CEA Jodel DR. 1050/M-1 ‘Sicile Record’ June 7, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Kemble, aircraft.Tags: aviation industry, CEA, Centre Est Aeronautique, Continental Motors Corporation, D.9 Bebe, dihedral, DR.100A, Dr.1050, Edouard Joly, EVRA propeller, French, G-BAEE, German, GVFWE, Jean Delemontez, Jodel, Jodel DR.1050/M-1 'Sicile Record', Kemble, Luftwaffe, O-200 engine, outer wing panels, Pierre Robin, plywood, Round Sicily Rally, Second World War
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- CEA Jodel DR.1050/M-1 ‘Sicile Record’
Following the Second World War, much of French aviation industry was either bombed flat, or still producing German designs, continuing on from Luftwaffe contracts. Edouard Joly, who ran an aviation repair business, and his son-in-law, Jean Delemontez, designed and built a light single-seat aircraft, the D.9 Bebe. This little plywood gem, with distinctive dihedral outer wing panels, first flew in 1948, and a whole series of developments and varients of what became the Jodel family of aircraft flowed from this, and were were either built by licencees or home-built.
A short-lived company, but a long-lived Civilian April 2, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, London, Second World War, Wales, aircraft.Tags: 'push-rods', A.B.C. Hornet engine, Air Show, aircraft, airports, Armstrong Siddley, Armstrong Siddley Genet Major 1A, auctioneer, auctioneer's hammer, Aviation, Biggin Hill, Cardiff Airport, Carmarthen, Civilian Aircraft Company Ltd, Civilian Coupe 2, D H Mosquito, Derby, Derbyshire, England, Flight magazine, fuselage, G-ABNT, Glynn Rees, Great Depression, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, GVFWE, hangar, Hedon, Heston, historic aircraft, Hull, Hullavington, London, municipal airports, passenger seat, plywood, plywood panelling, port, propeller, radial engine, River Humber, Second World War, Secretary of State for Air, Shipping & Airlines Ltd, South Wales, Wales, wings, wire, Yorkshire
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- Civilian Aircraft Company Coupe 2
Throughout the 1930s many towns like Derby and the Yorkshire port of Hull joined the rush towards modern transport by establishing municipal airports. Hull’s was sited about 5 miles out of town at Hedon on the banks of the River Humber, and the civic authorities tried to attract aviation concerns to the new airfield. ‘Flight’ magazine in its March 27th, 1931 issue, mentioned that the Civilian Aircraft Company Ltd. had established a small manufacturing works on the southern edge of the site and was producing a two seat aircraft. Sadly, the first example of the ‘plane, which was first shown to the public at Heston in 1929, was powered by an A.B.C. Hornet radial engine, which vibrated rather badly. The Series 2 of the Civilian Coupe had solved the engine problems by fitting the Armstrong Siddley Genet Major 1A of 100hp. The aircraft’s fuselage was so narrow that the passenger seat had to be offset slightly behind and to one side of the pilot’s (rather like the much later D H Mosquito). There was some use of metal tubing in the fuselage, but the majority of structure, including the wings, was covered with stressed plywood panelling. Technically interesting, because it was one of the first aircraft to use ‘push-rods’ to connect the controls, rather than wire (leading to crisper responses), the Coupe was the right aircraft at the wrong time, as it appeared just as the civilian market was under immense pressure due to the Great Depression. A small series of aircraft was built, but it was already too late, and ‘Flight’ noted the demise of the company in its April 15th, 1932 issue.
One of the breed survived by sheer chance; Serial No. 03, a Civilian Coupe 2, was bought by Mr Glynn Rees of Carmarthen, South Wales and hangared at Cardiff Airport. Little flying took place (a total of 130 hours only), and he stored the aircraft before the outbreak of the Second World War. The aircraft’s registration was cancelled, by order of the Secretary of State for Air, on 1st December 1946.
After being stored for more than 40 years, G-ABNT went under the auctioneer’s hammer in Wales in February 1978. It was sold to Shipping & Airlines Ltd of London, along with a quantity of spares, including wings and a propeller. Careful restoration, and a move to a hangar on the historic Biggin Hill airfield, ensured that this highly significant aircraft is still with us today. Here she is in the historic aircraft park at GVFWE, Hullavington.
