Date for GVFWE 2009, 9th/10th May – Kemble Airfield March 30, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in 'warbird', Aviation, England, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, aircraft.Tags: Air Show, aircraft, aircraft type, AOP9, Auster, aviation event, Bu131 Jungmann, Bucker, CH3 Super Ace, Chrislea, Cotswold, D H 82a Tiger Moth, D.31 Turbulent, Druine, Druine Condor, Druine D.62B Condor, EGBP, England, Europe, flying display, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Kemble Air Day, Kemble Airfield, M.38 Messenger, Miles, RAF, RAF Kemble, Red Arrows, Royal Air Force, Terry Booker, Tiger Moth, Tipsy, Tipsy Belfair
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Great Vintage Flying Weekend
The Great Vintage Flying Weekend had come to be a ‘fixture’ on the UK air show scene, that is until 2008. With the retirement of Terry Booker (Operations Director, and the man responsible for much of the excellent organisation behind the events), the event fell into a kind of stasis. Without an injection of capital, and a permanent new home (GVFWE had been a moveable feast), it was likely that Europe’s premier vintage aviation event would simply cease to exist.
With a great deal of goodwill, and some complex negotiations, it was announced just after Christmas that the event would be moving to Kemble Airfield (EGBP), the former RAF Kemble, which had once been home to the Red Arrows. The home of the highly-regarded Kemble Air Day, the Cotswold airfield had already been used before by GVFWE and was therefore a known quantity in organizational terms.
Here you can find the link for the new, official, GVFWE site; a major departure from the established pattern will be a one hour flying display to be inserted into the daily programme of events. I can safely say that everyone involved is really looking forward to a splendid 2009 event.
As an indication of the many different aircraft types which can appear at GVFWE, here is a photograph from the last Hullavington event. You can see examples of the following; Bucker Bu131 Jungmann, Miles M.38 Messenger, Auster AOP 9, Tipsy Belfair, D H 82a Tiger Moth, Chrislea CH3 Super Ace 2, Druine D.31 Turbulent, and Druine D.62B Condor .
This Messenger always brings good news…… March 4, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, British Isles, England, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, RAF, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: 2nd Baron Mildmay of Flete, aircraft, Anthony Bingham Mildmay, Auster J5K, Aviation, Berkshire, Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 engine, Chrislea, Chrislea CH3 Super Ace Skyjeep Series 4, flaps, G-AJOE, General Montgomery, horse racing, M.28 Mercury, M.38 Messenger, Messenger 2A, Miles, Miles factory, Newtownards, Northern Ireland, Peter Bishop, Queen Elizabeth, Reading, Royal Air Force, Second World War, short field performance, steeplechase, the Queen Mother, trailing edge, upholstery, Woodley
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- Miles Messenger, G-AJOE
Developed from a Second World War design for the Royal Air Force , and used primarily as a liaison aircraft - one was notably used by the then General Montgomery, as a personal transport – this Miles design showed excellent short-field performance; you can see here the generous trailing-edge flaps which contributed to this. The M.38 Messenger was a development of the twin-tailed M.28 Mercury, and the post-war civilian Mk. 2A was built at a facility in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. The aircraft were then flown over to the Miles factory at Woodley, near Reading, where they were painted and upholstery fitted. Powered by a Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 engine, of 155hp (the same as the Auster J5K, and the Chrislea CH3 Super Ace Skyjeep Mk 4), the Messenger was a popular four-seater touring aircraft, but unfortunately production ceased with the 71st example in 1948.
G-AJOE had an interesting start; it was bought in in April 1947 by Anthony Bingham Mildmay, 2nd Baron Mildmay of Flete. Unfortunately, the aristocratic steeplechase rider (who was credited with introducing Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, to the sport of horse racing) disposed of G-AJOE fairly swiftly, and it was back in the hands of Miles at Reading by October 1947.
After a series of owners, the aircraft is now in the hands of Peter Bishop, and has been restored in a traditional Miles cream and red livery. One of only a handful of Miles aircraft still flying, it appears regularly at GVFWE and other events.
