodes in these pilots’ lives as well as the details of their air combats. Beurling was a loner and not one who happily accepted the heavy hand of authority. While he proved an excellent shot in combat with an uncanny skill in deflection shooting, he had an unconventional and unpredictable streak. The story is told of his using two bullets from his Webley pistol to shoot the tail feathers off a pet duck before being dissuaded from taking a third shot only by the threat of physical violence. “I wasn’t going to hurt it”, he protested and, in fact, he had not. That same skill would take him through the war and to a total of 31 kills, but he lost his life in an air crash in 1948, having been recruited to fly for the Israeli Air Force. Denis J. Calvert

‘A story told in detail, with clarity and a degree of humour’

‘Falls down badly in its attention to detail’

ISBN 978-1-77162-135-9; 9 x 6in softback; 577 pages, illustrated; CAN$28.95

SBAC Farnborough: A History

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

‘Tells the NAM’s story well’

ISBN 978-0-9500341-8-8; 9.75 x 6.75in softback; 148 pages, illustrated; £12

★★★★★

Training the Right Stuff — revisited

★★★★★

by Colin Savill published by Newark Air Museum

by Peter G. Dancey published by Fonthill Media

public opening in 1973, it looks back at significant events in the NAM’s history. It’s not all about the aircraft, of course, but each addition is chronicled here, the arrival in 1983 of Vulcan XM594 (which landed on what remained of the Winthorpe runway) being given a chapter to itself. Also interesting is the appendix listing those airframes that have left over the years, and a number of potential accessions that were not proceeded with — an F-14 Tomcat and a Nimrod R1 among them. Not everything about the volume’s execution is perfect. I could have done without the potted histories of aircraft types — greater background on the individual examples to be found at Newark would have been more worthwhile. Apostrophe misuse is a common feature, there are some questionably styled aircraft designations, and the entire text could have done with an extra edit. But I have no wish to appear over-critical, for the NAM’s story deserves telling, and this book does it well. Ben Dunnell

ISBN 978-1-78155-238-4; 9.2 x 6.2in softback; 176 pages, illustrated; £16.99

Preservation Pioneers: Newark Air Museum 1963-2015

★★★★★

The idea is a good one — the story of SBAC airshows, starting with Hendon (1932-35), Hatfield (1936-37) and Radlett (1946-47) but concentrating on those held at Farnborough from 1948. Each event is reviewed, with the major developments, notable newcomers and the most memorable display routines detailed and commented upon. This is not the definitive account of Farnborough shows over the years but

nor, I suspect, was it ever intended to be. For that John Blake and Mike Hooks’ ‘40 Years at Farnborough’ (Haynes, 1990) remains the bible, although this new book does bring the story up to 2008. There is a good selection of photographs, all in blackand-white and passably reproduced, although few were taken at Farnborough. Many are identifiably from shows at le Bourget, Fairford and Zhukovsky, while others are simply ‘nice’ air-to-airs. For a book with ‘Farnborough’ in the title, the reader might reasonably expect the majority to have been shot there. Some captions raise an eyebrow. One example is the photo on page 149 of an F-117A which reads, “Despite its futuristic appearance and stealth qualities, under its skin, the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk was basically an F/A-18; the Nighthawk used many Hornet components”. It is in its attention to detail, though, that this volume really falls down badly. There are references to “Hawkers [sic] chief test pilot Bill Dedford”, “the Hawker Snidely Hawk” and the “BrittenNorman Trislande”, along with some strange aircraft designations such as “Lockheed-Martin f-16NG”. Worse, the columns of a three-page table detailing post-war British civil aircraft have become so muddled that the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer is credited with seating 59 passengers and the Bristol 170 Freighter 214, but the BAC Super VC10 just 15. These are all errors that a competent proof-reader with appropriate subject knowledge should — and would — have picked up and corrected. Denis J. Calvert

The Newark Air Museum, located on the old RAF Winthorpe airfield site, has long been a benchmark when it comes to volunteer-managed aviation museums. It was also something of a pioneer, as this useful and very worthwhile book recalls. It begins with the efforts of the museum’s founders, who in 1963 identified the remains of Westland Wallace K6038 — the restored fuselage of which is now with the RAF Museum at Hendon — as their first acquisition. Year-by-year from the

