When is a moth a better moth? When its made of metal…. August 3, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Royal Air Force, aircraft.Tags: ADC Aircraft, aero clubs, aircraft, Aviation, Cirrus engine, Danish register, De Havilland, DeH Gipsy I, DeH Gipsy II, Denmark, DH60, DH60 Moth, DH60M, DH60T, DH82a Tiger Moth, differential ailerons, First World War, flying schools, French, Geoffrey De Havilland, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, GVFWE, Major Frank Halford, Metal Moth, RAF, Renault V-8 engine, Roy Palmer, Royal Air Force, WW1
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Geoffrey de Havilland’s line of biplane sports/training aircraft, which culminated in the DH82 Tiger Moth, began with the first flight of the DH.60 Moth prototype, at the hands of De Havilland himself, in February 1925. That aircraft, G-EBKT, was powered by a rather unusual engine, built by ADC Aircraft – the Cirrus. This consisted, essentially, of one half of a surplus WW1 Renault V-8 engine, and was, therefore, incredibly cheap. The Moth quickly established itself as the prefered equipment for flying schools and aero clubs everywhere. The Moth was so ubiquitous that soon any light aircraft was refered to as a ‘Moth’.
By 1927, De Havilland had a problem; the huge ‘pile’ of WW1 Renault engines had almost run out, and a new engine for the Moth line was needed. In conjunction with Major Frank Halford, a four cylinder, 100hp engine was designed and built for the DH60; the DeH Gipsy I.
The aircraft you can see is a DH60M Moth, built in 1929. Powered by a DeH Gipsy II of 120hp, it represents the state-of-the-art in light aeroplane design for this period. Several significant changes had been made to the original DH60, including the use of a metal tube primary structure for the fuselage, as opposed to wood (hence the ‘M’ for ‘Metal Moth’). If you look closely, you can still see that De Havilland has retained his ‘differential ailerons’ on the lower wing only, and the wings and tail are in the traditional ‘any colour so long as it is silver’ factory finish (the aero club, or individual customer, chose the fuselage colour). This fine example of the breed is seen here at GVFWE 2009, at Kemble, and is now owned by Mr Roy Palmer; it was on the Danish register, prior to being recovered to Britain.
As well as examples for the civilian market, the DH60 (as the DH60T) was sold to various military customers. The Royal Air Force was not totally convinced, however, and it wasn’t until the sweep of the wings were altered, to enable pilots to bail-out easier in an emergency, and an inverted version of the Gipsy engine fitted, that it finally adopted the Moth as the DH82a Tiger Moth. The rest, as they say, is history.
Folland (Hawker Siddeley) Gnat June 3, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in 'warbird', Aviation, Great Britain, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, RAF, Royal Air Force, aircraft, military.Tags: 'Teddy' Petter, 'warbird', aircraft, airframe, Airshow circuit, Aviation, BAe Hawk, Charlie Sheen, Cirencester, Delta Jets, E E Lightning, English Electric, feature film, film, Fo. 144, Folland, Fuse 13, Gnat, Gnat T.1, Gnat Trainer, Hawker Siddeley, Hot Shots, instructional airframe, jet, jet warbird, Kemble, Kemble Airfield, KM, Lloyd Bridges, Midge, No 4 FTS, Postmaster, RAF, RAF Flying Training School, RAF Kemble, RAF Scampton, RAF St Athan, Red Arrows, Royal Air Force, runway, signal square, South Wales, twinkle roll, US Navy, W E W Petter, Yelowjacks
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- Folland Gnat T.1
Kemble Airfield has many interesting residents. The local aviation company, Delta Jets, is better known for it’s fleet of Hawker Hunters, but it also owns this Hawker Siddeley Gnat T.1, XP502. Currently, the Gnat is located on the old airfield ’signal square’ , a relic of the early days of flying, when a pilot would join the circuit overhead, and look down at the square, to see which runway was in use (shown by means of black ‘dumbell’ markers) and even confirm WHERE he was (the two-letter code for Kemble, KM, is still there). XP502 is in spurious ‘Red Arrows’ markings, to commemorate the fact that Kemble was the home of the ‘Reds’ for nearly 15 years, from 1969 to 1983; the last four years of which had seen the Gnats supplanted by the BAe Hawk. Indeed, the Postmaster at nearby Cirencester still sometimes gets mail addressed to ‘The Red Arrows, RAF Kemble’ – it is carefully forwarded to their present home at RAF Scampton.
Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Kemble, May 9 – 10th May 14, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Britain, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, RAF, aircraft.Tags: 111 Squadron, aircraft, control tower, Delta Jets, EGBP, England, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Hawker, Hawker Hunter, ICAO, Kemble, Kemble Air Day, Kemble Aviation, RAF, Royal Air Force
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Control Tower, Kemble Airfield
Well, the 2009 GVFWE has come and gone…..and it was a roaring success. Elements from previous events seemed to blend easily with the new, thanks to some excellent work by Glen and all at Kemble Aviation, (here is a shot of the control tower at Kemble, ICAO designation EGBP) . I know that those of us who were ‘carry-overs’ from previous years found ourselves thoroughly at home. Kemble, of course, is used to holding some first-rate aviation events, including an Air Day (this year a two day show) featuring some of the local Delta Jet fleet. GVWFE was re-worked to include a one-hour flying programme, in the middle of each day, which also featured sparkling displays by a Delta Jets two-seat Hawker Hunter, in the colours of No. 111 Squadron, RAF, and many other aircraft.
All in all, a great start to a ‘new’ edition of this classic event.
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 .
Air Speed Indicator – the root of it all March 9, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, aircraft.Tags: 20th century, air speed indicator, aircraft, aircrew, airliner, Airspeed, altitude, ambient pressure, analogue, ASI, atmospheric conditions, Aviation, back-up, basic six, bulkhead, cockpit, commercial airliner, De Havilland, dead reckoning, DH 84, DH 85, digital sensors, Dragon, electric torch, end plate, flaps, flight envelope, French, French enginer, fuselage, G-AIYS, glass cockpit, graduated scale, GVFWE, Henri Pitot, Keevil, Leopard Moth, never exceed speed, night flying equipment, pilot, pitot tube, port, ram-air pressure, Royal Air Force, spring wire, stall, stalling speed, static pressure, stick and string aircraft, undercarriage
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Air Speed Indicator!
Every since the first fragile ’stick and string’ aircraft staggered into the sky during the first years of the 20th century, the pilot has needed to know just how fast he is going. Not only because he uses this value to help him determine his position by ‘dead reckoning’ (time x speed = distance run), but also when he is entering dangerous areas of the ‘flight envelope’ of his aircraft. Being close to the stalling speed of the machine is lethal, but also there is a ‘never exceed speed’, above which lies structural failure. There are various other speeds which it is important to know, such as the safe speed at which flaps may be deployed, or the speed at which the undercarriage must not be extended (if retracted, of course).
