aeroplane 2006 01

Keeping a WW2 amphibian in the air

� 40 YEARS AFTER THE ORIGINAL FILM, WE EXAMINE THE AIRCRAFT USED IN THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX

� HALIFAX BOMBER RESTORATION � WHITLEY RECOVERY� PHOTO-RECCE SPITFIRE PILOT � SPARTAN THREE-SEATER

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Dr Alfred Price describes

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Fw 200 Condor

British Aircraft Specifi cationsFrom Mosquito & Horsa to Brabazon & Canberra

From the Editor

Michael Oakey – EDITORPS — See page 47 for details of our 2006 Aeroplane reader holidays, a four-day trip to Paris and the La Ferté airshow in June, and a 13-day tour to South Africa (with optional safari extension) in September

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WHILE BRITAIN WAS CELEBRATING Guy

Fawkes’ Night with fi reworks displays up and

down the country, a different but equally

dazzling show was happening in Ontario,

Canada: the unveiling and dedication of newly-restored

Handley Page Halifax NA337 at the RCAF Memorial

Museum at Trenton. See pages 4–5 and 36–37 of this issue

for our coverage of this amazing achievement.

It is the time of year for celebrations — so, with 2006

rapidly approaching, I and the rest of the Aeroplane crew

would like to wish all our readers the compliments of the

season. To keep the aviation juices fl owing over the

holiday period we have provided an aviation prize

crossword on page 87, to be completed while digesting the

plum duff and brandy butter. Also, to offer festive (and

ongoing) cheer, this month we welcome our newest

regular contributor to Aeroplane: cartoonist Sewell (see

page 18), whose work has adorned the pages of Punch

and Private Eye, among other well-known publications.

Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year!

This month’s front cover photograph, by RICHARD PAVER, depicts Paul Warren Wilson captaining Plane

Sailing’s Consolidated Catalina G-PBYA near its Duxford base on July 8, 2005 — see pages 44–52 of

this issue for a major feature on the aircraft

RIGHT THE AEROPLANE, JANUARY 4, 1946This issue’s cover, from 60 years ago, featured a Rolls-Royce jet engine advertisement; inside was a feature on the Short Seaford fl ying-boat� Launched as a monthly magazine in 1973 by Richard T. Riding (Editor for 25 years until 1998), Aeroplane traces its lineage back to the weekly The Aeroplane, founded by the legendary C.G. Grey in 1911 and published until 1968

DON’T MISS YOUR AEROPLANE...Subscribe now to make sure of your copy every month. Call our credit-card hotline

on 0845 676 7778 or buy online at www.aeroplanemonthly.com

2 AEROPLANE JANUARY 2006

ContentsJanuary 2006 Vol 34 No 1 Issue No 393 (on sale December 1)

Features12 The Sea Fury KingsMichael O’Leary visits the town of Ione in Northern California, “Sea Fury Central”, and talks to two of its leading lights

22 Getting the PictureLt Gen Bill Carr CMM DFC CD recalls fl ying the blue Spitfi res of the RAF’s No 683 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron

28 Aeroplane ExplainsBill Gunston traces the early evolution of wing design — monoplane or biplane?

30 A Spartan LifeRob Neil describes the restora-tion of the world’s only Spartan Three-Seater biplane

36 A Dedicated EffortPictures from Trenton, Ontario, Canada, of newly-restored Handley Page Halifax NA337

38 Rising from the AshesSimon Beck re-examines the original cinema classic The Flight of the Phoenix, released 40 years ago, and traces the aircraft used in the fi lm

44 Man with a Mission Tim Skeet reports from Duxford on the challenges of keeping Plane Sailing’s Catalina in the air

54 Swords – and PloughsharesBarry Jones’s second article on British offi cial aircraft specifi cations

60 Preservation Profi leLufthansa Flight Training’s Saab 91B Safi r D-EBED

79 Great War GhostsPhotographer Philip Makanna’s stunning images of First World War aeroplanes — and a reader offer to buy his new book

Regulars4 NewsAll the latest news from the aircraft preservation world, compiled by Tony Harmsworth

17 Contact!Paul Coggan comments on the preservation scene

18 SkywritersReaders’ letters on a wide variety of topics

21 Flying VisitA potted interview with Admiral of the Fleet Sir Benjamin Bathurst

35 Picture of the MonthThis month’s archive print offer features the Westland Wyvern carrier strike aircraft

43 Looking BackNick Stroud browses in The Aeroplane of 80 years ago

47 Reader Holiday OfferBooking for 2006 — a Grand Aviation Tour of South Africa and a trip to Paris and the La Ferté-Alais Air Show

53 High SocietyThe Avro Historical Group

62 Database The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor Our special in-depth section this month is by World War Two German military aviation specialist Dr Alfred Price. It includes scale drawings by Tim Hall and a cutaway drawing by John Weal

85 NavigatorAeroplane’s monthly reviews and listings — see opposite for details

96 CrosswindJohn Fricker provides sideways comment on the aviation world

EDITOR’SCHOICE

COVERSTORY

62

22

SUBSCRIBE TO AEROPLANE— Call our credit-card hotline on 0845 676 7778

54

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2006 3

Navigator

Our Navigator section at the back of the magazine tells you all you need to know about what to buy and where to go:85 Book reviews87 Prize aviation crossword 87 Internet review 88 Information Exchange89 Reader offers 92 Next month in Aeroplane

93 Aeroplane services — back-issues, binders, subscriptions, newsagent order form, annual index and more94 Airshows & Events 94 Auctions update

MAIN PICTURE The de Havilland D.H.108 was built to Specifi cation E.18/45 for a tailless research delta aircraft, and was known unoffi cially as the Swallow. Renowned aviation photographer Charles E. Brown took this characteristi-cally moody photograph of the third prototype, VW120, on April 12, 1948. Some fi ve months later, on September 9, John Derry took the aircraft to 40,000ft and put the elegantly shaped jet into a supersonic dive, making it the fi rst British aircraft to exceed Mach 1. The second part of Barry Jones’s comprehensive series on British Military Specifi cations begins on page 54 . . .

54

30

RESTORED HALIFAX � Royal Canadian Air Force bomber restoration completed and put on public

AFTER 50 YEARS under water and another ten under restoration, Handley Page Halifax A.VII NA337, the only genuine, restored Halifax in the world, was unveiled during a moving ceremony at the Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial Museum, Trenton, Ontario, on the afternoon of November 5, reports Rod Clarke.

In front of an audience of more than 1,700 of the project’s supporters, the build-up to the unveiling and dedication ceremony included a programme of personal memories relating to the discovery of the aircraft in Lake Mjøsa, 75 miles north of Oslo, during 1982, the recovery of the bomber in 1995, and the epic restoration of the aircraft. Then, accompanied by smoke, searchlight beams and the sounds of Hercules engines being started up, two large curtains, made from parachute silk, were drawn

back to reveal the aircraft in all its glory.

The bomber, which ditched into Lake Mjøsa in March 1945 after being hit by fl ak while on a Special Opera-tions Executive (SOE) supply drop to a Norwegian Resis-tance Group, has been restored by the Halifax Restoration Team (HRT) at Trenton, and was repainted during October in its wartime No 644 Sqn RAF markings and codes by the staff of 8 Wing Support Squadron, also at CFB Trenton.

The audience for the unveiling contained large numbers of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and RAF veterans from Canada, Britain, and Australia, and among the other honoured guests were Tore Marsøe, the man who discovered the submerged NA337 during 1982, and Jacqueline Bastable of Basildon, Essex, daughter of Flt Lt W.R. Mitchell, NA337’s navigator. Tragically, Flt Lt Mitchell was

Halifax operations were the single greatest factor in the RCAF’s wartime effort, and that Halifax NA337 was the “jewel in the crown” of the RCAF Memorial Museum.

The President of the Halifax Aircraft Association (HAA), F.E. “Jeff” Jeffery DFC RCAF, paid tribute to the dedication of all involved with the project, including Karl Kjarsgaard, a Canadian Airlines pilot who had fi rst identifi ed the possibility of bringing the aircraft back to Canada, the Canadian Air Force Recovery team, the 50 or more members of the HRT who had undertaken the restoration, and HAA members around the world who had supplied most of the funding. Project Manager Bill Tytula praised the work of Paul Botting, the HRT foreman, and his team of volunteers. It had been a major restoration project by any standards, costing C$1million, and 350,000 man-hours of voluntary

among the four crew members who drowned when their dinghy capsized shortly after the ditching. The fl ight engineer was never seen again, and is also thought to have drowned. The sole survivor of the ditching, rear gunner Tom Weightman, is still alive, but was not in good enough health to travel from his home in the UK for the dedication ceremony.

It was an emotional moment for Mrs Bastable, who said: “I grew up not knowing my father, and my mother always found it too painful to talk about. This is a tribute to all the men who fought and fl ew in Halifaxes. But for me it’s a memorial to my Dad”.

The national as well as international signifi cance of the event was underlined by the presence of Bill Graham, the Canadian Minister of National Defence, and the Chief of the Air Staff, Lt-Gen Steve Lucas, who said that

ABOVE HRT Project Director Lt-Col Bill Tytula and daughter at the ceremony. LEFT Twelve wreaths were placed in front of the Halifax as a memorial to RCAF aircrew.

NewsR E S T O R AT I O N • R E B U I L D S • R E P L I C A S •A I R C R A F T• M U S EU M S


THIS MONTH

Sea Fury centrePage 12

Saeta in SpainPage 8

Paradrop CarvairPage 8

Coventry Canberra

Fw 190 in NorfolkPage 7

UNVEILED IN CANADA display after 50 years in a Norwegian lake — RCAF aircrew attend emotional ceremony

labour, which in itself equates to a remarkable C$9million.

Lloyd Wright, 84, com-pleted a full tour of opera-tions as a Halifax pilot with No 424 Squadron RCAF at Skipton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire, and has been a Halifax Restoration Team volunteer for ten years. After the ceremony he explained: “When we were laying the wreaths and singing the national anthem, I couldn’t sing. I choked up. We were some of the lucky ones. I

lost a lot of good friends”. Following the laying of

memorial wreaths by Mrs Bastable, representatives of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Air Force, and veterans’ organizations, NA337 was made open to inspection, and hundreds of former Bomber Command aircrew took the opportunity to renew acquaintance with an old friend. � See pages 36–37 for more pictures of the Halifax and the dedication ceremony

ABOVE Halifax Aircraft Association members inspect the impressive bomber after the unveiling ceremony.BELOW HAA President “Jeff” Jeffery, former 432 Sqn Halifax pilot, greets the audience at the ceremony.

ABOVE LEFT Flying Offi cer Jim Tease DFC (left) and Fg Off Owen York, who completed a tour on Halifaxes together with 420 Sqn RCAF, at the dedication ceremony. ABOVE RIGHT Minister of National Defence Bill Graham addresses the audience.

PHO

TOG

RAPH

Y BY ROD CLA

RKE

News compiled by: Tony HarmsworthTel: 020 7261 5551 Fax: 020 7261 5269

E-mail: [email protected] Write to our usual address

R E S T O R AT I O N • R E B U I L D S • R E P L I C A S •A I R C R A F T• M U S EU M S


ENGLISH ELECTRIC Canberra

T.4 WJ874, the last of the

RAF’s classic “goldfi sh bowl”-

canopied Canberras, joined the

Air Atlantique Classic Flight at

Coventry on November 9, a

little more than two months

after its September 1

retirement from service with

39 Sqn at Marham. The

success of the Air Atlantique

bid for the aircraft was

confi rmed on November 7, and

it is hoped that the trainer,

painted as VN799, the

prototype Canberra, will be

available for airshows in 2006.

At the controls for the

delivery fl ight from Marham

was Flt Lt Mike Lecky, with Wg

Cdr Clive Mitchell at the

navigator’s station. Mike

Collett, Chairman and Chief

Executive of the Atlantic Group,

enthused, “I am thrilled we

have got WJ874, as it provides

us with a trainer for our other

Canberra, WK163, and our

Gloster Meteor NF.11 G-LOSM”.

Canberra T.4 WJ874, the

last English Electric-built

aircraft to be operated by the

RAF, was originally delivered to

the RAF Binbrook Station Flight

in December 1954, going on to

serve in a similar capacity at

Coningsby and Gaydon. After

25 years with the RAF, WJ874

joined the Royal Navy’s Fleet

Requirements Unit at Yeovilton

in November 1969 to help train

Canberra TT.18 target tug

pilots. In 1986 it returned to

the RAF, and in 1999 was

painted up as the prototype for

the 50th anniversary of the

fi rst Canberra fl ight.

ABOVE The Canberra over Coventry Airport at 1300hr on November 9. ABOVE LEFT Mike Collett accepts the aircraft’s log books from Wg Cdr Clive Mitchell (left) and Flt Lt Mike Lecky.

News


Tel: 020 7261 5551 Fax: 020 7261 5269 E-mail: [email protected]

R E S T O R AT I O N S • R E B U I L D S • R E P L I C A S

CANBERRA FOR COVENTRY� Last of the RAF Canberra T.4s to remain airworthy with the Air Atlantique Classic Flight

FHC Sea Hurricane engine runs in Suffolk

THE IMPERIAL WAR Museum’s Fairey Swordfi sh, III, NF370 (above), was unveiled at Duxford on October 24, after a near fi ve-year restoration by museum staff and volunteers. Project leader John White and his team have fi nished NF370 in the markings of 119 Sqn RAF, and fi tted it with an ASV Mk X radar pod, creating the only survivor to be thus equipped. The Blackburn-

built aircraft was delivered to the RAF from Sherburn-in-Elmet on May 1, 1944, but no record survives of the Sqn to which it was allocated. The unit it now represents, 119 Sqn, did not actually equip with Swordfi sh until January 1945, putting the ageing aircraft to good use on anti-shipping work along the Dutch and Belgian coast, sinking several submarines.

SWORDFISH ROLLED OUT

THE SEATTLE-based Flying

Heritage Collection’s (FHC) Hawker Sea Hurricane XIIA,

BW881/G-KAMM (above), made its fi rst engine runs at

AJD Engineering in Milden,

Suffolk, on November 11. The

unhooked Sea Hurricane,

which was originally taken on

charge by the Royal Canadian

Air Force in January 1942, has

been painted in a Canadian

home defence scheme, and is

expected to make its fi rst fl ight

before Christmas.

The fi ghter was recovered

from a farm in Ontario by

collector Jack Arnold in the

early 1980s.The rebuild at AJD

began in 1996, but was put on

hold in April 2000, restarting in

early 2005.The engine runs

came fi ve days after the 70th

anniversary of the fi rst fl ight of

prototype Hurricane K5083,

which fl ew from Brooklands

on November 6 1935.

IAN

FRIMSTO

N/SIG

MA PH

OTO

GRA

PHS

IWM

RUTH

ALEXA

ND

ER

ON NOVEMBER 3, a General Dynamics F-111F Aardvark arrived at the RAF Museum at Cosford. The Operation Desert Storm veteran is a gift from the USAF, and will go on display in the museum’s new £12m Cold War exhibiton hangar.

In August 1976, while based at Taegu Air Force base in South Korea, F-111 74-0177 was one of 19 of the type put on 12hr alert after two American soldiers were killed in the de-militarised zone (DMZ) at Panmunjeom. Ten years later ’0177, was based at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, and on April 15/16, 1986, fl ew on Operation El Dorado Canyon, the strike on Libya. Five targets were attacked, ’0177 bombing the Murrat Side Bilal base, near Tripoli.

In 1990 the F-111, now bearing the name Ghost Rider, was operated from

the Royal Saudi Air Force base at Taif, near Mecca, and during January and February of 1991 was one of the aircraft that fl ew a total of 4,000 F-111 sorties during operation Desert Storm, destroying much of the Iraqi command and control structure with precision-guided ordnance.

Ghost Rider went back to the USA during 1992 and

was retired in 1996. The machine was fl own to RAF Mildenhall in July 2005 in a USAF Lockheed C-5 Galaxy.

John Francis, General Manager of the RAF Museum, Cosford, said: “The F-111 will signifi cantly broaden the scope of the Cold War exhibition, and we are most grateful to the National Museum of the United States Air Force”.

AS REPORTED last month, Norfolk-based JME Aviation is well on the way to restor-ing a Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-5 to airworthy condition for the American-based Flying Heritage Collection (FHC), reports Ian Frimston.

Happily, the wings will accommodate skins that initially appeared to be unusable, thereby increasing the amount of original material in the aircraft.

JME can also produce fas-tenings, in-house, to original specifi cations, items which are unobtainable today. Dunlop was approached to manufacture a limited run of tyres, probably the last time the company will do so. The propeller blades are being manufactured by MT Propellers in Germany.

The aircraft will be put back to its original condition, and the company has gone to great lengths to match paint fi nishes. Wherever

ENGLISH ELECTRIC Lightning F.6 XR753 was recently refurbished

at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire, for the XI Sqn disbandment

ceremony, which took place at the base on October 31 (above). The Lightning, which had been on show outside XI’s Headquarters

for 15 years, has been painted in a scheme similar to that seen on

the Sqn’s Tornado F.3 which appeared at airshows in the summer.

Stencilled under the cockpit of XR753 is the name of the

Reviewing Offi cer at the ceremony, Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael

Graydon, CO of XI Sqn during 1977–79. Former Royal Saudi Air

Force Lightning F.53 53-670 also wears the serial XR753, its

RSAF colours being forbidden. It is on display in the Hansted

memorial hangar at the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum.


� RESTORED BAC TSR.2 XR222 will be unveiled at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, at 1030hr on December 16. The ceremony will take place outside Hangar 5, after which XR222 will go into winter storage in Duxford’s part-completed AirSpace building, which is due to be opened to the the public in the spring of 2007.

� TWO ATTEMPTS on the all-Africa time-to-height record were to be made by one of Thunder City’s Cape Town- based English Electric Lightning two-seaters in late November/early December. The fi rst shot will be during an airshow at Bredasdorp on November 26, with a target of 19,800ft in under 60sec, with the second fl ight planned for December 3 at the Ysterplaat show, where the target will be 29,800ft in a minute. The pilot will be Dave Stock, with British mobile phone magnate John Caudwell getting the ride of his life in the right-hand seat.

News in Brief

Write to: Aeroplane, Kings Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS Web: www.aeroplanemonthly.com

F I N D S • P R O J E C T S • A I R C R A F T• M U S E U M S • A U C T I O N S • P E O P L E

Engine fi tted to original Fw 190

possible original items from the aeroplane have been used in the rebuild, to the extent that some 70 per cent of the wings are original, as is 95 per cent of the fuselage. All the instruments

are original and have been overhauled by Aero Vintage. Aeroplane will report again as the aircraft nears completion and painting.

Also with JME, the Messerschmitt Me 262

project took a step forward in November with the aircraft fi nally being identifi ed as WNr 500543. The numbers 543 have been located on the fi n fairing and the wing spars.

F-111 FOR COSFORD

ABOVE Cold War exhibit General Dynamics F-111 74-0177 arrives on a low-loader at the RAF Museum, Cosford, on November 3.

A Tale of Two Lightnings

ABOVE Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-5 Werknr 51227/N19027 in the JME workshop in Suffolk, with the original BMW 801 engine installed. Watch this space for a full report coming soon . . .

IAN

FRIMSTO

N/SIG

MA

NICK BRITTO

N

AT MANISES airport, Valencia, on October 16, the locally-based Fundación Aerea de la Comunidad Valenciana’s (FACV) newly- acquired Hispano HA-220 Super Saeta, EC-DXJ, made its home debut at the Valencia Air Festival.

The former Spanish Air Force ground-attack machine was acquired from its former owner, Majorca- based Jaume Caplloch, a couple of weeks before the Valencia show. On October 9, EC-DXJ made its fi rst offi cial engagement under FACV ownership, when it was fl own to Morón Air Force Base, north-west of Jerez, for the 50th anniversary of the

maiden fl ight of the Saeta, Spain’s fi rst jet aircraft. Also at Morón was HA-200 Saeta EC-DXR, operated by the Madrid-based Fundación Infante de Orleans.

The prototype HA-200 fi rst fl ew on August 12, 1955, the design of the twin 880lb- thrust Turboméca Marboré IIA-powered trainer having been supervised by none other than Professor Willy Messerschmitt. Licence production was undertaken in Egypt, 90 being built at the Helwan factory. In December 1967, the Spanish government ordered 25 examples of the single-seat ground-attack HA-220, fi tted with two 1,058lb-thrust

Marboré VI engines, and featuring increased fuel capacity, self-sealing fuel tanks, and armour plating. Based in the Canary Islands, the HA-220s were used against Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguia El-Hamra y Rio de Oro (Polisario) guerillas in the Spanish Sahara. The last Saetas were withdrawn from use in 1981.

The FACV also operates two CASA Jungmanns, an Aisa I-11B Vespa trainer, EC-BUB, and T-6 Texan EC-HYY.

AMONG THE UNUSUAL aircraft

hauling skydivers aloft during

the 2005 World Free Fall

Convention at Rantoul, Illinois,

in mid-August, was Aviation

Traders ATL.98 Carvair N89FA/ G-ASHZ, one of only two active

survivors of this British Douglas

DC-4 conversion. It was the

fi rst time that parachute drops

had ever been made from a

Carvair, the machine, which is

named Fat Annie, carrying 80

skydivers per mission. The aeroplane is owned by

Dick Zerbe, and operated by

Gator Global Flying Services,

based at Sherman-Grayson

County Airport, 60 miles north

of Dallas in Texas. Originally

built for the USAAF as a

Douglas C-54B in January

1945, the propliner fl ew with

Western Airlines after the war,

and then fl ew with several

operators in Peru before being

acquired by Aviation Traders in

October 1962 for conversion to

a car ferry/passenger

confi guration. It made its fi rst

fl ight as a Carvair on June 8,

1963, and served with British

European Air Ferries for many

years. In June 1979 the

Carvair went to the USA, and

was operated by various cargo

airlines, but saw little service

from the mid-1990s until being

bought by Zerbe in 2003. The

machine is now predominantly

tasked with fl ying parts for the

automotive industry.

ON NOVEMBER 2 at the RAF

Club in London, a Hawker

Hurricane sculpture was

presented to Sqn Ldr Janine

Burton, CO of 504 Sqn, by

Anne Holmes, the widow of

504 Sqn Battle of Britain pilot

Sgt Ray Holmes. The sculpture

is made from the remains of

Hurricane Mk I P2725, in

which Ray famously rammed a

Dornier 17 that was heading

towards Buckingham Palace

on September 15, 1940. Identical examples of this

unique part of wartime history

are now available. Contact

www.tmb-art-metal.com.

News




Saeta debuts in Spain

ABOVE Hispano HA-220 EC-DXJ approaching its new home airfi eld at Manises airport, Valencia, on October 16.

CARVAIR DROPS OFF PASSENGERS

ABOVE A crocodile of eager parachutists boarding Carvair N89FA for a unique skydiving experience at Rantoul, Illinois.

HURRI SCULPTURE GOES TO 504 SQN

ABOVE Anne Holmes presents the sculpture to Sqn Ldr Janine Burton at the RAF Club on November 2.

MA

RK MELTZER

MIG

UEL A

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Mozzie moving along

ABOVE At Ardmore airfi eld in Auckland, New Zealand, de Havilland Mosquito FB.26 KA114, destined for Jerry Yagen’s Fighter Factory, based at Norfolk, Virginia,is progressing well on its rebuild to fl y with Avspecs Ltd. The refurbished cockpit canopy was fi tted to the Glyn Powell-built fuselage during October, and current wants for the project include a Canadian-made P8 or P11 compass. If you can help, contact Avspecs at PO Box 118, Beachlands, Auckland 1705, NZ.

WA

RREN D

ENH

OLM

AT AUBURN-LEWISTON Airport

in Maine, Maurice Roundy, the

owner of three of the world’s

four surviving Lockheed

L-1649 Starliners, has fi nally

found a willing buyer for the

aircraft after many years of

trying, reports Tom Singfi eld.The new owner, a developer

from Florida, will pay Maurice

to oversee the restoration of

the aircraft so that at least one

will be restored to airworthy

condition for use on the

airshow circuit in the USA.The three aircraft involved

are N7316C, N8083H, which

are both at Auburn-Lewiston

(right), and N974R, which is

currently on a fi ve-year loan to

Kermit Weeks’s Fantasy of

Flight Museum at Polk City in

Florida. It is likely that N7316C

will be restored to airworthy

status, as N8083H is in poorer

condition, with corrosion in the

wings, and may end up as a

spares machine. N7316C was bought and

rescued by Roundy from

Stewart Airport, New York, in

1983 after six years of

inactivity, and fl own to his base

at Auburn-Lewiston during

November 1983. It has

remained parked ever since.N8083H had been modifi ed

in Arizona in the 1970s for the

aerial dropping of bales of

marijuana, but despite these

illegal activities it survived and

was eventually bought by

Roundy and retrieved from

Honduras in June 1986. The

two Auburn-Lewiston aircraft

were originally part of a 25-

aeroplane order by TWA and

were delivered in 1957.

Converted to freighters by

Lockheed Air Service during

1960–61, they remained with

TWA until they were sold in

1962, and continued in service

with various operators in the

USA until they became too

expensive and complicated

to operate. The Polk City aeroplane,

N974R, was delivered to

Lufthansa as a “Super Star” in 1957, registered D-ALAN. It later fl ew in freight

STARLINER TO SHINE


� THE FEDERAL Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing several changes to airshow regulations in the USA, including a rule which would require fl ightpaths during airshows to be ”in one direction only”. The regulation will apply to displays fl own below 1,000ft. The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is arguing to have the proposal dropped.

� THE VULCAN to the Sky campaign reports that recent non-destructive testing on Avro Vulcan XH558 with deep X-ray equipment at Bruntingthorpe has proved successful, and restoration work is continuing.

News in Brief



confi guration, and was sitting

on the ramp at Fort

Lauderdale, Florida, when

Roundy acquired it in 1985.Following restoration work it

was planned to fl y the aircraft

north to Maine, but ferry fl ights

had to be aborted twice due to

recurring technical problems,

and N974R sat at Sanford

Airport, Florida, from September

1988 until it was ferried out to

Polk City by the well-known

Constellation pilot, Captain

Frank Lang, in October 2001.Trading as Maine Coast

Airways, Roundy has amassed

a considerable hoard of

Starliner spares at his home,

which is adjacent to the

runway at Auburn-Lewiston. It is estimated that two years

work and $1·5million will be

needed to get it fl ying. The

other surviving Starliner, c/n

1042, ZS-DVJ, is preserved at

the South African Airways

Museum in Johannesburg.

Wheels up for Flug Werk FW 190A-8/NAT MANCHING in Bavaria, during October, test pilot Horst Philipp made the fi rst airborne undercarriage retraction test on Flug Werk’s fi rst new-build FW 190A-8, D-FWWC, giving

photographers the chance to capture the classic “Butcher Bird” profi le in the air for the fi rst time in 60 years. The lower undercarriage doors have still not been fi tted, but once they are in place the

high-speed regime of the machine will be explored. Flug Werk has now sold all 16 new-build FW 190 kits, and is working on an FW 190D-9 variant powered by an Allison V-1710 engine.

PHO

TOG

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S VIA FLUG W

ERK

TOM

SING

FIELD

News




REGISTER REVIEWCompiled by Mike HooksONE OF THE latest UK register

additions is a Canadian-built

Hurricane X, G-HRLO, ex

RCAF 5403, with only 466

airframe hours during service

between 7.42 and 6.47. It is

with Hawker restorations at

Ipswich. A new Spitfi re is

G-CDPM, but don’t get

carried away, it is a Jurca

scale homebuilt! Three

Gazelles are G-CDNL, ’DNO

and ’DNS, respectively ex

XX370, XX432 and XZ321, J-3C Cub G-RRSR is ex

N1315V/44-80609. Eastern

Airways has Jetstream 41s

G-MAJP and ’AJT ex N550HK

and N551HK. Welcome restorations are

Morane-Saulnier MS.230G-AVEB after several years as

N230EB, and Gnat G-NATY, cancelled by the CAA in 8.02.

Cancellations are Jodel D.112 G-BPFD as destroyed

but may recover from an

undercarriage collapse, Bulldog G-CBBU/XX711

remains unconverted and

Yak-52 G-YAMS (accident

C-GSAL ex N118CB awaits

Icelandic marks.A Swiss import, marks not

yet known, is CASA

Jungmann N551BU/E3B-

551 while a loss is Jurca

Spitfi re HB-YIZ, written off on 20.8.05. Sokol HB-TAP

and Praga HB-UAD, cancelled in .04, are stored

with airworthy Sokol OK-CSR

in the Czech Republic. In Canada, Sea Fury T.20

C-FGAT is ex CF-GAT/N1324/N58SF/Iraqi 324 while Dove

LV-LES is derelict at La Plata, Argentina.

British Yak-52s now in

Australia are VH-ULT ex G-CBLI and VH-MHH ex G-YAKS.

Air Memphis has changed

its Boeing 707-379C from

5X-GLA to 5X-EOT. It had

formerly been 5X-JEF/9G-WON/9G-OLF/ST-GLD/ 5X-JEF/G-AWHU/VN8341/ 9Q-CKI/G-AWHU/N762U!� We are indebted to Air-

Britain News for much of the

above information

in 12.04). Tiger Moth

G-AMTV was substantially

damaged at Oaksey Park on

9.8.05, and we now know that

Druine Turbulent G-ASPU

became VH-UVW.A French vintage register

addition is Stearman F-AZSZ

ex N5367N/42-17496. A pair

of Stampes have changed

marks; SV.4 F-BDBP is now

F-PDBP and Lycoming-engined

SV-4L F-BGIM is similarly

F-PGIM. Nothing is known of Yak-3 F-WQVI, seen at Dijon.

In Holland, Friendship

PH-FHF for the Fokker Heritage

Flight at Lelystad was formerly

VH-NLS/ZK-NAH/PH-FSF/EI-AKA/PH-FAA. Early Birds, also at Lelystad, have

registered Sopwith Type

9901 replica PH-SOP, while a

casualty is Denim Air’s Metro

PH-DYM, badly damaged in

an undercarriage collapse at

Rotterdam on 19.9.05. The only item to report from

Germany is cancellation of Grob G.520 Egrett D-FSTN

to USA as N520EG — this high-

altitude research aircraft has

been resident there since 9.97.Scandinavia has several

changes; restored in Swedish

air force colours is Klemm

Kl 35D SE-BPU which did not

take up former marks SE-BPO, and reservations include

Silvaire SE-AZL ex ZS-BVZ/NC2577K and Harvard

SE-FUD ex Fv16068/FE752/ 42-949. Former air force

Bulldogs SE-LNE, ’LNG and

’LNL have gone to USA as

N8267E, N82696 and N8272R

while an addition is Saab

Safari SE-XUY.Finnish ATR.72 sales to

Estonia are OH-KRB to ES-KRB

and OH-KRD, ’E, ’F, ’H, ’K and

’L which also retain their

former last three letters after

the Estonian prefi x. Metro

OH-ADA has become N104EM. In Denmark, ATR.72 OY-CIP

has been sold as SE-LVK and

Nord 262A OY-AVA emerged

from storage since 12.03 for

sale as 9Q-CBA. A casualty

was Christen Opus OY-CYZ, which was written off on

23.8.05 in the Furka Pass

area of Switzerland.Air Atlanta Icelandic’s

Douglas R4D-1 TF-AVN, being worked on at Shannon

as ZS-MRU prior to delivery

was formerly N234Z/HZ-TA3/N234Z/N1699M/N69D/C-900/BuA4703, while Helio Courier

ABOVE A restoration after nine years in the USA as N230EB is Morane-Saulnier MS.230 G-AVEB, seen here landing at Booker soon after its arrival in 1967. It was originally F-BGJT.LEFT Seen in August 1993 at Bournemouth, Gnat G-NATY/ XR537 in Red Arrows colours has just been restored.LEFT As reported last month Tiger Moth G-ACDJ, seen at Croydon in the 1950s, was lost in a fatal crash near Henley-on-Thames on August 18, 2005.

ABOVE LEFT The fi rst of six Friendships for Aer Lingus was EI-AKA,registered in 9.57. It served for six years before returning to Holland as PH-FSF and later went to New Zealand. It is now restored as PH-FHF for the Fokker Heritage Flight.LEFT This Camel replica, representing Capt Roy Brown’s aircraft, was under conversion at Lelystad in 11.03 — it may be the recently-registered Sopwith replica PH-SOP.LEFT Metro PH-DYM was damaged at Rotterdam on 19.9.05 with Denim Air.

MIK

E H

OO

KS P

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DOUGLAS DC-3 ZS-MRU arrived at Shannon airport on November 9 from its previous base at Wonder-boom airport in Pretoria, South Africa. The Dakota will be wintering in the UK before fl ying on to Iceland, where it is destined to become TF-AVN with new owners, Air Atlanta. The machine will be operated on airshow, sightseeing and fi lm work.

Built in 1942 as a Douglas R4D-1, the Dak fl ew with the US Navy during the war years. The transport was operated by several well-known companies post-war, fl ying with the Dow Chemical Company from 1948–51, and with Pennzoil from 1963–71. In 1979 it became a VIP aircraft in Saudi Arabia, for the use of Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, fl ying for the Prince for eight years. It had been fl own by most recent operators, Wonderair, for the past 25

years,and now has some 20,400hr on the clock. When it arrives in Iceland, the machine will be fi tted with

de-icing boots. Iceland already has one fl ying “heritage” DC-3, in the shape of Icelandair’s

DAK TRANSITS TO ICELAND




Lost & Found

I AM SEEKING further

enlightenment regarding the

apparently tragic accident

depicted in the accom-

panying snapshots, which

were attached to an album

page I bought quite some

years ago. Notes on the page itself

record that the images of the

intact aircraft depict “Flt Lt

Hill’s ’plane” at the public

schools camp at Marlbor-

ough, Wiltshire, in 1928

“after demonstration to

boys”, and the shots of the

wreckage are captioned “The

’plane 5 minutes after take-

off”. A check of the serial

listings reveals that Avro

504N J8747 of No 1 Flying

Training School, RAF

Marlborough mishapNetheravon, crashed at

Marlborough on July 31, 1928.During and after the First

World War it was common

practice for “Old Boys” who

had become Service pilots to

“drop in” on their Alma Mater

to encourage recruitment. Thus

it is not unusual to fi nd snaps

of aeroplanes surrounded by

excited and inquisitive school-

boys. Apparently this was one

such visit that went tragically

wrong. It appears that Flt Lt

Hill, having given a fl ying

display to the cadets at the

school camp, was making his

departure when disaster struck; I would be pleased to learn

more about the circumstances, and whether Hill survived.

PHILIP JARRETT

ABOVE Avro 504N J8747 before its crash at Marlborough on July 31, 1928, and RIGHT afterwards. The accident possibly claimed the life of Flt Lt Hill of Netheravon-based No 1 FTS — does anyone know more about the circumstances?

TF-NPK, which was one of the stars of the Flying Legends show at Duxford in July 2005.

ABOVE A superb juxtaposition of two Douglas Commercials. DC-3 ZS-MRU sits at Shannon as a DC-8 comes in to land.

GEO

RGE N

ORM

AN

News Feature


THE SEA FURY KINGS

ON MAY 24, 2005, Brian Sanders roared aloft in Hawker Sea Fury T Mk 20S WG655/N20MD from Eagle’s Field, Ione, California. On July 14, 1990, this aircraft was being operated by the Royal Navy Historic fl ight (RNHF) from RNAS Yeovilton, in the hands of its regular pilot, John Beattie, when problems began to develop with the aircraft’s Bristol Centaurus sleeve-valve radial engine.

Realising he was not going to make it back to base, John elected for a gear-up landing in a farm fi eld, and, as the Sea Fury slid along on its belly, it unluckily hit the only tree

in the fi eld, breaking the aircraft in two (see September 1990 Aeroplane).

After service with the Royal Navy (RN), this machine had operated as D-CACU in West Germany, where it was used as a dual-control trainer for pilots fl ying Sea Furies operated by the Federal Republic as target tugs. In 1976, the aircraft was donated to the RNHF, and became a popular performer at airshows in the UK.

After the accident, the remains were inspected, deemed non-repairable and put up for disposal. The wreck initially went

to New Zealand where the wing-folding mechanism was fi tted to Fury FB Mk 10 ZK-SFR.

Chuck Greenhill, who houses his fi ne collection of aircraft at Kenosha, Wisconsin, has always had an interest in aircraft with naval connections. He purchased the remains and had them transported to Kenosha, where Tim McCarter and his crew went to work. After thousands of man-hours, the aircraft once again began to look like a Sea Fury, but with other projects in the hangar it was decided to ship the aircraft to the “Ione Sea Fury Kings” for completion.