In the November issue, we reviewed ‘Training the Right Stuff ’ by Mark A. Frankel and Tommy H. Thomason, published by Schiffer — a weighty tome on the aircraft used to train US military jet pilots. While generally praising the text, we did remark on the low-resolution images used throughout the book. Since then, Schiffer has kindly advised us that a number of copies sent out for review purposes suffered from a production problem. Receipt of a replacement copy demonstrates that, in fact, the photographic content is first-rate in terms of extent and quality. So, three stars rather than the two we gave before. Useful, recommended — if still pricey. Ben Dunnell ISBN 978-0-7643-5030-6; 8.5 x 11in hardback; 352 pages, illustrated; £60.50

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BAY OF PIG S

★

I FLEW FOR

FIDEL

★

The death on 25 November of Fidel Castro brought to mind memories of 1961’s Bay of Pigs fiasco, the failed effort to invade Cuba by CIA-backed exiles. One of the last surviving pilots to have taken part recalls his role in the operations

WORDS: SANTIAGO RIVAS

W

hen in 1959 the Cuban revolution overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, Rafael del Pino was a lieutenant in the 26th of July Movement commanded by Fidel Castro. He wanted to be a pilot for the Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria (FAR), the new name of the Cuban Air Force. Aged 13 he had received some flight instruction from a pilot with whom he became friendly — he even made a solo flight, but he had no licence. The period after the revolution was chaotic, and the FAR was no exception. It lost most of its pilots and technicians as a result of their arrest by Castro, who accused them of bombing the rebels. Just a few pilots from the old air force remained, including Enrique Carreras Rolas, Álvaro Prendes and Douglas Rudd. The first two had been arrested by Batista and the third was a deserter from the former regime. A dozen new pilots started training, but, as Rafael del Pino recalls today, “It was very erratic, without a proper method. Half of them were killed in accidents; we lost 50 per cent, until Carreras and Prendes said that professional training must be organised. They established an advanced course for those who were going to fly the T-33. We started the course in January 1960 and we ended up with a group of more than 20 pilots who completed the main stages: aerobatic flying, air combat and air strikes.

“But then came the second purge. In May the political police came and arrested almost all of the pilots — except Carreras, Prendes, Gustavo Bourzac, Alberto Fernández, Luis Silva, Carlos Ulloa from Nicaragua and me — saying they were criticising the revolution. The revolution came from the middle class. All the participants were middle-class, including Fidel and Raúl Castro, but then they became allied with the Soviets and the old Communist party and some pilots started to criticise that, so they were arrested. Only eight pilots were left, and even we were humiliated when Raúl Castro sent his driver to become the commander of [our base at] San Antonio de los Baños.” One day, Fidel visited the base to inspect some weapons that had arrived for distribution to Army

will take off”. Castro acknowledged that he had been rude, explaining that he only made the comment to strengthen the unit’s resolve. On 15 April 1961, the CIAbacked Brigade 2506, made up of Cuban exiles, began its offensive against the Castro regime. Eight Douglas B-26B Invaders — painted in ‘false flag’ Cuban markings and flown from an operating base at Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, by Cuban exiles — bombed a variety of targets: three of them attacked the FAR headquarters at Ciudad Libertad, two hit Santiago de Cuba, and three struck the base at San Antonio de los Baños. Rafael del Pino recalls: “Carreras and I ran to the T-33 serialled 715, which was on alert. The others were dispersed all over the base — we left visible the F-47s and AT-6s, which

OPPOSITE: Fidel Castro around the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

‘Only eight pilots were left, and we were humiliated when Raúl Castro sent his driver to become our base commander’ units. del Pino took the opportunity to ask him about the MiGs they had been promised, whereupon Castro replied, “You pilots are conceited. You think you are better than anyone. When the first bomb falls you will run away and no-one will take off”. del Pino replied, “You are wrong. We will take off. On the day of the attack, those who are still alive

had been retired. A B-26 came and destroyed it with a salvo of rockets. In the meantime, Fernández and Bourzac were able to take off, the former in a T-33 and the latter in a Sea Fury, but they couldn’t intercept [the B-26s] because of the time it took to get airborne and because we didn’t have radars. At midday, Fidel came [to the base] and I said to him,

Lockheed T-33A 711 Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria

LUCA CANOSSA

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BAY OF PIG S

ABOVE: Rafael del Pino some years after the Bay of Pigs actions, in front of one of the T-33s — serial 711 — used during the conflict. VIA SANTIAGO RIVAS ABOVE RIGHT: An unmarked FAR Sea Fury prior to the attempted invasion. Cuba had bought 17 refurbished FB11s from Hawker in 1959. Two were lost in the course of the operations, one on the ground during the initial B-26 attacks, the other in a crash. VIA SANTIAGO RIVAS

