SUMMER 2018

JOURNAL OF THE SHUTTLEWORTH VETERAN AEROPLANE SOCIETY

In this issue: Blackburn B2 Photo Section Winners Spitfire First Flight Prize Crossword 1 PROP-SWING SUMMER 2018 Journal of the SVAS, the Friends of the Shuttleworth Collection REGISTERED CHARITY No. 800095 President: Princess Charlotte Croÿ (Twickel) Vice President: Ken Cox MBE

COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: PHOTOGRAPHIC SECTION Kevin Panter Paul Ferguson

VICE CHAIRMAN: COMMITTEE MEMBERS Alan Reed Paul Ferguson SECRETARY: Edward Forrest James Michell Bill Grigg [email protected] Matthew Studdert-Kennedy Neil Thomas TREASURER: John Edser SVAS Contact Details: Answerphone: 01767 627909 MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY: Ron Panter & Rosie Hall Email: [email protected] Web: www.svasweb.org EDITORIAL PANEL Editor: Bill Grigg Shuttleworth Web Site Assistant Editor: Paul Ferguson www.shuttleworth.org

PROP-SWING is printed by Character Press Limited, Unit 16 Woodside Industrial Park, Works Road, Letchworth Garden City, Herts, SG6 1LA, and published at the office of Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society, Old Warden Aerodrome, Biggleswade, SG18 9EP. We welcome letters and contributions for possible publication. These should preferably be typed. Shuttleworth-related subjects will be given priority. Prospective contributions, and also requests to reprint material from the journal, should be addressed to the Editor C/O Old Warden. PROP-SWING welcomes advertisements, which should be in pdf format. Rates on application for Whole, Half, Third or Quarter page. Discount for three or more identical consecutive insertions. Full page type height is 185mm; full type width is 120mm. Please contact the SVAS at the above address. PROP-SWING is published three times a year (Spring, Summer and Winter). Copy dates are 31st January, 31st May and 30th September. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Society. Front cover: Spitfire VC over Old Warden again. Darren Harbar

2 Editorial Bill Grigg

nlike the Spring issue, this one’s certainly not light on aeroplane content as there are two tasty additions to the airworthy Collection. With all the access Uto social media and information available on the Web this hardly counts as news but, for the record, I refer to the successful return to the air of the Shuttleworth Spitfire Mk VC and the no less excellent news that the Collection has acquired the Miles Hawk Speed Six, G-ADGP, with the aid of a very substantial contribution from the SVAS. That should satisfy both the military and civil minded among us! As if that’s not enough the Collection has also gained another significant artefact, this one unlikely to be flight tested. It’s a replica of the Pilcher Hawk glider and was originally built in 1930 for the Science Museum and much more recently, following a restoration by Eric Littledike, kept and displayed at Duxford. When Eric learned that Duxford no longer wanted the machine he let us know and Shuttleworth were very pleased to give this important piece of British aviation history a home. It’s always a bit sad, but often unavoidable when space is at a premium, when artefacts have to be denied space or removed from public view in museums and collections to make way for newer acquisitions or more ‘flavour of the month’ ones. In this case there was a happy ending. Tenuous link: the registration letters of Speed Six ’ADGP, the other Hawk are, well almost, an anagram of GDPR, the new regulations concerning holding and use of data. This is only significant to your Editor as this issue is the first Prop-Swing to come under the new rules and also the first from our new printer, Lavenham Press. There is another change as the younger bloods on the Committee have got their way (diplomatically, I hasten to add) which is why you’re getting this in a plastic bag rather than an old fashioned envelope. The SVAS Membership team have the data side well under control and I believe all’s well on my side so I trust you’ll find the changeover CONTENTS quite seamless. I shall know when I get my Prop-Swing through the post... Blackburn B2 4 Lastly, although you’ll read about it SVAS & Collection News 9 again later in the magazine and there’s the From the Tent 13 insert sent with this issue, to reinforce how Aero Workshops 18 strongly we feel about the matter, I’ve been Saving the Hawk Speed Six 25 asked to mention here the appeal we’re Vehicle Collection Report 26 launching to fund the construction of essential Letters 33 new parts for the Bristol Mercury engines in Blériot Bluffery 34 the Gladiator and Lysander. Details of how More on Stonehenge 36 to donate if you wish to join us in helping Agricultural Activities 38 to keep those two splendid and popular (see Spitfire First Impressions 40 how I resisted writing iconic!) aircraft flying Captain AG Miller, RFC part 2 43 well into the future can be found on the insert - and in the Chairman’s piece. Prize Crossword Rear Cover

3 The Blackburn B2 Peter Kosogorin

Darren Harbar

History am fairly certain that everyone reading this will fully appreciate the significant heritage of the UK aerospace industry and how much of it has become part of I BAE Systems. However, perhaps not everyone will be aware of the support BAE Systems continues to provide to keeping historic British aircraft flying. From financial support to the BBMF and RNHF to providing static restoration projects with crucial data from its vast archives, the company genuinely values its heritage. We are fortunate enough at the Shuttleworth Collection to also often see the BAE Heritage Flight, housed within the hangars at Old Warden, flying at display days or air shows around the country. The rare aircraft in the flight is the B2, developed by Blackburn Aircraft from its previous trainer aircraft design, the Bluebird IV. The B2 is a side- by-side trainer first flown in 1932 and the last flying example, G-AEBJ, the 37th production aircraft which did not fly until 1934 (despite the information painted on the side). The forerunner of the B2, the Blackburn Bluebird IV, was flown around the world (with ocean crossings by ship) by the Hon. Mrs Victor Mildred Bruce in 1930. She set off on her successful adventure four months after her first flying lesson! Following this route was a feat that Carol Vorderman had hoped to re-create in a modern aircraft and Carol was given the opportunity by BAE Systems to fly the B2 at Brough. The Blackburn B2 prototype (G-ABUW) made its first flight at Brough on 10th December 1932, powered by a 120 hp DH Gipsy III engine. The type was fitted