The Sea Fury was one of the last piston-engined propeller-driven fi ghters, and as the British government had always enjoyed success in selling aeroplanes to the Middle East, Hawker Aircraft Ltd was negotiating an order for Furies for Iraq, which stated that it would also need a trainer variant to ease transition to the high-powered single-seat fi ghter. A contract was issued to create four dual-control Sea Furies. The fi rst machine on the Iraqi contract was completed to an Admiralty Standard of Preparation and was allotted the Royal Navy serial VX818.

This aircraft made its fi rst fl ight on January 15, 1948, from Langley, and was delivered to Boscombe Down for developmental test fl ying. It was initially fi tted with two separate fi ghter-style canopies, but the rear canopy collapsed at high speed, so a Plexiglas tunnel was added to connect the unit. The Royal Navy ordered 60 production T Mk 20s and deliveries started in mid-1950, concluding in March 1952.

In 1996, Ruth, Dennis and Brian Sanders established a new base at Eagle’s Nest, Ione, California. Their long-time base at Chino Airport was

The small town of Ione in northern California can legitmately

claim to be the modern home of Hawker’s mighty Sea Fury, one

of the fastest single-engined prop-driven fi ghters of all time.

MICHAEL O’LEARY visits “Sea Fury Central” and talks to Brian

and Dennis Sanders, leading lights of this unique community



S E A F U R Y S P E C I A L I S T S

MAIN PICTURE The dazzling colour scheme of Mike Brown’s Sea Fury T Mk 20 September Pops includes a bomb-delivering stork.OPPOSITE PAGE The Sanders’ Sea Fury FB Mk 11 TG114, Argonaut, at Ione, California. Note the “smokewinders” on the wingtips.ABOVE The Sea Fury kings — Dennis (left) and Brian Sanders at Ione in May 2005, standing beside Chuck Greenhill’s example.RIGHT Chuck Greenhill’s Sea Fury T Mk 20 WG655/N20MD in the hangar at Ione. It will be painted in an RN training scheme.

ALL PH

OTO

GRA

PHS BY M

ICHA

EL O’LEA

RY

News Feature


closed down and truck-loads of parts were taken to Ione while the various aircraft were established in a new hangar.

Even though Dennis and Brian grew up in an aviation family, it did not necessarily follow that they would be attracted to aircraft. Brian Sanders, who now has more than 1,000hr on Sea Furies, explains: “I remember back in 1970, Dad [Frank Sanders] pulled up at our home in Tustin with a Sea Fury loaded on the back of his truck. Dennis and I were heavily into building model aircraft back then and we thought it was pretty cool to have a Sea Fury in the garage.”

Brian and Dennis continued with their model building, but they also started doing a few tasks on the rebuild of Frank’s Sea Fury. “As a teenager, I thought it would be a pretty neat thing to learn how to fl y”, says Brian. “However, I also thought it would take a lot of effort and might be a fairly lofty goal. When I learned how to drive, I got a VW and pretty much drove it into the ground. The car needed a lot of work and Dad made me a deal: he would buy the parts, I would have to do the work and I would have to do it in his hangar which was now at Chino Airport. Dennis was already out there and starting on his fl ying, occasionally skipping classes so he could be at the airport. Dennis rebuilt a Luscombe 8A in which he learned to fl y, and then offered me a half-share and away I went. It was neat that we had our own aircraft, not one of Dad’s!”

Dennis was building up his hours and Brian was doing the same — there was a big temptation in the form of a Sea Fury parked in the hangar. “Dennis started fl ying the Sea Fury well before I did,” says Brian. “When I approached

Dad on the subject, he told me I had to get an instrument rating and a commercial rating. Since some of my friends, like Jim Maloney and Steve Hinton, were fl ying all sorts of neat stuff and did not yet have those ratings, I didn’t see the logic, but in the long run it made a lot of sense. Dennis and I bought a Beech AT-11 and started to build up multi-engined time. I got my instrument rating in a Beech T-34 Mentor and the commercial in Elmer Ward’s Cessna 185. Also, I got about 20hr in a variety of T-6s. Lloyd Hamilton had purchased a T Mk 20S registered N924G and brought it to Chino so Dad could install [Convair] F-102 wheels and brakes. One thing led to another and Dad bought N924G and sold his original Sea Fury. We now had a dual-control Sea Fury — and we were pretty excited!

“I went up with Dad and when we returned I could tell he was disappointed with my performance. I thought it over quite a bit and convinced myself that I could fl y the Sea Fury and

ABOVE Both regular participants in the National Championship Air Races at Reno, Sea Furies N20SF Dreadnought and N19SF Argonaut are an integral part of Sanders Aviation at Ione.

ABOVE Sea Fury T Mk 20S VX300/N924G, minus its Bristol Centaurus engine, nearing the end of its second restoration at Ione. LEFT Using non-airworthy parts, a unique Sea Fury “windsock” is being constructed at Ione. The completed construction will be painted and mounted on a freewheeling gimbal to indicate wind direction.



S E A F U R Y S P E C I A L I S T S

fl y it well. We went out a couple more times, and both of us could tell that all was going well. I did not fear the aircraft — but I certainly respected it.”

Dennis and Brian have both become highly-regarded air race and airshow pilots, giving thrilling performances in a variety of Sea Furies. They have also become the acknowledged experts on anything Sea Fury. Over the years, they have restored, modifi ed, or repaired more than a dozen of the big Hawker fi ghters. As a point of interest, Ione is now home to ten Sea Furies — including fi ve T Mk 20s.

When asked if he had a favourite Sea Fury, Brian thought long and hard. “I guess it would have to be N924G — it’s just hard to beat a Centaurus. That Bristol is a wonderful powerplant. [Sea Fury FB Mk 11] Argonaut is second and would be fi rst if it had the ease of the Centaurus.”

Brian raced T Mk 20 NX20SF Dreadnought at Reno 2005 and came in second behind John Penney in highly-modifi ed

Grumman F8F N777L Rare Bear. Because of business commitments, Dennis handed over the keys to Argonaut to Matt Jackson, who placed third in the Unlimited Gold race.

Mike Brown’s modifi ed September Fury single-seater, which had been perfectly groomed for Reno, suffered an engine failure taking off from Ione for Reno, but he got the aircraft back on the ground and a new fuel-injected Wright R-3350 engine is being prepared for Reno 2006. Dan Vance fl ew Mike’s T Mk 20, N233MB September Pops, to sixth place in the Unlimited Gold. Both Dennis and Brian acknowledge that the warbird movement is growing, along with the Sea Fury population. “Who would have thought that we would see nearly two dozen airworthy Sea Furies?”, comments Brian.

Along with other restoration projects, the brothers have three Sea Fury projects for sale, so one could say that in its own way, Eagle’s Nest has become a little corner of England!

ABOVE Mike Brown’s other Sea Fury, the modifi ed N232MB, September Fury, also sports a distinctive scheme and has a profi led wing, a process popular with racers to smooth the aerofoil and remove manufacturing fl aws. LEFT Chuck Greenhill’s Sea Fury aloft after its fi rst post-restoration fl ight on May 24, 2005.

ABOVE Welsh boarder — Sea Fury T Mk 20S VX281/N281L Dragon of Cymru is also kept in storage at Ione. This Centaurus-engined example was previously D-CACO in West Germany, before moving to the UK as G-BCOW. It then went to the USA to become N8476W and, later, N281L.

FOCKE-WULF FW190D:Camouflage &

Markings. Part 1by Deboeck et al

32 colour profiles. 2 colour 4 views. Many colour & b/w

diagrams and drawings.35 colour & 175 b/w photos.

208 pages. Lam. hbk . . . . £27.95

50 YEARS OF THE U-2:The Complete

Illustrated History ofthe "Dragon Lady"

by Chris Pocock

From development in the1950's to surveillance missions

over Iraq. Maps/diagrams. 258 b/w & 191 colour photos.

440 pages. Hardback . . . £55.00

WINGS ACROSS THEBORDER: A History of

Aviation in North Walesand the Northern

Marches. Volume IIIby Pratt & Grant

Covers the period 1940/1.Maps/diagrams. B/W photos.

256 pages. Softback . . . £19.99

AVRO ONE:Autobiography of a

Chief Test Pilotby J A Robinson

The author joined BritishAerospace in 1978 and became

their chief test pilot in 1981.72 b/w photos.

144 pages. Softback . . . . £12.95

A VIEW FROM THEOFFICE

by R W Pottinger

An account of six yearsservice during WW2 from

conscripted infantryman tocommissioned fighter pilot.

86 b/w photos. 284 pages. Hardback . . . . . . . . . . . . £12.50

Our latest Aviation catalogue (70) is available: call 01455 254 470 for your free copy.

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SOVIET SECRETPROJECTS: Vol. 2Fighters SInce 1945by Buttler & Gordon

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RED ARROWSby Richard Baker

The author spent a yearfollowing and interviewing theRed Arrows to produce thishighly illustrated portrait ofthe team. Diagrams. Colour3-view. 152 colour photos.

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AVRO VULCANby Kev Darling

Detailed, illustrateddevelopment and servicehistory of this V-bomber.Many diagrams. 216 b/w & 34 colour photos. 208 pages.Hardback . . . . . . . . . . . . . £29.95

CARAVELLE:The Complete Storyby John Wegg

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BATTLE OVER THE REICHVolume Two. 1943-1945by Dr Alfred Price

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Contact!Aircraft preservation comment and analysis, with PAUL COGGAN

� PAUL COGGAN

joined the RAF in 1973 in the

trade of air traffi c control.

After various assignments,

including postings to RAF

Wittering, RAF Watton

(Eastern Radar) and then 12

Sqn Operations at RAF

Lossiemouth, he resigned

from the RAF in 1986 to

start his own publishing

company. He has been

researching and writing

about warbirds for almost

30 years.

MICH

AEL O

’LEARY

� LOOKING BACK on the massive numbers of World War Two surplus airframes immediately after the confl ict it is very diffi cult to ponder just why so few survived. The answer is really quite simple — sheer numbers and the massive logistical problems they created. In the past few years the huge freshwater lakes in the USA have yielded some magnifi cent treasure, the latest of which is a remark-ably intact North American B-25C, 41-12634, that was ditched in Lake Murray, South Carolina, on April 4, 1943 (see News, December 2005 Aeroplane). For me it adds to the irony of the destruction of so many perfect examples all those years ago when the problem of aircraft storage was so tangible. Immediately after World War Two there were some 57 giant surplus aircraft storage, sales and salvage fi elds dedicated to the dispersal of so many airframes.

� SERIOUS STUDENTS of aviation history will undoubt-edly have at least one book by the truly legendary William T. Larkins in their collection. Born in Bakersfi eld, Califor-nia, in March 1922, Bill graduated from the University of San Francisco in 1943. Also a graduate of the United States Army Air Force Photography School at Lowry Field he spent three years in the California Air National Guard, and then 31 years as an audio-visual specialist at the University of Berkeley, California. Add to this his prolifi c work rate and massive archive of historic military aircraft photographs, just a portion of which has appeared in print over the years (much of it with the American Aviation Historical Society Journal, of which Bill is the founder) and you start to get an idea of his standing. Importantly then, his latest work, Surplus WWII US Aircraft, documents, for the fi rst time, the total distribution of such aircraft, showing the enormous salvaging and scrapping operations and some of the air-craft that survived to fl y on. This involved a quarter of a million airframes. The 224-page book also covers the most famous “yards” at Kingman, Arizona, and Ontario, Cali-fornia, plus surplus aircraft management, approved and limited-type certifi cates, all the salvage sites, price lists for surplus aircraft and a lot of other unpublished information

plus more than 300 photographs. Never one to rest on his laurels, Bill is still very active in the historic aviation fi eld, still writing articles and new books. He also maintains more than 30 active discussion groups on the internet. Surplus WWII US Aircraft is published this month and will no doubt appear on the Christmas wish lists of many Aeroplane readers!

� I READ WITH utter dismay of the potential effect of the new Mandatory Permit Directive (MPD) on the growing UK population of jet warbirds (see News, December 2005 Aeroplane). For many years jet operators in the UK have striven to improve standards and generally “raise their game” to operate the latest generation of warbirds effi -ciently and safely. They at least deserve some recognition for this, not an across-the-board penalty and the potential ogre of further restrictions. While we are all interested in seeing classic jet shapes in the sky for the future, it seems that some individuals in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are hell-bent on preventing activity.

� ONE OF THE aircraft cited in the MPD was the Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros, one of the very jets that is seeing a massive increase in activity in the USA, and has even appeared in smaller numbers in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The training and technical support available for this aircraft is formidable, with several dedicated L-39 operations offering top-level professional training that will see the type being operated more effi ciently and more professionally as more pilots are checked out on the type. Despite major activity in the USA, the type has not caught on to the same extent in the UK, although there is evidence of a greater take-up in main-land Europe. I am still at a loss as to why an activity that clearly has paid its way in terms of clawing in fees for the CAA continues to be leaned on to an unfair extent. Hope-fully the far-reaching investigation promised by the Commons Transport Select Committee into the CAA may give us some answers.

This month Paul ponders why so few of the hundreds of thousands of aircraft declared

surplus in the wake of World War Two survived as warbirds, looks at a valuable new resource

on the subject of surplus airframes, and laments the CAA’s latest plans for jet warbirds

RIGHT An increasingly popular modern warbird on the classic and vintage scene, particularly in the USA, is the Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros. This immaculate example, NX139RT, is operated by Jay Gordon from Bowman Field, near Louisville, Kentucky.


July 2005 issue. As a Lightning fi xer

(yer ’umble rigger) of some years

standing I can claim a little knowledge

of the beast. My knuckles, wrists and

arms still bear many scars infl icted by

locking wire and a myriad sharp

edges, set in close proximity,

everywhere within its carcase.

Mr David Willis has written a worthy

potted history (pages 47–50) but has

sadly omitted any mention of the fi rst

Lightning-equipped unit I served with.

I joined 29(F) Squadron at RAF

Wattisham in 1973 and served in the

company of a host of admirable

people until disbandment, which was,

I believe, in 1975.

No 29 Squadron was equipped

with the F.3 version, as was 111

Squadron which shared the location at

that time. Both squadrons were

“disbanded” to be re-equipped with a

rather peculiar-looking American

machine — with many (2) seats; one

for a WASO (whatever he might be)

who perched to the rear of the pilot.

But I digress.

No 29 Squadron was a very

effi cient unit which earned the Dacre

Trophy in 1975, ironically just before

disbandment. My part in gaining

this highly-esteemed award was

minimal, probably in draining and

cleaning of drip trays and “desert

lilies” (drain cans). These were a

permanent feature of life with the

Lightning — which hardly every

leaked, except for Avtur, which

doesn’t count really!

Mr Willis is absolutely correct

concerning the level of skill and

knowledge required by aircraft

tradesmen fettling the Lightning. I

moved from 229 OCU at Chivenor

where there were Hunters by the

dozen and more. It took a month’s

course at BAC Warton to give me some

idea as to how the Lightning

functioned and where all its gubbins

were located.

A cheery hello to any Twentyniners

(or Fiftysixers — my next squadron)

who might get to read this drivel. I

have many happy memories of life

on a Lightning squadron despite the

many vicissitudes that frequently

“spoilt our day”.

JOHN NORRISKidwelly, Carmarthenshire

An arm and a legSIR — On August 21, 2005 I, my wife

and two friends went to the Moth Club

meeting at Woburn, an event we have

enjoyed for the last 20 years. As ever,

the meeting was delightful.

For years the entrance fee has been

£3 or £5 per car including all

passengers. In 2004 we were a little

surprised at having to pay £5 for each

person. In 2005 it became £15 per

person! I appreciate that it was a

special meeting and it was marvellous

to see so many members of the Vintage

Sports Car Club present, and indeed the

sight of the Vimy.

Traditionally I pay the entrance fee;

however, £60 made a hole in my

state pension! I’m sure many regular

visitors also felt that the charge was

rather excessive.

I do believe that it is not the D.H. Moth

Club but rather the Woburn Estates that

dictate the price. I know one might

compare the prices with the British

Grand Prix and other events. However, I

would be interested in your thoughts.

RAYMOND WILLDAYMollington, Banbury, Oxon

The Moth Club replies:Woburn Abbey administration advised

me early in the year that they were

instituting new entrance charges for

the August de Havilland Moth Club

Rally. Instead of asking whether

visitors would care to buy entrance

tickets to view the Abbey, their decision

was to add the normal fee for this to

their revised gate charges (£10 per

person on Saturday and £15 per

person on Sunday), offering no choice.

Woburn did offer discounts for pre-

booking, for parties arriving by coach,

to members of the de Havilland Moth

Club and to the Vintage Sports Car Club

who joined the celebrations on Sunday.

The de Havilland Moth Club did not

agree with the new charges as the

Rally Organising Group believed it

would deter members of the public

from attending and also refl ect badly

on the Club. However, Woburn

maintained their stance which,

post event, they consider to have

been justifi ed.

STUART MCKAYSecretary, de Havilland Moth Clubvia e-mail

B-29 at TangmereSIR — Thank you for another fi ne

Database article, about the B-29

(September Aeroplane). During the

summer/autumn of 1948, one of these

aircraft made an emergency landing at

RAF Tangmere with one of its four

engines giving trouble. It had been en

route from the Azores and had been

gently but fi rmly persuaded not to

attempt a landing at Shoreham by Doug

Worthington on our VHF homer. Named

This is it! (serial number not recorded), it

stood in a little-used corner of the

airfi eld, while a spare engine was fl own

in by a C-47 to replace the faulty one.

My work as a ground radar mechanic

took me on a daily tour of our largely

unused navigational beacons, so I was

able to stop and inspect this impressive

piece of engineering. Surprisingly, I was

invited aboard by one of the mechanics

(who had just dropped a spanner from

wing height and, thereby, gave me an

addition to my range of expletives!) and

was allowed 20min or so, marvelling at

the complexity of everything on view. A

crawl through the tunnel over the bomb

bay took me to the cockpit, where the

view through the acre of Plexiglas made

me wish to be aloft.

I went on leave soon afterwards and,

on my return, the big bird had fl own.

Not much seemed to be known about

its departure but Tangmere’s main

runway had not been lengthened (as

per Britain’s Stopgap Bomber) to

accommodate it. Had it been fully laden

with fuel and explosives, that would

probably have been a different story.

Your consistently varied, interesting

and authoritative magazine delights me

every month.

DAVID MILESLangstone, Havant, Hants

Lightning fi xerSIR — As an avid reader of Aeroplane

since long before it became a monthly

periodical, I was delighted to see the

English Electric Lightning given your

in-depth Database treatment in the

SEWELL

“It doesn’t get much better than this . . .”


often fl own by Lt Peter McDermott

during 1942. My slides show our

Airacobra with part of the serial 219,

on the tail — but, more remarkably,

with the name “Lt McDermott”

stencilled on the port side just under

the windscreen. My photograph was

indeed that of the restored Airacobra in

the magazine article!

I have enlcosed two of the

photographs: one of the aircraft as a

whole with myself in the cockpit (and

friend in the front bay) and another an

enlargement of the pilot’s name below

the windscreen.

STEWART MADDIGANArmadale, Western Australia

Credit where it’s dueSIR — Many thanks for publishing the

article about “our” Halifax, NA337 (June

Aeroplane). Rod Clarke wrote a great

Lightning test pilotSIR —The interesting Database article

on the English Electric Lightning in your

July edition mentions a move of P.1A

WG760 to Boscombe Down in

November 1957 “to begin Service pilot

preview handling trials”.

Not so. The preview handling trials on

the P.1A were done on WG760 at

A&AEE in March 1955 by me and by Flt

Lt Ray Kinder. We had both been deeply

immersed in the Swift test programme

over the previous 15 months, and the

excellent handling and performance

qualities of the P.1A provided a

memorable uplift to the spirits.

WG760 did go to A&AEE in late 1957,

to provide supersonic experience for “A”

Squadron pilots in preparation for their

connection with the P.1B and Lightning

Development Batch trials.

AIR CDRE P.D.THORNE OBE AFC & 2 BARS FRAeS RAF (Retd)Haslingfi eld, Cambridge

A ’Cobra in the jungleSIR — Early last year, I was reading

with interest the article Duxford’s New

Airacobra (News, September 2004

Aeroplane), when I noticed that the

Airacobra in the article was recovered

from Tadji, a remote wartime airstrip on

the north coast of Papua New Guinea

(PNG). A distant memory stirred in the

back of my mind and, after cross-

referencing with my logbook, I found an

amazing coincidence.

In early 1970, as a new Flight Service

Offi cer with the then Department of Civil

Aviation, and with a brand new

Commercial Pilot’s Licence, I was posted

to PNG and, towards the end of that

year, to Wewak on the north-west coast.

Throughout my time in Wewak I did a

lot of part-time cargo fl ying which

generated many exciting stories, but

that’s for another time. On August 8,

1971, I took three friends for a run up

the coast in an old C-182, VH-BVE.

While overfl ying Tadji, an old World War

Two airfi eld, one of my friends noticed a

number of what appeared to be aircraft

wrecks sitting in a clearing in the jungle

to the north of the airfi eld. We decided

to land and investigate.

The fi rst bit of excitement of the visit

was on touchdown on the grass runway

when a huge clatter erupted from the

undercarriage and we all thought we

had broken something; but it turned to

be the Marsden Matting left from the

war years and now hidden in the grass.

We gathered our shattered confi dence

and set off, through the jungle, for the

clearing we had seen from the air.

We found a number of old World War

Two aircraft, including an Airacobra, in

various states of disrepair but all

remarkably preserved for 1971, with

the structure complete and many sitting

on their undercarriage. We spent an

enjoyable afternoon exploring the

ghosts of the past, took a number of

photographs and returned to Wewak,

never imagining the value the airframes

would eventually acquire when returned

to warbird status in the years to come.

It was after reading the magazine

article last year that I returned to my old

slides and pulled out the ones

particularly to do with the Airacobra we

had found in the jungle 33 years earlier.

The magazine detailed the recovery

and rebuild of Airacobra 42-19993,

Write to: Aeroplane,King’s Reach Tower,Stamford Street, London SE1 9LSor email us at [email protected]

LETTER OF THE MONTH Keeping the Jetstream fl owing

SIR — I would not presume to correct any of your authors on events in which they

were directly involved. This input concerning Harry Fraser-Mitchell’s fi ne article on

Handley Page aircraft in Royal Air Force service (A Lifetime of Service, August

Aeroplane) therefore only concerns the time after the receiver had been called in.

The rights to the Jetstream, the drawings, Type Record, virtually all the

components, (and several complete aircraft) in Final Assembly, and some jigs and

tools, were all purchased by one Bill Bright, who had not been a Handley Page

employee. He formed Jetstream Aircraft Limited and intended basically to

complete and sell only a few aircraft using minimum manpower and further

investment. Up to about fi ve would be pretty straightforward, beyond ten was

unrealistic, but none could be certifi cated unless the fi nalising had the backing of

a CAA Approved Design Authority. Scottish Aviation contracted to supply this

service, but all rights remained with Jetstream Aircraft.

When the possibility of the MoD ordering Jetstreams emerged Scottish Aviation

and Jetstream Aircraft agreed to act together. It was obvious that Jetstream, a

company with virtually no resources, facilities, or track record, would not receive a

production contract, while Scottish would not purchase the assets of Jetstream

without the MoD order.

Two contracts were signed on the same day within minutes, perhaps seconds,

of each other. One was the purchase by Scottish of the Jetstream aircraft rights,

documentation, and all hardware from Jetstream Aircraft, the other was the

Purchase Order from MoD on Scottish for 26 Jetstreams.

The Ministry had known all about the rights and hardware situation and about

the potential contract between Scottish Aviation and Jetstream Aircraft.

I know what happened because at the time I was Technical Director of Scottish

and also, nominated by the CAA, Technical Director of Jetstream.

W. GORDON WATSONNorth Connel, Argyll

Letter of the Month is sponsored by Shepherd Neame’s Spitfi re Ale

Each month, the sender of the letter selected as Letter of the Month wins a generous month’s supply — 36 x 500ml bottles — of Spitfi re Premium Kentish Strong Ale,

originally produced in 1990 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and now one of the UK’s best-known beers

Letter of the Month is sponsored by Shepherd Neame’s Spitfi re Ale

Each month, the sender of the letter selected as Letter of the Month wins a generous month’s supply — 36 x 500ml bottles — of Spitfi re Premium Kentish Strong Ale,

originally produced in 1990 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and now one of the UK’s best-known beers

Write to: Aeroplane, King’s Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS or e-mail us at [email protected]

LEFT Reader Stewart Maddigan in the cockpit of Airacobra 42-19993 (now fl ying with the Fighter Collection at Duxford) on August 8, 1971 .ABOVE The pilot’s name, Lt McDermott, was still visible under the windscreen.




MAIN HEADER NEWS MAINstory; the only completely accurate

account to date, I’m sure.

I thought your layout was superb and

I’m positive that all your readers would

agree. If I may, I would like to set the

record straight with regard to the photo

credits. I was erroneously given credit

for all the photographs.

Sadly, I wasn’t involved with the

project from the beginning, so the

photos at the top left of page 24 were

not mine. Nor were the ones at the top

left and lower left of page 26. The

fantastic high level shot on pages 26–

27 was taken by one of our volunteers,

John Dogger. The three photos at the

top of page 28 were taken by Rod

Clarke. The remainder are mine.

Again, many thanks. All of us involved

with the restoration of Halifax NA337

love to see articles about our project

[and see News and pages 38–39 of this

issue for more — Ed].

DAVE JACKSONNewcastle, Ontario, CanadaPS. The article intro would lead some

to believe that we are “RCAF Memorial

Museum” restoration team members,

but in reality we are “Halifax Aircraft

Association” restoration team members.

Mountain FreighterSIR — I really enjoyed your pictorial

display of the Bristol Freighter (Personal

Album, May Aeroplane) and thought

you might be interested in the

accompanying photograph.

My picture of the Bristol Freighter

was taken shortly after landing on the

fl ats of the Indus River at Skardu in

Baltistan. I was a member of the NZ

Karakoram Expedition which climbed in

the Masherbrum mountains in 1956.

The Pakistanis helped considerably and

the air force had fl own us from Chaklala

(about fi ve miles from Rawalpindi) following the Indus River, with a

stopover at Gilgit to attend a polo match!The fl ight to Skardu in the 1950s was

regarded as the most thrilling and

dangerous in the world. There were no

weather stations, directional radio bea-cons or ground facilities on this route.

The Bristol Freighter had a low service

ceiling but such peaks as Nanga Parbat

and Rakaposhi rise more than 25,000ft,

and soared above as the aircraft zig-zagged through chasms between jagged

peaks on a fl ight that gives even the

hardest traveller a few bad moments.

The photo shows some of our

mountain of gear, with a number of

expedition members and locals.

In 1956 Skardu was little more than a

village, the only vehicles were a few

army jeeps and the presence of

Europeans was a rarity. Nowadays the

area has heavy traffi c compounded by

troop movements to service a camp on

the 18,000ft high Siachen Glacier

where Indian and Pakistani soldiers

have often collided. The extreme

altitude here tests not only the limits of

human endurance, but also the

capability of the helicopter.

I have been a reader of Aeroplane

for a very long time and congratulate

you on the particularly high standard of

the magazine.

RAY CHAPMANChristchurch, New Zealand

I disagree!SIR — However much I venerate

Aeroplane, I must say with regret that I

am totally and implacably in disagree-ment with your editorial in the July issue.

I do not wish to bore (or even enrage) our esteemed Editor by writing a long

and argued contrary case — but any-body with commercial experience can

see that the whole rose-tinted senti-mentality of the British ancient aircraft

“industry” lacks fi nancial realism, to say

nothing of the long list, over the last 15

years or so, of bad prangs followed by

the handing round of the hat again. The

insurance-wallahs have beady eyes, but

they see clearly and no amount of

hand-wringing can alter hard facts.

Sixty years after the end of World War

Two, the proper place for ancient

aircraft is in a purpose-built museum,

especially those presented in your

excellent supplement The Real Warbirds

(June issue). As the years go by, virtual

technology will provide all the nostalgia

of ancient aircraft, without the cost,

discomfort, overcrowding and fatigue

(not to mention the English weather) which “Joe Soap” (that’s me) endures

on the rare occasions that he comes to

the UK. The time has come to rethink

the whole gallimaufry of the ancient

aircraft circus. Or let them fl y replicas.

GERARD CASEYBordeaux, France

[Good to see someone actually reads

my From the Editor bit. Any further

comments, for or against? — Ed]

Foreign visitorsSIR — Your note on the fl ight of Molotov,

the Russian commissar, to Scotland in

1942 (see Information Exchange, July

2005 issue), took me back to that

Sunday morning in the Glasgow centre

of the Royal Observer Corps. On the

0700–1000hr shift we had been

alerted to the arrival of an important

aircraft. Well primed by The Aeroplane

Spotter maga-zine, I discussed the

specifi cation of the aircraft with crews

on our posts as the Tupolev TB-7 was

passed on to us by the Galashiels

network. The aircraft landed safely at

Prestwick and went on to deliver the

notorious politician for talks with

Churchill and his Cabinet. My one major

contribution to the war effort.

About a year earlier my colleagues

had plotted in the Bf 110 piloted by

Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, along a

similar fl ightpath. The RAF would not

believe us because of its limited range.

However the farmers, schoolteachers

and shopkeepers etc on the posts got it

right, as we learned after Hess baled

out and the aircraft crashed near East

Kilbride. A copy of the original plot and

one of the engines of the Bf 110 are

held by the Scottish Museum of Flight

in East Lothian.

ROD CAMPBELLQueensland, Australia

A rare glimpseSIR — The article on the Miles M.52 in

a recent Aeroplane reminded me of a

photograph which I took at Wisley in, I

think, 1966. It appears to be a replica

of the Vickers rocket-powered model

and looks like one those large scale

models to be found on manufacturers’

stands at Farnborough or Le Bourget.

From memory it was fi nished in black

and grey and it is just possible to make

out the transparent plastic stand on

which it was mounted.Very little had

been published on the M.52 at that

ABOVE Bristol Freighter G793 of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (RPAF), photographed by reader Rod Campbell during the 1956 New Zealand Karakoram Expedition. The RPAF ordered 38 Freighter Mk 31Ms for use in the North-west Frontier region.


time and most visitors to the airshow

were totally unaware of the signifi cance

of this exhibit. The Pfalz replica built for

the then recent Blue Max fi lm attracted

far more attention.

MIKE KIRK via e-mail

Another hurrah for HenshawSIR — I read not only of the great pilot’s

donations to the RAF Museum but of his

funding of the construction of a replica

to commemorate the fl ight of the Mew

Gull. What a gesture! On the heels of

his splendid return to the Spitfi re’s

controls at Duxford, Alex has again

underlined the gigantic contribution he

has made to the progress of British

aviation, an experience he has shared

with many through his writings in which

he has brought alive his many

adventures in the air.

Recent and instant public recognition

of Dame Ellen Macarthur on

completing her record-setting solo

sailing trip around the world was well

deserved. It is however worth pointing

out that this was accomplished with the

support of modern technology,

navigational aids and communications

allowing direct contact with her base

team. In addition the feat was under the

constant watch of the media with which

Ellen could share her experiences by

the minute.

All a far cry from Alex Henshaw’s

record-setting solo fl ight to the Cape

and back, 66 years ago. Still a record! Is it not time that our country belatedly

recognised Alex’s career in the air by

similarly bestowing a knighthood upon

him while he is gladly still with us?GEOFFREY BARTON-GREENWOOD Bridge Road, Llandaff, Cardiff

. . . and anotherSIR — I refer to Denis Francis’s letter in

the September issue regarding the

remarkable Alex Henshaw, and totally

agree with the comments he expressed.

My own 50 years in aviation started at

the Castle Bromwich factory where one

of my occasional duties as a youngster

was to take technical documentation to

Mr Henshaw’s offi ce at the Flight Shed.

Leaving aside the unequalled

demonstrations of aerobatics he

displayed, which were held in awe by

us all, the sheer physical and mental

load of the years of test fl ying under the

huge wartime output from the Castle

Bromwich factory alone, as well as the

other sites for which he had a

responsibility from 1940 to the end of

the war, are impossible to imagine.

The effect his efforts had on the

survival of this country go far beyond

the award he received; although many

years have passed it is surely not too

late for the Government to consider

more appropriate recognition for his

outstanding contribution.

MIKE STANFORDScone, Perth

Flying Visit

ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET SIR BENJAMIN BATHURST, former Royal Navy pilot, Chief of the Naval Staff and First Sea Lord, talks to MELVYN HISCOCK about his fl ying career

What is your fi rst aviation memory? It was the beginning of

the war and we lived near Bristol. My

father had joined the RAF in 1932 and

was stationed at St Athan. He had the

use of a Lysander and so would pop

over the Bristol Channel and land at

Whitchurch where we would meet him.

When was your fi rst fl ight? At Eton we had an aeronautical

society and being passionate about

aviation I joined. We had a day out when

BEA looked after us and were taken in

an Airspeed Ambassador. Shortly

afterwards I joined the CCF at Eton and

we used to go to White Waltham and

cadge lifts.

What prompted your career in aviation? Both my father and his

cousin were very enthusiastic and fl ew

between the wars. Naturally I was

steered towards aviation.

When was your fi rst solo?

I was at the Naval College in

Dartmouth in 1953 and summer leave

included a gliding camp at Bramcote.

At the end of the week I was allowed to

go solo. The following year we had a

camp where fl ew Tiger Moths.

Who or what has been the biggest infl uence on your

aviation career? I spent two years as

an exchange pilot at RNAS Nowra as

an instructor where I met Pat Vickers,

an Australian offi cer who had spent

two years on exchange in the UK.

Between us we had to maintain the

CFS doctrine and Pat set himself very

high standards and was an inspiring

aviator. He then went to Vietnam on

Hueys and sadly was killed out there.

Do you have any unfulfi lled ambitions in aviation? Not

really; I have been very lucky and got

maximum mileage out of the system!

What do you consider your best aviation achievement?

The time I felt I could infl uence most

was when I was Director of Naval Air

Warfare in 1982. This was after the Nott

review when naval aviation had been

kicked into touch, and I thought it would

be a depressing time. Within six weeks

we were into the Falklands confl ict and

everything we had been saying to deaf

ears before was suddenly listened to. It

was a team effort but a very interesting

and stimulating time. We were able to

learn from the lessons of the Falklands.

Was there a time when you looked out of the cockpit and

thought, “This is what aviation is all about”? One that sticks in my

mind was my fi rst solo in a Vampire. I

really felt “this is aviation” as it was fast

and sprightly for then. I felt the same in

the Sea Hawk.

What has been your worst aviation moment? I pushed my

luck when I was senior pilot on 822

Squadron aboard HMS Eagle. We were

in the Irish Sea and I had to go into

Brawdy to pick up Sir Horace Law, the

Controller of the Navy. He liked to fl y, so

I put him in the left-hand seat and my

copilot was down the back. Inevitably

we then fl ew into dense fog. I should

have turned back but carried on using

the Controller as my eyes while I fl ew

on instruments. I asked him to tell me

when he saw the wake and we landed

aboard. Flyco radioed and asked where

we were; I told him, “Sitting on 8 spot

at the back end of the fl ight deck!” Regardless of the pressure, you should

not take those chances.

What is your favourite aircraft? It is the UH-1B Huey

that I fl ew in Australia. It was a sound,

robust aircraft to fl y and wonderfully

reliable. I enjoyed my time in that.

Another aircraft I always felt 100

per cent safe in was the Wessex 3.

It had a good fl ight control system for

its time and you could do night anti-submarine operations from 125ft to the

hover with no problems, even in the

worst weather.

And what is your least favourite? The Scout. We had

three in Australia that were used from

survey ships. Pat Vickers used to

instruct but he was off and so I had to

convert a pilot. I had to read the notes,

learn how to fl y it and then instruct. It

was underpowered and wobbly at

altitude. However, it was probably the

circumstance, as many pilots loved it.

Which aircraft from history would you most like to have

fl own? It would be back to where I

started with the Lysander. It also fl ew

slowly enough for a helicopter pilot!

LEFT The Miles M.52 model on display at Wisley in the mid-1960s. For the full story of the M.52 see Supersonic or Bust in June 2005’s Aeroplane.