ABOVE: B-26B serial 935 (formerly 43-22455) was flown by the socalled Fuerza Aérea de Liberación, the invading forces’ air arm. In the hands of Matías Farías, it was shot down by a T-33 on 17 April while attempting to land at Girón airfield. Note the fake ‘FAR’ titles on the fin. VIA SANTIAGO RIVAS

‘Do you now realise that we were right when we said we would take off?’” When the invasion started on the 17th, Castro did not fly in any of the aircraft involved. Instead, he merely called the base and talked to Carreras, ordering him to sink the ships and shoot down the aerial attackers. “We thought they were going to land in Trinidad or further away, but not the Bay of Pigs”, says del Pino. “When we saw they were landing there we said, ‘They’re f****d’. The radius of action of our aircraft wasn’t enough to reach Trinidad. The pilots started to scramble. I was the least

BELOW: In the colour scheme used during the operations, this Sea Fury of the FAR has been armed with rockets. VIA SANTIAGO RIVAS

pilot’s helmet. When you see it, you push the trigger’. And it happened just like that. “My first mission was at 14.00hrs. During the early sorties, Carreras [flying a Sea Fury] and Fernández [in a T-33] shot down a B-26 each, and [the Sea Fury of ] Ulloa was shot down. I took off with Silva [in an Invader] and Bourzac, and found a B-26. Silva was heading east, between Cienfuegos and the Bay of Pigs, and this B-26 was coming in the opposite direction. I told Silva I could see an aircraft and he said it wasn’t him, but it was painted in the same colours. When I approached,

‘We thought they were going to land in Trinidad or further away, but not the Bay of Pigs. When we saw they were landing there, we said, ‘They’re f****d’’ experienced, with 30 hours on the T-33. My instructor, Martin Klein — who was shot down by mistake shortly before the invasion — had explained to me, ‘What you have to do is approach until you see the

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I realised it had two blue stripes on the wings. It was an enemy aircraft, and when I got in close and saw the helmet of the pilot I fired”. Feeling an impact on his aircraft, del Pino thought he had been hit, but in fact

it was a piece falling away from the stricken B-26. The Invader was the example flown by Osvaldo ‘Chirrino’ Piedra and Joe Fernández. It crashed and both crew members were killed. After destroying the B-26, del Pino headed towards the aircraft of Silva and Bourzac and stayed above them for cover. “Bourzac” — nicknamed ‘Grandpa’ — “was to the right of Silva. I saw Silva was too low, very close to the water, and Bourzac alerted him. I shouted ‘Grandpa, you’re too low!’ He didn’t reply, and Bourzac shouted, ‘Grandpa, climb a bit!’ “Then he opened fire at long distance — the bullets could be seen impacting the water in front of the ship. He should have gone after the transport ships, but he went to attack the Blagar [an LCI, or landing craft infantry, being used as a command post], which was a ‘hedgehog’, full of guns. One impact from the ship’s artillery tore a wing off the aeroplane. It passed over the ship and crashed on the other side. Some said that part of the tail fell onto the deck. It was a big blow for us: it wasn’t just Silva, but also the mechanic, the navigator and the rear gunner. We were about 10 or 15

AEROPLANE FEBRUARY 2017

miles from the Bay of Pigs, and the ships were in a convoy, moving away. “I still had my rockets. The instructions were to get rid of them in order to manoeuvre if we entered a dogfight, but it all happened so fast. I fired the rockets at the Blagar, but I didn’t see the results. Bourzac also attacked the ship.” After returning from this mission, del Pino departed on another. Álvaro Prendes was the leader in a T-33, while Douglas Rudd was flying a Sea Fury. “We caught two B-26s and Prendes attacked the leader”, recalls del Pino. “I was behind and saw when he opened fire. The B-26 caught fire and began to shed parts. Then I saw someone jump from the bomb bay; a parachute opened and fell into the sea. It was a miracle that he survived. It was the co-pilot, who I later found out was rescued by a US destroyer. The pilot went down with the aircraft. “Prendes said, ‘Attack the other one’. I did as I had done in the other combat. I approached until I was very close, the enemy started to turn hard — pulling a lot of g — and I opened fire, hitting one of his engines. I was faster and I overtook him. When I started to look for him I couldn’t find him, and Douglas said, ‘I got it too’. He dived and started to fire at the B-26, but two A-4s [actually stiill desiignated as A4D-1s at the time, operated by US Navy squadron VA-34 from the USS Essex] appearred, put themselves between the Sea Fury and the Invader, and stopped Dougglas from continuing to fire. I think that [B-26] was the one flown by Cresp po, which crashed into the sea.