Leopoldoff Colibri – romantic, obscure, and very French (or is that, Russian?) March 16, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, British Isles, England, France, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: Abingdon, aircraft, Aviation, Aviation Federation of Morocco, biplane, Bolshevik Revolution, British, British register, coelcanthe, Continental Motors Corporation A65-8S engine, D'Arcy Aviation, diamond, Dr Saugnes, drawings, E.T.S.Leopoldoff, emigres, England, F-PCZX, First World War, fishermen, France, French, French register, G-AYKS, General Juin, genus, German, gold, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, hummingbird, Imperial Court, Imperial Russia, interplane struts, L'Amicale Jean Baptiste Salis, L.3, L.7 Colibri, La Ferte-Alais, Latimeria chalumnae, Leopoldoff, lower wing, M.J. Rousseau, Malagasy, Morocco, navigation instruments, nets, Paris, post-war, Prince Moulay Hassan, prototype, Rabat, Resident General de la France au Maroc, Russian, Russian aristocracy, salesmen, Salmson, Salmson 9Adb radial engine, Second World War, Sensenich W72CK, sesquiplane, shopkeepers, Societe des Avions Leopoldoff, Societe des Constructions Aeronautiques du Maroc, taxi driver, upper wing, William Cooper, wing dihedral, wooden propeller, WW1 markings
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- Leopoldoff L.7 Colibri
Sometimes you find something that surprises you – immensely. It is rather like panning for gold, and coming up with a huge, rough diamond. At Abingdon, during an early phase of the GVFWE event, I came across this pretty aircraft; it was rather like some Malagasy fishermen hauling up their nets and finding a coelcanthe (Latimeria chalumnae).
The genesis of the Leopoldoff is shrouded in the mists of the Bolshevik Revolution. It is said that the plans of the original aircraft were drawn up prior to 1917 by E.T.S. Leopoldoff, who, when the Imperial Russian regime fell, hurriedly left the country. Like many other Russian emigres, he ended up in Paris (French had been the preferred language of the Imperial Court, and most of the Russian aristocracy). There, the Russian community scratched out a living as best they could; some were shopkeepers, some salesmen, and some, as in Leopoldoff’s case, became taxi drivers. He finally persuaded a French company to build a prototype to his drawings, which flew in September, 1933. Progress was slow, with the first production machine appearing in 1937. Minor variations gave rise to changes in designation, with the main version being the L.3. Leopoldoff had formed his own company by now (Societe des Avions Leopoldoff), which undertook to build this pretty aircraft as a two seater for club or touring purposes. Just over 30 aircraft were produced before the Second World War broke out.
The L.7 Colibri (named after a genus of hummingbird) is a post-war modification of an L.3. The original aircraft would have been fitted with a Salmson 9Adb radial engine of 45hp, leaving it rather underpowered. Instead, the L.7 now has the ubiquitous Continental Motors Corporation A65-8S engine, of 65hp, driving a wooden Sensenich W72CK propeller – a much better proposition. You can just make out that the L.7 is a sesquiplane (or unequal span biplane). Some Leopoldoff aircraft were ‘normal’ biplanes, and you can see that this has given rise to an odd appearance. The attachment points for the interplane struts on the upper wing have stayed the same, which means the struts now make an acute angle with the shorter, lower wing. Note the pronounced wing dihedral. There are echoes of WW1 aircraft in this design; indeed, one of the few examples still extant (in the collection of L’Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis, at La Ferte-Alais in France) is painted in German WW1 markings.
Post-war, six more aircraft were built in Morocco by Societe des Constructions Aeronautiques du Maroc, and one of these made a noteworthy flight on the 3rd July 1948, when it successfully completed a 600km course as part of an aviation rally organised by the Aviation Federation of Morocco. The Leopoldoff (powered by a Salmson radial) landed safely back at Rabat, where the crew of Dr Saugnes and M J Rousseau were greeted by the Resident General de la France au Maroc, General Juin and Prince Moulay Hassan. It was the smallest aircraft in the rally, and had no special navigation instruments!
This L.7 is the only one on the British register, and was owned by D’Arcy Aviation in the 1970s (it had been on the French register, at one stage, as F-PCZX). It is now in the capable hands of Mr William Cooper. Long may she grace British skies.