Letter of the Month is sponsored by Shepherd Neame’s Spitfi re Ale Letter of the Month is sponsored by Shepherd Neame’s Spitfi re Ale

SUBSCRIBE TO AEROPLANEMake sure you get your copy of Aeroplane promptly every month by taking out a one-year or two-year subscription — Call our credit-card hotline on 0845 676 7778 (USA readers call toll-free on 888-313-5528), or subscribe securely online via www.aeroplanemonthly.com


DURING THE early-morning briefi ng at RAF Portreath, Cornwall, in mid-June 1943, we heard that the sodden, foggy and cold weather extended well out to

sea and to the south, and would persist over the routes to Gibraltar for the next 24hr. The airfi eld was covered with bomber and transport aircraft destined for the Middle and Far East, but now their departures would be delayed. I was resign-ing myself to a dreary day in this Nissen-hutted shanty town when the briefi ng offi cer asked if the “blue Spit” pilot was present. I stood up, and to my surprise he said: “You can go”.

I was fl ying a Mk XI photographic reconnais-sance (PR) Supermarine Spitfi re to Malta. Most in the room probably had never heard of this type, which, with only one engine, could head for Gibraltar when they, with their multiple engines, navigators and long-distance radios could not. It must have seemed a wonder!

In the route-planning operations room I was issued maps and escape kits. I donned my Mae West and my much-cherished sheepskin-lined fl ying boots, strapped my route map and my nav computer to my thigh, put on my parachute and climbed aboard.

I could barely discern the far boundary of the fi eld as I taxied to the runway. I was in the “clag” right after take-off, and would be there until I broke out on top at 29,000ft. There was a solid deck of cloud below me, and not until I neared the north coast of Spain did I see the surface. I cruised at 30,000ft all the way, an indicated

PRU SPITFIRE FLYING

The blue Spitfi res of the RAF’s photographic reconnaissance (PR)

units undertook some of the most vital and dangerous sorties of

the Second World War, unarmed and alone. Canadian PR pilot

LT-GEN BILL CARR CMM DFC CD describes how he and his colleagues

had only speed and guile to rely on to get their crucial work done

ABOVE The author in the cockpit of a Spitfi re PR.XI during his time as a Flying Offi cer in Malta. The other notable photographic reconnaissance Spitfi re was the FR.IX, which retained the F Mk IX’s cannon armament.

airspeed of 195–205 m.p.h. giving me a true air-speed of about 350 m.p.h.

My approved routeing required that I fl y out-side the territorial waters of Spain and Portugal and head east for “The Rock” when south of Cadiz. After the long overwater fl ight to the Spanish coast I decided to take a short cut down the Spanish/Portuguese border and plan a descent into “Gib” from just south-west of Cadiz. If I avoided making vapour trails it would be very unlikely that anyone would spot my Spitfi re, and there was no air defence to worry about. The possibility of diplomatic problems arising from my violation of neutral airspace never even entered my head.

On landing at Gibraltar I was directed to the Ops trailer, where I was required to explain who I was, where I had come from and where I was going. When I wrote my departure and arrival times in the Ops logbook, I felt that the 3hr 15min I had taken to fl y the 1,300-or-so miles led the staff to think there was something fi shy about the trip. I was worried about my infringement of neutral airspace, but heard no more about it. Next morning I left for Fez in Morocco, on my way to Malta.

On arrival at Luqa, Malta, a day later, my Spit-fi re was greeted with great enthusiasm by mem-bers of 683(PR) Sqn, but I was ignored. I had hoped to be congratulated on having come so far so quickly, and to have delivered such a beau-tiful machine without a trace of desert dust.

I was ushered into the presence of the fabled

Getting the Picture

ABOVE The 683 Sqn badge, with the unit’s motto, Nihil nos latet — Nothing remains concealed. The unit was formed at Luqa, Malta, on February 8, 1943, specifi cally to perform the PR role.


SIGNPOST

Wg Cdr Adrian Warburton, who greeted me in the groundcrews’ revetment lean-to, where he was enjoying a “cuppa” with his adoring “erks”. He wore no rank badges or medal ribbons, but sported a very civilian-style white shirt and corduroy trousers with desert boots below. No socks. He looked me over and, after a couple of questions, said: “You can stay”. I believed I had reason to be happy, because I had heard that those whom “Warbie” rejected ended in an air-crew pool near Cairo. This man, referred to by Air Marshal Sir Keith Park as a “one-man air force”, had no trouble doing things his way, regardless of rules and regulations.

It was a couple of months since I had been posted to 543 Sqn at RAF Benson, Oxfordshire, from my Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Dyce, near Aberdeen. At Benson, the home of photographic reconnaissance, I had bored lots of holes in the sky but had made only two “milk-run” operations to the French coast.

Ten days before I landed at Portreath the squadron commander told me I was to sign out newly-delivered Spitfi re EN674, work it up, and take it to Malta. That was my total briefi ng. At the intelligence section I was briefed by a very offi cious non-fl ying offi cer who told me to pick up khaki battledress at the supply section and to leave any personal effects I would not be taking with me in their care. (I never saw them again). I picked up some maps at the navigation section and was told I would be routeing via Portreath.

Working up EN674 was a joy. Brand new, and

with a pair of vertical F52 cameras, it was as good a performer as I had fl own, rock steady at altitude, easily trimmed hands off, with a cool-running engine, a rare artifi cial horizon which did not topple until beyond 60° of bank, a direc-tional gyro which precessed less than most and a slip-and-skid indicator (turn-and-bank today) which had much less built-in lag than most. I once got to 43,000ft in this beauty, despite knowing the dangers of anoxia without pressure breathing, which had not yet been invented. At the OTU the medics had told us that some pilots would be able to fl y higher than others in safety. For some, the way to check for anoxia was to watch the colour of one’s fi ngernails. When they turned blue it was time to descend. For me it worked, and once over Malta I took a Spit to 49,000ft. (I clamped the oxygen mask to my face and set the oxygen fl ow to EMERGENCY.)

The 36in-focal-length split cameras covered

ABOVE Spitfi re PR.XI EN654 captured above the clouds by Charles E. Brown in October 1943. The PR.XI was fi tted with a distinctively deeper nose-bowl than a standard Mk IX to accommodate an extra oil tank for long-range sorties.

LEFT The author (in shorts) and a fellow PR pilot by the name of Brocklehurst in Malta. Brocklehurst was later to become a prisoner of war. The Spitfi re PR.XI also played a signifi cant part in Operation Market Garden, the crossing of the Rhine in 1944, covered in detail in Jimmy Taylor’s article, Hidden Things Revealed, in the May 2002 Aeroplane.


“Flak burst all round my lone aircraft. I lowered my seat, just as a very loud ABOVE The author exiting his Spitfi re at San Severo after bringing back the fi rst aerial photographs of the Anzio beachhead in January 1944. Unfortunately, Bill had been “caught short” towards the end of the 6hr fl ight, and had to step out of the Spit in front of the world’s press with wet trousers.ABOVE RIGHT A vertical photograph of an Italian port, probably Genoa, taken by a PR Spit from 29,000ft on February 16, 1944.

BELOW Groundcrew (“erks”) gather beside one of their charges for a group photograph in a mainte-nance revetment at Luqa.

PRU SPITFIRE FLYING

slightly more than two miles of the earth later-ally from 30,000ft. Accuracy over the target therefore was essential. A couple of miles later-ally from six miles up is a small error in normal navigation. Although my aircraft was equipped to carry an oblique camera aimed out of the port side behind the cockpit, this was not fi tted.

One did not fl y the PR Spit so much as wear it. Yet this man/machine combination, embodying this beautiful-looking and -fl ying aeroplane, so-phisticated cameras and outstanding all-round operational capability, was totally functional.

Take-off called for opening the throttle with the left hand and controlling direction and atti-tude with the right hand on the spadegrip and the feet on the rudder pedals. Too much boost (manifold pressure) on take-off could cause a swing to port owing to engine torque, and, while this was easy to counter directionally, the air-craft could skid sideways and roll the tyres off the rims.

Once airborne, the pilot had to move his left hand from the throttle lever to the spadegrip so that his right hand could move the under-carriage lever to the “up” position. One could judge how experienced or slick a pilot was by

watching his aircraft’s gyrations as he changed hands immediately after take-off.

Climb power was set by reducing propeller r.p.m. and opening the throttle to its climb set-ting. Unlike most aircraft, the climb power chosen was greater than take-off power, simply because torque was not a problem once air-borne. Even at the lower setting the take-off run was so short that runway length was never of much concern.

At operational altitude, say 30,000ft, the long-range cruise indicated airspeed (IAS) would be set up at about 195–200 m.p.h. With the throttle wide open, 2,000 r.p.m. and about +1lb/in² of boost, the true airspeed would be around 350 m.p.h., giving a fuel consumption of about 30gal/hr. The range at these settings, on internal fuel only, was more than 2,100 miles; enough to fl y from Naples to London and return without refuelling.

Our PR.XIs were very sensitive to elevator and rudder trim settings. There was no aileron trim. If a pilot reported a “wing-heavy” condition, the airframe mechanic would use a rubber mallet and a block of wood against which he would gently hammer the metal aileron’s trailing edge, bending it to offset the heaviness.

At altitude the PR.XI was superbly stable but still extremely agile and responsive. Trimming it hands-off, cracking the hood open half an inch and then extending a fi nger into the slipstream would cause a gentle turn. A fi nger out the other side before the turn steepened would restore straight-and-level fl ight. Similarly, leaning for-ward when the aircraft was perfectly trimmed would cause a gentle dive.

The Spitfi re’s rate of roll was excellent for fi ghters of the day at 14°/sec, progressing to 68°/sec in the later marks. This was so good that the technique to ensure the aircraft was directly over the target to be covered was to do a quick roll in the few seconds between photos. When one was upside down, line-of-sight to the earth below was unrestricted.

My fi rst operational sortie from Malta was to


bang came from somewhere beneath. I assumed I was about to die . . .”

BELOW Another distinguished visitor to 683 Sqn during 1944 was Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Castiglioni.

ABOVE The sleek unarmed Spitfi re PR Mk XI. According to the author, fl ying in the Mediterranean theatre of operations, the Italian air force was never much of a threat. BELOW Bill Carr, CO of 683 (PR) Sqn (far right), on the occasion of King George VI’s visit to San Severo in 1944.

PRU SPITFIRE FLYING

Naples to cover the two airfi elds, the railyards and the harbour. The trip took 3hr 50min. Tasked to the same area two days later I saw some fl ak below, and was later informed that this was probably 88mm “ack-ack”. The tactic was for the pilot to watch his tail and, as the fl ak puffs came along his track, alter course, say 30°. When the puffs indicated that the new track had been detected he reverted to the original heading. This worked most of the time for isolated fl ak, but the box barrage was another matter.

This was a barrage of fl ak set to explode simul-taneously within the cube of airspace in which the enemy hoped you were. I encountered one at 29,000ft over Perugia, an industrial centre and experimental weapons plant, when fl ak burst above, below and all round my lone aircraft. Instinctively I lowered my seat, just as a very loud bang came from somewhere beneath. I as-sumed I was about to die, but realised I still seemed to be in control. When I reached beneath my seat and saw a spot of blood on my glove I feared the stuff hanging down was part of my anatomy, but it was shreds of my parachute and the emergency seat pack. The blood spot was from a small cut on my rear end.

The hit, however, had smashed the oil cooler beneath the wing. When I fi nally noticed the complete loss of oil pressure and the oil temp-erature “off the clock”, I realised that my engine should have seized up or quit, or even worse. Since it seemed to be running normally I de-cided to head for base at San Severo, about 40min distant, at reduced speed and in a gradual descent. I could not risk baling out because of my damaged parachute, and if I had to crash-land at least I would be closer to friendly territory. Anyway, I made it safely back with that wonderful Merlin purring all the way.

After the invasion of Sicily, and when the Foggia Plains in Italy had fallen to the Allies, we moved from Malta and settled for a while at San Severo, near the Adriatic coast. We were tasked with the recce needs of both the British Eighth

and the American Fifth Armies, as well as continuing to provide strategic coverage of the Balkans, southern Germany, Austria, Czecho-slovakia and southern France.

Many sorties were for bomb-damage assess-ment, and to obtain mosaics of battle areas, defence lines and targets. Over Bavaria espe-cially we met fl ak and fi ghters. Elsewhere the competition was a bit less worrisome, but the concentration of friendly aircraft raised the “twitch factor” as much as German fi ghters.

The PR Spitfi re was unarmed and unarmoured. The recce pilot’s job was to gather intelligence and to bring it home. The lack of guns provided space in the wings to carry much more fuel, while the resulting clean wing leading edge re-duced drag and gave higher speeds.

To increase survival odds and counter the lack of defensive armament, OTU training had dwelt heavily on aircraft performance, instrument fl ying, accurate navigation and the development of fl ying skills beyond the level normally at-tained. The student was encouraged to fl y to the very edge of his aircraft’s fl ight envelope and try every conceivable manœuvre. Even the heart-stopping tailslide was practised, and, while a

full bunt was a no-no, a negative-g push-over was OK. This built up confi dence, enabling a pilot to outfl y and out-fox enemies or friends. And the “friendly” was often the threat rather than the enemy! Fighter jocks did not always positively identify a target before fi ring. Most PR losses were to fl ak, oxygen starvation or me-chanical failure, and many simply disappeared.

Navigation techniques consisted of dead reckoning and map reading. The best one could hope for on return to base in bad weather was a

“ZZ” approach. On contacting his airfi eld a pilot would be required to broadcast for a few sec-onds so that a VHF bearing on his transmission could be taken. He was then instructed to take up the reciprocal heading of the bearing angle. If the next bearing transmission was weaker it was assumed the pilot was heading away from the transmitter and he was given a 180° heading change. As his transmission strength increased, his engine would be listened for by an airman outside the communications trailer and, when it was heard, the pilot would be informed that he was “engines east (or west etc)” and be given a new heading and told to do his let-down, hoping this would avoid obstacles and lead him to the runway. Amazingly, so far as I know, no pilot ever “augured in” from one of these basic and challenging instrument approaches in very bad weather. For me, doing a ZZ never became a comfortable method to locate the runway.

Flight planning required care and calculation. Plotting of tracks and distances was done on small-scale maps, supplemented by detailed target plotting of mosaics and spot targets on large-scale maps or photos. The aircraft was always dispatched with full fuel tanks and oxy-gen bottles so that targets could be added while it was en route and the pilot had the necessary reserves if he were intercepted.

The escape tactic for interception was a full-power climb. Depending how long the escape manœuvres might take, the full-power fuel fl ow, at four times the cruise fl ow, could affect the odds of having suffi cient to return to base.

We PR pilots were intercepted by both sides many times. Once I was tasked with photo-graphing the railyards at Vienna, doing a bomb damage-assessment run over Satzberg and then covering the three airfi elds around Munich. As I started my fi rst run at Munich at 31,000ft I looked to port and spied a strange-looking aircraft at my altitude. It made no move to attack, but more startlingly it had no propeller(s). I went “full bore” and climbed to 40,000ft, but when I searched the sky I found him still sitting a couple of hundred yards off my port wing. I rolled into a vertical dive and pulled out as low as I dared, but

“I had been airborne for just under 4hr, so still had lots of fuel. I knew that ‘last-op exuberance’ had caused two of our pilots to kill themselves in celebratory beat-ups, but decided to fl y low all the way home for fun”

ABOVE A map showing the author’s route from the UK to the Mediterranean in 1943, and the Spitfi re PR.XI’s radii of action from Malta and San Severo. Map by MAGGIE NELSON. BELOW An FR Spitfi re over Aquino in Italy, with Monte Cassino rising in the background.

PRU SPITFIRE FLYING


he was still with me. I headed for the Brenner Pass on the deck, and have contended that I was so low he could not have got a shot at me, but the pass was just a bit deeper after my nap-of-the-earth high-speed exit. I had never heard of an aircraft without propellers, and wondered whether the intelligence people would conclude I had gone round the bend. It turned out that I had met a Messerschmitt Me 262 out of the research centre at Munich, probably unarmed.

Being a PR pilot was a lonely and impersonal job. There was no real cohesion among pilots because each operated on his own. They met in the Mess at meals or the bar, exchanged tales of derring-do and were never involved in opera-tions where they would be in contact with other squadron members.

My tour-ending 142nd operation on Septem-ber 25, 1944, included photographing targets in the Budapest area, along the Danube and then the railyards and airfi eld at Belgrade. I met no opposition. Once past Belgrade there was little chance that enemy aircraft or fl ak would bother me on my route back to central Italy. I had been airborne for just under 4hr, so still had lots of fuel. I knew that “last-op exuberance” had caused two of our pilots to kill themselves in celebratory beat-ups, but decided to fl y low all the way home for fun. On the deck past Sarajevo I was barreling down a straight country road, dodging trees on its edges, when I happened on a formation of German soldiers. On hearing my engine they disappeared quickly into ditches, but a country lady carrying a bundle on her head continued on without even altering her pace. She must have heard me coming, but I believe it was her chance to show her disdain.

I returned by ship to Canada just before Christ-mas 1944. I had survived partly out of luck, but also because I was chosen to do PR in an un-matched aircraft. More than 50 per cent of our cohorts failed to return, and they have no graves. They simply disappeared doing their duty. Thirty of us are still alive, not because we did it better, but because that is the way things are in war.

The fi nal epitaph of the PR Spitfi re was written when a Mk XIX set a never-to-be-equalled speed record for a propeller-driven aircraft of 690 m.p.h. (Mach 0·94) in a dive from 52,550ft while up from Hong Kong on February 5, 1952.

I fl ew the Griffon-engined Mk XIX on a couple of occasions, but the Mk XI was the pick of the breed. The late Jeffrey Quill rated the Mk V as the best-handling, but for me none could equal the sheer joy of the Mk XI. It was a dream to fl y such an example of human brilliance and, while R.J. Mitchell’s masterpiece had many imitators, for we lucky few it had no equals.

LEFT The Spitfi re Mk XI was the fi rst reconnaissance version to go into production with the Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 engine, and in line with the reduction of any drag-creating surfaces it was equipped with a retractable tailwheel. A total of 471 Mk XIs was built or converted from Mk IXs, production continuing until well into 1944, when the variant was phased out in favour of the Griffon -powered Mk XIX.

LEFT Leading Aircraftman Carr receives his wings in July 1942 from Air Marshal W.A. “Billy” Bishop, one of the highest-scoring aces of World War One.

FAR LEFT Bill Carr (second left) at a Wartime Pilots and Observers Reunion in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1970. Furthest left is Johnnie Johnson, with Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland and Douglas Bader on the right.LEFT The author once again in the “offi ce” of a Spitfi re, this time at an airshow in Hannover in the early 1980s.

PRU SPITFIRE FLYING


Explains...

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT AVIATION

How Many Wings?

W E BELIEVE THAT early

humans wondered how

birds fl ew, and wished

to emulate them. Birds

are monoplanes, with a single wing

on each side of the body. Under-

standably, most of the early human

concepts were ornithopters, aircraft

with wings designed to fl ap.

Gradually, ornithopter ideas gave

way to aeroplanes. Early monoplanes

needed some form of bracing, a

pioneer (but unbuilt) design for a

monoplane being W.S. Henson’s

Aerial Steam Carriage, patented in

1842. This showed how wings should

be braced by wires to rigid kingposts

and/or “cabanes”, above and below.

The “father of the aeroplane”, Sir

George Cayley, began with ideas for

monoplanes, but in 1849 he drew a

triplane, with three identical wings

mounted on top of each other. This

was (I believe) a confi guration not

found in nature. Any engineer will

see that a shallow structure, such as

a wing, has to be very strong (and

thus heavy) if it is not to fold up. A

wire-braced biplane or triplane can

be made lighter.

Working on his own in Australia, but

inspired by F.H. Wenham’s collapsible

Aviation Reference


The greatest challenge in aeroplane design is that of combining strength with lightness and effi ciency. This month BILL GUNSTON looks at the advan-tages and disadvantages of various wing structures, concentrating on early monoplanes and biplanes. The technical graphics are provided by IAN BOTT

multicellular multiplane concept of

1858/59, Lawrence Hargrave devel-

oped the boxkite form. This provided

lift and stability, plus a rigid structure,

and several early builders, notably

Gabriel Voisin and Alberto Santos-

Dumont, both working in France,

used it in aeroplane structures.

Meticulous English experimenter

Horatio Phillips had by 1893 tested

dozens of aerofoil profi les (the shape

of a wing in cross-section). Some of

his profi les achieved an L/D ratio (lift

divided by drag) of 10, at a time when

other pioneers were still using fl at

inclined planes. Unfortunately Phillips

was obsessed by the idea of using

numerous very-high-aspect-ratio

slat-type wings, and the resulting

aeroplanes, with their “Venetian-

blind” wing cellules (one machine had

200 wings), were impractical.

All of the pioneers realised the need

for strong yet light structures, and a

signal development came in 1896,

when French-born, USA-domiciled

civil engineer Octave Chanute tested

multiplane and biplane hang gliders.

Using his railway engineering experi-

ence, Chanute employed the principle

of the bridge-builder’s Pratt truss

system, maintaining the rigidity of his

aircraft’s wing structures by means

of wire cross-bracing in the bays. The

practicality of this method was im-

mediately appreciated by the Wright

brothers, who used it from their fi rst

gliders onwards. It quickly became

by far the most widely used bracing

system for multiplane wings.

By the First World War most

designers would say: “If you want to

go fast, make a monoplane, but if you

want to carry a load, or dogfi ght other

aircraft, you need a biplane, or even

a triplane”. Agility depends on rate of

roll, which depends on span; thus, a

triplane ought in theory to shoot down

a biplane, and certainly a long-span

monoplane. On the other hand a

triplane has three times the aero-

dynamic tip losses of a monoplane,

and they faded from the scene.

Moreover, complex wire bracing

could be very drag-inducing, and

designers sought to devise alterna-

tive interplane bracing systems.

Some, like the “star-strutter”

arrangement of the Austrian First

World War Brandenburg biplanes,

were too complex to be really practi-

cal, but one was used with some

success. This was the Warren girder

system, in which the vertical struts

were replaced by a triangulated

strut system which did away with

most of the fl ying and landing wires.

An early user of this method was

the Avro 531 Spider fi ghter of 1918; other noteworthy Warren-girder-

braced aeroplanes were the Parnall

Elf two-seat light biplane of the late

1920s and the Handley Page H.P.42

four-engined airliner operated by

Imperial Airways in the 1930s.

Dutchman Anthony Fokker elimi-

nated external bracing cables by

using strong deep-section hollow

box spars in cantilever wing struc-

tures, and his Dr I triplane and D VI

and D VII biplane fi ghters of the First

World War were so constructed.

Fokker soon took the logical next

step, going over to wooden canti-

lever-winged monoplanes.

A few constructors, notably

Junkers, Tupolev and several French

companies, made monoplanes with

a strong internal structure covered

with corrugated aluminium-alloy

sheet. In 1931 Blackburn Aircraft

was awarded a contract to build a

monoplane and a biplane as alike as

possible. Tests suggested that the

biplane was superior, and carried

a heavier load, because both had

traditional structures. However, in an

attempt to make the two machines

comparable the monoplane was

handicapped by an unnecessarily

complex bracing structure.

A later instalment of Aeroplane

Explains will show how new

structures, specifi cally stressed skin,

made monoplanes superior.

� Is there an aspect of aviation

that you would like Aeroplane

to explain? Write and let

us know


A Spartan Life

ROB

NEI

L

ONCE REPORTED AS “extinct” by Aero-plane’s own Mike Hooks in a brief history of Spartan aircraft, Spartan’s Three-Seater II in fact lives on. The

sole survivor, ZK-ARH, newly restored and re-splendent in a highly aristocratic fi nish of blue-black fuselage and silver wings and tail, has been returned to the sky in which it belongs, al-beit in New Zealand, halfway round the world from its English birthplace.

This elegant biplane, originally registered G-ABYN, left the factory of Spartan Aircraft Ltd at East Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, in 1932, but it was not until 1935 that it went to its fi rst owner, Mr E.G. Croskin of Hedon, Hull. Unlike many of its various Simmonds and Spartan forebears, G-ABYN spent very little time in the air during its early years. In 1938, a mere three years after being sold to Mr Croskin, G-ABYN became EI-ABU when it was bought by Albert Clarke of

RARE BIRD

Thanks to a decade of devoted effort by one man, the world’s

only surviving Spartan Three-Seater is now back in its element.

The aircraft’s history and its restoration are recounted by

ROB NEIL — and its owner, New Zealander ROD HALL-JONES,

provides an intimate impression of its handling qualities

TOP The front cover of an original manufacturer’s brochure for the Spartan Three-Seater.ABOVE A line-up of factory-fresh Spartans at a special Spartan demonstration at Heston on August 30, 1932. The subject of this feature, G-ABYN, the fi rst production Three-Seater II, dominates the picture, and the prototype of the marque, G-ABTR, is immediately behind it.

Cloughjordan in Ireland. That year was an un-fortunate time for anyone to be buying a private aircraft. All civilian fl ying in Britain was banned soon afterwards with the beginning of the Sec-ond World War, and EI-ABU had its tail feathers clipped — literally — when the Air Ministry re-moved part of its empennage to ensure that it remained grounded.

The brevity of G-ABYN/EI-ABU’s fi rst fl ying ca-reer (less than 200hr total time) mirrored the brief existence of its manufacturer. Spartan Air-craft was derived from Simmonds Aircraft Ltd; fi nancial diffi culties in late 1929 necessitated the reconstitution of the original company, whose fi rst aircraft, the Simmonds Spartan two-seater, was only completed in July 1928.

When he gave up his job as a designer with Supermarine Aircraft, Oliver Simmonds’s origi-nal intention was to produce a cheaper aircraft than de Havilland’s D.H.60 Moth. The Air Minis-


ROB N

EIL

try had subsidised funding to equip fi ve fl ying clubs with Moths in 1925, and Simmonds was convinced he could produce a superior product.

As Simmonds Aircraft’s chief designer as well as its chairman, Oliver Simmonds incorporated a particularly sensible design feature into his fi rst Spartan aircraft. He made as many compo-nents as possible interchangeable. The wing panels, interplane struts, fl ying wires, empen-nage components (both fi xed and moveable tail surfaces) and undercarriage legs were all inter-changeable, so that, at a time when ground- loops and damage-infl icting minor “incidents” were not uncommon, dealers and operators needed to hold far fewer spares.

With its 95 h.p. ADC Cirrus III engine the proto-type Spartan could manage 105 m.p.h. Although this aircraft did not win a place in the 1928 King’s Cup Air Race, it made a noteworthy non-stop fl ight from Croydon to the Berlin Air Show in October of that year. The fl ight to Berlin took 7hr 10min, the return three days later taking 5hr 55min.

The various subsequent production Simmonds Spartans used a range of engines including the ADC Hermes I and Hermes II and de Havilland Gipsy I and Gipsy II.

Only 48 Simmonds Spartans were built, fi ve of which were three-seaters, before the type’s

demise. This was due mainly to unfavourable opinions of its symmetrical aerofoil, which many unreasonably believed had contributed to a number of fatal crashes. Thus Simmonds’s ini-tial optimistic predictions for his aircraft’s future (he predicted signifi cant worldwide sales and even overseas production) proved unfounded.

With the reconstitution of Simmonds Aircraft into Spartan Aircraft in 1930, the Spartan was redesigned with folding wings of non-symmet-rical (“Clark Y”) section. Although its wings were not interchangeable in exactly the same way as those of its predecessor, the new aircraft, the two-seat Spartan Arrow and the Spartan Three-Seater, retained much of the interchange-ability by having detachable wingtips and trail-ing-edge sections which allowed a wing to be fi tted on either side, and the undercarriage halves remained interchangeable. While the Arrow had different tail surfaces, the Three-Seater retained the empennage surface inter-changeability of the original Spartan.

The Three-Seater I retained the conventional cockpit arrangement of its contemporaries, with the passengers’ seats in the front and the pilot’s seat in the rear cockpit. The cockpits of the new Spartans were roomier than those of their con-temporaries, so while they may not have matched the sales successes of their de Havil-

TOP A splendid study of Rod Hall-Jones’s beautifully restored Three-Seater.ABOVE The Spartan com-pany’s distinctive logo, which appears on the starboard side of the fuselage just aft of the engine, features a Spartan warrior’s helmet.


land competitors, the Spartan Three-Seaters featured prominently as joyriding aircraft throughout the 1930s.

Although it was standard for the time, the pas-senger-in-front, pilot-at-rear arrangement was less than ideal. Passengers unfamiliar with air-craft often had diffi culty clambering across wings and contorting themselves into front cockpits surrounded by struts and bracing wires, and pilots suffered restricted visibility, particu-larly with the upright Gipsy II and Hermes II engines fi tted to the Three-Seater Is.

The fi tting of an inverted Hermes IIB and a reversed cockpit arrangement resulted in the prototype Spartan Three-Seater II, G-ABTR, in 1932, which successfully resolved both the ac-cess and visibility problems. The subsequent Spartan Three-Seater IIs, the fi rst of which was G-ABYN, were fi tted with the Hermes IV, but the end was nigh for Spartan Aircraft Ltd, and G-ABYN was one of only six production Three-Seater IIs built.

There is no fascinating secret history to relate about the many years EI-ABU spent forgotten and unknown in Ireland. Having circumvented the wartime grounding and rebuilt the empen-nage, the resourceful Clarke did not fl y the air-craft during the war, although the logbooks show he did occasionally run its engine and taxy it. It seems that the poor old aircraft went into storage in a Cloughjordan barn, falling further into disrepair and gradually becoming increas-ingly dilapidated.

It was not until 1971 that English aircraft re-storer Ron Souch rediscovered EI-ABU derelict in the barn, and the aircraft’s existence began to feature in the restoration grapevine. Souch had already rebuilt the wings and empennage, and his father had rebuilt the original Hermes IV en-gine when, in 1994, New Zealand restorer Colin Smith of the Croydon Aircraft Company secured the aircraft’s sale to fellow New Zealander Rod Hall-Jones, then Croydon’s chief pilot. In buying the aircraft, Hall-Jones’s original intention was to restore it and put it into service carrying fare-paying joyriders, its two-passenger capacity

making it more commercially viable than the single-passenger Tiger Moths commonly used in the role.

Restoration began in 1995 at Croydon’s prem-ises at Mandeville, where the rebuilt wings and tail were covered in Ceconite instead of linen. Major work was required on the plywood fuse-lage, much of which was either delaminated or oil-soaked.

The aircraft remained at Mandeville until May 2001, when, after fi ve years, the disparity be-tween progress and expenditure forced Hall-Jones to move the aircraft to South Air Aviation at Taieri, Dunedin, for completion. Although the company was more familiar with “modern” monocoque metal aircraft, it completed the res-toration to an extremely high standard in 2004. Numerous unforeseen diffi culties were over-come along the way, the most signifi cant of which was a complete lack of rigging specifi ca-tions. The sole source of rigging information was a single scribbled note in the front of EI-ABU’s original airframe logbook, stating: “Stagger 6·5 inches”; hardly a comprehensive rebuilder’s manual!

As much of the original aircraft as possible was retained and restored throughout the pro-ject, but some components needed rebuilding or replacement. Few who saw the pile of junk that the machine appeared to have become before restoration would believe how much of the fi nally rebuilt Spartan, including its engine and beautiful wooden propeller, is original. All of the clearly readable placards around the airframe are originals, including the engine r.p.m.-limit placard carried over from the earlier Spartan Three Seater I, with its Spartan-original hand-alteration of “Hermes II” to read “Hermes IV”. Also original is a placard with Albert Clarke’s name on it, which will be attached to the pilot’s door. New fl ying wires were fabricated by Brun-tons in the UK using the old ones as patterns. The wing struts were rebuilt, as were the fuel and oil tanks, although the original fuel gauge was reused after being cleaned.

South Air overhauled the Spartan’s brakes,

RARE BIRD

“Few who saw the pile of junk that the machine appeared to have become would

believe how much of the fi nally rebuilt Spartan, including its engine and

beautiful wooden propeller, is original”ABOVE Sold to Albert Clarke of Cloughjordan, Ireland, in 1938, G-ABYN was re-registered EI-ABU, but was very little fl own before being relegated to a barn. TOP RIGHT The Spartan’s 120 h.p. Cirrus Hermes IV engine looked decidedly sad before Ron Souch’s father rebuilt it.LOWER RIGHT Although the wings and empennage had already been rebuilt by Souch, restoration of the seriously dilapidated fuselage began at Mande-ville in 1995.

ABOVE One of the wing panels as recovered from the Cloughjordan barn by Ron Souch. Years of neglect had taken their toll.


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which are an interesting arrangement, the brake shoes being connected to an expandable oil-fi lled bladder in the brake drum. While they are far less capable than modern disc arrangements, the brakes are nevertheless surprisingly effec-tive in ground handling, and are necessary, as the Spartan does not have a steerable tailskid like the Tiger Moth.

The original aircraft featured a system of routeing hot exhaust gas through the hot-box to assist with vaporisation of the fuel and (it was forlornly hoped!) to boost the octane rating of the intake mixture. In service the exhaust gas played havoc with the hot-box structure, which rotted quickly, so during the rebuild South Air eliminated the exhaust-gas system and instead devised plumbing to pipe hot oil through the hot- box. As modern fuels need no assistance with vaporisation, it is hoped that the radiated heat will prevent carb icing.

Both windscreens had to be built from scratch, but, thanks to surviving photos of original Spar-tan aircraft, this did not prove too diffi cult.

Apart from the changes to the engine hot-box, the only deliberate changes to the original air-craft are the fi tting of an air fi lter to safeguard the precious Hermes engine and the inclusion of a modern Microair radio/intercom combination,

discreetly fi tted under the starboard side of the instrument panel. Hall-Jones is particularly happy with the intercom, which has proved to be refreshingly clear and the equal of far-more-expensive systems.

Despite South Air’s fi ne engineering efforts, completing the rebuild in only three years, a seemingly endless series of legal and bureau-cratic delays forced the immaculate Spartan to remain fi rmly earthbound for some time. Be-cause ZK-ARH was built by a long-extinct man-ufacturer and is now the only aircraft of its kind in existence, the delays and setbacks in return-ing it to the air were principally due to a lack of accompanying paperwork and documentation. As any aviator knows, a principal requirement for fl ight is that the weight of paper must be di-rectly proportional to the weight of the aircraft, and ’ARH was more than a few reams short.

While it is generally believed to be easier to alter the laws of physics than to circumvent the “accepted” documentary requirements for fl ight, Rod says that, in the case of ZK-ARH, the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority’s Nick Nichol-son took a realistic view of the near-impos-sibility of securing the original manuals and documents that would typically be required, and went out of his way to help get the Spartan back in the air. Finally, at the beginning of August 2005, ZK-ARH was able to take to the air once more, in the hands of test pilot John Penno.

The test-fl ying programme proved remarkably trouble-free, only minor adjustments being re-quired to the rigging. Given the paucity of infor-mation available to South Air this was a remark-able achievement, and testifi ed to the quality of workmanship.

One minor annoyance during the fi rst few fl ights was a persistent fi ne spray of oil that spread back over the windscreen from the oil-tank breather pipe and meant that each of Pen-no’s landings had to be made “blind”. Thankfully the Spartan almost fl ies slowly enough for its pilot to hop out and have a look around before committing to a landing. The problem was easily rectifi ed when it was eventually attributed to a

ABOVE A “commodious locker” behind the passenger seats could accommodate “two large suitcases, golf clubs, pickets, etc.”BELOW Rod Hall-Jones performs a pre-fl ight walk-round of his Spartan.

ABOVE Two passengers could be seated in tandem in the rear cockpit. If only one passenger was carried, a special decking could be fi tted over the spare seat, and extra luggage stowed beneath it. LEFT With the wings folded, the symmetrical section of the interchangeable wing panels is revealed.


narrowing of the breather’s diameter, which was pressurising the system.

What does the future hold for the world’s only Spartan Three-Seater II? While Hall-Jones quite rightly takes great pride and personal satisfac-tion in bringing an almost extinct aircraft back from obscurity, his enthusiasm for the project has understandably waned somewhat over the ages it has taken complete. Litigation concern-ing the costs and delays in its early restoration,

although successful for Hall-Jones, has left a legacy of disappointment, and it seems likely that the aircraft will be sold.

He would very much like to take ZK-ARH to the UK and, particularly if he can fi nd a suitable sponsor, spend a season sharing the sky with Raymond Blain’s Spartan Arrow G-ABWP at air-shows before fi nding his aircraft a good home in the land of its birth. He knows he could probably realise more for it in the USA, but he sees him-self more as the Spartan’s custodian than its owner. So, despite the years, tears and money he has personally invested in the restoration, he likes the idea of it going “home” to live.

Things might be different for Rod Hall-Jones were he not so fortunate as to live and work in the most beautiful part of one of the most beau-tiful countries on earth, where he fl ies heli-copters for one of the world’s most professional rotary-wing operators. It can only be hoped that, before he passes custody of his unique aerial treasure to someone else, he has plenty of op-portunities to fulfi l his early visions of soaring gracefully over the spectacular landscape of his Te Anau home in the elegant old biplane.