Skyjeep – a rara avis February 23, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, England, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, aircraft.Tags: Auster, Australia, Bankstown Airport, Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 engine, BWU, CH3 Super Ace, Chrislea, Chrislea Aircraft Company Ltd, Chrislea CH3 Super Ace Skyjeep Series 4, DeH Tiger Moth, Egypt, freighter, G-AKVR, GVFWE, IATA, ICAO, Miles, Miles Magister, Miles Messenger, New South Wales, Port Said, rear decking, Second World War, Skyjeep, Super Ace, taildragger, VH-BRP, VH-OLD, VH-RCD, war-surplus, YSBK
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Skyjeep - a rara avis!
The Chrislea Aircraft Company did many things wrong…it seemed that it was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong product. British buyers of light aircraft couldn’t afford a new design with a novel control system (see entry on the Super Ace) which was overweight and under-performed. Not when hundreds of war-surplus Austers (to which the Super Ace had a passing resemblance), DeH 82a Tiger Moths, Miles Magisters and Messengers were flooding the British market. Inevitably, the company turned turtle in 1952, and the remaining uncompleted airframes were scrapped. Just before it went under, Chrislea managed to undertake production of a series of 6 Skyjeeps, a developed Super Ace, with conventional (stick and rudder) controls and a ‘taildragger’ undercarriage (at a time when this was the norm amongst light aircraft); it had a more powerful 155hp Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 engine, and a removeable rear decking, to enable it to fulfil the utility aircraft role. One was sold to Argentina and at least two to Australia. The Australian registration, VH-BRP, was intended to apply to a different airframe, but there was a serious fire on board the freighter taking it to Australia in 1951, when she docked at Port Said, Egypt, which destroyed that particular Skyjeep, so the registration was applied to another aircraft! It was re-registered VH-RCD in 1956, following an extensive rebuild (which saw her wearing a striking deep purple and cream colour scheme). In 1963, you could have found the aircraft hangared at Bankstown Airport, New South Wales, Australia (IATA code BWU, ICAO code YSBK) in a very delapidated state, with engine and propeller removed (she had previous worn the Australian registration VH-OLD).
Somehow the Skyjeep made her way back to the UK to assume her original registration, G-AKVR, and was then fully restored, becoming the ONLY survivor of her type. At the eleventh GVFWE at Hullavington, we manage to arrange participation by the one Skyjeep and the last two flying Super Ace aircraft on the British register, and parked them adjacent to each other in the historic section of the Aircraft Park. To say that this caused a ‘reverential scrum’ of aviation photographers would be no exaggeration, as they took hundreds of photographs of the total British Chrislea population.
100 and counting – so here is a WW2 classic to celebrate with! January 29, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in 'warbird', Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, RAF, Royal Air Force, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: 'Maggie', 'squadron hack', 'warbird', 1940, 74 Sqn, Air Schools Ltd, Al Deere, Ankara, Anopheles mosquito, Anopheles sacharovi, atomisers, Battle of Britain, British Midland Airways, Burnaston, Calais, Calais Mark, DDT, DDT tank, Derby, DSO, Elementary Flying School, Flt Lt James Leathart, Gipsy Major engine, Hawk Trainer III, Hullavington, Hurricane, Magister, Me109, Miles, Miles Hawk Trainer, Miles M-14A, mosquito, pump, RAF, Royal Air Force, Second World War, Spitfire, Spitfire Mk1, T.H.K Ucak Fabrikasi, Turkey, Turkish Air Force, Turkish Air League, Turkish Air League Schools, Turkish Ministry of Hygiene, WW2
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Miles Magister
Amazingly, I seem to have been around the circuit 100 times now – this is my 100th post – and so I could hardly be described as being on short finals anymore. Perhaps I should rename this thing ‘circuits and bumps’? Anyway, to mark this semi-auspicious landmark, I have chosen something used for ‘circuits and bumps’, the beautiful Miles M-14A Magister (ex Miles Hawk Trainer III). Developed from the Miles Trainer, and Miles Hawk Major (both used by the Royal Air Force), this handsome aircraft was used in numbers by the RAF from 1937, and was an ideal ‘lead-in’ to the world of the Hurricane and Spitfire, aircraft which many of their pilots would soon use in the Battle of Britain. Over 1,200 Magisters had been built by the time British production finally ceased in 1941.