The rare made commonplace – G-AIYS, DH 85 Leopard Moth March 6, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Museums, Royal Air Force, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: aeronautical engineer, Air Show, aircraft, aircraft disposal sales, airfield, Aston Martin, Baghdad, Biggin Hill, communications aircraft, De H 85, De Havilland, De Havilland Gipsy Major 1 engine, DH 80, Egypt, England, fabric-covered, folding wings, Geoffrey De Havilland, Gipsy Major engine, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, GVFWE, hangarage, impressed aircraft, Iraq, Keevil, King's Cup Air Race, Leopard Moth, liaison type, Mr Ronald Gammons, Mrs Valery Gammons, oil companies, plywood, prototype, Puss Moth, RAF, RAF Kemble, RAF Museum, Scotland, Second World War, Sir William James Denby Roberts, steel tube, Strathallan Collection, Surrey and Kent Flying Club, Torquil Norman, Victor Guantlett, Wiltshire, WW2
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- The rare made commonplace – De Havilland DH 85 Leopard Moth
Geoffrey De Havilland was a skilled aeronautical engineer, of that there was no doubt, but he was also a passionate lepidopterist, and named many of his early creations after various species of moth. The Leopard Moth was designed in the 1930s to provide a relatively swift (c. 130 mph) ‘gentleman’s aerial carriage’ (one pilot, two passengers). The prototype won the King’s Cup Air Race in 1933 at over 139 mph, flown by Geoffrey De Havilland himself. The fact that De Havilland had forsaken the fabric-covered steel tube formula of the Leopard Moth’s predecessor, the DH 80 Puss Moth, and instead built a strong, sturdy ‘box’ from plywood, giving a structure of lower weight, enabled the aircraft to fly faster and further. The DH Gipsy Major 1C engine puts out around 142 hp, which gives a cruise speed close to 120mph, and a range of over 700 miles.
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: GVFWE, Auster, Chrislea, Second World War, Australia, Egypt, Miles, ICAO, IATA, Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 engine, Super Ace, Skyjeep, Chrislea Aircraft Company Ltd, CH3 Super Ace, Chrislea CH3 Super Ace Skyjeep Series 4, VH-BRP, VH-OLD, VH-RCD, G-AKVR, taildragger, DeH Tiger Moth, Miles Magister, Miles Messenger, rear decking, Port Said, Bankstown Airport, New South Wales, BWU, YSBK, war-surplus, freighter
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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.
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.
Codnor Park Reservoir….and ‘The Cut’ February 18, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Derbyshire, Prehistory, canals, railways, textiles.Tags: 'gob pit', 'the Cut', Ambergate, anticline, bargee, bell pit, bream, Butterley Reservoir, Butterley Tunnel, canal, canal tunnel, coal, coarse fishing, Codnor, Codnor Park, Codnor Park Reservoir, Cromford canal, Derbyshire, Derwent Valley, Erewash Canal, Erewash Valley, Esox lucius, Golden Valley, horses, Industrial Revolution, iron, iron works, Ironville, jack pike, Langley Mill, legger, Lower Coal Measures, Mediaeval, Middle Coal Measures, Midland Railway, narrow-boat, Newlands Inn, Nottinghamshire, opencast mining, perch, pike, Prehistoric times, railway companies, Riddings, roach, Second World War, steam train, steel, stone axe, textile mills, towpath
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Codnor Park Reservoir
The sky is blue, the clouds fluffy and people are fishing – a truly tranquil day. The location? Codnor Park Reservoir, just to the east of Golden Valley, Derbyshire. This was once an important part of the network of canals which facilitated the growth of the coal, iron and steel industries on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border, and helped forge the Industrial Revolution. Coal has been mined in this area from Mediaeval times; indeed, old ‘gob pits’ (a local name for the ‘bell pit’) make walking in the woods a dangerous occupation. There is fragmentary evidence to suggest that coal was mined in Prehistoric times (the presence of a stone axe in one of the shallow coal measures in this region, for example).
All this caused a rush to join the first textile mills of the Derwent Valley to the Erewash Canal at Langley Mill, via Ambergate and Butterley (with its ironworks). So the Cromford Canal was born. It ran into major difficulties (labour disputes and shareholder friction) and was only completed after some technical ‘wizardry’, including the then longest canal tunnel in Great Britain, Butterley Tunnel, which at the time of it’s building was 2,966 yards long. Although Butterley Reservoir fed the western end of the canal, the eastern end was fed by a small reservoir behind the former Newlands Inn at Golden Valley (locally called the ‘top reservoir’) and Codnor Park Reservoir. You can still find a way down to the old canal towpath, and view the blocked off eastern end of Butterley Tunnel. The canal (or ‘The Cut’ as it is called in Golden Valley) is heavily weeded, overhung by mature trees, and very shallow. Nothing at all like the later part of the 19th century, when full canal narrow-boats were propelled through the tunnel – not by horses, because there was no towpath inside the tunnel – but by ‘leggers’, men who laid on the top of the narrow-boats and propelled them along by ‘walking’ along the tunnel roof!