IT IS WITH no little trepidation that I walk out to the Spartan. Finally behind me now are more than ten years of worry, a string of broken agreements and an expensive legal wrangle. It does not help that the legal battle was settled in my favour. Sadly the tribu-lations of the past few years have drained me of most of my feelings of enthusiasm for and attachment to the aircraft. With a faint secret hope that the “old girl” will win me over once again, my emotions are in turmoil.

To add to my trepidation, it has been over fi ve years since I was in the cockpit of an aeroplane. Thank goodness I will have John Penno with me; a 20,000hr pilot to save the

day if I am found lacking! I think back to my time fl ying Tigers at Croydon as I begin my walk-round. The pre-fl ight is very similar to that for a Tiger Moth, with one important added extra. Ensure that the four pins holding the wings in the fl ying position are in place and locked! Checking the oil is a little tricky, as the oil tank fi ller is situated just in front of the pilot’s windscreen above and behind the engine, requiring steps to see inside.

As I settle into the rear cockpit the fi rst thing I notice is its spaciousness. Then I remember that, in the aircraft’s joyriding days, there would have been two adults squeezed in here, and suddenly it looks rather smaller.

Start-up is easy with the engine cold, as it is. John gives it four shots on the primer before winding the prop backwards eight times. Then, with the throttle set and mags on, we relay the information to the brave soul in front, who then pulls the prop through for us. Unlike the Tiger’s engine, our Hermes IV turns anti-clockwise when viewed from the front. Three-quarters of a century after leaving the factory, the ancient Hermes engine roars easily into life and we set it to idle at between 600 and 800 r.p.m. until the oil temperature reaches 40°, which, with 1·5gal of oil to heat, can take up to 10min, depending on outside temperature.

Once the engine has warmed up we check the magnetos at 1,600 r.p.m. We have no information to tell us the “correct” engine speed for a mag check, but we do not think we are too far from the mark, and we need only check that the drop is not excessive and is even in both mags.

With checks complete it is “chocks away”, and as we start moving we rely on a burst of engine power to put some air over the large rudder, or (if on a hard surface or in a confi ned area) make judicious use of the primitive brakes, as we have no steerable tailskid. The brakes are surprisingly effective, given that they are just bladders with shoes attached to contact the brake drum. Nevertheless, it is hardly a robust system, so it isn’t wise to use the brakes for too long in case they overheat and might not be there when really needed.

The take-off feels very much like a Tiger, although the effectiveness of

the large rudder and elevators is immediately noticeable; even if the controls feel a little heavier than those of the Tiger. As we climb out at 65 m.p.h. visibility from the back cockpit, behind the wings, is very good indeed. There is no need for fl ying goggles, as there is very little draught; the huge windscreen put in place for joyriding is extremely effective.

Cruise is an absolute delight, with good visibility all round, very little wind and surprisingly little noise. With the Hermes IV turning over at a leisurely 1,800–1,850 r.p.m., the airspeed settles on 90 m.p.h. With the r.p.m. stepped up a little we can achieve the advertised cruising speed of 95 m.p.h., but as this engine cannot be replaced we dare not “thrash” it.

Aileron control seems a little heavy, but the bellcrank on the wing has two positions at which the pushrod can be set. We currently have it set on the outside hole, but might change its position to the inside hole, which should offer more leverage but might sacrifi ce some aileron travel. This is something we could experiment with in due course.

In its element the Spartan fl ies beautifully, and my previous worries were for nothing. It all comes back to me as my “helicopter hands” adapt easily back to aeroplane mode in the docile Spartan. I practise a series of turns, making them progressively steeper; even tightening them to the onset of the stall, which proves very predictable and docile. Nothing nasty here.

Stalling is a complete non-event. With the throttle back to idle it is easy to keep the aircraft straight, and as we maintain height, the speed washes off reasonably quickly. As the airspeed indicator reaches 52 m.p.h. we feel the buffet. However, I am not convinced that this reading is correct, as it seems too fast; we will need to check this out later. If we hold it in the stall the aircraft just mushes down with no wing drop, and recovery is instantaneous with the simple release of a little back-pressure. With power on, the airspeed drops back to only 50 m.p.h. before the buffet. If held there the Spartan will gently drop its right wing, but again it is nothing untoward and a standard recovery is simple, with very little height loss.

All too soon it’s time to return to the ground. A quick radio call (none of those in 1935) and it’s back to the circuit. Late downwind we throttle back and let the speed drop back to 65 m.p.h., adding a little power as we turn on to base to slow the sink rate (that elderly biplane drag thing again).

Visibility remains good on fi nal all the way until we cross the fence at 60–65 m.p.h. A little fast, perhaps, but we have plenty of grass ahead and this is the only Spartan Three-Seater left!

With the throttle closed and a gentle round-out it settles comfortably on to the ground. The undercarriage is lovely and soft, and the Spartan proves to be a very easy aircraft to land. One would have to be heavy-handed indeed to make it bounce. Rudder control is excellent, and it is no problem to keep straight as we slow down.

As we taxy in I ponder the old argument as to whether irreplaceable old aircraft should be fl own or left in museums. Today, at least, I am very pleased to have fi nally fl own the old bird, and look forward to fl ying it again the next fi ne day.

Pilot’s Perspective — Rod Hall-Jones’s view from the cockpit

ABOVE In 1933 a new Hermes IV-powered Spartan Three Seater II could be bought for £875. A similarly-powered “special model” with a coupé top over the passengers’ cockpit, virtually making it an enclosed cabin, cost £920. Only one of these was built.

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NICK STROUD selects this month’s picture for readers to acquire from Aeroplane’s 70,000-strong archive of original glass-plate photographic negatives

MAKING ITS SECOND appearance in Picture of the Month (the fi rst, in the August 2002 Aeroplane, was a dynamic Maurice Rowe photograph taken aboard HMS Eagle in May 1955), is the Westland

Wyvern, the Royal Navy’s turboprop-powered strike fi ghter of the early 1950s. This magnifi cent photograph of Wyvern TF Mk 2 VW867, taken by The Aeroplane’s chief photographer Charles Sims in 1950, dramatically displays the distinctive Rotol eight-bladed contra-rotating propellers, driven by a 3,670 s.h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Python turboprop engine.

Sims photographed the Wyvern in the skilled hands of Westland’s chief pilot Harald Penrose (who may be seen peer-ing from the cockpit) from Armstrong Siddeley’s Avro Lan-caster piloted by Flt Lt Tom Prickett, and, as the photograph’s original caption in the June 16, 1950, issue of The Aeroplane states: “Such happy results are the outcome of effective team-work”. Quite right too! For your own copy of this superb portrait, simply fi ll in and return the adjacent coupon.

AEROPLANE JANUARY 2006

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HALIFAX RESTORATION

A Dedicated ABOVE A view of newly-completed Halifax A Mk VII NA337 taken especially for Aeroplane from the hangar roofl ine at the RCAF Memorial Museum, Trenton, Ontario. Compare it with a view of the aircraft in its unfi nished state, in our June 2005 issue.RIGHT Dramatic lighting effects as parachute-silk curtains are opened to reveal NA337 at the dedication ceremony on November 5.FAR RIGHT WO J. McIntyre of 8 Wing, CFB Trenton, piping a lament in front of NA337 to close the ceremony.

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HALIFAX RESTORATION

Effort More pictures of the Halifax Aircraft Association’s magnifi cently-restored Handley Page Halifax in Canada

FAR LEFT Jacqueline Bastable, daughter of NA337’s wartime navigator Flt Lt W.R. Mitchell, places a wreath in memory of the aircraft’s crew, all but one of whom perished when it ditched in Norway’s Lake Mjøsa on the night of April 23, 1945.LEFT The volunteers of the Halifax Aircraft Association’s Halifax Restoration Team line up to take a bow at the unveiling.

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FLYING FOR HOLLYWOOD

THE WIND HAD fl ung the sand 30,000ft into the sky above the desert in a cloud from the Niger to the Nile, and somewhere in it was the airplane . . . it was a Salmon-Rees

Skytruck passenger-conversion freighter, a twin-boom short-hauler on the Sahara runs.” Thus begins the novel The Flight of the Phoenix by Elleston Trevor, fi rst published in 1964, a gripping story of 13 men trapped deep in the burning Sahara after their cargo aircraft is downed during a sandstorm. With no hope of rescue, they begin a desperate attempt to build an aircraft, the Phoenix, from the wreckage and fl y it out before they succumb to the ravages of thirst and heat-stroke. The book came to the attention of Hollywood director Robert Aldrich and screen legend James Stewart. They both signed on for a fi lm version immediately, fol-lowed by such famous actors as Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, Hardy Kruger, and George Kennedy.

The “Sahara” backdrop was actually Buttercup Valley , Imperial County, California, not Arizona, as is often stated. The production company, however, was set up in Yuma, Arizona.

But what about the “Skytruck” cargo aircraft and its descendant, the Phoenix? In the fi lm the

Rising from the Ashes

Forty years ago the classic

aviation fi lm The Flight of

the Phoenix was released. SIMON BECK, who has

researched the aviation

aspects of this epic story

of survival, presents

chapter and verse on all

the aircraft used, with

additional information

and illustrations from

MICHAEL O’LEARY

ABOVE The poster for the 1965 production of The Flight of the Phoenix.BELOW The 1964 novel by Elleston Trevor. The author was born Trevor Dudley-Smith in Bromley, Kent, and joined the RAF in 1939, serving as a fl ight engineer. After a prolifi c career as a novelist, with several noms de plume, he died in 1995.

aircraft is only ever referred to as a Skytruck, a carry-over from the novel. It is a Fairchild C-82A Packet, a twin-boom piston-engined troop-carrier and cargo hauler, the type fi rst fl ying on September 10, 1944. With a pair of Pratt & Whitney (P&W) R-2800s, the test programme proceeded smoothly and the fi rst production air-craft fl ew on May 30, 1945. Initial orders for 200 aircraft were quickly bolstered and North Amer-ican established additional production lines at Fort Worth, Texas, and Kansas City, Kansas, to build 792 C-82Ns under licence (only three of which were completed before the war ended).

Fairchild and North American built 224 Pack-ets before production contracts were cancelled, the military concentrating on the larger XC-82B, powered by massive P&W R-4360s, eventually to become the C-119. After their retirement from the USAF in 1954, numerous C-82s were sold as surplus and a wide variety of modifi cations were undertaken by civilian owners to make the air-craft into profi table workhorses. However, most surplus Packets were simply scrapped.

“Skytruck”, incidentally, was a marketing name for a civilianised conversion of the C-82 sold by Steward-Davis Inc of Long Beach, Cali-fornia, an innovative company that converted

“


surplus military aircraft into freighters or execu-tive transports. The company also added a small jet engine atop the C-82’s centre section for bursts of extra power.

This is probably where Elleston Trevor got the name he used in his novel. A total of six aircraft were used for the 1965 version of The Flight of the Phoenix. Three C-82s were found at Long Beach in the care of Steward-Davis. Hired for various tasks, only one actually fl ew in the movie. The other two were used as set backdrops; one on location and the other on a sound stage in Cali-fornia. The other three were all rebuilt as the various Phoenix airframes. A US Marine Corps (USMC) Fairchild R4Q-1 (C-119) was the non-fl ying Phoenix used by the cast and crew for the construction scenes and static shots. Two other aircraft were used for the fl ying scenes, one a scratch-built wooden aircraft and the other a North American O-47A observation aircraft.

The reason that so many aircraft were used becomes clear in relation to the production schedule. Each airframe was assigned a unique role in the production to speed the process and hence reduce costs. All elements converged in the fi nal cut to make the viewer think that the Skytruck taking off is the same one that crashes

and is built into the Phoenix. In reality this could not be further from the truth.

The making of the fi lmThe camera fades in and we see a baking, remote dirt runway. Through the heat haze, making a take-off run, is a twin-boom cargo aeroplane, cream in colour with red trim. It soars into the sky, cueing the distinctive desert theme music. Hired from Steward-Davis, this is the only C-82A that actually fl ew in the movie. Built in Maryland in 1946 as a C-82A-15-FA, it was assigned USAF serial 44-23015. Upon its retire-ment from the USAF it was acquired by the New Frontier Airlift Corp, registered N6887C and

ABOVE A scene from the 1965 fi lm, in which the “Skytruck”, actually a Fairchild C-82, has been cannibalised and turned into the Phoenix, in order for the survivors of the crash at the beginning of the fi lm to escape a sandy grave.

LEFT An extremely rare photograph of N53228, the C-82A used for soundstage work during the fi lming of the 1965 fi lm, at Long Beach two years later. Note the “Arabco” logo on the fuselage, damaged window for camera access and unpainted wings, which were not used for fi lming.

VIA RICHARD CROSSLEY

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FLYING FOR HOLLYWOODED

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converted to a Jet-Packet 1600 by Steward-Davis, which entailed adding a single jet engine above and behind the fl ight-deck to improve engine-out capability. This same aircraft was used by the USAF Flight Test Department at Edwards Air Force Base in 1961 to determine the effect of a Jet-Pak on the performance of a piston-engined aircraft. With the jet removed for the fi lm, the aircraft performed memorably as the Skytruck that sets the story in motion. It is the only C-82A to have had its tailplane exten-sions removed, this being plainly evident in the opening scene. After fi lming it was returned to its Jet-Packet confi guration, and was seen at Long Beach Airport as late as 1967. It was prob-ably scrapped in the early 1970s.

As the aircraft climbs out over the Sahara we are introduced to James Stewart in the lead role of Captain Frank Towns, and the rest of the cast playing a group of oil workers heading for some rest and recuperation in Benghazi. All the fl ight-deck scenes and sequences in the cargo hold were shot on a sound stage in Hollywood, using another civil C-82A. These interiors were shot indoors because the lighting was easier to con-trol without the contrast of bright desert light, and the fuselage interior temperature could be kept cool enough for the fi lm crew to work in.

This aircraft was Fairchild C-82A-25-FA s/n 44-23036, which was also purchased after mili-tary service by New Frontier Airlift, becoming N53228 and operating out of Long Beach in southern California. Stripped of booms, wings and engines by the fi lm company, the fuselage was painted with the fi ctional Arabco Oil Co logo and bolted to a rocking gimbal to simulate the Skytruck’s encounter with the sandstorm. A rare photograph taken in the late 1960s shows the C-82A fuselage mated back with its original

wings and booms and left to rot at Long Beach Airport, still in its fi ctitious movie colours. It was probably scrapped along with all the other twin-boomers at that location in the early 1970s.

The rolling sand dunes on the south-eastern tip of California provided the perfect substitute for the Sahara. Cast and crew began principal photography in April 1965, battling relentlessly hot conditions for some four months to recreate the painstaking task of transforming the Sky-truck into the Phoenix. Although it appears that the Phoenix was built from the C-82A compo-nents on site, the wings, booms and tailplane were from a Fairchild R4Q-1.

The C-82 fuselage was probably leased with the requirement that it be returned to New Fron-tier after fi lming, as the fuselage remains notice-ably free from damage throughout the fi lm. This C-82A-20-FA, s/n 44-23031, served with the USAF until its eventual retirement and purchase by New Frontier in 1957, and registered N4833V, performed its starring role by simply sitting in the hot sand. Afterwards it was reunited with its original booms, tail surfaces and wings, and was seen at Long Beach Airport in 1967, regis-tered as N53228. The same year, it was acquired the Fairchild-Hiller Corporation as N6850A, al-though its eventual fate is unknown.

The R4Q-1 (aka non-fl ying Phoenix) was built with US Navy BuNo 126580 and upon retirement assigned to the US Navy boneyard at NAS Litch-fi eld Park in Arizona. Purchased by the fi lm com-pany, it underwent alterations to make it appear that the booms and wings came from a C-82. The C-119s had an extra air intake on the wing leading edges outboard of the engine nacelle. These were fi tted with metal covers and dented to simulate crash damage. The dorsal fi n exten-sions were completely removed, C-82-style tails

RIGHT Another rare photograph of one of the C-82s used in the fi lming of The Flight of the Phoenix. Taken in 1963, this shows C-82A N4833V with its original wings and booms, which were later removed and “distressed” for use as props on the fi lm. The fuselage was used for the desert wreck sequences.

BELOW Peter Finch as Capt Harris and Christian Marquand as Dr Renaud head off into the desert and away from the sanctuary of the wrecked aircraft. The “wreck” is in fact N4833V, with wings and booms from a Fairchild R4Q-1 (C-119).

ABOVE Sparks fl y between James Stewart’s Capt Towns and Richard Attenborough, who plays navigator Lew Moran. Towns: “If you hadn’t made a career out of being a drunk you might not have been a second-rate navigator in a fi fth-rate outfi t. And if you’d not stayed in your bunk to kill that last bottle, maybe you might have checked the radio and we might not be here now. All right!”ABOVE & BELOW: MICHAEL O’LEARY COLLECTION



The Flight of the Phoenix — 20th Century Fox Film Corp, 1965

Aircraft C/n HistoryFairchild C-82-A-15-FA 10059 To USAF in 1946 as 44-23015. To New Frontier Airlift Corp in 1955 as N6887C. Used by USAF for Jet-Pak

trials in 1961. Became fl ying aircraft for The Flight of the Phoenix (TFOTP) in 1965Fairchild C-82A-20-FA 10075 To USAF in 1946 as 44-23031. To New Frontier Airlift Corp in 1954 as N4833V. Used as the desert wreck in

TFOTP in 1965. To Fairchild-Hiller Corp in 1967 as N6850AFairchild C-82A-25-FA 10080 To USAF in 1946 as 44-23036. To New Frontier Airlift Corp in 1957 as N53228.Used for interior fi lming in

TFOTP in 1965Fairchild R4Q-1 10549 To US Marine Corps (USMC) squadron VMR-253 as BuNo 126580. Used in TFOTP as a non-fl ying fi lm propPhoenix P-1 — Built in 1964–65 by Tallmantz Aviation as N93082. Crashed July 8, 1965North American O-47A NA-25-554 To USAF in 1939 as 38-284. Sold on to the civil market in 1945 as N4725V. Used in TFOTP as stand-in

Phoenix after crash of originalFlight of the Phoenix — 20th Century Fox Film Corp, 2004

Fairchild C-119F 10955 To Royal Canadian Air Force as 22130. Sold to Hawkins & Powers, Wyoming, as N15501. Used as fl ying aircraft in Flight of the Phoenix (FOTP) in 2004

Fairchild R4Q-2 10885 To USMC squadron VMR-234 as BuNo 131700. Sold to Comutair, Nebraska, in the 1980s as N3267U. Later abandoned in Kenya, Africa. Used as desert wreck in FOTP

Fairchild R4Q-2 10876 To USMC squadron VMR-234 as BuNo 131691. Used as non-fl ying fi lm prop in FOTPFairchild R4Q-2 10891 To USMC squadron VMR-234 as BuNo 131691. Used as non-fl ying fi lm prop in FOTP

Aircraft used in the Flight of the Phoenix fi lms

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being built in their place. The C-82/C-119 tails had three rudder hinge points, whereas those in the movie have only two — obviously fakes. This Phoenix never fl ew and was used only as a prop. It did, however, have a working engine and could taxi a short distance, albeit slowly.

The real PhoenixTallmantz Aviation Inc was located at Orange County Airport, Santa Ana, California, and was founded by Hollywood stunt pilots Frank Tall-man and Paul Mantz. In late 1964/early 1965 the fi lm-makers approached them to scratch-build a lookalike aircraft that would actually fl y but at the same time resemble a C-82 boom and wings. Designed by pioneer aviator Otto Timm, the air-craft benefi tted from Timm’s vast aeronautical experience (which included giving a young Charles Lindbergh his fi rst aeroplane ride). In the 1950s, Timm joined Paul Mantz to keep the latter’s fl eet of vintage aircraft fl ying for movies.

In order to keep costs down for the Phoenix, Timm used components from other aircraft

while a new rear fuselage was built from wood to resemble a C-82 boom. The bracing pylon was non-load-bearing and the rigging “wire” was in fact clothes line in an attempt to make the design look fl imsy. With wings from a Beech C-45A, the Tallmantz Phoenix P-1, as it was called, did bear an uncanny resemblance to the C-82 mock-up. This one-off machine contained no C-82 components whatsoever and apart from wings, engine, cowling and a few other compo-nents, was a completely scratch-built airplane. The powerplant was a 550 h.p. Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engine donated by one of several derelict North American T-6 Texans then sitting at Orange County, and the cockpit section was probably a steel tube section from the same Texan. The aircraft passed all FAA requirements and was registered as N93082.

Paul Mantz had 3hr fl ying time in the type when it came to rolling cameras for the fi lm’s climactic ending, in which the Phoenix rises into the air. The aircraft may have made one short test hop at Orange County before being fl own to

LEFT The ill-fated Phoenix P-1, as designed by Otto Timm and built by Tallmantz Aviation at Orange County. Timm was a genuine aviation pioneer, his fi rst aircraft project being a replica of a Santos-Dumont Demoiselle in 1910. He went on to a barnstorming career before designing the N2T-1 Tutor basic trainer for the US Navy in 1940, using his patented Aeromold plastic bonded plywood process.

FAR LEFT The demise of the Phoenix. According to the offi cial accident report, Paul Mantz was suffering from “alcoholic impairment of effi ciency and judgment” at the time of the crash. LEFT The Air Museum’s O-47A in 1966 being returned to its original confi guration after fi lming had been completed.

BELOW The fi ctional logo of the Arabco Oil Company created for the 1965 fi lm.

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the desert location, accounting for Mantz’s time on type. On July, 8, 1965, Mantz took off for what was intended to be a single low pass in front of the cameras. It was an early morning fl ight, as midday temperatures peaked at a scorching 49°C, and it was to be the last fi lming of the air-craft. Second unit director Oscar Rudolph called for a second pass. Cameramen were stationed at each end of the valley. On the second run for the cameras, it appeared that the low-fl ying Phoenix hit the sand with its skids and came apart.

The forward portion of the aircraft violently catapulted into the ground and Mantz, 62, was killed instantly. He was not originally intended to be the pilot — that task was to be taken by Frank Tallman, but he had badly injured a leg in his son’s go-kart. Mantz was also carrying a passenger, 64-year-old veteran Hollywood stuntman Billy Rose, who sat behind Mantz in the makeshift cockpit. When the Phoenix hit, Rose was shot out of the cockpit and hit the desert, breaking his shoulder but surviving. Mantz was crushed in the cockpit. It was a tragic end to a legendary fl ying career. The fi lm’s last title card pays tribute to this brilliant fl yer.

With the death of their chief pilot and the loss of the movie’s main aerial star, the fi lm-makers were left without an ending. With the December 1965 release date looming, they travelled to The Air Museum, then located at Ontario, California, to look at a pre-war North American O-47A (USAF s/n 38-284). Luckily, it was in fl ying condition and was quickly rented to fi nish the fl ying sequences, in which the survivors skim over the oil drilling camp and to salvation. With the registration N4725V, the O-47A received ex-tensive modifi cations, including the removal of the large canopy, addtion of a tall mast with fl y-ing wires, and landing gear suitably modifi ed to resemble the Phoenix. The O-47A was soon in a Phoenix livery and performing the last two fl y-ing shots required for the fi lm. In the very last scene, the Phoenix suddenly has stubby short skids and a shorter, thicker fuselage. However, the fi lm-makers got their shot and the average cinema-going audience was none the wiser. Afterwards it was converted back to its O-47A status and fl ew with the museum for many years until it was destroyed by fi re following a gear-up landing at Porterville, California.

The 2004 remakeIn December 2004 a new version of the fi lm was released bringing the story and characters up to date. Starring Dennis Quaid as Capt Towns and set in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, the fi lm- makers also updated the aircraft, using a C-119, which retained the twin booms so essential to the movie’s storyline. Shot in Namibia in south-western Africa between November 2003 and February 2004, the movie required four C-119s, (one C-119F and three R4Q-2s, the USMC version of the C-119F). Piloted by Capt Bob West, the C-119 seen fl ying over the fi lm’s opening credits was hired from American company Hawkins & Powers (H&P), and is now back at Greybull in storage but airworthy. It was built as one of 35 C-119Fs for Canada, with RCAF s/n 22130. It had various owners on the civil market before going to H&P as N15501.

Like many C-119s it has the J34-34 Jet-Pak conversion kit, which was removed during fi lm-ing (the jet was kept on for the fl ight to Africa). The main wreck site was an ex-R4Q-2 (BuNo 131700), purchased from a civil operator in Ken-ya where it had sat derelict as N3267U. Moved to Namibia, it provided the backdrop to most of the drama in the movie. The last two R4Q-2s, BuNos 131691 and 131706, were purchased in late 2003 direct from Southwest Alloys of Tucson, where they had been used to provide parts for other C-119s. They were polished up and shipped off to Namibia (both were converted as the Phoenix aircraft, and one was installed with a working engine from a Douglas DC-3). The leftover com-ponents were used in the sandstorm scenes where portions of a buried C-119 are seen stick-ing out of the sand. This time digital technology allowed the fi lm-makers to use models and com-puters to create a fl ying Phoenix.

The producers originally intended to build a fl ying Phoenix, and work was started at Mojave to build the creature from carbon fi bre. Power was to come from an R-1830, but weight began to increase and power was upped to an R-2800 and then to an R-3350. The aircraft would have used the C-119’s cranked wing confi guration on one side and another wing panel on the other. The project went over budget and was cancelled. The last anyone saw of the “new” Phoenix were components in a dumpster at Mojave.

BELOW Dennis Quaid with Fairchild R4Q-2 c/n 10885 in the Namibian desert during the making of 2004’s Flight of the Phoenix.

ABOVE The poster from the 2004 fi lm Flight of the Phoenix, starring Dennis Quaid, and including English actor Hugh Laurie.

� The author is looking for any photographs, documents or material relating to either of the movies, and particularly information and pictures of the three C-82s used in the original fi lm parked at Long Beach Airport in the 1960s.He may be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or visit the website; www.uswarplanes.net


Compiled by Nick Stroud

Looking Back 80 Years — January 1926

A Sporting VentureMR LESLIE HAMILTON, who has taken part in a number of air events and who lately bought and fl ew Mr Raynham’s Martinsyde, has now left the RAF. He has bought a Vickers Vulcan, which he intends to use as an aerial taxi. On Thursday next, he will leave Croydon with a load of passengers for St Moritz, where he will alight on the frozen lake and will land the passengers at the very doors of their hotels. At St Moritz, he has booked another load for Nice, and he will spend the time until March 1 cruising between London, St Moritz and Nice.

A Meritorious South African FlightON JANUARY 14 an aeroplane belonging to the South African Air Force and piloted by Maj Meintjes and Lt Roos fl ew a total distance of 1,200 miles in 13¼hr without a stop. They left Pretoria at 0400hr and, fl ying a circular course, arrived back at Pretoria at 1715hr. The machine used was a de Havilland D.H.9 fi tted with additional tanks. The object of the fl ight was to demonstrate that an aeroplane can, if neces-sary, reach any part of South Africa in one day.

A Flight from IrelandCOLONEL THE MASTER OF SEMPILL left Stranraer (whence he had fl own earlier from Belfast) on January 6, and fl ew to Stag Lane in 6hr. The machine was a de Havilland Moth with a Cirrus engine.

There was an extremely strong headwind, but in spite of this he made good progress. He landed at Southport on a sandbank which was surrounded by water and fi lled up with petrol carried in tins in the passenger seat. He landed here by design in order to avoid being surrounded by crowds. He took off again a few minutes later and fl ew to Shotwick, where he refuelled.

Thence in very bad weather he started again and, as it was getting dark and he was uncertain of his petrol level, he landed in a fi eld at High Wycombe and again refuelled from tins. Thence he fl ew to Stag Lane. Altogether a remarkable performance.

Development of the AutogyroA COMPANY is in the process of formation in this country for the building and selling of autogyros, with Señor de la Cierva as the moving spirit.

Meanwhile, three autogyros are being built by A.V. Roe & Co Ltd. One will have a Le Rhône engine. another will have an Armstrong Siddeley Lynx and the third, which is a conversion of the Avis, will have a Bristol Cherub. George Parnall & Co are also build-ing an autogyro with a Cherub engine.

In Spain two autogyros with 300 h.p. Hispano-Suizas are nearing completion. These are expected to have a performance similar to that of the Bristol Fighter. Mr Frank Courtney is next week demon-strating to the French at Villacoublay the autogyro in which he gyrated at Farnborough.

From Spain to South AmericaCOMMANDANTE FRANCO, of the Spanish Army, intends to make an attempt to fl y from Spain to Buenos Aires in a Dornier Wal fl ying-boat equipped with two 450 h.p. Napier Lion engines. He will be accompanied by Capt Ruiz de Alda, a navigation and wireless specialist, and one mechanic. Ensign Duran, of the Spanish Navy, will make a part of the journey in the seaplane, and the remainder on one of the number of ships to be supplied by the Spanish Navy as naval escort.

The Fokker in AmericaTHE CONTINENTAL Motors Corporation, of Detroit, Michigan, has purchased a Fokker F.VII-3m, which it proposes to use for the transport of its staff in charge of the regular inspection of the company’s factories throughout the state of Michigan.

A new air route, New York—Cuba, via Florida and Key West, was inaugurated towards the end of last year, and a Fokker F.VII-3m has been put on this service. On the occasion of the fi rst fl ight over this route, which is 2,500 miles long, 90 miles of which are over the sea, Mr Fokker himself was one of the passengers, thus taking advantage of the opportu-nity to spend Christmas under the palms of Havana. It is not known whether this is to be a regular service. It certainly smacks of Fokker publicity.

LEFT Designed by R.K. Pierson as a low-cost, cheap to oper-ate, eight-passenger single-engined commercial biplane, the Vickers Vulcan was an unlovely machine, dubbed the “fl ying pig” by Vickers staff. The fi fth example built, G-EBEM, was operated by Leslie Hamilton as an aerial taxi from January 1926, and was lost at sea off the Italian coast four months later.

RIGHT Antony Fokker (seated beneath the calendar) reclines aboard the trimotor that made the inaugural scouting trip to Havana. The picture appears to have been taken a few days after the fi rst Ford Air Tour of the USA in 1925, and it is highly likely that the same Fokker machine was used for both the tour and the Cuba excursion.

ABOVE An advertisement in the January 13, 1926, issue of The Aeroplane for the Blackburn Velos torpedo bomber, designed to a Greek Navy specifi cation.

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PRESERVATION INDUSTRY

LAST YEAR WE took a long hard look at the costs and other challenges of keeping old jets fl ying in the UK (see Aeroplane, Sep-tember & October 2004). We now turn our

attention to a rather different category of historic aircraft. Recent controversy over insurance pre-miums and the threat to the continued opera-tion of Boeing B-17 Sally B reminds us that large piston-engined aircraft are equally challenging. In 2005 vintage piston types were called upon to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two. Along with Sally B, the RAF-supported Avro Lancaster, a handful of DC-3s and B-25s, Plane Sailing’s newly-acquired Consolidated Catalina also took part in the dramatic fl ypast down London’s Mall and over Buckingham Pal-ace on July 10. The big white amphibian fl ying-boat, resplendent in US Eighth Air Force markings, hosted a BBC camera team for the event.

That there was a Catalina to participate in the fl ypast — representing the Battle of the Atlantic against Germany’s U-boats, offshore reconnais-sance and air-sea rescue — is an epic story in itself. This rare survivor in the UK, one of some 20 airworthy examples worldwide, is fl ying thanks to the determination and commitment of one

Man with a Mission

In increasingly challenging times for historic aviation in the UK,

how do you keep an iconic World War Two fl ying-boat in the air

— and how do you pay for it? One determined operator has

found an effective answer, as TIM SKEET reports from Duxford

ABOVE On top of things: Paul Warren Wilson, the driving force behind Plane Sailing’s Consolidated Catalina.

ABOVE RIGHT Catalina G-PBYA (actually a Canadian Vickers-built Canso) over Cambridge-shire on July 8, 2005, at the time of the annual Flying Legends show. The aircraft wears the simple overall white World War Two paint scheme of a UK-based search-and-rescue ’boat of the US Eighth Air Force (see News, August 2005).

man. It is an object lesson in turning a passion into a business, of creating an organisation with fi nancial controls.

Plane Sailing’s experience of acquiring and operating a Catalina has been anything but plain sailing. The death of two of the original three partners, mounting costs, regulatory challenges and a fatal crash resulting in the write-off of the fi rst aircraft might have put most people off this kind of project. However, the inspiration and per-sistence (or maybe even stubbornness) of an ex-fi ghter jet jockey with a passion for pistons and props has kept it going. Paul Warren Wilson’s taste for adventure has taken him from high-g V/STOL as a 4 Sqn RAF Harrier pilot to amphibi-ous assault, the man behind the UK’s fl ying-boat.

Over coffee and biscuits in a Portakabin at Dux-ford I talked to Paul about keeping a fl ying-boat operational in the UK, and what had he has learnt over some 20 years of involvement. A youthful, lean 50-year-old father of four, he now earns a living fl ying Boeing 747 freighters for Cathay Pacifi c. While still in the RAF he teamed up with two friends to buy his fi rst big Cat, a type he fi rst fl ew in 1984. Although illness and accident de-prived Paul of his partners, he persevered, also

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enduring the tragedy on Southampton Water 7½ years ago, when original Catalina VR-BPS (ex-46633), with almost 13,000 fl ying hours on the airframe, sank in a much-publicised fatal acci-dent (see News, October 1998 Aeroplane).

Our discussion, however, does not start with the aircraft, but with a thick fi le of papers containing an information memorandum, a shareholder agreement and, most disconcerting of all, a white sheet of paper entitled “Outline Annual Operat-ing Finances 2005”. Paul adopts the language of an accountant as he talks through the docu-ments. Besides the ever-vital issue of safety, his prime focus is on preventing the big white whale of an aircraft outside from turning into a big white elephant. With a budgeted total expendi-ture for 2005 amounting to £111,500, someone running this kind of project must be either very rich, very short-sighted or very well organised. Paul and his team fall into the last category. With 19 shareholders signed up as of September 2005 out of a maximum of 20 (as set by the Air Navi-gation Order, which limits the number of people who can share the costs before a business be-comes classed as a Public Transport Operation), and a busy 2005 season successfully completed,

the Catalina project represents a well-run busi-ness within the historic aviation world. How-ever, that was not how the project started out.

“I didn’t have any money, just a mortgage on the house. I fell into the trap of thinking capital cost, not running costs”, admits Paul, talking about the acquisition of the fi rst aircraft in 1984. In 1988 John Watts, one of the three partners, was killed in a Panavia Tornado crash. One ef-fect of this tragedy, however, was that John’s life insurance paid off the purchase loan. This obvi-ously took some pressure off the project’s fi nan-ces. The aircraft fl ew on successfully for another ten years before the accident at Southampton.

The Catalina had been insured for £250,000, but repairs were estimated at over £300,000. Therefore the aircraft was written off, and Paul was forced to decide whether to acquire a re-placement or call it a day. After some soul-searching, he decided to fi nd a new aircraft. As he points out: “The capital cost of an aircraft is not that relevant. It is the running costs that overwhelm people”. Over the almost 14 years of the fi rst aircraft’s operations, the net cost, after all revenues, amounted to nearly £100,000. Hav-ing learnt the fi nancial lesson, Paul organised

BELOW Paul Warren Wilson at his Duxford headquarters. A former Harrier pilot, Paul left the RAF in 1993. Since 1998 he has been fl ying with Cathay Pacifi c, for whom he captains Boeing 747 Classic freighters.

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the acquisition of a new aircraft, but he went about it in a markedly different way.

“The fi rst time round there was no fi nancial plan-ning. None; zero to begin with. The second time round the business plan came fi rst,” Paul explains with a steady gaze and calm voice. “If someone else wants to do this, I would advise them not to rush into it! Don’t buy on the basis of feeling un-less you are very rich. Put a plan in place fi rst”.