about 4-5km from there to Girón; everything you find on the road you must destroy’. Fernández and me went first; Douglas Rudd came later. And we caused many casualties.” In fact, those casualties were from Battalion 123 of the Revolutionary Militia. The unit had been sent urgently to Girón, where it realised th hat the invading Brigade 2506 forces had d retreated from Playa Larga to Girón. Battalion n 123 was later also

bombed by the Brigade’s B-26s and completely destroyed. “The pollitical commissar of the armed forcces later removed that part from myy book about the war, because he said that everyone must keep th hinking that those martyrs had beeen caused by the enemy, but it was a mistake by the command”, explaains del Pino. On the morn ning of the 19th, Carrera and Prendes — flying T-33s — sh hot down a Brigade 2506

ABO OVE: The Hou uston (right) wass among four tran nsport ships in the invasion fleet. Follo owing rocket atta acks by an FAR T-33 3 and Sea Fury, it is se een burning near Play ya Larga, one of two o main landing sitess — the other bein ng Playa Girón. VIA SA ANTIAGO RIVAS

LEFT T: Enrique Carrreras Rolas in fron nt of his T-33, while the mechanics prep pare it for a misssion. Serial 703 wass put back into serv vice during the Bay of Pigs actions.

❖

“On the morning of the second day, me and Prendes took off in a T-33. As we couldn’t see any enemy aircraft, we started to attack the ground troops. The afternoon there was a ‘friendly fire’ incident, as a result of a mission that Fidel passed to Curbelo [the communications minister, who provided liaison between the FAR and the government] by ’phone. Curbelo said, ‘At Playa Larga — where you will see smoke — is a line of howitzers. The front line is

VIA SANTIAGO RIVAS

CUBA’S REVOLUTIONARY AIR FORCE According to Rafael del Pino, by 15 April 1961 the Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria had a fixed-wing force consisting of five Sea Fury FB11s, six B-26C Invaders (for which there were only three pilots, Capt Silva Tablada, Capt Jackes Lagas from Chile and 1st Lt Álvaro Galo from Nicaragua), five T-33s (serials 703, 707, 709, 711 and 715), seven AT-6 Texans, one T-28 Trojan, two C-47 Skytrains, one C-46 Commando, one PBY Catalina and one C-54 Skymaster. Ten F-47 Thunderbolts and two F-51 Mustangs were out of service. On the rotary-wing side there were three Bell 47s and a single Westland Whirlwind. Almost all the aircraft were in very poor condition, and the T-33 serialled 703 was under repair at the start of the Bay of Pigs campaign.

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BAY OF PIG S

Hawker Sea Fury FB11 541 Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria

LUCA CANOSSA

B-26, while another was downed by artillery. Both were flown by American pilots from the Alabama Air National Guard, who had been permitted to take part in operations as CIA contractors; the co-pilot of one was also from Alabama, and the other a Cuban.

landing craft. I thought they were making another landing. “When we finished we were cautious not to attack the destroyer, only the landing craft. On getting back to base I said that a new landing was taking place. Curbelo removed the commander of the air

‘I had a Skyhawk to my side, very close. If he’d wanted to shoot me down, he could have. It was due to my inexperience’ BELOW: Fidel Castro inspects the wreckage of the downed FAL B-26 near the airfield at Girón. BOB HENRIQUES/ MAGNUM PHOTOS

The FAR performed strike missions that afternoon, adding a second Sea Fury that had been repaired. “We spent the whole day bombing and attacking troops”, del Pino remembers. “There was confusion when a US destroyer approached very close to the coast and we saw some

base and made direct contact with the pilots. Then he called Fidel to tell him what I had seen, and Fidel said, ‘They are leaving, they are boarding the ships’. We went to prepare the aircraft again, and by the time we arrived over the bay the destroyer had already left, so we kept bombing

the beach. Soon afterwards, our troops occupied it.” During the 20th, Fernández and del Pino took off for an area reconnaissance. Some US ships were recovering survivors from the Brigade and the FAR pilots had orders not to attack them. At one point, del Pino says, “I had a Skyhawk to my side, very close. They had removed all the markings. If he’d wanted to shoot me down, he could have, as I was distracted. It was my mistake because of my lack of experience. Girón had already fallen and we were watching the ships. I informed Fernández and we decided to return to base. “Immediately afterwards, Fidel ordered the use of a Bristol Britannia from the airline Cubana for reconnaissance, as the enemy would not shoot it down. That was the last flight by our side during the period of the invasion.”

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