Modern aircraft often have a ‘glass cockpit’ display which gives readouts of airspeed from digital sensors, but even these have an old-style analogue dial, as a back-up. The usual two inputs needed to produce an ASI readout are the static and ram-air pressures, one being the ambient pressure (which changes with altitude and atmospheric conditions) and the other being the pressure due to the aircraft’s movement through the air. These are usually obtained from a Pitot tube (named after the French engineer, Henri Pitot), located a little distance from the fuselage, to avoid air disturbances. The ASI became part of the ‘basic six’ instruments ,which were instantly recognizable by any Royal Air Force aircrew member from the 1930s onwards
Up until the mid-1930s there was another method – crude but adequate – used in some low-performance machines. Here we see a photograph of the air speed indicator on a DH 85 Leopard Moth , G-AIYS, parked at GVFWE, Keevil. All it consists of is a flat plate, with a few holes drilled in it, secured to a length of spring wire. As the air pressure builds up due to movement of the aircraft, the plate is forced backwards, giving a readout of the estimated speed on the graduated scale. There is even a red section, indicating when you are approaching the stall! Needless to say, this device IS crude, but it works well enough. The Leopard Moth’s bigger brother, the De Havilland DH 84 Dragon airliner has a similar indicator, and I dare say that this was the last time a commecial airliner flew with such a device. By the way, the first time I entered the cockpit of a DH 84 Dragon, I noticed an electric torch clamped to the left hand side of the bulkhead. When I asked what it was, I was told that it was an essential piece of the night-flying equipment….at night, you shone it out to port, and illuminated the graduated scale between the wings to find out your airspeed!
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.
The Shield Xyla – showing that every Ground Power Unit has its day! February 27, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, England, aircraft.Tags: aircraft, Aviation, Continental Motors Corporation, Continental PC60 engine, cowlings, Don Cashmore, Druine, George Shield, Gnome rotary engine, Greek, ground power unit, Hullavington, Museums, PFA, polished metal, Popular Flying, RAF, RAF Museum, replica, Rolls-Royce, Royal Air Force, Sopwith, South Yorkshire, Tabloid, three-bladed propeller, two-bladed propeller, wood, WW1, Xyla, Yorkshire, Yorkshireman
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Shield Xyla
Welcome to the Shield Xyla! The vision of one Yorkshireman, George Shield, was translated into this neat single-seater. It is a wooden aircraft, for the most part, hence the name Xyla, from the Greek for wood. The uncovered airframe was featured on the front cover of Popular Flying in 1971, the year of its first flight. There are design ‘echoes’ of aircraft such as the Druine, but this aircraft is that rather overused word – unique.
The powerplant is very unusual, in that it is built by a famous manufacturer of aero engines – Continental Motors Corporation – but as a Ground Power Unit! The PC60 puts out around 100hp, and has been converted for airborne use. As an aside, a similar unit powered a famous WW1 replica aircraft, the Sopwith Tabloid built by a Rolls-Royce engineer, Don Cashmore, which is now on display in the RAF Museum – admittedly, that aircraft is now fitted with a genuine 80hp Gnome rotary engine, for added authenticity.
The PC60 in the Xyla originally drove a three-bladed propeller, but following a period in storage, and two more changes of ownership – both based in South Yorkshire – the engine is now fitted with a much more aesthetically-pleasing two-bladed prop.
The major rebuild (1500 hours of work) which was undertaken following the storage , also gave rise to a new colour scheme – all-over yellow to replace the original black - and a set of polished metal cowlings. What this means is that this ‘one-off’ piece of British light aviation history has become a cherished survivor, and it is back where it belongs – in the air. The aircraft is seen here at Hullavington.
A faster dragon………… February 20, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in 'warbird', Aviation, RAF, Royal Air Force, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: 'Valkyrie', 'warbird', 621 VGS, air ambulance, Air Atlantique, Air Atlantique Historic Flight, Air Show, aircraft, airliner, Aviation, Brush Coachworks, communications aircraft, crew trainers, Culham, De Havilland, De Havilland Major Six engine, DH 80A, DH 84 Dragon, DH 89A Dragon Rapide, DH Gipsy Queen 3 engine, Dominie T.1, Dragon Rapide, Dragon Six, Duxford, Edward Hillman, Fairey Reed propeller, G-ATGM, glider, GVFWE, hangar, HMS Hornbill, Hullavington, Imperial War Museum, Iraq, Iraq Transport Company, Jordan, JY-ACL, Leicestershire, light bomber, Lithuania, Loughborough, Mike Russell, NF875, Oxfordshire, Parachute Regiment, Puss Moth, RAF, RNAS Culham, Royal Air Force, Royal Naval Air Station, Royal Navy, Russavia, scheduled airline, Second World War, Spanish Civil War, Viking T Mk 1, Volunteer Gliding Squadron, Wiltshire, WW2
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- A faster dragon…..