Why, one might wonder, did a former fast-jet pilot now fl ying cargo jets become so enthusias-tic about a slow-fl ying amphibian? “We got the Cat partly because it was there; a large, simple, twin-engined historic aircraft. Moreover, it’s dif-ferent from others. It goes on water, is challeng-ing, and requires the support of a small team.” With that combination of passion and imagina-tion that makes things happen, Paul arranged to buy a replacement Catalina in Canada. On this occasion he had a plan fi rmly in hand, and all the trappings of modern corporate governance were in place. He is candid about the costs: “We have spent almost £350,000 to date.” Of this sum, the cost of the aircraft was US$285,000 (around £190,000 at the then exchange rate), engine over-hauls cost C$130,000 (around £55,000), avionics some US$30,000 (£20,000), propeller overhaul C$10,000 (£4,000), certifi cation and other paper-work in Canada C$25,000 (£10,000); and there were other costs both in Canada and in the UK. These sums took the project over initial budget, but the costs were spread among the ten people who had lined up to acquire the fi rst 12 shares

in the aircraft, and the subsequent subscribers.The result is a fully-certifi cated, repainted and

airworthy machine. Whereas the fi rst aircraft was supported by an entirely volunteer staff, Plane Sailing now employs (part-time) chief engineer Gary Short, and bookings/support administra-tor Rachel Morris. Staff costs alone amount to some £40,000 a year, a further £6,000 being set aside for offi ce administration and advertising.

The First Law of Old Aeroplanes simply states: “Costs are the only part of fl ying that perma-nently defi es gravity. What goes up, generally keeps going up”. The Second Law states: “Finan-cial drag unchecked is likely, over time, to equal and exceed physical lift”. One controversial ex-ample of increased costs has been the recent hike in insurance premiums that caused uproar in the industry. The well-publicised plight of Dux-ford neighbour Sally B, almost grounded but for the intervention of Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson, was the result of barmy Brussels bureaucrats formulating another of those poorly-conceived directives that causes collateral damage.

The new EU-wide blanket insurance require-ment lumps aircraft by size and weight into fi xed categories — obliging them to maintain insur-ance levels set by reference to commercial jets, and leading to dramatically higher premiums. The effect of this on the Catalina has been an additional £3,000 per year on the insurance bill (taking the 2005 charge to some £14,000). Paul’s views echo those across the industry. “It is to-tally ridiculous. This measure was put in place for airlines without any thought for private (non-commercial) aircraft, their permit status, use, maximum speed or age.”

Other items infl ating the annual bill include a budgeted £12,000 for spares (including ship-ping), provisional sums for engine/propeller/undercarriage maintenance amounting to £7,000 for the year, and £1,500 for oil. It all adds up to the £111,500 costs budgeted for 2005.

Work on G-PBYA has not fi nished. The interior requires some tidying-up, and there are plans to improve the furnishings. The original Cat was

Text continues on page 51

“The First Law of Old Aeroplanes

simply states: ‘Costs are the only part of fl ying that

permanently defi es gravity. What goes up,

generally keeps

going up’”

RIGHT As Europe’s biggest centre for historic aircraft operations, Duxford makes an excellent maintenance and operations base for Plane Sailing’s Catalina. Paul Warren Wilson lives just a couple of miles from the Cambridgeshire airfi eld.

BELOW The Catalina in its previous guise as Canadian-registered C-FNJF. It was a fi rebomber with the Saskatchewan fi refi ghting services (in whose colours it is seen here, at Shoreham, West Sussex) for a number of years, after which it was bought by a Zimbabwe-based tourist charter operation which never got off the ground. It was acquired by Catalina Aircraft Ltd, Plane Sailing’s holding company, in 2002.

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RICHARD PAVER photographed Plane Sailing’s Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina G-PBYA near its base at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, on July 8, 2sance) Squadron in World War Two, the aircraft served post-war in mapping, reconnaissance and rescue roles before becoming a fi rebom

2005 — the day before the Flying Legends airshow. Having begun its fl ying career as a Canso A (RCAF 11005) with the Royal Canadian Air Force’s No 9 (Bomber Reconnais-mber. It is now painted to represent OA-10A Catalina 44-33915 Sophisticat of the 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron, US Eighth Air Force, based at Halesworth, Suffolk, in 1945.


Continued from page 46Bermuda-registered, and the current one had been on the Canadian register, but the practical way forward was to have it registered in the UK. That in itself required a lot of time and effort. How many seats the aircraft is allowed to have is just the latest episode in a long saga.

The maintenance schedule and planning cycle still envisages a useful working life of around 50 years, so maintenance is approached with a long-term view. Other additions could be made; the team has a nose turret, for instance. How-ever, the cost and resulting operational con-straints on the aircraft with the turret fi tted have ruled out this modifi cation for now.

“I love running a company and seeing a plan come together, seeing the project developing, but I must make sure it does not depend only on me”, Paul says. The possible airframe life of 50 years makes it unlikely that he would still be at the helm for all that time. Succession planning, spreading costs and delegating workload is vital to the successful running of a company. These projects have a habit of taking over the lives of those involved. Modern communications and technology have transformed Paul’s life, how-ever. The laptop computer and e-mail have made supervising this project far easier. The chairman of the board can still fl y to Hong Kong on his day-job and keep the organisation turning.

In 2002 there were ten men, 12 shares and a new aircraft. Three years later 19 shares had been sold. The sale of the 20th and fi nal share will be cause for celebration. The current price is a capital con-tribution of £17,500 to own a chunk of Catalina through the holding company, Catalina Aircraft Limited. The shareholder also signs up to pay £150 per month (£1,800 per annum) towards the running costs of Plane Sailing Air Displays Ltd, the operating company. This amounts to total annual income for the company of £36,000 out of the £60,000–70,000 of annual maintenance and operating costs (excluding staff costs). This income forms a crucial part of the fi nancial equa-tion and source of stability for the project. Even so, time and thought must go into maintaining the full complement of shareholders.

Paul is an eternal optimist on this question, as on others. “There is a huge block of people out

there with money and the interest; it’s just a mat-ter of fi nding them.” In this he has done well, although success has not come overnight. The initial hit rate was about one subscriber every eight weeks, slowing to one every eight months. Even with only half the number of shareholders early on, there was fi nancial stability in the project and no crisis of funding. Interestingly, the com-pany does not have charitable status, as the paperwork would be too onerous. This project is therefore commercially structured.

In return for part-ownership, shareholders have rights to fl ying as pilot or passenger, and know that they are making a vital contribution to-wards the project. None has signed up as an in-vestor hoping for some fi nancial gain over time.

The provenance of shareholders, and why they became involved, is interesting. Graham Wilkin-son, a local resident and IT specialist, saw the Cat at a show and wanted to get involved. He is not a pilot, and just enjoys going for a ride. Other shareholders include an American collector, a couple of Dutch supporters, a Swiss national, an Austrian and a handful of Britons. One share-holder signed up after he spotted the aircraft in The Times Christmas Gift Guide; a couple were sourced through advertisements in the special-ist press (“Big girl with expensive tastes seeking to attract discerning men with a taste for adven-ture”), and others were simply “passing trade”. Paul’s charm and marketing skills scored with Chris Noon, a fellow Cathay pilot, who was per-suaded to sign up during a long haul in the 747’s cockpit. Chris is now a regular display pilot, and fl ew the Cat over the Palace in July. “I wrote out a cheque there and then in the cockpit in the mid-

ABOVE Plane Sailing’s chief engineer Gary Short gets to grips with the back end of one of the aircraft’s pair of Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial engines.

ABOVE The Catalina at Shoreham’s 2005 RAFA Air Display, held on September 3–4. Beyond it is Lancing College, which provides a distinctive backdrop to Shoreham Airport events.LEFT The Catalina’s cockpit (complete with control lock in this view) has that “lived-in” feel. Suitably qualifi ed shareholders in the aircraft get to fl y it.

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dle of the night somewhere over Teheran,” con-fesses Chris. “I could see the potential of the project and of Paul.”

Although the magic 20 has almost been reached, there are inevitably a couple of share-holders who might be seeking to trade out. There is not a lot of liquidity in these shares, but, with a full register, new arrivals will replace existing members or form an orderly queue outside the Duxford Portakabin. Shares are expected to change hands every fi ve years or so, according to Paul, meaning that his shareholder relations campaign never fi nishes. Besides the need to maintain a full share register, challenges arise from balancing shareholder interests. There has been no trouble or confl ict to date with, or be-tween, the shareholders, but Paul is realistic. There may be a “force-out clause” added to the shareholder agreement in the near future as a precaution. These things need to be anticipated ahead of diffi culties.

With the costs partly covered, the next priority is to look for a steady income. The fi rst aircraft enjoyed some long-term leases providing sup-port or advertising for such brands as Peroni beer of Italy, Ireland’s Guinness or Stuyvesant Travel. Today the main income focus remains airshows and displays. With its commemora-tive fl ypasts and events, 2005 was a good year, with some 16 appear-ances and a budgeted, unaudited income of about £70,000. Other income sources include the Catalina Society’s membership subscrip-tions, memorabilia sales and on-board visits to the aircraft at shows. The society was due to raise around £19,000 in 2005. If the fi gures in the budget were correct, the year has generated a surplus of income (including the owner share-holders’ subsidy as income) over costs of around £15,000. It may be a few months before Paul and his team can assess the full fi nancial impact of the year as bills roll in and fees are slowly paid.

Airshow income is uncertain. Rates depend on the amount of fuel, distance of operation and in-tangibles such as the brand value of an appear-ance, merchandising opportunities and length of display. The fee typically may be between £3,500 and £5,000 per show. If a sea-landing is required, organisers are expected to fork out an additional £7,500, or £2,500 for freshwater landings. These sums are charged to deal with the potential cor-rosion exposure caused by water operations.

The number of shows has declined, and not all of them want or can afford a fl ying-boat. Thus the team must continually assess the market and the Cat’s competitive position. “There is not that much competition,” says Paul. “There is Sally B or the Dutch Catalina, but we are all competing for a fi xed pot of money.” Repainting the aircraft is also part of the marketing of the aircraft. The white paint shows up well, the colours are his-toric with local connections to Duxford and it is easy to maintain. The markings also differenti-ate the aircraft from its predecessor.

Among the other challenges involved in oper-ating the Cat is the lack of experienced pilots

and the high cost of training. The team has just been reinforced by the arrival of Paul Mulcahy from the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Flight Test Department. “It is diffi cult to fi nd people with water-operating experience,” Paul points out. “The skill set of landing on water has been al-most lost. Virtually no-one does it any longer.”

Water operations are tricky. The surface is dy-namic and quite unlike a fi xed, static runway. Operations off water require careful planning and logistics. There is the need for safety boats, mooring points, slipways and so on. To qualify to captain the aircraft for water landings, a pilot must have practised at least 100 such landings in a minimum of ten locations under a variety of conditions. This is a tall order. Paul himself acts as the chief training pilot, his experience and qualifi cations deriving from over 1,000hr on type and plenty of water experience, a legacy of touring in exotic locations around the world with the fi rst aircraft. Chris Noon, who does a lot of the display fl ying, has a Canadian “fl oat rat-ing”. “You must be a sailor to take the aeroplane on water,” says Paul. “A fl ying-boat is diffi cult to stop in the water, and it is very unwieldy.” Natu-rally enough the Catalina behaves like a boat on water, albeit a rather badly-designed one. Noon,

an old Africa hand with many hours on DC-3s, Friendships, Comets and VC10s with East African Airways, is now retired and has the time to put into the display fl ying.

A further diffi culty for all operators is fi nd-ing a stable, well-

equipped base. Britain has a number of possible sites, but Duxford offers many benefi ts. The Im-perial War Museum and the facilities at the air-fi eld represent a tremendous asset for the British vintage warbird industry. Duxford is a working museum with a concentration of expertise and like-minded people. Paul himself lives only two miles away, and getting staff and volunteers to Duxford is not diffi cult compared with other lo-cations. Being based there is benefi cial to the airfi eld and the aircraft.

Embarking upon an enterprise such as the Cata-lina project is not for the faint-hearted. Doing it twice is bold. Buying into the project is to make a meaningful contribution to aviation heritage, or to open the door to an exacting new fl ying ex-perience. But, as Paul reminds me: “Membership is not recommended as an opportunity to real-ise capital growth”. The project is regulated by the CAA, not the Financial Services Authority. But for those who can afford it, buying a share allows an individual to participate in an exciting well-run project, and to share in the ownership of a majestic piece of aviation history.

With secure fi nancial backing in the form of a stable shareholder group, a cadre of pilots, engi-neering support and a convenient base, the Cat-alina is set to continue operating smoothly in the years ahead. In the shareholder documenta-tion Paul Warren Wilson fi nds the words that re-ally keep those Pratt & Whitneys turning: “There is no button-pushing wizardry here, just an old-fashioned handling experience”.


TOP The plain white paint scheme enhances the fl owing curves of the Catalina’s hull.ABOVE Volunteer crew member Philip Curl perches above the port wheel-well. Enthusiasts are able to support the Catalina either by providing “hands-on” help via the “Cat Pack” team, or simply by joining the Catalina Society — see the High Society page in November 2003’s Aeroplane, or log on to www.catalina.org.uk.

� Interested in joining the waiting-list for a share in the Catalina? Or in booking the aircraft for an airshow or event? Contact Paul Warren-Wilson via e-mail at [email protected] or tel/fax 01223 837011. For further information visit the website at www.catalina-bookings.org

“Embarking upon an enterprise such as the

Catalina project is not for the faint-hearted. Doing it

twice is bold”

TIM

SKE

ET P

HO

TOG

RAPH

S


The Avro Heritage Group

HIGH SOCIETY

THE ORIGINS OF the Group could be said to date back to July 1963 when A.V. Roe & Company Limited was absorbed into Hawker Siddeley Aviation. The managing

director at that time told Harry Holmes (current chairman of the Heritage Group) that the Avro image must be forgotten, as the company was entering into a new era. Anything connected with Avro must be disposed of — from headed notepaper to models with the then fi ctitious registration G-AVRO. Luckily many of these items were saved and spirited away in the hope that some day they may be displayed for the enjoyment of enthusiasts and historians.

The Public Relations storeroom became home for many of these items as company policy on historical matters began to change. After nego-tiations, suitable accommodation at Woodford was made available as a Heritage Centre — in a building that had once housed the Personnel Department. In 1995, British Aerospace gave permission for it to be used for the purpose of preserving and recording not only Avro heritage, but also the local products that followed.

Since its establishment, the Centre has gone from strength to strength — a small group of dedicated retired employees and volunteers man the premises two days a week. Besides the extensive archive in which documents and photographs are preserved, there are display rooms dedicated to famous types like the Avro 504, Anson, Lancaster and Vulcan, while a large hall covers other designs. This excellent archive, built up over many years, compensates for the loss of most of the Avro historical records and early photographs in a large fi re at the Chadd-erton headquarters in October 1959. Besides the material saved, contributions have been received from retired workers, ex-RAF personnel and the

general public. Talks on the history of Avro are regularly given to local organisations and have resulted in some excellent gifts, including a fi ne Avro 504 propeller.

Also at Woodford under the Avro Heritage Group banner are two other teams dedicated to preservation. The fi rst is the Anson Team, named after the restoration to fl ying condition of Avro XIX G-AHKK, which is now on loan to the Shut-tleworth Collection. The team has recently been involved in the building of Avro Type F and Type G replicas (see News, November 2005, Aeroplane) and have now been tasked with the construction of a Roe I triplane replica to com-memorate the early fl ights of Alliott Verdon Roe from Lea Marshes in 1909. This project, under co-ordinator Mike Taylor, is being sponsored by the Verdon-Roe family and the aircraft will even-tually be displayed at the Lea Valley Experience in East London.

The second heritage team is the Vulcan XM603 Club, formed for the preservation of that aircraft at Woodford. This club is also involved in assist-ing other organisations with similar projects including the well-known “Vulcan to the Sky” programme. To assist the latter the team has recently loaned the nose and cockpit section of the Club’s other Vulcan, XM602, to be used as a training aid at Bruntingthorpe.

Besides the many visitors to the Woodford Heritage Centre to see the Vulcan, the building also plays host to RAF and MoD personnel at the site for their involvement in the Nimrod MRA.4 programme. BAE Systems supports its proud heritage, gathered from many famous names in British industry, and the Avro team is itself proud to be involved in preserving this company’s out-standing contribution to aviation history in this country.

Contact:

Martin Garland, Avro Heritage Centre Manager, BAE Systems, Woodford, Stockport, Cheshire SK7 1QR Tel: 0161 955 4182

Membership: Membership stands at 27, three of whom were previously part of the former Macclesfield Aviation Society. The remaining 24 volunteers are all former employees of the company. Seven of the volunteers work in the Heritage Centre; ten are assigned to the Anson Team and the other ten make up the Vulcan XM603 Club. The Anson Team is currently building Type F and Type G replica aircraft. Although new members are not being sought at the moment, enthusiasts are welcome to visit

The Heritage Centre:

The Centre is open between 1000hr and 1600hr on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Visits by individuals or small groups may be arranged by contacting Martin Garland, the Avro Heritage Centre Manager. For security reasons, at least two weeks’ notice must be given. Cameras are not permitted on site

Avro Heritage Group

To record, preserve and perpetuate the heritage of the Avro company

Society aims

ABOVE Avro Heritage Group chairman Harry Holmes (left) with Centre manager Martin Garland in the large display hall at Woodford.


FOUR MONTHS AFTER the start of the Second World War, the 1940s began with the issuing of specifi cations that were to produce two outstanding aircraft. One

was to operate until 1963, and an example of the other is still serving the industry to this day.

A de Havilland proposal for an unarmed bomber, originally offered in December 1938, was championed by Air Marshal Sir Wilfrid Free-man, the Air Council Member for Research and Development at the Air Ministry. One year later, at a meeting held on December 29, 1939, it was agreed to order a prototype of an aircraft pow-ered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, having a maximum speed of 397 m.p.h. at 23,000ft, a service ceiling of 32,100ft, a range of 1,480 miles and capable of carrying a 1,000lb bomb load in-ternally. Operated by a crew of two, it was to have a large percentage of wood in its structure.

Using these statistics as a basis, Specifi cation B.1/40 was written around the de Havilland de-sign, given the company type number D.H.98, and the name Mosquito was bestowed upon it. The B Conditions marking E0234 was allocated

In his second article on British offi cial specifi cations and the aircraft they produced, BARRY JONES describes the advent of some of the most signifi cant types of World War Two and the introduction of a clearer revised procurement system in 1942

ABOVE One of the most enduring types to come out of a British Specifi cation was the de Havilland Mosquito, from B.1/40. Here, the prototype, with B Conditions markings E0234, is seen at Hatfi eld on November 21, 1940, four days before its maiden fl ight. The fi rst article in this series, entitled The Right Tools for the Job, appeared in the November 2005 Aeroplane.

to the prototype for its fi rst two test fl ights, after which it received the military serial W4050. The aircraft’s potentially outstanding performance was suffi ciently realised for a nightfi ghter vari-ant, with four Browning 0·303in machine-guns in the nose and four Hispano 20mm cannon under the front fuselage fl ooring, to be ordered to Specifi cation F.21/40.

The Mosquito eventually retired when No 3 Civilian Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit relin-quished it in 1963. The Mosquito nightfi ghter, and the early marks of Griffon-powered Super-marine Spitfi res and Seafi res, were the last fi ghters to include Browning machine-guns in their armament. The Hispano cannon became the main fi repower of all fi ghters until the advent of the 30mm Aden gun and, later, the missile.

The other aircraft that staked its place in RAF history was drafted in a preliminary brochure tendered to the Air Ministry in August 1940 by the Gloster Aircraft Company. It was a single-seat fi ghter powered by two Whittle-type turbo-jet engines and armed with six 20mm cannon. Specifi cation F.9/40 was written around the

Swords –


draft, and an order for 12 aircraft was placed, with stipulations that the aircraft was to have an operational ceiling above 40,000ft, there was to be provision for the pilot to have a pressure suit, and there had to be a minimum of 120 rounds per gun. This order was later reduced to six air-craft, then further amended to eight, the serials DG202 to DG209 inclusive being allocated. (A “G” suffi x was added to denote that these top-secret machines had to be guarded at all times.)

Because the true output of existing turbojet engines in an operational environment was rather an unknown quantity, Gloster advised the Air Staff that the weight saved by reducing the armament to only four cannon would be considerable, and this proposal was offi cially accepted. A succession of names suggested by both Gloster and the Ministry of Aircraft Produc-tion (MAP) were bounced around before the Ministry decreed in February 1942 that the F.9/40 was to be called “Meteor”.

Whittle’s W.2B engines were being manufac-tured by Coventry-based Rover Motors, and its delivery dates were slipping to such an extent

that the Metropolitan Vickers F.2 axial-fl ow engine and de Havilland’s centrifugal-fl ow H.1 were both considered as alternatives. To hasten the maiden fl ight, the fi fth prototype, DG206/G, was fi tted with a pair of H.1s, and the Meteor fi rst fl ew on March 5, 1943. Thus began a fl ying ca-reer that is still active today, with modifi ed T.7 WL419 operating as a test vehicle with ejection-seat manufacturer Martin-Baker.

The year 1940 also saw the need for troop-carrying gliders addressed, with the issuing of Specifi cations X.26/40 and X.27/40, which pro-duced the 25-troop-carrying Airspeed Horsa and vehicle/medium-range-artillery-carrying General Aircraft Hamilcar. Both were involved in assault operations on Fortress Europe.

One factor that became evident during the pre-war build-up of more modern aircraft was the time taken for a particular requirement to per-meate through the labyrinth of offi cial channels. Anything between fi ve and seven years was the average time taken from the Air Staff informing the Directorate of Technical Development (DTD) to the aircraft entering squadron service. It was

and PloughsharesA History of British Military Aircraft Specifi cations

Spec Role Aircraft

B.1/40 Two-seat bomber de Havilland D.H.98 MosquitoF.4/40 Single-seat high-altitude day interceptor Westland Welkin IN.5/40 Two-seat naval reconnaissance and strike Fairey Firefl yF.9/40 Single-seat fi ghter Gloster MeteorN.11/40 Single-seat naval fi ghter Blackburn B.37 FirebrandF.21/40 Two-seat nightfi ghter D.H.98 MosquitoX.26/40 Multi-role assault glider Airspeed A.S.51 HorsaX.27/40 Heavy-vehicle-carrying assault glider General Aircraft HamilcarB.2/41 Medium day bomber Bristol Type 163 BuckinghamF.4/41 Single-seat day fi ghter Supermarine Spitfi re (Griffon engine)B.5/41 Long-range heavy bomber Vickers-Armstrongs 447 WindsorF.10/41 Single-seat day fi ghter Hawker TempestH.7/42 Three-seat light bomber Bristol Type 164 BrigandF.1/43 Single-seat day fi ghter Supermarine SpitefulF.2/43 Single-seat day fi ghter Hawker Fury (monoplane)O.5/43 Two-seat naval torpedo strike Fairey Spearfi shF.9/43 Two-seat nightfi ghter Westland Welkin IIS.11/43 Three-seat naval bomber Short SturgeonF.12/43 Single-seat long-range fi ghter de Havilland D.H.103 HornetB.14/43 Heavy bomber Avro Type 694 LincolnN.11/44 Single-seat naval fi ghter Westland Wyvern (prototype)B.3/45 Two-seat high-altitude bomber English Electric Canberra (Westland P.1056 and P.1061 designs only)N.5/45 Single-seat naval fi ghter Supermarine SeafangN.12/45 Single-seat naval torpedo strike fi ghter Westland Wyvern (prototype)GR.17/45 Three-seat naval anti-submarine Blackburn YA.7/YB.1 & Fairey Gannet

Despite considerable research, the reason for the Brigand having an “H” prefi x to its specifi cation number has not been confi rmed. It has been suggested that, owing to the close proximity of the “H” to the “B” on a keyboard, it originated as a typing error, but this must be viewed with a certain amount of scepticism

Representative specifi cations 1940–45

SPECIFICATIONS

becoming obvious that, as the operational needs required increasingly sophisticated designs, this timescale was not going to shorten under the existing system.

Consequently, in the early 1940s the whole sys-tem was restructured and Air Publication (AP) 970, hitherto titled Handbook of Strength Calcula-tions, was completely revised so that every facet involved in the evolution required to get an air-craft into service was covered in one publication, eliminating the forest of paperwork that had ex-isted up to then. It was laid down that the Air Staff would notify the industry directly of the ba-sic requirements needed for a particular design, and the Operational Requirements Committee presented the DTD at the Air Ministry with simi-lar information. From that point the DTD was in charge, and would issue a specifi cation in which all aspects of a future aircraft’s operational envi-ronment, expected performance and required equipment for a particular role were fi rmly established. Once this system was in place it proved benefi cial to all concerned. A prime ex-ample was de Havilland’s D.H.103 Hornet, which, following notifi cation to the company by the DTD, was presented to the MAP in mock-up form in January 1943, after which Specifi cation F.12/43 was written around the design and the fi rst air-craft was delivered to the RAF in February 1945.

In December 1942, despite the wartime diffi -culties being experienced by Great Britain, a high degree of optimism was expressed in Whitehall. Lord Beaverbrook had resigned from the post of Minister of Aircraft Production to become Lord Privy Seal, and in this capacity he initiated a meeting of chief designers within the industry to discuss the requirements for civil aviation in the future. An Inter-Departmental Committee was set up, under the chairmanship of Lord Brabazon of Tara, to consider civil air-craft needs once the war was won. It has always

“In December 1942, despite the wartime diffi culties being experienced

TOP LEFT The Mosquito II nightfi ghter prototype W4052 was built to Specifi cation F.21/40, and was equipped with AI Mk VI radar, with arrowhead aerials on the nose and Yagi arrays on the wingtips. TOP RIGHT The third prototype Gloster F.9/40, DG204/G, at Bentham, fi tted with two Metropolitan Vickers F.2 axial fl ow turbojets. BELOW The General Aircraft Hamilcar, designed to Specifi cation X.27/40, fi rst fl ew on March 27, 1942. A total of 410 examples of the glider was built.


Spec Role Aircraft

E.6/41 Single-seat day fi ghter de Havilland D.H.100 Spider Crab/VampireE.5/42 Single-seat day fi ghter Cancelled, superseded by E.1/4410/42 Man-carrying rotor-wing Hafner RotabuggyE.16/43 Helicopter research Cierva W.9E.24/43 High-speed research Miles, led to M.52E.1/44 Single-seat day fi ghter Gloster GA.1E.6/44 Single-seat fl ying-boat fi ghter Saro SR.A/1E.9/44 Laminar-fl ow-wing research Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52E.10/44 Single-seat day fi ghter Supermarine Type 477E.1/45 Single-seat naval day fi ghter Supermarine AttackerE.3/45 Two-seat high-altitude bomber Superseded by B.3/45E.18/45 Tailless swept-wing research de Havilland D.H.108 Swallow E.20/45 Single-engined helicopter Bristol Type 171 development

Representative specs, experimental requirements & aircraft 1940–45

SPECIFICATIONS

been known as the Brabazon Committee, al-though not offi cially. With all sectors of industry heavily involved in the design and manufacture of the numerous variants of aircraft called for by all three Services, it was emphatically stipulated that no design work was to impede any aspects of military requirements.

It was considered that the needs of the British civil airlines could initially be met by fi ve basic projects, each given a number, sub-divisions being included to cover common projects from the various companies, together with a series of specifi cation numbers being issued without role prefi xes. Committee aircraft No 1, Specifi cation 2/44, was built by Bristol and was christened the Brabazon. The single aircraft built, the Mk 1 G-AGPW, fi rst fl ew on September 4, 1949, but its shortcomings owing to being grossly under-powered ensured it had no future. Although a turboprop powered Mk 2 was well advanced in production, the whole idea of very large airliners was reconsidered, and both Brabazons were broken up in late 1953.

Similarly, Armstrong Whitworth produced the Apollo, G-AYIN, a Committee No 2B, Specifi -cation 17/44 aircraft, but this too did not progress beyond the prototype. However, the de Havilland Comet (whose Ghost was the fi rst turbojet engine to receive full approval for civil opera-tions with fare-paying passengers under the Air Registration Board (ARB) regulations), Vickers-Armstrongs’ Viscount and de Havilland Dove, all products of the Committee’s recommendations, were produced in considerable numbers and made their marks in the history of post-war civil aviation worldwide. To a lesser degree, Air-speed’s beautiful Ambassador design to the Committee’s No 2A requirement, Specifi cation 25/43, operated for many years, while the Miles Marathon, No 5A/Specifi cation 18/44, saw civil and military service.

The rapid development of turbojet engines brought about the drafting of a considerable number of specifi cations for aircraft to be em-ployed in a purely experimental capacity, which did, in four cases, lead to operational aircraft.

The second turbojet-powered fi ghter to enter RAF service, the D.H.100 Vampire, evolved from Specifi cation E.6/41, while the Royal Navy’s fi rst fi ghter of the new breed, the Supermarine Attacker, started as a research design to Spec-ifi cation E.10/44. The issuing of Specifi cation E.18/45 was to prove of great signifi cance, for it produced the D.H.108, the fi rst British aircraft to exceed Mach 1, and a major contributor to the country’s early supersonic research.

In 1944 Bristol Aircraft branched out into the fi eld of helicopter design and research under the design leadership of Raoul Hafner. He had been with the Airborne Forces Experimental Estab-lishment earlier in the war, and from his original designs for a small man-carrying rotary-wing that could be strapped on a soldier’s back had evolved the Rotachute, in which the man sat on a

by Great Britain, a high degree of optimism was expressed in Whitehall”

ABOVE LEFT The mighty Bristol Brabazon prototype, G-AGPW, in the hands of Bill Pegg on its maiden fl ight at Filton on September 4, 1949. ABOVE The dawn of the modern age of travel — the prototype D.H.106 Comet, the fi rst airliner to be powered by turbojets.BELOW LEFT The fi rst roll-out of the aircraft designed to Specifi cation B.3/45, the English Electric Canberra, on May 8, 1949. Note the original tail confi guration. BELOW The Armstrong Whitworth Apollo was designed to carry up to 30 passengers to the require-ments of the Brabazon Committee’s No 2B category. Only two were built.


BC No Spec Type of design Aircraft produced

No 1 2/44 Transatlantic airliner (Miles and Short Brothers, designs only), Bristol BrabazonNo 2A 25/43 Medium-range airliner Airspeed AmbassadorNo 2B 17/44 Armstrong Whitworth ApolloNo 2B 8/46 Medium-range airliner (Blackburn, Handley Page and Short Brothers, designs only), Vickers-Armstrongs Viscount 630No 2B 21/49 Medium-range airliner Vickers-Armstrongs Viscount 700 seriesNo 3A 6/45 High-speed airliner (Armstrong Whitworth and Avro, designs only)No 4 20/49 High-speed airliner de Havilland D.H.106 CometNo 5A 18/44 Medium-range airliner (Armstrong Whitworth & Percival, designs only), Miles MarathonNo 5B 26/43 Medium-range airliner de Havilland D.H.104 Dove

Brabazon Committee (BC) specifi cations

SPECIFICATIONS

small seat. This in turn led to the Rotabuggy, a modifi ed standard Willys Jeep fi tted with an un-powered rotor, produced to Specifi cation 10/42 (see Nothing Ventured, August and October 1991 Aeroplane). However, the advent of the Horsa and Hamilcar gliders rendered Hafner’s designs un-necessary. At Bristol, the prototype Type 171, VL958, was built to Specifi cation E.20/45, which eventually evolved into the RAF’s fi rst home-designed helicopter, the Sycamore. An earlier helicopter design, G and J Weir Ltd’s W.3, fl ew in 1938, and by 1943 the company had amal-gamated with Cierva and built the W.9 research helicopter to Specifi cation E.16/43. The sole pro-totype, PX203, fi rst fl ew in the autumn of 1944 and undertook valuable helicopter research until it was broken up in May 1948.

Specifi cation E.3/45 was an ambitious require-ment laid down by the Air Staff. It called for the RAF to enter the “propless” age with a high-altitude bomber, which was to rely entirely on radar for the aiming of its bombs on a target. The specifi cation was superseded by B.3/45 and a contract was awarded to English Electric to build four prototypes of the design produced by Tech-nical Director W.E.W. “Teddy” Petter. Given the SBAC numbering system’s title EA1, the aircraft was subsequently named Canberra. It is due for

retirement from the RAF soon, following un-broken service since its introduction to Bomber Command’s 101 Sqn on May 25, 1951.

The specifi cation was demanding; a cruising speed of at least 518 m.p.h. at 40,000ft and a serv-ice ceiling of 50,000ft. The aircraft was to be pow-ered by two Rolls-Royce AJ.65 turbojet engines, there was to be a two-man crew and aiming was to be non-visual, via the H2S Mk 9/NBC (Naviga-tion and bomb-aiming computer) Mk 2. In reality, the NBC system was nowhere near operational status, and while the four prototypes had solid nosecones, in production a clear-vision nose was standard for all bomber variants and a third crew member served as a visual bomb-aimer.

The Second World War in Europe ended in May, and in the Far East in August 1945, the British Government anticipating a ten-year period of peace and international stability. History reveals that such ambitions were to be thwarted, and the second half of the 1940s was to produce a pleth-ora of projects embodying the great strides made in aerodynamics, electronics and propulsion. They were projected to meet every operational role that the British military anticipated would be required in addressing the post-war spread of Communism — the political implications of which led to the “Cold War”.

ABOVE The prototype Bristol Type 171 helicopter, VL958, built to Specifi cation E.20/45. The fi rst two prototypes were powered by a 450 h.p. Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior, production Sycamores being fi tted with a 550 h.p. Alvis Leonides. RIGHT The sole de Havilland Gipsy Queen-engined Cierva W.9, PX203, used a jet effl ux as opposed to a tail rotor to counter torque, similar to the system used in today’s NOTAR helicopters.FAR RIGHT The Hafner Rotabuggy was essentially a Jeep modifi ed to be fi tted with a 46ft 8in-diameter rotor and a streamlined tail fairing with rudderless fi ns. The type was successfully towed behind a Whitley, although the pilot was reportedly not keen to repeat the experience.