The canal is disused now; no cargoes of iron await shipment at the wharf, just over the Nottinghamshire border. No coal, from where the Riddings anticline brings both the Lower and Middle Coal Measures close to the surface and makes them easy to work, is available for loading (the last local pit is long gone, although opencast mining has been undertaken). The tunnel suffered a roof collapse and was closed in 1900. The eastern and western arms of the canal continued to carry cargo, but the Cromford Canal was closed totally in 1944, during the Second World War.
There is a scheme afoot to restore the canal, for leisure purposes. However, current financial circumstances might well scupper this excellent idea. Until then, the popularity of Codnor Park Reservoir will continue as a fine coarse fishing venue, with many fishing matches taking place during the season. Most anglers ‘weigh-in’ heavy hauls of roach, bream, and perch. There are, of course, local stories of a monster pike (Esox lucius) in ‘the Reser’, but the ones I caught as a boy were all fairly small ‘jack’ pike!
Sometimes you can hear the whistle of a preserved steam train as it travels down the branch line of the Midland Railway, on the opposite side of the reservoir, on its way to the end of the spur at Ironville. As well as a most delightful sight and sound, it also is a reminder of what killed the canals – the rise of the steam railway. In many cases, the new railway companies bought up canals, only to close them and force traffic onto the railways.
There is a close family connection here; not only was my mother born in Golden Valley, but one of my great-grandfathers was a ‘bargee’ (a captain of a canal barge), who had worked his way up from the humble position of ‘legger’ in the Butterley Tunnel.
Tynemouth Priory & Castle February 13, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in British Isles, Castles, England, Great Britain, Second World War.Tags: 'mother house', Benedictine, castle, coastal battery, Coastguard, Danes, Deira, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Earl of Northumberland, England, English Heritage, German Navy, Germany, King Henry VIII, King Osred, King Oswin, Kingdom of Deira, Kingdom of Northumbria, kings, monks, Northumberland, Northumbria, Prior, Priory, River Tyne, Robert de Mobray, Second World War, St Albans, St Oswin, Tynemouth, Vikings
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Tynemouth Priory & Castle
Tynemouth Priory and Castle is a most impressive ruin, seen here in the evening sun. Standing on a rocky outcrop between Tynemouth village and the sea, it dominates the mouth of the River Tyne. There had been a church on this site for hundreds of years before 1090, when Robert de Mobray, Earl of Northumberland, caused the Priory to be built. Earlier buildings had been attacked by the Vikings (or Danes as they were called) no less than five times, the first invasion coming in 800, the last attack coming in 875, when the priory was destroyed. Many years later, in 1296, the Prior was given the right to fortify the buildings on site – so a priory and castle it became. No less than three kings are supposedly buried here including, Oswin, King of Deira (d.651), who was later to become St Oswin, and Osred, King of Northumbria from 789-790. There are also hundreds of other gravestones, many of them of the Benedictine monks who were sent here from their ‘mother house’ in St Albans – not a happy transfer, I am sure.
King Henry VIII took possession of the Priory upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538, and the buildings began their long slide into obscurity. By the time of the First World War a small military garrison occupied this important spot to guard against possible German naval forays. The site was also used to house a coastal battery during the Second World War, and has also been the site of a Coastguard Station.
Now, English Heritage owns the Priory and Castle, and their magnificent ruins are open to all, for a reasonable entrance fee.
A Cub with a chequered past…. February 13, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Second World War, United States, aircraft.Tags: Cambrai, Civilian Training Program, Continental A65 engine, Cub, French, Grasshopper, Great Britain, J3 Cub, L-4, Lock Haven, NE-1, O-59, Pennsylvania, Piper, Second World War, SOCATA MS 880 Rallye, United States, United States Army Air Corps, US Marines, USN
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- Piper J-3C-65 Cub
This is a Cub with a chequered past – and a chequered present too! Formerly on the French register as F-BPYN, it was first registered in Britain during 1979. A little ‘digging’ reveals that it was built to a US Government contract in 1943, and would have been one of the many J-3s built with military designations such as L-4 and O-59 for the US Army Air Corps, or NE-1 for the US Navy and Marine Corps – the type was almost universally known as the Grasshopper. The Civilian Pilot Training Program, which involved the training of hundreds of thousands of pilots in the US during WW2, also used the J-3 in huge quantities. Over 19,000 civilian and military Cubs were produced by Piper at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania from 1938 to 1947, and no less than 320,000 US military pilots were trained on them.