As well as use their use by 16 Elementary Flying Schools, some Magisters were issued directly to fighter units as ’squadron hacks’. Indeed, one of these ‘Maggies’ was used to perform a most daring feat on 23 May 1940, when then-Flt Lt James Leathart of 74 Sqn, landed at Calais Mark airfield to pick up an officer who had been shot down, whilst his escort of Spitfire Mk1s fought off 12 attacking Me109s (the soon-to-be legendary Al Deere making his first kills in this combat). Flt Lt Leathart got clean away, after picking up the downed officer. For this amazing piece of flying he was awarded the DSO.
This ‘Maggie’ is one of the many converted after the Second World War for the civilian market, where they were known as the Hawk Trainer III (along with those built for civilian and non-RAF users). Indeed, there is a chance that I might have seen this actual aircraft when it was with Air Schools Ltd (the forerunner of British Midland Airways) at Burnaston, Derby from 1953 to 1958. Eventually extensively rebuilt as a Magister, this superb example of the breed, originally built in 1941, is seen here taxying at Hullavington during the GVFWE, its 130 hp De Havilland Gipsy Major 1 engine barely ticking over. This particular aircraft contains major components from at least two machines, and you have to admire the immense effort that went into the restoration to flying condition.
A little-known piece of Miles history is the production of Magisters in Turkey. The Turkish Air League founded a factory near Ankara, the T.H.K. Ucak Fabrikasi, which by 1949 was employing 1,200 people. Amongst other things, it was still producing Magisters under licence, as well as undertaking the overhaul and repair of their Gipsy Major engines. A total of one hundred Magisters were built for the Air League Schools and the Turkish Air Force. In 1946 T.H.K. were asked to produce a special version of the Maggie capable of spraying DDT. The front cockpit was faired over, and the area formerly occupied by the seat was fitted with a tank, pulverizer, pump and atomisers. These aircraft were operated under the direction of the Turkish Ministry of Hygiene, who waged a campaign against a particular mosquito species Anopheles sacharovi (the Anophelid which is the principal vector for malaria in that region). I dare say that this is the ONLY time a Magister fought a Mosquito – and won!
A magnificent obsession – G-ADWT January 20, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, aircraft.Tags: Abingdon, aircraft, Aviation, Berlin Air Lift, Blackburn and General Aircraft Co. Ltd, Blackburn Beverley, CF-104, coal, Germany, Gipsy Major engine, Handley Page Hastings, Handley Page Ltd, Miles, Miles M.2W Hawk Trainer, No 47 Sqd, No. 3 Wing, Oxfordshire, Phillips & Powis, RAF, RCAF, Starfighter, Wiltshire, Zweibrucken
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- Miles M.2W Hawk Trainer
In 1934, the Phillips and Powis Aircraft Co. produced yet another of their brillant series of Miles designs – the M.2W Hawk Trainer. Powered by the popular Gipsy Major 1c engine, this aircraft had prominent ‘trousered’ undercarriage legs. The company had a history of producing streamlined designs which delivered sparkling performance on not too much horsepower. The aircraft has been through many hands including being owned by the private Flying Club of No. 47 Squadron, RAF at Abingdon, who had achieved an excellent record flying the Handley Page Hastings during the Berlin Airlift, (carrying mostly coal!) and were in the process of transitioning to the Blackburn Beverley. G-ADWT was owned in the 1960s by a member of No. 3 Wing, RCAF, stationed at Zweibrucken, Germany – this must have been a huge contrast for the pilots that flew her, for the wing was equipped at the time with CF-104 Starfighters!