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Hawker Hurricane MkIIC RAF 242 Squadron 1/32 £89.99 £67.50 (AA35505)Hawker Sea Hurricane IB RAF Shuttleworth Collection 1/32 £89.99 £67.50 (AA35504)Messerschmitt Bf.108G-2 Luftwaffe - Yellow 12 1/32 £89.99 £67.50 (AA34906)

CORGI CLASSICS (1/32)FIRST HALF 2006


Bell UH-1C Huey US Army - 174th Assault Co. (Vietnam) 1/48 £29.99 £22.50 (US50411)Bell UH-1E Huey US Marines - (Marble Mountain (Vietnam) 1/48 £39.99 £30.00 (US50412)Bell AH-1 Cobra US Marines - VX-5 (Vietnam) 1/48 £29.99 £22.50 (US51207)Bell AH-1 Cobra US Army - 11th Cavalry "Widow Maker" 1/48 £39.99 £30.00 (US51208)

CORGI CLASSICS (1/48) (US SPECIALS) - FIRST HALF 2006


B-17G Flying Fortress USAAF - 323 BS/91 BG "Nine-o-Nine" 1/72 £119.99 £90.00 (US33309)B-24J Liberator USAAF - 776 BS/464 BG "Sleepy Time Gal" 1/72 £109.99 £82.50 (US34014)Boeing AC-47 Chinook US Army 'Guns a Go-go' 1/72 £44.99 £33.75 (US34206)F-4J Phantom US Marines - VMFA-232 (Iwakuni) 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (US33216)F-4J Phantom US Navy - VF-31 (USS Saratoga) 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (US33217)F-4U-1D Corsair US Navy - VF-84 (USS Bunker Hill) Carrier Deck Set1/72 £59.99 £45.00 (US61005)F-86E Sabre USAF - 4FW, South Korea (Bud Mahurin) 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (US35804)Focke-Wulf 190A-4 Luftwaffe - 2./JG 2 (Horst Hannig) 1/72 £14.99 £11.25 (US34309)Focke-Wulf 190A-4 Luftwaffe - 1./JG 54, USSR (Walter Nowotny) 1/72 £34.99 £26.25 (US34308)Junkers JU-87R-2 Stuka Luftwaffe - 1./StG 1, Bulgaria 1/72 £14.99 £11.25 (US32509)P-47D Thunderbolt USAAF - 377 FS/362 FG (Edwin Fisher) 1/72 £14.99 £11.25 (US33817)P-47D Thunderbolt USAAF - 334 FS/4 FG (Spiros Pisanos) 1/72 £34.99 £26.25 (US33816)P-47D Thunderbolt USAAF - 63 FS/56 FG, Suffolk (Bud Mahurin) 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (US33815)P-51D Mustang USAAF - 118 TRS/23 FG (Edward McComas) 1/72 £14.99 £11.25 (US32222)P-51D Mustang USAAF - 3 ACS/3 ACG, Luzon (Bud Mahurin) 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (US32221)UH-60L Blackhawk US Army - 101 Aviation Regiment, Iraq NEW TOOL 1/72 £39.99 £30.00 (US35902)

CORGI CLASSICS (1/72) (US SPECIALS) - FIRST HALF 2006


Boeing B-52H Stratofortress USAF - 449 BW 1/144 £79.99 £60.00 (AA33507)Bristol Britannia 300 Canadian Pacific Airlines 1/144 £39.99 £30.00 (AA31507)Douglas DC-3 Air Atlantique 1/144 £24.99 £18.75 (AA30014)HS Nimrod MR.1 RAF, Kinloss 1/144 £49.99 £37.50 (AA35602)L.100 Hercules Delta Air Lines 1/144 £39.99 £30.00 (AA31310)L.1049G Super Constellation KLM 1/144 £39.99 £30.00 (AA35105)Short Sunderland MkII RAF - 201 Squadron 1/144 £34.99 £26.25 (AA31705)

CORGI CLASSICS (1/144) FIRST HALF 2006


Bae Hawk T Mk.I RAF - Red Arrows NEW TOOL 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (AA36001)Bae Hawk T Mk.I RAF - 4 FTS, Valley NEW TOOL 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (AA36002)Canadair Sabre F4 RAF - 93 Sq 1/72 £19.99 £15.00 (AA35805)Canadair CL-13A Sabre RCAF 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (AA35806)Fairey Swordfish Mk.I Royal Navy - 810 Sq. Preserved NEW TOOL 1/72 £39.99 £30.00 (AA36302)Fairey Swordfish Mk.I Royal Navy - 810 Sq. Ark Royal NEW TOOL 1/72 £39.99 £30.00 (AA36301)F-4D Phantom USAFE - 78 TFS/81 TFW 1/72 £39.99 £30.00 (AA33218)Gloster Gladiator MkII RAF - 263 Sq, Norway NEW TOOL 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (AA36201)Gloster Sea Gladiator Mk.I Royal Navy - 804 Sq. NEW TOOL 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (AA36202)Gloster Meteor FR.MK.9 RAF - 208 Sq, Nicosia 1/72 £24.99 £18.75 (AA35005)Gloster Meteor F8 Royal Netherlands Air Force - Aerobatic Team 1/72 £39.99 £30.00 (AA35006)Hawker Hurricane MkIID RAF - 6 Squadron, Libya (Tank buster) 1/72 £14.99 £11.25 (AA32009)Heinkel 111H-6 Luftwaffe - STG 3, Libya 1/72 £69.99 £52.50 (AA33708)Junkers JU-87B-2 Suka Luftwaffe 4/StG2 Immelmann 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (AA32510)Messerschmitt Bf.109E Trop Luftwaffe - Black Chevron 1/72 £14.99 £11.25 (AA32105)Messerschmitt 262A Luftwaffe - Red 13 (Heinz Bar) 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (AA35703)North American PB-J1D (B-25) US Marines - VMB 433 'Black 310' 1/72 £69.99 £52.50 (AA35306)P-40E Warhawk USAAF - White 7 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (AA35208)PBY Catalina MKIIA RAF - 209 Sq NEW TOOL 1/72 £79.99 £60.00 (AA36101)PBY Catalina OA-10A US Navy - 'SNAFU Snatchers' NEW TOOL 1/72 £79.99 £60.00 (AA36102)Sepecat Jaguar GR.3 RAF - 54 Sq. (Arctic Camo) 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (AA35404)Sepecat Jaguar T2 RAF - 41 Sq, Coltishall 1/72 £39.99 £30.00 (AA35405)Sikorsky SH-3D Sea King Empire Test Pilots School, Boscombe Down 1/72 £39.99 £30.00 (AA33412)Supermarine Spitfire LF IX RAF - (Johnnie Johnson) 1/72 £14.99 £11.25 (AA31916)Supermarine Spitfire MkVIII RAF - (Robert Gibbes) 1/72 £29.99 £22.50 (AA31917)UH-60A Blackhawk US Army - 101 Airborne 'Double Vision' NEW TOOL 1/72 £39.99 £30.00 (AA35901)

CORGI CLASSICS (1/72) FIRST HALF 2006


Aviation Reference INDIVIDUAL AIRCRAFT HISTORIES

THE N

AT

ION

AL

GER

MA

N

airl

ine

Luft

han

sa w

as

rebor

n in 1

95

4 a

fter

Wor

ld W

ar T

wo

and

order

ed C

onva

ir 3

40

s fo

r its

Euro

pea

n s

ervi

ces

and S

uper

Con

stel

lation

s fo

r ov

erse

as

oper

atio

ns.

While

som

e of

the

earl

y se

rvic

es u

sed p

ilots

fro

m

other

cou

ntr

ies,

thou

ght

had

to

be

giv

en t

o tr

ainin

g its

ow

n

pilo

ts,

and t

he

airl

ine

set

up a

trai

nin

g b

ase

at B

rem

en w

ith

DH

C C

hip

munks

for

bas

ic

trai

nin

g a

nd S

aab S

afir

s fo

r

mor

e ad

vance

d w

ork.

Two

Net

her

lands-

built

91B

Saf

irs

wer

e bou

ght

in 1

95

4,

D-E

BA

B a

nd ’

BED

, re

spec

tive

ly

c/n

s 9

1.2

90

and ’

29

1. S

aab

was

ver

y busy

at

that

tim

e w

ith

pro

duct

ion o

f its

J-2

9 jet

fig

hte

r,

so m

anufa

cture

of

the

Saf

ir w

as

sub-c

ontr

acte

d t

o D

e S

chel

de

at

Dor

dre

cht,

a f

acto

ry w

hic

h h

ad

built

win

g s

ection

s fo

r th

e

Dor

nie

r D

o 24

fly

ing-b

oat

duri

ng

the

war

tim

e oc

cupat

ion o

f The

Net

her

lands.

This

com

pan

y built

120

Saf

irs

from

19

51

to

19

55

and S

aab r

esum

ed its

ow

n

pro

duct

ion in 1

95

6.

Luft

han

sa t

rain

ed 5

00

to

55

0 p

ilots

on t

he

Saf

irs

(a t

hir

d,

D-E

BU

C c

/n 9

1-3

09

, w

as

bou

ght

in 1

95

8)

and t

he

airc

raft

wer

e use

d p

articu

larl

y fo

r cr

oss-

countr

y an

d n

ight

flyi

ng —

they

had

tw

o se

par

ate

landin

g lig

hts

.

Pres

erva

tion

Pro

file

Saab

91B

Saf

ir D-

EBED

pres

erve

d by

Lufth

ansa

Flig

ht Tr

ainin

g, B

rem

enO

n d

eliv

ery

the

Saf

irs

wer

e

yello

w o

vera

ll w

ith a

bla

ck

gla

resh

ield

ahea

d o

f th

e co

ckpit,

while

in t

he

late

19

50

s

or e

arly

’6

0s

the

Luft

han

sa f

lag

and a

blu

e st

ripe

wer

e ad

ded

.

At

the

beg

innin

g o

f 19

66

the

schem

e w

as c

han

ged

to

white

and b

lue,

and t

he

rest

ored

airc

raft

has

a s

imila

r but

not

iden

tica

l sc

hem

e.

In 1

96

7 t

he

Saf

irs

wer

e

repla

ced b

y B

eech

Deb

onai

rs

and w

ere

sold

, D

-EB

ED

bei

ng

bou

ght

by

Her

r E.

Sch

mid

t at

Pei

ne,

nea

r H

annov

er,

when

it

had

som

e 6

,00

0hr

on t

he

cloc

k. B

y th

e tim

e of

his

dea

th

in 1

99

9 a

not

her

1,4

00

hr

had

bee

n a

dded

.

Her

r S

chm

idt’

s fa

mily

off

ered

the

airc

raft

to

the

Luft

han

sa

Flig

ht

Trai

nin

g D

ept

(LF

T)

and

the

rest

orat

ion w

as u

nder

take

n

by

retire

d a

irlin

e em

plo

yees

and

pre

sent

Luft

han

sa a

nd L

FT

mec

han

ics

in t

hei

r sp

are

tim

e

as t

her

e w

as n

o m

oney

ava

ilable

for

the

wor

k.

On A

ugust

2,

20

02

, th

e

pos

t-re

stor

atio

n r

oll-

out

took

pla

ce a

t B

rem

en A

irpor

t an

d

the

Saf

ir is

curr

ently

use

d f

or

ple

asure

flig

hts

and t

o sh

ow t

he

com

pan

y’s

colo

urs

at

airs

how

s.

It is

flow

n b

y five

act

ive

and

retire

d f

light

inst

ruct

ors

and

tota

l flyi

ng t

ime

by

August

20

05

was

7,5

35

hr.

RIG

HT

The

exce

llen

t wor

kman

ship

of

the

rest

orat

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may

be

clea

rly

seen

in th

is p

hot

ogra

ph

of t

he

inst

rum

ent p

anel

’s m

ixtu

re o

f G

erm

an a

nd

Eng

lish

lab

elli

ng.

Th

e re

gis

trat

ion

let

ters

D-E

BED

are

visi

ble

at t

op c

entr

e a

nd

the

inst

rum

ent p

anel

s ar

e d

up

lica

ted,

on

e on

eac

h s

ide

of

the

cen

tral

con

sole

. Not

e th

e le

ath

er re

stra

inin

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rap

for t

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star

boa

rd c

ontr

ol c

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mn

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ELO

W A

ph

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rap

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om th

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fth

ansa

arc

hiv

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how

s D

-EB

ED t

axyi

ng

acro

ss th

eap

ron

wit

h a

pai

r of t

he

airl

ine'

s L.

1049

G S

up

er C

onst

ella

tion

s in

th

e b

ackg

rou

nd

.B

ELO

W R

IGH

T Il

lust

rati

ng

the

colo

ur s

chem

e ar

oun

d 19

65 is

this

vi

ew o

f th

e fi

rst L

uft

han

sa S

afi r

, D

-EB

AB

, wh

ich

was

giv

en th

e n

um

ber

11

— ’B

ED w

as 1

2 an

d ’B

UC

was

13.

THIS MONTH IN OUR SPECIAL IN-DEPTH SECTION


EXAMINES

The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor

63 Type & Service History Following his exhaustive Database on the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in the September 2004 Aeroplane, World War Two German military aviation specialist Dr Alfred Price describes the development of the innovative Fw 200 airliner into the Luftwaffe’s long-range anti-shipping bomber and reconnaissance aircraft

65 Scale Drawings The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, by Tim Hall

70 The Luftwaffe’s Bird of Prey A technical description of the Condor PLUS cutaway illustration of the Fw 200C-4/U3, by John Weal

72 Clipping the Condor’s Wings Dr Alfred Price describes in detail the measures undertaken by the Allies to counter the “Scourge of the Atlantic”, as the Condor came to be known

78 Sheep’s Clothing Originally designed as an airliner, the Fw 200 continued to operate in small numbers for Lufthansa during the war, and also served in a civil capacity for airlines in Denmark and Brazil

AVIATION REFERENCE

DatabaseFOCKE-WULF Fw 200 – TYPE & SERVICE HISTORY


THE FOCKE-WULF Fw 200

Condor was designed in

1936 as an airliner to carry

26 passengers and a crew

of four, to meet a requirement from

the German state airline Deutsche

Lufthansa. That autumn the Focke-

Wulf company began construction

work on two prototypes. At the

same time, in a display of confi-

dence in its design, the company

began preparations to build a batch

of ten pre-production machines.

The first prototype, the Fw 200

ABOVE A fragment of a contemporary internal equipment diagram taken from an original manual for the Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-3.OPPOSITE TOP The prototype Focke-Wulf Fw 200, D-AERE Brandenburg, which designer Kurt Tank flew from Berlin to Cairo in June 1938.OPPOSITE BOTTOM An Fw 200 Condor of KG40 is prepared for another anti-shipping sortie. Note the unit’s confident “World in a Ring” emblem on the fuselage.

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 CondorCreated as a commercial airliner in 1936 by Kurt Tank, one of Germany’s most gifted aircraft designers, the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor soon proved itself every inch a world-beater in terms of long-range speed and comfort. Dr ALFRED PRICE describes how the Luftwaffe modified the type to become one of the Allies’ most formidable opponents in the Battle of the Atlantic

V1, made its initial flight from the

Focke-Wulf works airfield at Bremen

on July 27, 1937, with the com-

pany’s chief designer Kurt Tank at

the controls. Power was from four

Pratt & Whitney Hornet nine-cylinder

radial engines, each developing 875

h.p. for take-off and driving a two-

bladed propeller.

Today the layout of the Fw 200

looks rather conservative, although

that was certainly not the case when

it first appeared. In 1937 the four-

engined all-metal low winged mono-

plane represented a major advance

in airliner design, and its layout

would set the standard for many of

those that followed.

The second and third prototypes

were similar to the V1, except that

power was from four BMW 132G

engines (Pratt & Whitney Hornets

built under licence in Germany) each

rated at 720 h.p. Next came the A-

series of pre-production machines.

Two of the Condors from the pre-

production batch were built as VIP

transports. Condor D-2600, alias

64 AEROPLANE MONTH 2005

FOCKE-WULF Fw 200 – TYPE & SERVICE HISTORY

production version of the airliner.

This variant featured minor structural

changes and appeared in two sub-

types, the Fw 200B-1 powered by

BMW 132D engines rated at 850

h.p., and the B-2 with BMW 132H

engines rated at 830 h.p.

The subsequent civil career of the

Condor is covered on page 78.

Military variantsFollowing the Condor’s visit to Tokyo,

the Imperial Japanese Navy became

interested in the aircraft and con-

tracted Focke-Wulf to adapt it

for the long-range reconnaissance

role. To meet the latter requirement,

Kurt Tank and his team adapted the

Fw 200 V10, then in an advanced

state of construction. This aircraft

was fitted with a gondola under the

fuselage which housed a pair of ver-

tically-mounted reconnaissance

cameras. The machine carried a

defensive armament of three 7·9mm

machine-guns, one in a dorsal

mounting and one at either end of

the ventral gondola. To obtain the

extra range required for this role, the

aircraft had provision to carry addi-

tional fuel tanks in the fuselage.

In September 1939 German troops

invaded Poland and the Luftwaffe

suddenly and unexpectedly found

itself at war with a major maritime

power — Great Britain. At that time

Germany possessed no long-range

maritime patrol and bombing aircraft.

The Heinkel He 177 heavy bomber,

intended to perform that role, would

not make its maiden flight until

November and it was not scheduled

to enter service until 1942.

Soon after the outbreak of war,

Luftwaffe Chief of Staff, General-

major Hans Jeschonnek, ordered

Oberstleutnant Edgar Petersen to

select an aircraft type suitable for

the long-range maritime reconnais-

sance task, and form a unit to

operate it. Petersen told the author: “I looked around for a suitable

aeroplane in Germany. There was the

Junkers Ju 90, but there were only

two of these available and no pro-

duction line had been set up. On the

other hand the Focke-Wulf company

D-ARHU, aka the Fw 200 V3,

became Adolf Hitler’s personal air-

craft and was fitted out accordingly.

Over the wing there was a small

private cabin for the Führer which

contained a special escape seat,

with protective steel armour plating

around it. The seat housed a para-

chute, below which was a special

hatch through which the Führer could

make a rapid escape from the air-

craft in an emergency. The machine

was also fitted with conference and

dining areas, and in the rear was a

six-seat compartment for members

of the dictator’s retinue.

The other VIP aircraft from the

pre-production batch, D-ACVH

Grenzmark, was fitted out to carry

highly-placed government officials.

In what would be its best-known

mission, this aircraft carried foreign

minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to

Moscow in August 1939, to sign the

German-Soviet non-aggression pact

with Marshal Stalin.

During 1938, Condors made a

series of long-range flights to dem-

onstrate the aircraft’s capabilities.

On June 27 the first pre-production

machine flew from Berlin via

Salonika (Thessaloniki) to Cairo, and

returned. The first prototype eclipsed

that flight on August 10, when it flew

non-stop from Berlin to New York. It

covered the 4,075 miles in 24hr

55min, at an average speed of 164

m.p.h. Returning a few days later

with more favourable winds, it

covered the distance in 19hr 47min

at an average speed of 205 m.p.h.

In November the same aircraft flew

from Berlin to Tokyo, via Basra,

Karachi and Hanoi, in less than 48hr

including refuelling stops. The return

flight was less successful, however.

As the aircraft neared Manila in the

Philippines, two of its engines

stopped owing to the mishandling of

the fuel system and the aircraft

ditched in shallow water.

Despite this mishap, the series of

flights had aroused considerable

international interest in the Condor.

Orders came in from airlines in

Finland, Denmark and Brazil, each

for two machines, and one from

Japan for five Condors. In the

autumn of 1938 the Fw 200B

appeared, intended as the main

ABOVE The prototype Focke-Wulf Fw 200 V1 seen unpainted during its maiden flight on July 27, 1937, with designer Kurt Tank at the controls. The clean lines of the new airliner are readily evident.LEFT Tank in the cockpit of another of his sublime designs, the superb Fw 190 fighter. The gifted designer joined Focke-Wulf in 1931 as chief of the company’s design and flight test departments.

ABOVE Hitler’s personal Condor was the Fw 200 V3, seen here in its pre-war markings as D-2600. It was named Immelman III, and was much modified.BELOW The Fw 200 V2, named Westfalen, displays the modern appearance which made the Fw 200 a rival to the most modern contemporary airliners.



Tim Hall 2005

A

A

B C

B

C

DE

DE



had four Fw 200s nearing comple-

tion intended for Japan. I took these,

and a further six standard Fw 200

transports, and with these I set up

my long-range reconnaissance

staffel [Fernaufklaerungstaffel ] at

Bremen on October 1, 1939.”To meet Petersen’s requirement,

the Luftwaffe placed an order for ten

examples of the Fw 200C-0 trans-

port. These were similar to the B-2

variant, but had some strengthening

of the airframe to meet the stresses

inherent in the military role. As air-

craft arrived at his unit, Petersen

began training his crews in the

oversea navigational techniques they

would need for their new role. The

men would be ready when the hur-

riedly ordered bomb-carrying version

of the Condor entered service.

Before that happened, however,

the Condor unit was pressed into

action in the transport role. Earlier,

the unit, operating a mixed collection

of transport and reconnaissance

Condors, was redesignated as the

first Staffel of Kampfgeschwader 40

(1./KG40). On April 9, 1940,

German troops invaded Norway and

Denmark. That night the Condors

carried supplies to German troops

that had seized the port of Narvik, in

the north of Norway, in a coup de main operation. That task completed,

the Condors changed to flying recon-

naissance sorties over the North Sea

reporting on the movements of the

British Home Fleet.

On May 10, 1940, 1./KG40

reported its strength as six Condors,

of which two were serviceable. The

following month it received three more

aircraft and the unit was redesignated

first Gruppe of KG40 ( I./KG40). As

more Fw 200Cs arrived, the unit

was able to return its two surviving

Fw 200Bs to Lufthansa.

On June 12, Petersen’s unit was

assigned to Luftflotte 3 to take part

in the forthcoming assault on Great

Britain. The unit flew combined mari-

time reconnaissance and weather

reconnaissance sorties far out to

sea, flying around the British Isles in

a wide arc as it plied between the

airfields at Bordeaux-Mérignac in

France and Stavanger-Søla and

Trondheim-Vaernes in Norway.

During this period the Fw 200 also

operated as a minelayer, flying noc-

turnal missions to plant magnetic

mines in the approaches to British

ports. The aircraft was not a success

in this role, however. The German

LMB 2,200lb mine was a large

weapon, and with two on the outer

wing racks the drag cut the Condor’s

maximum speed and made the

machine unwieldy. With the strength-

ening defences around the British

Isles, this soon gave rise to losses.

Matters came to a head on the

night of July 19/20, 1940, when

I./KG40 lost two Condors, one on a

minelaying sortie off Hartlepool and

one on an armed reconnaissance

mission west of Ireland. If Condor

losses were repeated on that scale

there would soon be none left, for

during 1940 production averaged

only three aircraft per month.

Petersen asked for permission to

cease minelaying operations, initially

without success. He commented: “Eventually, in desperation, I tele-

phoned Generalmajor Jeschonnek in

person. We had served together in

the secret air force in Russia in

1929, and so we knew each other

quite well. I told him the position and

said, ‘This wasteful business of

mining will have to stop. Otherwise

we will lose all our ’planes and

crews’. Jeschonnek was taken aback

by my outburst, but he said that he

would look into the matter. My call

had the desired effect, because a

ABOVE A rare pre-war colour photograph of Fw 200 Condor D-ACVH, named Grenzmark, the fourth aircraft of the pre-production batch, which was fitted out as a transport for government officials and assorted VIPs.

ABOVE The first unit to equip with the Condor was KG40 at Bremen in October 1939. The unit moved to Bordeaux-Mérignac, as seen here, in July 1940. Armed Condors were to be called Kuriers, but the name didn’t stick.

LEFT Armourers load a 550lb SC 250 bomb aboard a Fw 200 of KG40. Before the move to Bordeaux, the unit operated from bases in Norway and from Oldenburg in Germany, mining British waters, a task unsuitable for the fragile Condor.

ABOVE Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-0, Werknummer 021, was the first of four C-0s taken over by the Luftwaffe, and was originally D-ASVX with Lufthansa.


DatabaseFOCKE-WULF Fw 200 – TYPE & SERVICE HISTORYW

W2IM

AGES.CO

M

few days later we received orders to

discontinue the minelaying.”At this time there was also a plan

to use the Condor as a torpedo

bomber, carrying one LTF 5 aerial

torpedo on each of the outer wing

bomb racks. Petersen had reluctantly

to send six of his precious Fw 200s

to the torpedo proving station at

Grossenbrode, for trials. The LTF 5

proved notoriously unreliable,

however, and to Petersen’s relief the

idea came to nothing.

The Condor’s glory daysOn August 17, I./KG40 reported a

strength of nine Condors, of which

seven were serviceable. Despite its

recent upgrading to Gruppe status,

the unit’s actual strength was only

that of a Staffel.

On the next day, while the Battle of

Britain was in full swing, the unit flew

its first armed reconnaissance

mission over the Atlantic. Shortly

after 1200hr, about 100 miles off the

north-western tip of Ireland, the

Condor came upon the 1,900-ton

Norwegian freighter Sveinjarl strag-

gling behind its westbound convoy.

The bomber made repeated bombing

and strafing runs on the ship, drop-

ping all five of its 550lb bombs and

firing most of its 20mm cannon

shells. Having expended most its

offensive armament, the Condor

continued with its reconnaissance

mission. Meanwhile the Sveinjarl,

damaged and trailing oil, turned back

and limped into Londonderry.

One week later, on August 25, the

aircraft achieved its first sinking. A

Condor found, attacked and sank the

3,800-ton freighter Goathland sailing

alone about 200 miles west south

west of Ireland. This was the start of

the golden times for I./KG40 and one

of the unit’s pilots, Oberleutnant

Bernhard Jope, told the author: “The convoys, even quite large

ones, often sailed with hardly any air

defences at all. We could carry only

a few bombs, but we could go in

very low when attacking the ships,

and make every one count.”Jope himself had a particularly

successful mission on October 26,

1940, when he found the 42,000-

ton liner Empress of Britain, then

serving as a troopship, sailing singly

some 70 miles west of Ireland.

Jope’s bombs scored two direct hits

until the end of the year bad weather

made it difficult to find targets, and

there were only nine attacks, with

one ship sunk and four damaged.

In January 1941, in a bid to

increase co-operation between

U-boats and aircraft, I./KG40 was

placed under the command of

Admiral Karl Doenitz. The unit had a

strength of 12 Condors, of which

about half were serviceable.

on the ship and left her burning and

without power. She was taken in tow,

but two days later the submarine

U-32 finished her off with torpedoes.

During the next three weeks

Condors sank nine more ships, while

others suffered damage and reached

port with difficulty. On seven occa-

sions the Condors attacked ships in

convoy, but stragglers were the pre-

ferred targets. From mid-November

Co-operation between Condors

and U-boats reached a pinnacle of

success on February 26, 1941, when

U-47, shadowing Convoy OB290,

emitted homing signals which guided

in one Condor in the morning and

five more during the afternoon. In the

ensuing attacks the aircraft sank

seven freighters totalling over

36,000 tons, and damaged four

more totalling over 20,000 tons. In

addition, U-boats sank three ships

and damaged one more.

The unarmed merchant ships

could do nothing to defend them-

selves and that allowed Condor pilots

to make low-level, and therefore very

accurate, attacks from just above

mast height. The aircraft carried no

proper bombsight for low-level

attacks. The release mechanism was

set to give an 8m (26ft) spacing

between bombs, and as the target

passed under the nose of the aircraft

the pilot usually released two, three

or all five 550lb bombs in a stick.

Petersen recalled: “You could hardly

miss; even without a bombsight at

least one of the bombs would find

the ship if you kept low enough.”Using such tactics, Condors sank

88 ships totalling 390,000 tons

during January, February and March

1941. Those figures are all the more

remarkable if one considers that only

rarely were more than eight Condors

serviceable at any one time.

The Condors were less successful

in providing information on the loca-

tion of convoys to assist U-boats to

ABOVE The Condor in its element, over the sea hunting for shipping. This machine was WNr 0218 and operated with KG40 as F8+CD.LEFT Hauptmann Bernhard Jope of 2./KG40 was awarded the Ritterkreuz for a determined series of attacks on the troopship Empress of Britain in October 1940.

ABOVE A Fw 200 having its compass swung before an anti-shipping sortie. BELOW A line-up of KG40 Condors at their base at Bordeaux-Mérignac.



engage. During long-distance flights

over the featureless ocean, the navi-

gator (Beobachter ) had to plot his

position using dead-reckoning

methods. Early in the war Luftwaffe

training in this art was haphazard

and unsystematic, and there was a

lack of good instructors.

One important task assigned to

I./KG40 in mid-May 1941 was to

mount long-range reconnaissance

flights over the North Atlantic, to

determine the extent of the ice floes

between Jan Mayen Island and

Greenland, and to the north-west of

Iceland. Luftwaffe signals traffic car-

rying the results of these missions

was read by British cipher breakers

at Bletchley Park. Intelligence offic-

ers deduced, correctly, that the

flights presaged a breakout into the

Atlantic by German capital ships. As

a result the Royal Navy set in train

countermoves which culminated in

the sinking of the Bismarck.

The Condor's “glass jaw”For the men of I./KG40 the days

with the easy pickings might have

seemed too good to last, and they

did not. By the late spring of 1941

various Allied defensive measures

(see pages 72–77) had started to

take effect, making the effective low-

level attacks increasingly hazardous.

Now crews attacked a convoy only if

the aircraft captain felt he had the

element of surprise. The aircraft

would stalk a convoy at a distance,

making full use of cloud cover.

When conditions were judged

favourable the Condor ran in, some-

what higher than before, and

attacked the first ship that presented

itself. The Condor would make a

single attack run, then make its

getaway. Obviously, such hastily exe-

cuted attacks were considerably less

effective than the set-piece engage-

ments made earlier, but the Condors

continued to provide valuable mari-

time reconnaissance and weather

reconnaissance information.

Now the Condor’s weaknesses

began to manifest themselves, for

the converted airliner can be likened

to a contender for a boxing champi-

onship who is discovered to have a

“glass jaw”. The bomber had a very

long reach and it could dish out pun-

ishment, but it could not take it. The

frail structure, combined with the

large fuel tanks in the fuselage,

made it a fragile opponent. Moreover,

when these aircraft returned with

battle damage, repairs were difficult

and time-consuming because the

converted airliner had not been

designed to allow for the easy

replacement of large components.

Throughout 1941 Condor produc-

tion averaged just under five aircraft

per month, which was barely suffi-

cient to replace losses. On June 24,

1941, I./KG40, the sole front-line

Condor unit, reported a strength of

21 aircraft but of those only four

were serviceable.

By the spring of 1942 the arming

of merchantmen, and other meas-

ures, had forced Condor crews to

abandon their low-altitude attacks

altogether. The aircraft now carried

the Lotfe 7H high-altitude bombsight,

and delivered attacks on convoys

from altitudes around 10,000ft. Even

with the new bombsight, hits on

ships were few and far between.

By mid-1942 defences against the

“Scourge of the Atlantic”, as the Fw

200 came to be known by the Allies,

were so strong that the Condor was

no longer an effective anti-shipping

aircraft. But its planned replacement,

the Heinkel He 177, was still in no

position to take over the role. On

September 20, 1942, KG40 had 17

Fw 200s and 19 He 177s on

strength. Shortly afterwards the

latter type was withdrawn from front-

line service owing to its mechanical

unreliability. More than a year would

elapse before the He 177 would

finally become available for the mari-

time patrol and anti-shipping roles.

The Stalingrad Airlift On November 23, 1942, the Red

Army launched a surprise offensive

which surrounded the German Sixth

Army, comprising 22 divisions with a

total of 330,000 men, in the city of

Stalingrad. Reichsmarschall Goering

assured Hitler that the Luftwaffe

would fly in the 300 tons of supplies

per day necessary to sustain the

garrison. Now he had to deliver that

promise, in the face of the bitter

Russian winter. The Luftwaffe was

combed for aircraft that could take

part in the airlift, and I./KG40 was

one of the units drawn in.

The detachment of Condors, 18-

strong, arrived in Russia in January

1943. Under the command of Major

Hans Willers, the Condors were

based at Stalino, about 250 miles

west of the besieged city. On their

first supply mission, on January 9,

seven Condors took off carrying 4½

tons of motor fuel, nine tons of

ammunition and 22 tons of provi-

sions. On their return flights the

Condors brought out 156 wounded

troops. On the second day of their

airlift the Condors encountered atro-

cious flying conditions.

One aircraft was forced to return

after an engine failure, a second was

unable to take-off after it unloaded

at Stalingrad, a third suffered

damage from Soviet anti-aircraft fire,

a fourth damaged a propeller in an

accident and a fifth was lost without

trace on its return flight.

The conditions for servicing the

aircraft at Stalino were primitive, and

the airfield lacked hangars. Ground-

crews had to work on the Condors,

difficult aircraft to keep serviceable

at the best of times, parked in the

open in temperatures which often fell

to as low as -30°C. Despite

Herculean efforts on the part of the

Luftwaffe crews, the average daily

ABOVE An Fw 200C-4 fitted with the nose-mounted aerials used with the Hohentwiel air-to-surface search radar system. Note the large offset-to-starboard gondola.LEFT Before the definitive Hohentwiel system was employed in the Fw 200 fleet, the Rostok surface search radar system was fitted, with receiver aerials mounted on the outer wings, as seen here.

ABOVE Admiral Karl Doenitz inspects I./KG40 at Bordeaux-Mérignac in early 1941. To his left is Hauptmann Fritz Fliegel, commander of the 2nd Staffel.



delivery rate of supplies to Stalingrad

was only about 100 tons. Inexorably

the German Sixth Army starved to

the point where it could no longer

hold out, and on February 2, 1943,

the last of the troops in the

Stalingrad pocket surrendered.

Only nine of the 18 Condors

assigned to the airlift survived, and

these returned to Bordeaux-Mérignac

where they were assigned to Major

Robert Kowalewski’s III./KG40.

By now the Condor had been

partly replaced in the long-range

maritime reconnaissance role when

Fernaufklärungsgruppe 5 (Long-

range Reconnaissance Group 5) arrived at Mont de Marsan in

Gascony equipped with the Junkers

Ju 290. The new machine had a

maximum range of 3,800 miles, one

third greater than the Condor.

However the Ju 290 carried no

bombs, and it still fell to the Condors

to follow up with attacks on suitable

ships that had been found.

For the rest of the year III./KG40

mounted sporadic attacks on

convoys. In a rare success on July

11, 1943, reminiscent of the old

days, Condors found and bombed a

convoy of British troop transports off

Portugal. Despite heavy anti-aircraft

fire, the bombers scored hits on the

California (16,700 tons) and the

Duchess of York (22,000 tons). Both ships caught fire and had to

be abandoned.

Towards the end of 1943 the He

177 was at last ready for frontline

service and II./KG40 re-equipped

with the type, I. Gruppe commencing

the process early in 1944.

From the summer of 1943 until the

spring of 1944 the Condors’ base at

Bordeaux-Mérignac came under

attack on several occasions. On

August 24 a force of 85 Boeing B-17

Flying Fortresses of the US Eighth Air

Force bombed the airfield. There

were further heavy attacks on the

airfield on December 31, January 5,

1944 and March 27, 1945. Several

Condors were destroyed in these

raids, which forced III./KG40 to

move to Cognac, along with its

surviving aircraft.

Guided missilesIn an attempt to increase the

Condor’s poor offensive capability, the Fw 200C-6 carried a single

Henschel Hs 293 glider bomb under

each outer engine nacelle. The third

Gruppe of KG40 began to re-equip

with the new variant, and it ceased

operational flying to re-train for the

missile-launching role. On May 31,

1944, the unit reported its strength

at 29 Condors, of which only one

was combat-ready. The third Staffel,

based at Trondheim, held nine, all

of which were serviceable.

Six days later Allied forces landed

in Normandy. Although the bulk of

Luftwaffe anti-shipping units went

into action against the invasion fleet,

KG40 played no part in the battle.

Within a few weeks of the invasion,

II./KG40 withdrew to Trondheim. By

then the Allied strategic bomber

forces focused their attacks on the

German synthetic oil industry, causing a severe shortage of aviation

fuel. The majority of Luftwaffe

bomber units, KG40 included,

ceased combat operations. One

staffel of Fw 200s continued to

operate in the transport role in

Norway, before it was disbanded

near the end of 1944.

The Condor could never be consid-

ered a brilliant combat design, but it

was available at a time when the

pickings were good and the opposi-

tion almost non-existent. Rarely were

more than ten of these fragile

machines available for operations at

any one time, and the type’s service-

ability remained poor. Yet only after a

disproportionately costly effort to

arm Allied merchant ships and

provide more escorts, were the

Condors’ depredations subdued.

The Condor was phased out of

production in August 1944, after

262 had been built. Following its

initial successes the Condor should

have been replaced by a more resil-

ient machine, built to withstand the

rough and tumble of air-sea warfare.

The He 177 took over the long-range

anti-shipping role late in 1943, long

after the Condor should have

been retired.

“Following its initial successes the Condor should have been replaced by a more resilient

machine, built to withstand the rough and tumble of air-sea warfare. The He 177 took over the long-range anti-shipping role long after the Condor should have been retired”

ABOVE An Fw 200C-3/U2 over a snowy landscape. The Condor proved a valuable transport during the siege of Stalingrad, but only half of those sent returned to France after the German collapse in February 1943.LEFT Major Robert Kowalewski at the controls of a Condor. He assumed command of III./KG40 in the summer of 1941. BELOW An Fw 200 carrying a Henschel Hs 293 under each outer engine nacelle. For the full story of Germany’s wartime guided missiles, see Hitler’s Guided Missiles, January 2005 Aeroplane.

THE LOW-MOUNTED, high-

aspect ratio, cantilever wing

of the Fw 200 was built in

three parts. The centre-

section, with no dihedral, supported

the four engines and undercarriage.

The two outer wing sections had

marked dihedral. The all-metal two-

spar wing structure was covered in

light alloy to the rear spar. The two-

piece ailerons, fabric-covered,

extended along two-thirds of the

trailing edge of each outer wing

section, and were mass-balanced

and fitted with geared tabs. The

trim-tab in the port aileron was

driven by an electric motor. Inboard

of the ailerons were the split trailing-

edge flaps, of two-spar construction

covered with magnesium alloy sheet.

The fuselage was built as a semi-

monocoque structure, with a flush-

riveted metal skin. The bomb bay

was located beneath the main struc-

ture and offset to starboard. The

two-spar fin was metal-covered

forward of the mainspar. The rudder

was a single-spar structure, fitted

with both geared- and trim-tabs and

was fabric covered. The cantilever

tailplane was a two-spar all-metal

structure, whose incidence could be

adjusted on the ground. The forward

part of the single-spar elevators was

metal-covered as far back as the

spar, with the remainder covered

with fabric. Both elevators were fitted

with geared trim-tabs.

The main units of the retractable

landing gear were each fitted with

twin wheels, which retracted for-

wards into the inner engine nacelles.

Retraction was by means of a

hydraulic system. For emergency

lowering of the undercarriage there

was an electric motor. The retrac-

table tailwheel was fitted with a

shimmy-damping device.

The four BMW 323R-2 Fafnir

nine-cylinder air-cooled radial

engines were each rated at 940 h.p.

at 12,000 ft. With water-methanol

injection these engines could be

boosted to 1,200 h.p. each, for take-

off or in an emergency. The three-

bladed VDM metal propellers were

controllable in pitch.

When operating in the maritime

patrol role the aircraft normally

carried a crew of eight: two pilots,

navigator/forward dorsal gunner,

radio operator, flight engineer, rear

dorsal gunner and two beam

gunners. The rear of the pilots’ and

the rear dorsal gunner’s positions

were protected by armour plate.