Edward Hillman had built a economical charter and scheduled airline business using the safe, affordable De Havilland DeH 84 Dragon – the Dragon had arisen because Hillman’s DeH 80A Puss Moth wasn’t big enough, and he negotiated with the company for a ‘twin-engined Puss Moth’. What he needed now, in the late 1930s was a ‘faster Dragon’. Enter the Dragon Six (sometimes called the Dragon Rapide, and later just Rapide) with its Gipsy Major 6 engines of 200hp, and capable of carrying eight passengers, it was an instant success in the civil market. There was military interest too, with light bomber varients being used during the Spanish Civil War, and sold to smaller nations such as Lithuania. The Royal Air Force needed radio and crew trainers, as well as communications and air ambulance machines. The Dragon Rapide put on ‘warpaint’ and became the Dominie T.1, the vast majority of them being built by Brush Coachworks, at Loughborough in Leicestershire. G-AGTM was one of these, built in 1944 and originally bearing the RAF serial NF875.
In praise of the corrugated iron hut……… February 8, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, British Isles, England, New England, Royal Air Force, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: 29th Company, 81st Airdrome Squadron, AAF Station 471, Army Air Corps, corrugated iron, Davisville, Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center, displaced persons, DSO, England, farm animals, First World War, former airfield, Gliders, GSA Gliding Club, Herbert Hawkes, Keevil, Keevil Airfield, Major Peter Norman Nissen, New England, Nissen hut, North Kingstown, PoW, Quonset hut, Quonset Point, RAF, RAF Lyneham, Rhode Island, Romney hut, Royal Air Force, Royal Engineers, Second World War, US Army Air Corps, Wiltshire
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- Corrugated iron huts, Keevil
It all started with an officer in the 29th Company, Royal Engineers. Major Peter Norman Nissen (1871-1930), needed a fast, easy-to-erect building which would offer storage and living space in the field. Since this was 1916, the need was great indeed, and production of the hut, made from curved sheets of corrugated iron was approved immediately. A single hut took 54 sheets of curved corrugated iron, 10 ft 6 ins high and 2 ft 2 ins wide, and a specially braced framework. By the end of the First World War, around 100, 000 units had been manufactured.
Athough small scale production continued between the wars, it was only the outbreak of World War Two that caused a massive expansion of the building programme. Although the huts could be taken apart, and moved to new locations as required, many formed the backbone of ‘permanent’ buildings on airfields, army barracks, and naval bases worldwide. There were various versions of the hut built, including the Romney Hut (British) and the Quonset Hut (US). The Quonset Hut was named after Quonset Point, where the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center was located (Davisville being a part of North Kingstown, Rhode Island).
These huts are located on Keevil Airfield, Wiltshire, and look to be modified Quonset huts, as these were considerably larger than the British versons, and I have seen a photograph of similar huts at Keevil in 1943. This is possible as Keevil was, at one time, Army Air Force Station 471, home to several US Army Air Corps units. These included the 81st Airdrome Squadron, providing communications and other support to AAC flying units. Herbert Hawkes, who served with the 81st described the conditions at Keevil in 1943 as, ‘mud’!
The huts now serve a variety of uses, the one on the left of the photograph being used by Bannerdown Gliding Club, an RAF GSA Gliding Club, affliated to nearby RAF Lyneham.
Postwar, huts of all three types continued in use in the UK, and in other countries. They housed farm animals and equipment, many when former airfields reverted to agricultural use; they were used to house PoWs, as well as ‘displaced persons’, and, above all, they continued their military careers on bases both large and small. As for Major Nissen, he received a small payment for his efforts, but the Distinguished Service Order from a grateful nation.
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!