The defensive armament com-

prised one 7·9mm-calibre MG 15

machine-gun in the hydraulically-

operated forward dorsal turret, one

13mm-calibre MG 131 machine-gun

on a hand-held flexible mount in the

after dorsal position, one 13mm-

calibre machine-gun firing from each

of the after beam hatches, one

20mm-calibre MG 151/20 cannon

firing from the forward ventral posi-

tion and one 7·9mm-calibre MG 15

firing from the aft ventral position.

The offensive armament for the

Fw 200C/U4 comprised a maximum

of 2,100kg (4,630lb) of bombs

carried on racks under each outer

engine nacelle, under each outer

wing section and in the bomb

bay under the fuselage.

The Luftwaffe’s Bird of PreyAlthough the Condor was originally intended as an airliner, the type was modified to become one of the most dreaded aircraft in the Luftwaffe’s inventory. Dr ALFRED PRICE describes in technical detail the Focke-Wulf Fw 200C/U4, the definitive military version of the long-legged bomber

ABOVE The finished product; one of a famous sequence of propaganda photographs depicting Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-3/U2 WNr 0043, operating with KG40 as SG+KS. LEFT The interior of the Fw 200 carrying 300lit (66gal) auxiliary tanks in the fuselage for sorties requiring extended range.

ABOVE The Condor’s “Achilles’ heel” was its fragility, and a mixture of operations at low level and primitive airfields often led to a broken back.


FOCKE-WULF Fw 200 – TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

Focke-Wulf Fw 200C/U4 Condor dataPowerplant 4 x 940 h.p. BMW 323R-2 Fafnir nine- cylinder air-cooled radial enginesDimensionsSpan 107ft 9½inLength 76ft 11½inHeight 20ft 8inWing area 1,290ft²

WeightsEmpty (equipped) 28,550lbMaximum (loaded) 50,045lb

PerformanceMaximum speed 224 m.p.h. at 15,700ft 190 m.p.h. at sea levelEconomical cruising speed 158 m.p.h.Normal maximum radius 1,150 miles of action (with 2,750lb bombload) Service ceiling 19,700ft


DatabaseFOCKE-WULF Fw 200 – TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

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A T THE END of 1940 the

British Admiralty feared that

the Luftwaffe would seek to

exploit the initial success of

the Condor, and expand its force of

long-range bombers to cause further

mayhem in the North Atlantic. For

the Royal Navy, the ideal solution

would have been to send an aircraft

carrier to protect each convoy as it

passed through the danger area. But

in 1940 the Royal Navy was desper-

ately short of these warships, and

could spare none. Instead, a range of

countermeasures was set in train.

The first and most obvious move

was to bomb the Condors’ base at

Bordeaux-Mérignac. On the night of

November 22/23, 1940, 43 Vickers

Wellingtons, Armstrong Whitworth

Whitleys and Handley Page

Hampdens set out to attack the air-

field. Thirty crews claimed to have

released their bombs in the target

area, and reported fires and explo-

sions among the hangars and other

buildings. German accounts confirm

that the raid caused some damage,

although further raids on the airfield

were less successful.

Meanwhile, the Admiralty initiated

a large-scale programme to fit mer-

chant ships with increased arma-

ment. The better-armed vessels

carried specialised anti-aircraft guns

of 20mm-calibre or larger. But until

more of these weapons became

available, many ships had to make

do with Lewis 0·303in-calibre

machine-guns, Holman Projectors or

the Type E system.

The Holman Projector (nicknamed

the “Spud Gun”) used high-pressure

steam from the ship’s boilers to hurl

hand grenades into the sky above

the ship. There they exploded, to

send splinters flying in all directions.

Although the weapon had a low kill

probability, the sudden appearance

of a line of explosions in front of a

Condor was often sufficient to force

its crew to abandon their attack.

The Type E system, full official title

“Apparatus, Air Defence, Type E”,

was an imaginative product from the

Air Defence Investigation Department

at Exeter. This weapon employed a

commercial distress rocket to carry a

600ft length of cable into the sky

above the ship. When the rocket

reached the top of its trajectory, a

parachute opened to hold the cable

in the vertical position. At the bottom

of the cable was a small bomb,

about the size of a half-pint beer

tumbler, weighing about 1lb. If an

aircraft struck the cable, the shock

wave ran down the cable and armed

ABOVE An Fw 200 during the “happy times” at the beginning of the Battle of the Atlantic, when Condors roamed at will in pursuit of convoys to attack, with little risk of interception by enemy fighters.RIGHT The shipping forecast looked grim for Allied convoys in the early days of the war, as this photograph of a Condor crew’s tally vividly demonstrates. A solution to the Fw 200 problem would have to be found by the Allies — and fast.BELOW Bernhard Jope and his crew don their lifejackets before a long-range overseas sortie, which would average five hours flying out, two hours on station and a return.


FOCKE-WULF Fw 200 – COUNTERING THE CONDOR

Clipping the Condor’s WingsIn January 1941, Luftwaffe Condors delivered 125 attacks on merchant ships in the North Atlantic, sinking some 53 vessels. Others suffered damage and reached port only with difficulty. Rarely were more than ten Fw 200s available for operations on any one day but, as Dr ALFRED PRICE explains, a huge defensive effort was necessary to contain the serious threat they posed to Allied shipping

the bomb. At the same time, a small

stabilising parachute attached to the

bomb opened. If the cable snagged

on any part of the aircraft, the upper

parachute drew the cable and the

bomb rapidly upwards until the latter

struck the aircraft and detonated.

Like the Holman Projector, this

weapon’s main value was its deter-

rent effect. The sudden appearance

of a line of rocket trails in front of an

attacking Condor was highly discon-

certing, and on several occasions led

to attacks being abandoned.

The “Condor trap”Another imaginative measure was

the conversion of HMS Crispin, a

5,000-ton freighter impressed into

Royal Navy service, into a “Condor

trap”. The vessel was fitted with

concealed anti-aircraft armament

comprising a 6in low-angle gun, a

12-pounder high-angle gun, four

20mm Oerlikon cannon and four

single-barrelled two-pounder Pom

Pom guns. If an aircraft ran in to

attack the vessel, the ship’s crew

was to uncover the guns and give

the attacker a hot reception.

HMS Crispin’s mission was a

closely kept secret, and the captain’s

operational orders stated:� Object: The object is the destruc-

tion of Focke Wulfes [sic];� Execution: Crispin is to fly the red

ensign and is not to disclose in any

way that she is one of HM ships. The

crew are not to wear uniform. She is

to be sailed with the first convenient

outward bound convoy from the

Clyde [and] return with the next cor-

responding inward bound convoy.

When in the area where air attack is

likely Crispin is to act as a “strag-

gler”, keeping not more than four

miles from the rear of the convoy,

rejoining before dark. If, however,

there is information that a U-boat is

near the convoy, Crispin is to remain

in convoy.

HMS Crispin left port on her first

“wolf in sheep’s clothing” sortie on

Christmas Day 1940, and during the

weeks that followed she trailed

behind six convoys without attracting

a Condor. Instead, she attracted a

U-boat. On February 3, 1941, while

moving from an outgoing to an

incoming convoy, Crispin was torpe-

doed and sunk. Following her loss

there was no attempt to repeat the

“Condor trap” experiment.

The Fighter Catapult ShipsBy then another and potentially more

effective countermeasure had begun

operations against the Condors. HMS

Pegasus, a catapult trials and train-

ing ship, was modified to carry up to

three Fairey Fulmar fighters, each

armed with eight 0·303in-calibre

machine-guns. If a Condor

approached the convoy she was pro-

tecting, Pegasus was to launch one

or more fighters to engage or drive

away the enemy aircraft.

When she went into service in the

new role Pegasus was already

showing her age. Launched in 1914

as HMS Ark Royal, she had served

as a seaplane carrier in World War

One. She carried a large crane, with

which to hoist an aircraft on to the

catapult after the previous one had

been launched.

HMS Pegasus set sail on her first

convoy escort voyage in December

1940, and on January 11, 1941, she

made the first operational catapult

launch of a fighter. Although the

Fulmar was a two-seater, during

these operations it carried no

observer. The action took place

about 240 miles west of Ireland and

a chase ensued, before the Condor

escaped into cloud. The Fulmar pilot,

Petty Officer J. Shaw, then headed

east and made a normal landing at

Aldergrove in Northern Ireland.

Regarding the effectiveness of the

Fighter Catapult Ships (FCSs), it was

just as valuable if the Condor’s crew

returned to base with news of a hair-

raising escape from a fighter far out

to sea, as it was if the bomber was

shot down. Crews of KG40 learned

that the convoys were no longer the

easy game they had once been.

The second FCS, HMS Patia, was

completed in March 1941. One

month later, while engaged in sea

trials off Newcastle before embarking

her fighters, Patia met her end in a

fight to the death with a Heinkel He

111. The bomber fell to the ship’s

return fire, but Patia sank later due to

the damage she had sustained.

Gradually the other improvised

weapons also began to take effect.

On May 21, 1941, Oberleutnant Hans

Buchholz, a leading Condor anti-

shipping ace and holder of the

Ritterkreuz, found the armed freighter

SS Umgeni ploughing on alone

LEFT Gunners would be tasked with keeping a keen eye on the skies as increasing numbers of fighters were launched against the Condors. This gunner operates the hydraulically-powered Fw 19 upper gun turret with single MG 15.

ABOVE An infantryman keeps guard over a Fw 200 among the distinctive camouflaged blast shelters at KG40’s base at Bordeaux-Mérignac.

ABOVE The Empire Lawrence CAM ship, with Hawker Hurricane W9313, LU-S, of the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit, ready on its catapult for a launch.

ABOVE The Fairey Fulmar, although far from an ideal interceptor, was the Royal Navy’s first eight-gun fighter and provided a vital role in protecting merchant convoys while being operated from the Fighter Catapult Ships.


DatabaseFOCKE-WULF Fw 200 – COUNTERING THE CONDOR

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through the eastern Atlantic.

Buchholz descended to low altitude

and began his attack run, but a

sharp-eyed lookout aboard the ship

raised the alarm. The ship’s gunners

opened fire and it appears that at

least one 12-pounder shell struck the

aircraft. The Condor dropped no

bombs on its first pass, but then

turned away as if preparing to make

a second pass. Then it descended

out of control and struck the sea at a

flat angle. Five members of the crew

were rescued and taken prisoner, but

Hans Buchholz was not one of them.

As if to make the point that anyone

could join in the fight against the

Condors, on July 23, 1941, a

Lockheed Hudson of 233 Sqn

engaged in a lengthy slugging match

with a Condor that had been shad-

owing a convoy. The fracas ended

when the German aircraft ditched. It

had been a plucky effort on the part

of the Hudson’s crew, considering

that the Condor’s armament was

somewhat heavier than their own.

The third and fourth FCSs, HMS

Springbank and Ariguani, both com-

menced operations in May 1941.

Together with Pegasus, these now

conducted a series of operational

launches. Pegasus made her second

launch on June 7, when her Fulmar

drove off a Condor, then went on to

land at Belfast. Springbank made her

first operational launch three days

later, with much the same result.

Pegasus made her third launch on

July 7. On that occasion the Fulmar

drove off the Condor and afterwards

reached Northern Ireland, but it

crashed into a hillside in poor

weather, killing its pilot.

In the spring of 1941 No 804 Sqn,

Fleet Air Arm, reformed at RNAS

Yeovilton as a training and head-

quarters unit for pilots engaged in

the FCS role. The Fulmar’s perform-

ance as a fighter was, in most

respects, unspectacular. Low down,

its maximum speed was only 230

m.p.h. During each operational

launch so far, the Fulmar’s low

maximum speed had been one of

the factors that prevented it from

completing an interception and

shooting down the Condor. On the

other hand the Fulmar had a far

larger internal fuel capacity than any

other single-engined fighter of its

time, 155gal, which gave it a

maximum range of 830 miles.

The fifth and last FCS to be con-

verted, HMS Maplin, was modified

to carry a Hawker Hurricane — an

altogether more formidable opponent

for the Condor. Maplin set out on her

first voyage on June 18, 1941, and

made her first operational catapult

launch exactly one month later. As

the Hurricane closed on a Condor

that had been attacking the convoy,

the ships’ guns shot down the

bomber. The pilot of the fighter

circled the convoy for a while, then

baled out and was rescued by one of

the escorting warships.

Just over two weeks later a

Hurricane from Maplin achieved the

first FCS victory. On August 3, 1941,

Lt R. Everett of 804 Sqn was

launched to engage a Condor.

Later he reported: “I got within one and a half miles

of the Focke-Wulf before it seemed

to notice my presence. I intercepted

it after 9min flying and ranged up

alongside at 600yd and slightly

above it. When my machine was

slightly ahead of its starboard

quarter, the stern gun opened fire.

“These rounds passed underneath

or fell short of the Hurricane. It took

quite an appreciable time to get

abeam and the for’ard gun was also

firing — again the rounds passed

underneath or short. The Focke-Wulf

then turned sharply to port, but

seemed to change its mind and

turned back on its original course. By

this time I had reached its starboard

bow and three machine-guns opened

up, as well as the for’ard cannon. I

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor variants

Fw 200A Pre-production batch of ten aircraft, eight of which were built as a regular airliners. Four of these delivered to Deutsche Lufthansa, two went to the Danish airline DDL, two went to the Brazilian airline Syndicato Condor. One aircraft was fitted out for the personal use of Adolf Hitler, while another was furnished as a VIP transport for the use of high-ranking government officials. Powered by four BMW 132 enginesFw 200B Structurally similar to the A version but with several minor changes, intended as the main production version of the airliner. These B variants were impressed into the Luftwaffe. Powered by BMW 132Dc or H enginesFw 200C-0 Military version of the airliner, B-variants converted while on the production line. These aircraft were fitted with defensive machine guns on flexible mountings in forward-facing and rearward-facing dorsal positions. Offensive armament comprised five 550lb bombs; two under each wing and one under the fuselage. Powered by BMW 132H enginesFw 200C-1 Fitted with a ventral gondola offset to starboard under the fuselage, with a 20mm-calibre cannon on a flexible mounting firing forwards, and an MG 15 machine-gun firing rearwards Fw 200C-2 Similar to the C-1, but with strengthening of the airframe to render it more suitable for its military roleFw 200C-3 Similar to the C-2 but featuring further strengthening of the airframe. To compensate for the extra resulting weight, the aircraft was fitted with more-powerful Bramo 323 Fafnir radial engines Fw 200C-4 The variant built in the greatest numbers. Similar to the C-3 but fitted with air-to-surface-vessel radar. Initial variants carried the F radar, later variants carried the more effective Hohentwiel radar Fw 200C-6 C-3 and C-4 variants modified to carry two Henschel Hs 293 glider bombs, one under each outboard engine nacelle Fw 200C-8 Similar to the C-6 variant, but built specifically with deepened outer engine nacelles to carry a pair of Hs 293 weapons

ABOVE The Condor downed on July 23, 1941, after a slugging match with a Lockheed Hudson of 233 Sqn, slowly starts to sink beneath the Atlantic.

ABOVE As the Royal Navy stepped up its anti-Condor measures, the Fw 200 became increasingly vulnerable in its long-range anti-shipping role.



did a quick turn to port and opened

fire just abaft the beam. I fired 5sec

bursts all the way until I was 40yd

astern of the enemy. Another short

burst at this range and my guns

were empty. I noticed pieces flying

off the starboard side of the Focke-

Wulf and it appeared to be alight

inside the fuselage. I broke away to

port at 30yd. My windshield and

hood were covered with oil and I

quickly concluded that my engine oil

system had been badly hit.” In fact the oil had come from the

Condor, which dived into the sea a

few seconds later. Everett continued:“My forward view was very

obscured owing to the oil. My one

idea was to get down while I still had

charge of the situation. I made two

rather half-hearted attempts to bale

out, but the machine nosed down

and caught me when half out. I

changed my mind and decided to

land in the sea near HMS Wanderer,

and did so. The ship sent a boat and

I was extremely well looked after.”For this feat, which gave great

encouragement to the other FCS

pilots, Everett was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order.

On August 27 HMS Ariguani

launched a Fulmar to engage a

Condor, but yet again the latter

escaped into cloud. The fighter pilot

then headed east into bad weather,

and on reaching land he put down in

the first reasonably large field that

came into view. After a chat with

some curious civilians, he discovered

that he was in the Irish Republic. He

therefore re-started his engine, took

off and landed at Eglinton in

Northern Ireland.

On September 14 Maplin launched

another Hurricane. Sub-Lieutenant C.

Walker intercepted the Condor and

delivered several attacks before the

bomber escaped into cloud. The

fighter pilot returned to the convoy,

baled out and was picked up. Four

days later HMS Springbank launched

a Fulmar to engage a Condor attack-

ing a Gibraltar-bound convoy. Yet

again the Condor escaped, and the

fighter went on to land at North Front

airfield, Gibraltar. That turned out to

be Springbank’s last operational

launch, for nine days later a U-boat

torpedoed and sank her.

Ariguani launched a Fulmar to

engage a Condor on October 4, but

although the latter suffered damage

it escaped into cloud. The Fulmar

was too far from land to make a

normal landing, so the pilot baled

out and was rescued.

Nearly three weeks later, Ariguani

was hit by a U-boat’s torpedo and

reached Gibraltar under tow. She

was repaired, but did not return to

the FCS role.

With the appearance of the CAM

ships, HMS Pegasus reverted to the

catapult training role in July 1941.

HMS Ariguani and Maplin, the only

other survivors, were reconverted

into freighters and returned to their

former owners.

Enter the CAM ShipThe FCS had been a useful improvi-

sation, but it would be overtaken by

a somewhat cheaper solution to the

problem. The idea was to employ

suitable freighters carrying a catapult

and a single Hurricane.

These vessels would remain in the

Merchant Navy, and would carry

normal cargoes. The proposal

smacked of getting something for

nothing, and it appealed greatly to

Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He

ordered that 250 merchant ships be

converted in this way, as a matter of

top priority. It was agreed that the

RAF would provide the personnel

and equipment for 200 ships and the

Admiralty for the remaining 50. To

differentiate between these vessels

and the Fighter Catapult Ships

described above, the converted mer-

chant vessels were known as

Catapult Aircraft Merchant Ships or,

more usually, as CAM ships.

By April 1941 the preliminary

development work was well

advanced. Some 19 ships, all of

9,000 tons or over, had been ear-

marked for initial conversion. In

addition to the aircraft and catapults,

these vessels were to carry radar

LEFT The instrument panel of the Condor was remarkably neat for its time, with the engine instruments fitted centrally for both pilots to see clearly. The port control yoke was mounted to one side, with the copilot’s centrally located.

ABOVE Hawker Hurricane V6756, NJ-L, of the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit, mounted on the catapult ready for launching. The FCSs which launched mainly Fulmars had been Royal Navy vessels, whereas the CAM ships, equipped with Hurricanes, were merchant ships which continued to carry their normal cargoes. BELOW A Fulmar leaves the deck of a Royal Navy aircraft carrier. The type served with some 20 Fleet Air Arm squadrons.

ABOVE A splendid view of the underside of Fw 200 WNr 0043 F8+AB, previously SG+KS as seen on page 70. The picture highlights the offset ventral gondola, exhaust staining patterns and distinctive wing shape.

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and radio sets for fighter direction.

Fighter Command allocated 60

Hurricanes Is, many of them Battle of

Britain veterans, for conversion as

catapult fighters. At the same time

the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit

(MSFU) formed at RAF Speke near

Liverpool. This served as the head-

quarters unit and provided training

for pilots and support personnel.

Since the CAM ships would ply

regularly between the UK and the

then neutral USA, it was important to

establish the status of service per-

sonnel aboard these ships. The men

were required to sign on as deck-

hands, for which they received a

nominal additional wage of one shil-

ling per month. When going ashore

in neutral countries, they were

required to wear civilian clothes.

By the late spring of 1941 the

original ambitious programme to

convert 250 ships for the CAM role

had been scaled down to 50, and in

the end only 35 vessels would be

modified in this way.

The first CAM ship to sail, the

Michael E, joined a transatlantic

convoy bound for New York on May

28, 1941. There was no opportunity

to launch her Hurricane against a

Condor on the outbound voyage, but

during the return voyage a U-boat

torpedoed and sank her.

It was an inauspicious start to

CAM ship operations, yet with the

Prime Minister’s support the pro-

gramme progressed rapidly. In the

months to follow these vessels

became a regular feature on trans-

atlantic convoys and, later, those to

and from Gibraltar also. By the end

of 1941 CAM ships had completed a

total of 68 round voyages, made one

operational launch and lost four of

their number to U-boat attacks.

The sole operational launch of a

Hurricane from a CAM ship during

1941 took place on November 1,

from the Empire Foam. The pilot,

Plt Off George Varley, drove off a

Condor that had been attacking a

straggler. He orbited the convoy for

two hours, then, as fuel was running

low, he baled out and was picked up

by one of the convoy escorts.

By the beginning of 1942 the

Condor threat had been largely con-

tained. The CAM ships remained in

service throughout 1942 and made

five operational launches during that

year. Three of them took place when

escorting convoys to and from

Russia, and these accounted for a

Ju 88, an He 111 and two He 115s.

During one of these operations the

fighter pilot baled out into the sea at

too low an altitude. He was rescued,

but later died from the injuries he

suffered. The only Condor loss to a

CAM ship was on November 1,

1942, when the Empire Heath

launched her Hurricane and Fg Off

Norman Taylor shot down one of

these bombers.

During 1943 several escort carri-

ers entered Royal Navy service, and

thereafter the CAM ship fleet dwin-

dled rapidly. The last two of these

ships, Empire Darwin and Empire

Tide, made their final voyage in this

role as part of Convoy SL133 which

set sail from Gibraltar to the UK at

the end of July. As if to mark the

occasion several Condors, perhaps

as many as seven at various times,

shadowed the convoy and attempted

to deliver high-level attacks. Empire

Darwin launched her Hurricane, and

Fg Off Jimmy Stewart shot down one

Condor. Then his guns jammed and

when another Condor approached

the convoy he drove it away with a

series of dummy attacks. Yet another

Condor entered the fray and Empire

Tide launched her Hurricane. Flying

Officer P. Flynne engaged the

bomber, and emptied his guns in a

series of firing runs which forced it to

jettison its bombs and head for

home. Both pilots then baled out and

were picked up.

During their two years in operation,

the FCSs and CAM ships launched

19 Fulmars and Hurricanes “in

anger”. The fighters claimed the

destruction of seven enemy aircraft,

including three Condors, but many

more were damaged or driven away

from convoys. Two fighter pilots were

killed during these operations, repre-

senting a loss rate of just over 10 per

cent of those making operational

launches. Six fighters (31 per cent)

made normal landings after engag-

ing, the other 13 aircraft were lost.

ABOVE Groundcrew move out to receive a Condor returned from a long-range sortie.LEFT The port beam gun position for a single 7·9mm-calibre MG 15 machine-gun. The addition of an extra gunner in the Fw 200C-3/U4 and subsequent versions brought the crew complement up to seven.

BELOW Armourers load an SC 250 bomb aboard a Fw 200. The Condors would usually take off in fours, fly out to an initial point in close formation, then fan out and fly parallel tracks 25 miles apart, searching for enemy ships.

BELOW An Avenger-class escort carrier with Grumman Martlets aboard. The Martlet was the Fleet Air Arm’s version of the US Navy’s F4F-3 Wildcat, and one of the first units to operate the type was 802 Sqn aboard HMS Audacity.



Of the 40 ships employed on these

operations, 14 were lost to enemy

action. Only HMS Patia succumbed

to air attack, and she had not been

carrying her fighter at the time she

was hit.

The best countermeasureIn the autumn of 1941 the Royal

Navy introduced the most potent of

its counters to the Condor: the

escort carrier HMS Audacity. Converted from the captured German

merchant ship Hannover, she carried

up to six Grumman Martlet fighters

of No 802 Squadron. The vessel had

a flightdeck 368ft long, but she had

no hangar and all aircraft servicing

was carried out on the open deck.

Audacity set out on her first escort

mission on September 13, as part of

a convoy bound for Gibraltar. On the

21st a pair of Martlets, with Sub-Lt

N. Patterson leading and Sub-Lt G.

Fletcher as wingman, caught and

shot down a Condor that had been

shadowing the convoy. Audacity’s

homebound voyage, during October

2–17, was without incident.

On her next voyage, leaving for

Gibraltar on October 29, Audacity’s

Martlets shot down two Condors on

November 8. The second of those

aircraft fell to the guns of Sub-Lt Eric

Brown, who would later gain consid-

erable fame for his work test-flying

captured German aircraft.

Audacity’s fourth and final voyage,

escorting a convoy from Gibraltar to

the UK, began on December 14,

1941. By then the ship was down to

four Martlets. On the morning of the

18th a pair of the portly fighters

launched to engage a couple of

Condors showing on the carrier’s

radar screen. Each Martlet intercep-

ted one of the bombers, but each

fighter’s guns jammed after the first

attack and the Condors escaped. On

the morning of the 19th two more

Condors approached the convoy and

again a pair of Martlets intercepted

the intruders. Sub-Lt Eric Brown shot

down one Condor, and the other

made off after suffering damage.

That afternoon the Martlets added a

further Condor to their bag. On the

following evening U-boats delivered a

concerted attack on the convoy, and

torpedoed and sank the carrier.

During her short but eventful life,

Audacity’s fighters shot down five

Condors and inflicted damage on

three more. In doing so she had

proved the value of this type of

warship, and delivered another blow

to the Condor’s reputation as an

anti-shipping aircraft. Other meas-

ures would deter Condors from

attacking convoys, or drive them

away, but only the carrier fighters

were consistently able to shoot them

down in decisively effective numbers.

The lesson was not lost on the

Luftwaffe. In January 1942 Oberst-

leutnant Martin Harlinghausen,

holding the post of Fliegerführer

Atlantic and commanding German

anti-shipping aircraft operating over

the North Atlantic, lamented:“Because of the strong defences,

Focke-Wulf aircraft can no longer

carry out bombing attacks on

Atlantic convoys.”His assessment of the “strong

defences” included the entire gamut

of countermeasures, for he had little

information on the effectiveness of

the individual systems. He des-

patched Condors on long-range

reconnaissance missions to find

convoys, and when they failed to

return he often had no information

on the cause of their demise. The

hastily-introduced programme of

countermeasures to the Condor,

produced at such enormous

cost, had achieved its aim.

“During her short but eventful life, HMS Audacity’s fighters shot down five

Condors and inflicted damage on three more. In doing so she had proved the value of this

type of warship, and delivered another blow to the Condor’s reputation as an

anti-shipping aircraft . . . “

ABOVE The Martlet, as flown by Sub-Lt Eric Brown, who despatched two Condors in the type, employing head-on attacks: “The forward dorsal turret couldn’t depress its guns below a certain angle, and the ventral gondola couldn’t elevate its guns to cover the “blind spot” either. This blank area ahead could then be exploited provided you came in very flat”.LEFT A Fleet Air Arm Petty Officer steps out of his Hurricane. Pilots rarely wore jackets, which, in case of ditching, became waterlogged and dragged the pilot down.BELOW Wreckage of a pair of Condors at Bordeaux-Mérignac after one of several Allied air attacks during 1943–44.



A T THE BEGINNING of World

War Two the German state

airline Deutsche Lufthansa

(DLH) possessed a fleet of

136 commercial aircraft. The back-

bone of that fleet comprised about

eighty Junkers Ju 52/3ms, with

small numbers of passenger-carrying

Heinkel He 111s, Junkers Ju 86s and

Junkers Ju 90s. There were also

four Focke Wulf Fw 200s.

Early in the war DLH operated a

network of services between points

in Germany and friendly and neutral

countries in Europe. The Luftwaffe

requisitioned the four DLH Condors

for use as transports and in the

maritime reconnaissance role. When

production of the military version of

the Condor got into its stride the

intention was to return the aircraft to

the airline. By then, it is believed,

two had been written off and the

Luftwaffe returned only two Condors

to the airline.

As late as December 1943, DLH

maintained an extensive network of

routes across Europe, including

regular flights to Barcelona, Madrid

and Lisbon, Oslo, Trondheim and

Tromsø, Budapest, Bucharest and

Istanbul. By the end of 1944 the

ravages of war had reduced the fleet

to about 60 aircraft, with only two

Fw 200s, and the airline had aban-

doned several of the routes.

The last scheduled flight by the

airline, on April 14, 1945, was a

Condor flight from Barcelona to

Berlin. One week later, during an

unscheduled flight from Berlin to

Munich, the aircraft crashed in

Bavaria and was wrecked.

Immediately following the outbreak

of the war Denmark remained

neutral. Its national airline, Det

Danske Luftfartselskab (DDL), main-

tained a regular service with two

Condors linking Copenhagen with

Amsterdam and Shoreham, the

latter serving as the airline’s British

terminal. One of its Condors,

OY-DAM, was at Shoreham on April

9, 1940, when German troops

invaded Denmark.

The aircraft was impounded and

sent to BOAC where it received the

UK registration G-AGAY. It appears to

have seen little or no use, however,

before it passed to the RAF and

received the serial number DX177. In

July 1941 the Condor was damaged

beyond repair, and scrapped.

Its sister, OY-DEM, remained in

Denmark and flew services linking

Copenhagen with Berlin and Munich.

It survived the war and was returned

to normal airline service, until it

came to grief during a crosswind

landing at Northolt in 1946.

In Brazil the Syndicato Condor

employed its two Condors, PP-CBI

and PP-CBJ, on services linking Rio

de Janeiro to Buenos Aires and Porto

Alegre. Following a reorganisation of

the company, the aircraft and routes

passed to the new airline Cruzeiro do

Sul. The Condors were re-engined

with Pratt & Whitney Hornets, and

kept going throughout the conflict.

They continued in service until the

spring of 1947, when one was

wrecked in a ground collision and

the other was pensioned off.

Mention should also be made of

the Fw 200C-4/U1 Condor modified

to the personal requirements of

Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler. This

carried the special armoured seat

with a parachute and special escape

hatch, similar to that fitted to the

Führermaschine. The forward cabin

had five seats, while the rear cabin

had six more. Both compartments

were furnished in highly polished

wood panelling with grey upholstery.

After the war this Condor came to

Farnborough, where it served as a

hack aircraft before being scrapped.

Although there are no complete

Condors still in existence, an attempt

was made to recover an example

that ditched after running out of fuel

on a sortie in 1942, from

Trondheimsfjord in Norway, in May

1999. The machine disintegrated

during the attempt, but it is intended

to restore the remains to static

display status at the Deutsches

Technikmuseum in Berlin.

Sheep’s Clothing

DR ALFRED PRICE describes the fate of the Condors bought by Deutsche Lufthansa, as well as those supplied to airlines in Denmark and South America

Next MonthDatabaseExamines...

The North American FJ FuryRobert F. Dorr details the development and

career of the US Navy’s first operational jet

fighter. Includes scale drawings and cutaway

(contents may be subject to change)

ABOVE Danish Air Lines operated a pair of Condors; OY-DAM Dania, as seen here unloading at Copenhagen, and OY-DEM Jutlandia.LEFT The spacious, comfortable interior of the cabin of a DDL (Danish Air Lines) Condor, with accommodation for 26 passengers.


FOCKE-WULF Fw 200 – CIVIL CONDORS Database


ONLY TEN SUMMERS after man’s fi rst powered fl ight, the advent of the First World War accelerated the develop-ment of truly reliable aircraft capable

of performing specialised military tasks. These fi rst warplanes, often based on machines origi-nally intended for peaceful purposes, soon evolved into the lethal aircraft that swarmed over the bloody trenches of Europe. They her-alded great changes in the dark arts of warfare, carrying the dreams and nightmares of all man-kind on their wings.

Renowned California-based aviation photog-rapher Philip Makanna has captured the essence of this era in the new hardbound book GHOSTS of the Great War, in which his stunning colour photographs are interwoven with an extraordi-nary collection of archival duotones. In 31 years Makanna has taken aviation photography to amazing levels. In this volume his images depict the beginnings of military aviation with the pre-war-era Blériot XI monoplane with its wing-warping lateral control system; the web of wires and wood that was Anthony Fokker’s Spin (Spider); and Sopwith’s neat and compact

Great War GhostsA lavish new book combines classic period images of First World War aeroplanes with stunning modern photographs by ace aviation photographer PHILIP MAKANNA of full-size reproductions belonging to Javier Arango’s Aeroplane Collection, one of the world’s largest collections of these wire-braced warriors

ABOVE Arango’s Sopwith F.1 Camel, powered by a period rotary engine, sports the colours of B6313, the Sopwith-built aircraft in which Canadian ace Maj William George Barker gained all but eight of his fi nal tally of 52 victories. Note the personal emblem, a blood-red heart pierced by a white arrow, on the fi n.

LEFT Pilots and observers of 22 Sqn pose with one of the unit’s Bristol F.2B Fighters at Vert Galand on April 1, 1918, the day the RAF was created. On the following day the observer holding the Lewis gun, Lt R. Critchley, and his pilot Lt F. Williams (not in this picture) were shot down in fl ames.

AVIATION PHOTOGRAPHY

Tabloid scout, an offspring of the seaplane that won the 1914 Schneider Trophy contest. He then follows through to the advanced aircraft which appeared at the war’s end.

Javier Arango, owner of the aircraft featured in the book, has written a passionate and informa-tive text describing these machines and their development. He also offers a unique perspec-tive, as he writes about their fl ying characteris-tics from his personal experiences as their pilot.


GHOSTS of the Great War, Aviation in World War One, is the fi fth volume in Philip Makanna’s clas-sic series of aviation books. Its 192 pages are fi lled with 160 colour photographs, 110 archival images and 27 drawings.

In support of the American Air Museum in Britain, GHOSTS is publishing a “Special Limited Edition” of 2,000 copies. Bound inside the front cover of this edition will be a copy of Aircraft Records: The Sounds of GHOSTS of the Great War, an extraordinary CD recorded on location as the book was being photographed. This CD captures the sounds of fi ve different First World War engines built before 1918, all recorded in fl ight. This “Special Limited Edition” is available from November 2005 for US$50 plus postage & pack-ing. Of this, $10 will go directly to the Ameri-can Air Museum at Duxford.


Stunning images and evocative words com-bine to capture the beauty, romance and tragedy of military aviation’s early days. Also included are the timeless words of Cecil Lewis, author of the classic book Sagittarius Rising, who plunged into the war in 1915 as an eager 17-year-old. His elegant and perceptive prose guides the reader through a complex era of experiences and emo-tions that changed the world for ever.

The fl ying machines featured in the GHOSTS of the Great War form Javier Arango’s California-based Aeroplane Collection, one of the largest collections of fl yable First World War aircraft in existence. The collection currently contains 21 aircraft of the era, of which 17 different types are fully airworthy. Arango is now trying to obtain the appropriate original engines for all of the aeroplanes in his fl eet.

ABOVE The second Fokker D VII acquired by Arango is of authentic construction throughout and is powered by a period Mercedes engine. Its cockpit is equipped with original instruments.

RIGHT Leutnant Günther von Büren of Jasta 18 with his Fokker D VII and his dog. He created his own personal marking by adding four chicks to the unit’s raven emblem on the fuselage side; “the raven amongst the chickens”. This distinctive scheme was adopted for Arango’s D VII.

ABOVE FAR RIGHT An evocative study of a Blériot XI-2 two-seater fl ying along a beach during the pre-First World War era. Arango has recently had an authentic Anzani engine installed in his own, single-seat Blériot XI.



The “Regular Edition” of GHOSTS of the Great War is available from November 2005 for US$40 plus $6 shipping costs from GHOSTS, 665 Arkansas Street, San Francisco, California, 94107, USA. (11½ x 11½in, 192 pages, 160

colour photographs, 110 archival photo-graphs. ISBN 0-916997-29-4.)

All of the GHOSTS publications are described and available on the internet at www.ghosts.com

ABOVE The fi rst Fokker D VII to join the Aeroplane Collection was this full-scale lookalike originally built for the movie The Blue Max and covered with lozenge-pattern camoufl age fabric.

LEFT Offi zierstellvertreter Schluckebier of Jagdstaff el 73 glowers at the photogra-pher from the cockpit of his Fokker D VII.

ABOVE FAR LEFT Another pre-war seaside study of a Blériot XI, this being an earlier, single-seat version with a tailwheel, rather than the skid seen on the Blériot on the facing page.

How to get hold of the book

Navigat rBOOK S•VIDEOS•INTERNET•OFFERS•EVENTS•INFORMATION

Navigat rBOOK S•VIDEOS•INTERNET•OFFERS•EVENTS•INFORMATION


CONTENTS

RUSSIAN PISTON AERO ENGINES (by Vladimir Kotelnikov; ISBN 1-86126-702-9; Crowood Press, The Stable Block,

Crowood Lane, Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 2HR; 11¼in x 9in hardback; 272 pages, illustrated;

£29.95).

THIS USEFUL and informative book fi lls a very conspicuous gap

in the literature on aero-engines. The story of piston aero-engine

production in Russia is one of struggles with new technologies

and the industry’s inability to match either the quality or

production rates of Europe and the USA. Nor was progress

helped by two revolutions; it was not until 1921 that the output

of Soviet factories exceeded 100 engines per year, and

operators of military and civil aircraft had to rely heavily on

imported engines for far too long.

This book is divided into two parts. The fi rst, of six chapters,

provides a general background and summary of the State control

over the industry, the planning of research and development and

the preparation and approval of engine specifi cations, the

organisation of development and prototype manufacture, engine

test and acceptance procedures, engine designations and the

principal factories. Part two presents, in 44 chapters, all of the

engine manufacturers and their products, in chronological order

and with brief histories of the companies and of each major

engine type, with tables of characteristics. Foreign piston aero-

engines in Russia, including licence-

built types, are also covered in this

section. As well as revealing a great

deal about the products of such

famous designers as Mikulin,

Shvetsov and Klimov, the engines

of a host of lesser-known

producers are covered , coming

right up to date with power units

for ultralight and homebuilt aircraft. There is much to be

gleaned from a careful read. How many readers are aware that

the Specialloid company in Britain was contracted to produce

pistons, piston rings and valves for the 12-cylinder Klimov

M-105 in September 1941?

Useful appendices give comprehensive tables of engine

characteristics and list Russian aircraft and their respective

engine types, and there is a select bibliography and an index.

This is one title that no self-respecting student of aero-engines

should be without. PHILIP JARRETT

BOOKSPAGES 85–87

SERVICESPAGES 92-93

INTERNET PAGE 86

READER OFFERS PAGE 89

CROSSWORD PAGE 87

EVENTS PAGE 94

CLASSIFIED PAGE 95

NEXT MONTHPAGE 92

INFORMATION EXCHANGE PAGES 88–89

BEHIND THE SCENES

FILMING THE DAM

BUSTERS (by Jonathan

Falconer; ISBN 0-7509-

3712-2; Sutton Publishing

Ltd, Phoenix Mill, Thrupp,

Stroud, Glos GL5 2BU;

10in x 10in hardback; 160

pages, illustrated; £20).

The Dam Busters, No 617 Sqn,

have been the subject of a

number of books including an

excellent one by this author a

couple of years or so ago (and

which has just been released

in paperback at £14.99, ISBN

0-7509-4003-4).

Now he has written an

equally rewarding volume

(excerpted in April 2005’s

Aeroplane) describing how the

famous fi lm was made and

describing some of the prob-

lems. It is interesting to see

that some of the air-to-air

fi lming was done by a Varsity,

also Wellington MF628, now in

the RAF Museum, Hendon,

with gun turrets fi tted to

represent a bomber version,

when at the time of fi lming it

was a T.10 trainer minus

turrets. An amusing quote from

the book goes thus:

“The pilot of the Varsity was

a most talented chap and the

Lanc crews loved the break

from Service fl ying.” The four

Lancasters which had been

adapted for the fi lm fi nished

their lives at Aston Down

where they were melted down

for scrap in 1956. A very

interesting look behind the

scenes at the fi lm-maker’s art.

MIKE HOOKS

RARE FIGHTER

WESTLAND WELKIN (by

Martin Velek, Michal

Ovcacik and Karel Susa;

ISBN 80-86637-01-8;

Mark 1 Ltd, PO Box 10,

100 31 Prague 10, Czech

Republic; 11¾in x 8¼in

softback; 28 pages,

illustrated; £9.50).

The Welkin is one of those

types which tend to be ignored

by authors in favour of more

popular well-documented

aircraft, so it is good to see this

attractive presentation from

Mark 1 covering the F Mk I

and NF Mk II.

It was a big aeroplane for a

single-seater, with a 70ft span,

necessary for its intended

high-altitude operation as was

its pressure cabin. First fl own

in November 1941, the Welkin

had a number of problems

during its development phase,

and 77 were fi nally built, while

orders for 225 were

cancelled. There was even a

jet-powered version studied by

designer W.E.W. “Teddy” Petter,

and no doubt this project was

useful in design of the

Canberra when he moved

to English Electric.

Colour is restricted to

drawings of the two versions,

but there is plenty of

monochrome coverage plus

armament details and colour

schemes plus fi ne 1⁄72nd-scale

plans. Another good

monograph from Mark 1.

MIKE HOOKS

AIRLINE HISTORY

IONA – IRELAND’S FIRST

COMMERCIAL AIRLINE

(by Michael Traynor; ISBN

0-95449194-0-8; 10½in x

8½in hardback; 356 pages,

illustrated; available from

the author, 36 Anne Devlin

Avenue, Rathfarnham,

Dublin 14 at £18 + £5 p&p

in UK (check website at

www.ionaairways.com for

further overseas prices)

This is a substantial work for a

self-publisher and the author is

to be congratulated both for

the work he has put into it and

the quality of its production.

The story begins with the Iona

Motor Engineering Works,

Dublin, in 1923 and builds

chapter by chapter almost as a

story of Irish aviation. The

country’s fi rst commercial

aircraft was Desoutter EI-AAD

BOOK OF THE MONTH


INTERNET Compiled by Jim Winchester

WITH CHRISTMAS RAPIDLY APPROACHING, in this issue we take

a look at some of the many online outlets for seasonal gift ideas

with an aviation theme. There are a lot of “pilot’s shops” out

there, pretty much selling the same products, so I won’t dwell on

those but will instead look at a few different outlets, each with

their own particular variety of aviation gifts.

As well as traditional hampers and other products, Stamford

Hampers and Gifts (www.stamfordhampersandgifts.co.uk) sells the Spirit of St Louis range of nostalgic “Golden Age of

Aviation” themed items, including radio/alarm clocks, compass/alarm clocks, CD players, radios and wristwatches, all of which

Charles Lindbergh might have made good use of on his epic

fl ight, had they been invented in 1927.

New York-based Doppeldecker Aviation Clothing in New York

does a fi ne range of ties, sweaters, scarves etc at www.2dec-ker.com. Subjects include the B-52, Lockheed Constellation,

Douglas DC-3, Concorde, F4U Corsair, Spitfi re, P-51 Mustang,

Bf 109, Sopwith Camel, Lancaster and Airbus A380.

Aero Clocks, at www.aeroclocks.com, indeed sell aviation-style clocks including facsimiles of the famous RAF Sector

clocks, but also offer autographs of World War Two aviators from

several nations, and a good selection of authentic restored

vintage wooden propellers (thankfully without clocks in them). The site also as an interesting history of RAF clocks and a

buyer’s guide to genuine examples.

Online gift shop www.historicaviation.com is owned by

trimotor enthusiast and air tour organiser Greg Herrick, who

should be familiar to Aeroplane readers. There is a good

searchable database of products. On sale are books, videos and

DVDs, display models and kits, calendars and much more. The

models obviously include the odd “Tin Goose”.

The Clivedon Collection of aircraft pins, cuffl inks, tie pins and

so on is well known, but they do much more than that, including

clocks, desk models, ties and caps all of which are available at

http://www.djhengineering.co.uk/clivedon/default.asp.

The range is searchable by product type, themes (e.g. Classic

Airliners, Post 1946 Military), or keyword. Aviation-Giftshop.com

in North Carolina (http://www.aviation-giftshop.com/) specialises in custom shirts, mugs and caps with more than 100

types of aircraft available as motifs. Other products include

pedalplanes for small children.

The Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force supports

its activities with an online gift shop at http://www.

arizonawingcaf.com/pages/giftshop.html, where it has a

good range of B-17 (particularly Sentimental Journey) related

items. The site also has information on all the wing’s static and

fl yable aircraft.

For a vintage fl ying experience, Delta Aviation at http://www.

deltaaviation.co.uk/ offers Tiger Moth fl ights from 17 different

locations around the UK, as well as Harvard and Mustang rides.

You can buy fl ight vouchers from the site for gifts or just indulge

in a fl ight for yourself!Finally, one of the best aviation presents you can give yourself

or a like-minded friend is, of course, an annual subscription to

Aeroplane — log on to http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com

to subscribe from anywhere in the world. And, once you have

chosen your gift, http://www.aviatorwebsite.com/ has

aeroplane wrapping paper to put it in, as well as a selection of

clocks, books and aviation soft toys.

For monthly reviews of the best on the web. . . subscribe to Aeroplane quickly & easily at www.aeroplanemonthly.com

Navigat r Web: www.aeroplanemonthly.com

B O O K S•V I D E O S • O FFE R S

ABOVE Stamford Hampers sells all sorts of goodies, including aviation chocolates!

ABOVE Doppeldecker Aviation Clothing offers some stylish ties, among many other items.

ABOVE As well as clocks, Aero Clocks sells genuine, beautifully-restored vintage wooden propellers.

ABOVE The Historic Aviation online shop is owned by inter-war civil aircraft collector Greg Herrick.

of the Iona National Air Taxis

and Flying School, bought new

from the makers at Croydon. In

chapter four, motor racing

comes into the story, followed

by facts and photographs of

Irish Chipmunks, and later

types, while tables cover

individual aircraft histories

which had Iona connections.

As well as small single-engined aircraft, Iona operated

light twins and as new business

resulted from small parcel con-tracts and scheduled services

larger aircraft were bought —

Bandeirantes, Friendships etc,

but in 1994 the company

ceased operations on the

appointment of the liquidator.

This is an eminently readable

book, well reproduced on good

paper, and a welcome addition

to Irish aviation history at a

remarkably reasonable price.

MIKE HOOKS

WW1 TYPE HISTORY

CAPRONI CA.4 (by Gregory Alegi; ISBN 1-902207-73- 4; Albatros Productions,10 Long View, Chiltern Park estate, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire HP4 1BY; 11¾in x 8¼in softback; 36 pages, illustrated; £10.25).Number 111 in the publisher’s

Windsock Datafi les series

features the large Caproni tri-planes of which the prototype

fi rst fl ew in 1916, some 42

being built in all. Apart from

those operated by the Italian

Army and Navy, six were fl own

by Britain’s Royal Naval Air

Service, and their operational

service is recounted in this

profusely-illustrated

monograph, along with some

information on the type’s post-war military and civil use.

General-arrangement drawings

to 1⁄72nd- and 1⁄48th- scale are

included, plus details sketches

from the Caproni archives, and

there are three colour side

elevations on the back cover.

PHILIP JARRETT

JET HISTORY

THE GLOSTER & AW METEOR (by Richard J. Caruana & Richard A. Franks; ISBN 0-9533465-8-7; SAM Publications, Media House, 21 Kingsway, Bedford MK42 9BJ; 11½in x 8¼in softback; 128 pages, illustrated; £15).This is the eighth title in SAM’s

Modellers Datafi le series and is

a comprehensive coverage of

Meteors. Opening with a

general history of the type, the

book then illustrates 40 side

views in colour of various

marks in British and overseas

markings. These are followed

by 11 pages describing various

kits and their transfers, all in

colour, drawings of the various

marks and which kits can be

used to build them.

A 20-page colour section of

detailed drawings includes

cockpit layouts, camoufl age

and markings, including a

double page of 52 RAF Meteor

squadron markings, a list of

kits, conversions and transfers,

specifi cations for each mark, a

genealogy, foreign operators

with tie-ups of their serials with

RAF Meteors, a production list

and basic details of each

British Meteor squadron and

other units using the type. A

pull-out four-page width at the

end contains 1⁄72nd-scale plans

of the major versions. While

intended for modellers, there

is much of interest here for

others. MIKE HOOKS

BRITISH CIVIL

AUSTER: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AUSTER AIRCRAFT IN BRITISH MILITARY SERVICE (by Barry Ketley; ISBN 0-9545605-6-6; Flight Recorder Publica-tions, Ashtree House, Station Road, Ottringham, East Yorkshire HU12 0BJ; 11½in x 8¼in softback; 96 pages, illustrated; £12.99).Essentially a picture history of

the British military Auster

family, this well-produced

volume is excellent value for

money. It contains nearly 200

photographs, including some

colour among the mono-chromes, and there is also a

full-colour double-spread

camoufl age-pattern general-


Write to: Aeroplane, Kings Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS

I N T E R N E T• S E R V I C E S • I N F O R M AT I O N • C O M P E T I T I O N S • E V E N T S

PRIZE CROSSWORD Compiled by John Cannell

CRYPTIC CLUES

Across

7 Made Swan fly in gale blowing over England (5)8 Performers mix up war orders (3,6)10 Antifreeze used in bitingly cold weather (6) 11 Spun ex-navies’ aircraft (3,5)12 Choke two thirds of the part round the race (8)13 They flew in a Cessna. Surely not! (4)15 Instrument still surviving after end of aerobatics (7)17 Success — award an outstanding pilot (7)20 Support natural waters, right? (4)22 Leave off beginning to cook aquatic mammals — they stop leaks (8)25 God, who so produced an excellent performance (4,4)26 Fifty in tantrum on aircraft works (6)27 Spin or turn the direction of the Pole Star (4,5)28 Plan so niggardly it includes old trainer aircraft (5)

Down1 Could be ill — we hate keeping end up (9)2 Unconsciousness, although airman fine going up inside (8)3 See-through material reportedly for each pair of glasses (7)4 Was kaiak made by aircraft manufacturer? (8)5 Sounds like flyers travel at optimum speed (6)6 Cries back at the front. Inclined to go back. (5)9 High lift device way outside — see? (4)14 Time to feel unwell? Rubbish! Alternatively to stop spinning (4,5)16 Get porn thro’ aircraft manufacturer (8)18 Drinks outside — remember fifty troublemakers (8)19 Concession by old aircraft manufacturer (7)21 Writer, including churchman, died in separate container (6)23 Force upwards if inside outside light (4)24 First sinks or alternatively rises slowly in thermals (5)

QUICK CLUES

Across

7 Rolls-Royce engine (5)8 Display team (3,6)10 Antifreeze (6)11 Naval fighter (3,5)12 Engine control device (8)13 Successful fighter pilots (4)15 Navigational device (7)17 Follows his leader (7)20 Structural member (4)22 Lubricant leak preventers (8)25 Congratulatory exclamation (4,4)26 Location of aircraft manufacturer (6)27 One direction of meridian of longitude (4,5)28 Avro aircraft (5)

Down 1 One for a three-pointer (9)2 Possible result of tight turn (8)3 Thermoplastic resin (7)4 Japanese manufacturer (8)5 Fly at optimum speed (6)6 Delays compressibility effect (5)9 Gap for increasing lift (4)14 Helicopter stabiliser (4,5)16 American manufacturer (8)18 Cause of wartime problems (8)19 WW1 aircraft maker (7)21 Not integral (6)23 Keeps an aeroplane up (4)24 Uses thermals (5)

THERE IS ONLY one correct solution to this Aeroplane crossword, but you may get to it via either set of clues, the cryptic or the quick. The closing date for entries is January 31, 2006, and the first all-correct completed crossword picked out of the Editorial flying-helmet thereafter will win its sender an impressive Corgi Aviation Archive 1⁄72nd-scale Avro Lancaster collectors’ model. Send entries to: Crossword Competition, Aeroplane, King’s Reach Tower, Stamford St, London SE1 9LS. Good luck!

arrangement drawing. All the

variants are covered, including

the private-venture Model H

glider, the fl oatplanes and

various experimental develop-ments such as the A.2/45, the

B4 “Boxcar”, the T.7 with

Bonmartini undercarriage and

the disastrous Marshall MA.4.

The fi nal section comprises a

colour-photograph

“walkaround” of Auster Mk V

TJ534. PHILIP JARRETT

FRENCH NAVY FLYING

L’AERONAUTIQUE NAVALE EN CORSE 1914–1993 (by Guy Thevenin; ISBN 2-913344-09-7; Ardhan, 3 Avenue Octave Greard, 75007 Paris; 12in x 8½in hardback; 448 pages, illustrated; £40).Here is another French-language book on the country’s

naval aviation, this time cover-ing Corsica. Ardhan (Association

pour la Recherche de Docu-mentation sur l’Histoire de

l’Aéronautique Navale) has a

reputation for producing excel-

lent histories; this is the latest.

Naval aviation offi cially began

in Corsica in March 1912,

although in June 1886 the fi rst

fl ight of a balloon from Mar-seilles to Ajaccio took place,

and in 1912 Italian aviator

Nino Caglini fl ew his aeroplane

to Corsica from Pisa.

The outbreak of war in 1914

saw the formation of l’Escadrille

de Bonifacio with Nieuports,

Caudrons and Voisins, and

from then on things began to

happen. There are some

fascinating old photographs of

the period here plus drawings

of the layouts of bases. World

War Two saw British types in

service — Spitfi res and

Walruses, plus Catalinas and

Do 24s, some types continuing

in service for several years

post-war, then came

Avengers (which took part in

the Suez crisis), Nord 262s

and Beech SNB-5s (C-45s), helicopters followed and there

are plenty of illustrations of all

types while comprehensive

tables list pilots, commandants

etc. The author fl ew

Grumman Trackers and

Sentinels in the USA in 1955,

and joined Aéronavale Flotille

6.F with Avengers in 1956,

leaving the service in 1958 to

join SNECMA.

MIKE HOOKS




� Dr Colin M. Barron, 50 Kellie

Wynd, Dunblane, Perthshire

FK15 0NR asks why the

archive footage of a Mosquito

dropping a Highball bouncing

bomb was used in the fi ctional

1968 fi lm Mosquito Squadron

yet has never been used in any

wartime documentaries —

where did it come from?

� Ron Clark, Wykeham,

Lanreath, Looe, Cornwall PL13

2NU, queries why Radar, when

mentioned on television or

radio, is said to have been

initially known as Radio

Direction Finding — RDF

— but his recollection is that it

was known as Radiolocation, a

term not heard of for years. He

says that RDF was surely a

medium-frequency facility,

followed by high-frequency

direction fi nding, known as

“huffduff” (HFDF), and asks if

his memory is correct?

� Bill Burgess, 28 Hither

Mead, Bishops Lydeard,

Taunton, Somerset TA4 3PA

encloses a photograph of an

R.E.8 and its pilot, and asks

the origin of the baby motif in

the letter D, who is the pilot,

did he survive and was the

photograph taken on the

Western Front?

� Joe Andrews, 10 Uplands

Park Road, Rayleigh, Essex

SS6 8AJ, recalls seeing as a

schoolboy a complete and

undamaged Heinkel He 115

fl oatplane parked in

Northallerton High Street on

two RAF “Queen Marys” and

was told by accompanying

guards that it had been fl own

to Scotland from the naval

base at Kiel by Polish dockyard

workers. This does not tie in

with any published information

on He 115s, several of which

were fl own to the UK — can

anyone explain why this

example was at that location?

� John Norman submits a

photograph of his cousin, fl ight

engineer Dick “Monty” Norman,

posing on a Sunderland (does

anyone have any ideas where?) while a colleague sits in the

retractable servicing bay of an

inboard engine, but what is the

apparently fi xed tripod and

funnel-shaped item? The latter

appears on most Sunderland

photographs and appears to be

the wireless mast — but one

reproduced in our March 1999

issue showing RNZAF

Sunderland NZ4112 has two

masts and the tripod, while

other RNZAF aircraft, NZ4109

and NZ4911, also have two —

so were RNZAF Sunderlands

equipped differently, and, if

so, why?

� Roger Anthoine refers to my

feature on the 1937 Lympne

rally (September 2004) and the

question if any of the German

pilots fl ew in World War Two?

He cannot say, but mentions

two Belgians; José Hansez fl ew Spitfi res and was missing

in action on 1.6.42, while Guy

Hanse was an observer on

medium bombers who survived

the war. One of these was

probably the Guy Hansez mentioned.

� John Battersby, Brockstone,

Buckland Road, Bampton,

Oxon OX18 2AA, archivist of

the Bristol Aircraft Collection,

Kemble, mentions an aircraft

accident near Dursley,

Gloucestershire, on August 25,

1938, in which the pilot,

although badly injured,

survived. A press report

complete with photographs has

been found, but the wreckage

was so badly mangled that the

type is not identifi able. It may

have come from Filton, but not

necessarily have been a Bristol

type. Can anyone add details?

� The Super Viscount query

(September) is answered by

Terry Murphy who points out

that Mandala operated

Lockheed Electras in the early

1980s; the big engines could

be mistaken for radials.

Are you trying to fi nd the answer to a thorny aviation question? Or trace an old aviation

Sponsored by

Corgi Classics Die-cast Models for the Adult Collector

Senders of photos and replies to questions on this page will

receive a model from the Corgi Showcase Collection, which

comprises a careful selection of historically signifi cant aircraft

from the past 100 years of fl ight. For more details visit the

website at www.corgiclassics.com

InformationExchange

� I have been asked by a

reader who supplied facts

to an enquirer to remind

others that, when they

receive a reply to their

query, it is common

courtesy to thank those

who have sent information.

� Stephen Spencer, Spentex

BCA Ltd, Unit 125, Thorp Arch

Estate, Wetherly, West

Yorkshire LS23 7BJ, has a

signed menu for No 609 (West

Riding) Sqn’s second

anniversary dinner held on

10.2.38. Among the signatures

is A.T. Harris — was this

“Bomber” Harris? — 609

was a bomber squadron, but in

what capacity would he have

visited? Other signatures

include H. Peake, 609’s fi rst

CO, Fg Off P.R. Nickols and Fg

Off L.H. Sagar, all of whom

died post-war, the Earl of

Lincoln and C. Stewart Mackay.

ABOVE Any information on this photograph of a pilot beside an R.E.8, especially the provenance of the interesting baby motif in the letter D, would be gratefully received by Bill Burgess.

ABOVE John Norman would like to obtain information about the tripods on RNZAF Sunderlands — see item at right.

ABOVE Super Viscount? The turboprop engines and body and tail shape of the Lockheed Electra would fi t the description.


friend? Then this page may help

Write to: Mike Hooks, Information Exchange, Aeroplane, Kings Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS


� R. Nobbs, commenting on

the derelict Saudi aircraft

at Jeddah (July), sends an

interesting set of photographs

(see below) which he took,

with permission, in 1985. Close

examination reveals three

Convairs including HZ-ABB and

’ABE, three Douglas Dakotas

including 5B-CAV, Douglas

DC-4 serial 450, Beech C-45

N9320Z, North American T-28

possibly 61631, a yellow North

American Harvard, at least

three de Havilland Vampires,

fi ve Douglas B-26 Invaders,

including possibly 304, and

at least four de Havilland

Canada Chipmunks; 603,

604, 606 and 611. There is

also a stripped fuselage frame

of an Aeronca Champion. All

except the DC-4 were in a

somewhat lamentable

condition. One of the Dakotas

had “Grampian Airways” beneath the paint. Brian

Dunlop adds that there were

several other smashed aircraft

on the other side of the road,

including the remains of a

Bristol Freighter.

� For more questions and answers, see the “You Wrote” section of Aeroplane’s website: www.aeroplanemonthly.com

� Internet users — Please include a postal address with your e-mail query as we often have to include hard copy (e.g.photocopies) with a reply

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� After National Service in the RAF in 1946–48, Mike Hooks maintained a strong interest in aviation and became Editor of Airports International during 1967–75. He then joined the SBAC, where his duties included managing the Press Centre at the Farnborough Air Shows; he retired in 1993. Mike is an Honorary Life Member of Air-Britain and a member of the Croydon Airport Society

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Send your completed coupon to: Aeroplane reader offers, J.E.M. House, Littlemead, Cranleigh,

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� Charles W. Cain Tim Hamilton salutes a founder of the British aviation enthusiasts’ movement

ALSO IN THE FEBRUARY ISSUE:

IN NEXT MONTH

Bending “D-Dog”Bill Hodgson recalls some bumpy deck-landing practice with the Fairey Firefl ies of 1791 Sqn, Fleet Air Arm, in 1945

PLUS NEWS, reviews and more: February issue on sale January 4 (contents may be subject to change)

� Database Robert F. Dorr examines the North American FJ Fury jet fi ghter in detail

Write to: Aeroplane, Kings Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS


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DECEMBER

4 Croydon Airport Visitors’

Centre The excellent

recreation of the original

tower at Croydon and various

other displays are open to the

public on the fi rst Sunday of

every month. Airport House,

Purley Way, Croydon. Groups

also by appointment at other

times: call 01342 323765

4 SWA Fine Art Christmas

Exhibition Includes a talk on

a typical day for a fi ghter pilot

in the Battle of Britain by Sqn

Ldr Geoffrey Wellum DFC.

Hilton Hotel, Bath, Somerset;

tel SWA Fine Art, 01225

444929, www.swafi neart.com

4–11 3rd Annual Internet

Auction of the Aviation Art

of Mark Postlethwaite

GAvA Acquire an artwork or

two by one of the UK’s fi nest

aviation artists. Tel 0116

2751894, www.posart.com

8 Mars, Titan and Beyond

The 94th Wilbur and Orville

Wright Lecture, by Prof David

Southwood, Director of

Science at the European

Space Agency. The Royal

Aeronautical Society, 4

Hamilton Place, London W1.

Tel 020 7670 4345, e-mail

[email protected]

11 Open Cockpit Day The

Helicopter Museum, Weston-

super-Mare, Somerset; tel

01934 635227, www.-

helicoptermuseum.co.uk

12 Book signing with

Raymond Baxter The legen-

dary pilot and broadcaster

signs copies of his new auto-

biography Tales of My Time

at the Aviation Bookshop, 31–

33 Vale Road, Tunbridge Wells,

Kent; tel 01892 539284,

www.aviation-bookshop.com

13 Aerobatics & Warbird

Displays A Milton Keynes

Aviation Society lecture by

OFMC pilot Nigel Lamb.

Kents Hill Community Centre,

Milton Keynes, Bucks; tel

01908 607349

18 Kemble Fly-in Kemble,

Cirencester, Glos; tel 01285

771076, www.kemble.com

EVENTS

UNITED KINGDOM

NOTICE TO SHOW ORGANISERS:

Is your event listed here? If not, contact

Nick Stroud on 020 7261 6401 or fax

020 7261 5269 for free inclusion

AUCTIONS COMPILED BY PHIL ELLIS

A GOOD LIBRARY is essential to any aviation enthusiast, and

auctions have offered the chance to acquire some fi rst-rate

reference material over the past few months. Bidding went well

over the expected estimates at Dominic Winter Book Auctions on

August 31 when three shelves of volumes on various aviation-

related items went for £500 against a £150 upper estimate. This

lot included some of general naval and military interest, however,

but a similar quantity of books, purely on aviation subjects

sold for £280 against an expected £80–£100. It included a

1941 copy of Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft and several

publications with their original dustjackets — this is important as

any book is invariably worth more with its jacket. Such lots can

create an instant reference library for a reasonable cost.

Two smaller lots of books appeared in a sale at Vectis of

Stockton-on-Tees on October 6, one of 17 volumes with titles

including The RAF in the 1990s, The Bomber Battle for Berlin,

The Sky My Kingdom, and Flying, the Golden Years, which sold

for £20 and another of nine miscellaneous volumes which

sold for just a tenner. This sale also offered a chance to acquire

an instant model aircraft collection, as more than 100 Airfi x

kits of aircraft from the 1930s onwards sold for £80. The kits

had been assembled, and it is worth noting that, while well-made

models do sell, kits are generally worth more in their

unassembled state.

A different kind of kit appeared in the form of a large mixed lot

of balsa aircraft kits including Keil Kraft Kits. The lot also

included models by Guillows of a Piper Cherokee 140 and a

Nieuport 11 World War One biplane. There were 38 models in

all, and they sold for £300.

From the Corgi Classics range, the sale offered a mixed

group of nine aircraft, including the Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Enola Gay and B-17 Memphis Belle. In mint, or near mint,

condition and in their original boxes, they sold for £220.

Interesting lots in a sale at Bonhams Oxford on August 2

included a 604 (F) Squadron fl ight sergeant’s logbook

group to Gordon Sinclair “Tommy” Thomas, comprising

observer’s and air gunner’s fl ying logbooks for 1937–1953, a

fi ghter controller’s logbook from the 1950s and various

ephemera and medal ribbons. One entry in the logbooks is for a

night sortie on June 18, 1940, in which Tommy shot down an

He 115 seaplane. It sold for £600. This sale also included an

RAF “B” type fl ying helmet from 1939 which sold with a “C” type helmet and six side caps for £220, and a pair of 1940 RAF-

pattern fl ying boots. The boots had suffered some wear, but were

in generally good condition and sold for £70.

Christie’s sale of travel posters at its South Kensington

salerooms on September 14 was dominated by rail and UK

holiday posters, but there were some fi ne airline-related items.

Among them was a “USA Fly BOAC” poster by legendary

poster designer Abram Games. If you are not familiar with the

name, you have almost certainly seen his work, for it was he who

designed the famous emblem for the 1951 Festival of Britain

with its profi le of Britannia at the centre of the compass points.

This example focused not on the aircraft, but the destination,

featuring a stylised graphic of a baseball player; it found a buyer

at £900, well above its upper estimate of £500.

Finally, recent eBay sales included that of a Corgi Heritage

Centre limited-edition P-51D Mustang Twilight Tear of the

78th Fighter Group at Duxford, Cambs. This is limited to an

edition of 1,500 models, and was selling via Corgi’s website at

£25.99. A winning bid of £31.87 made this eBayer a modest

profi t, but who knows how much this model may eventually

appreciate in value?

ABOVE A set of 100+ made-up Airfix kits sold for £80 at Vectis in Stockton-on-Tees.

ABOVE A sight to gladden the hearts of aeromodellers: boxed flying-model kits.

ABOVE Corgi models came under the hammer at Vectis and on eBay — a growing trend?

ABOVE Auctions can be a good way to acquire books to expand your aviation library.

OVERSEAS EVENTS

DECEMBER

3 Days of Infamy: Japan’s

Aerial Assault The Air

Museum “Planes of Fame”, Chino, California; tel USA

909 597 3722, website

www.planesoffame.org

4 Fundación Infante de

Orleans Flying Day Cuatro

Vientos, Madrid, Spain; tel 00

34 91 508 0842, website

www.fi o.es

6–11 Langkawi Inter-

national Aerospace Exhib-

ition Langkawi.Malaysia;

website www.lima.ca

12 Slipstream Session A

“Remembrance of War” seminar featuring an in-

depth look at the aircraft of

the CAF’s “Ghost Squadron”. Commemorative Air Force

HQ, Midland, Texas; tel 001

432 563 1000 x2259, www.-

commemorativeairforce.org

14 The 1953 London—Christchurch Air Race

A Civil Aviation Historical

Society lecture by John

McPhee. The Airways

Museum, Essendon Airport,

Victoria, Australia; tel 00 613

9374 3905, website www.

airwaysmuseum.com


95

CLASSIFIEDTEL: 020 7 261 2789 FAX: 020 7 261 6579

MODELS

Aeroplane, January 2006

MISCELLANEOUS

AN IDEAL CHRISTMAS PRESENT

L A DY I CA RU S

for a five-year period from themid 1920s, the Limerick-born pilot LadyMary Heath was one of the best-known

women in the world. ‘Britain’s LadyLindy’, as she was known, made front-page news worldwide as the first pilotever, to fly a small open-cockpit plane

solo from Cape Town to London.She had already spent two years as

a dispatch rider during the First WorldWar, pioneered women’s athletics inBritain and helped introduce women’strack and field to the Olympics.

Along the way, she was to travel widely and marrythree times.

Lady Icarus is the first full-length biography of oneof the truly great aviators of the 20th century, telling the

tale of a woman who truly flew too close to the sun.

Order today direct from publisher at our special reader’s offer of£20.00 including p+p by sending a cheque, postal order or draft

(made payable to Ashfield Press) to the address below.

Don’t forget to enclose your name and address.

ASHFIELD PRESS. 30 Linden Grove, Blackrock, Co.Dublin, IrelandTelephone 00 353 1 2889808 Email: [email protected]

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CrosswindAsides — and broadsides — from the wings, with JOHN FRICKER

� JOHN FRICKER FRAeS has

been writing on aviation for

more than 60 years, during

which he has fl own in some

470 military and civil fi xed-

and rotary-wing aircraft

types, including 312 as pilot.

He still fl ies and contributes

regularly on mostly military

aviation subjects to several

leading publications, and in

2003 received Boeing’s global

Aeronautical Journalist of the

Decade award

� MY APOLOGIES to Wg Cdr Ken Wallis (September 2005 Crosswind) for misquoting “Little Nellie’s” registration, which of course should have been G-ARZB. He tells me he has been as busy as ever, with much fl ying, including a British Rotorcraft Association “Wallis Weekend” in August at his adjacent ex-USAAF Shipdham airfi eld. Other fl ights were made for an American TV programme, and he is now seeking help from offi cial observers to oversee a few more world record autogyro fl ights.

I was surprised to hear that there were any left, since his 17 world records have included absolute speed over 3, 15, 100, 500 and 1,000km, absolute altitude, climb times to 3,000m, straight-line and closed-circuit distance, and duration. These also count double, since they were set in both Class E3 (any autogyro) and E3a (below 500kg take-off weight). At least seven are still current, all in autogyros of his own design and construction. He has 18 of these ready to go, he says; and so is he, despite his 89 years.

� FURTHER ADVANCES in the increasing commercialisa-tion of military aviation and space travel, which I men-tioned in a recent column, come from the USA, where the leading aviation publications group now offers its own specialist credit card. This it describes as being “the fi rst to offer an entire array of experience-based rewards for those with an interest in aviation, or who’ve dreamed of enjoying the most exhilarating experiences in fl ight”.

Some of its air and space adventure packages are listed as including supersonic MiG-29 fl ights over Moscow; L-39 Albatros jet-trainer experience over the Atlantic; fi ghter combat manœuvres in Arizona; commercial fl ight-simulator experience with FlightSafety International; Space Academy, Space Camp, and Kennedy Space Centre tours and training experience; zero-gravity fl ights in a Boeing 737; and tours of Boeing in Seattle.

Only the Russian military forces are apparently involved in these proposals. It is probably only a matter of time, however, before civil agencies with armed forces training and support contracts, some already catering to specialist

civilian demands, expand further into public commercial-isation. What are the odds on similar European-based organisations following suit, to meet demands from well-heeled enthusiasts?

I was lucky enough to fl y in the Chinese-built two-seat MiG-15 (Shenyang FT-2), MiG-17 (FT-5) and potent MiG-19 (FT-6) many years ago with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), which provided some unforgettable experiences. Equally memorable was to learn that the MiG-19’s Klimov RD-9B turbojets ran for only 100hr between major overhauls, and PAF attempts to increase that time by ten per cent had been unsuccessful.

� A RECENT Crosswind reference to the little Zaunkoenig German single-seat high-lift research aircraft brought an interesting letter from Dipl-Ing F.K. Franzmeyer from Brunswick, with a copy of his publication on its complete history. Zaunkoenig buffs will recall that it was designed in 1940 by students led by Professor Hermann Winter at Brunswick Technical High-School, where, as D-YBAR, it fi rst fl ew that December.

Although it crashed during fl ight-tests in September 1942, a second prototype (V2) fl ew from May 1943, also as D-YBAR. This was taken over by British forces in 1945, and extensively evaluated by RAE Farnborough as VX190. It was then transferred as G-ALUA to the Ultra Light Air-craft Association, on whose behalf I displayed it from July 1949. After a chequered career and several changes of European ownership, it fi nally returned to Germany as D-EBCQ, with which I had a nostalgic reunion in Berlin in 1992. It is now in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.

Franzmeyer also records that six of seven Zaunkoenigs being built in Bavaria in 1944 for Hitler Youth training were nearing completion until destroyed by advancing Allied forces. Two more examples, one of which (D-EBAR) was destroyed in a fatal crash, were built in Brunswick in the 1950s under Prof Winter. The last, D-ECAR, fi rst fl ew on October 30, 1957, and went to a Swedish buyer until it returned to German ownership as D-EBCG in 1980.

This month John marvels at the indefatigable spirit of one of Britain’s most remarkable

aviators, takes a look at the “air adventure” packages growing in popularity from behind

the former Iron Curtain, and pays tribute to the inventor of a type dear to his heart

RIGHT The tireless Wg Cdr Ken Wallis in the Wa-122 two-seater autogyro, G-BGGW, in 1982. Holder of a remarkable 17 world records, Ken was the subject of an in-depth biography by Ian Hancock in the July 2002 Aeroplane.

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