4 Paul Ferguson with various engines over its 6 year/42 aircraft production life between 1932 and 1937, including the 130 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major and 120 hp Cirrus Hermes IV. Currently ’EBJ has a Gipsy Major Series 1F of 130 hp. The single-bay biplane wings are of similar structure to those of the Bluebird IV and can be folded for easy storage, which was an important consideration back in the day. Leading edge slats were fitted to the upper wing to improve low-speed handling but, with ailerons on the lower wings only, lateral control is relatively poor. Only two B2s survived to fly post war; one crashed in 1951 thus G-AEBJ is the sole airworthy example. Apparently another fuselage was for many years to be seen up a tree in an Essex scrapyard before being rescued in the Leading edge slat Darren Harbar 1980s. This aircraft is preserved, still wearing its original paint, and resides at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum. The BAE Systems Heritage Team at the Brough site is also currently building a full size replica B2. In an attempt to enter into the export market, the prototype B2 was shipped to Lisbon in September 1933 for evaluation by the Portuguese. Although it performed well in the trials they preferred a tandem layout and purchased the Tiger Moth instead. In fact no B2s were sold abroad or to private owners but the aircraft found a rôle in British civilian flying schools under the RAF expansion scheme which trained pilots ready for the Royal Air Force at Brough and London Air Park, Hanworth. The last three B2s built were sold to the Air Ministry and issued to the Brough flying school

5 where they were operated in RAF markings. On the outbreak of the Second World War, the aircraft at Hanworth were moved to Brough, where the two training schools merged, to become No 4 Elementary Flying Training School. The school at Brough continued to be operated Darren Harbar by Blackburn, with the aircraft remaining with civilian registrations - although they were repainted with wartime training markings with yellow fuselages, camouflaged wings and RAF roundels. Those which survived were taken over by the RAF in February 1942, being handed over to the Air Training Corps where they were used as instructional airframes. More recently, at one RIAT, the BAE Heritage team met the grandson of one of the pilots who had learned to fly G-AEBJ during WW2 and went on to fly Spitfires. He

Paul Ferguson

6 Darren Harbar survived the War and we managed to invite his daughters and grandson to the centenary of the original Blackburn factory at Brough where they were able to watch the aircraft perform a flying display. Brough remains a BAE Systems site, mostly supporting the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer. As is often the case, support of, and an interest in, heritage tends to bring people together and has a knack of producing some great stories. In 2016 the BAE Systems pilots flew around 20 hours in the aircraft

Flying the B2 A reliable hand-swung starter, 7 gallons per hour fuel burn and a tank taking 22 gallons make the B2 a not impractical aircraft to operate away from base. However, as with many aircraft of this vintage the non-steerable tailskid leaves a lot to be desired in ground handling characteristics and can present the pilot with considerable difficulties. On at least two occasions when we have taken her away it has been ‘necessary’, shall we say, to call for ground assistance to park safely. Although the B2 is aerobatic and can be flown with some spirit during a display it feels significantly under-powered. The commencement of any sequence will invariably involve a straight dive to gain energy, speed being exchanged for altitude in increasingly significant quantities over time. These days a sequence might consist of loops, barrel rolls and wing overs until maintenance of the planned height can no longer be assured. Performing a take-off after a time away from the cockpit the poor acceleration can catch one unawares when achieving 65 kts seems to take forever. When dual, the climb rate is noticeably reduced from the 600 ft/min solo and in order to maximise obstacle clearance it is recommended to use full runway length where possible. The engine is quite easy to over-speed, particularly when flying aerobatics, and 7 this is one of the issues that has led us to reduce the number of aerobatic manoeuvres flown during displays in order to preserve engine life. The maximum rpm of 2,350 is easy to exceed when accelerating to the looping speed of 100 kts, which is only 12 kts away from VNe (max speed). Any slower speed manoeuvring such as wing overs requires significant coordination of aileron with one’s feet to fly well. Trimming is effected by biasing the elevator using the cockpit lever between the seats. When flying on long transits (or even ones over 20 minutes!) the B2 is quite uncomfortable with its solid, perpendicular seating arrangement causing me some significant back pain. Adjustable in height, the right hand seat also has a propensity to shock the passenger by dropping to the bottom of its travel under G! (We must get that repaired - Jean-Michel!) It is a pilot’s aeroplane in that it requires 100% attention to fly accurately, demonstrated by the low lateral stability and propensity for large rudder deflections and large sideslip angles to develop with little noticeable foot force on the pedals. The fuel gauge is rather inaccurate and we always dip the fuel prior to flight. It can be easy to misread the oil tank level owing to the flat sump, and it is important to confirm replenishment for long flights when the Gipsy does get through the oil! There is no permanent communication ‘solution’ in the aircraft and when transiting we rely on iCom handhelds connected through our Campbell Aero helmets. The range of this set up can be very variable and pretty unreliable, from around 1 to 5 miles. When arriving for a slot at RIAT or Scampton this can be a significant down- side! We do have an intercom solution although the side by side seating configuration allows for relatively easy (compared to a Moth) conversation without this. A true privilege to fly, the B2 is a unique piece of aviation history and evokes in many the halcyon days of British aviation. We are extremely lucky that the recognition of the importance of our heritage is supported by BAE Systems and very much hope that this will continue for many years to come.

Darren Harbar

8 From the Chairman Kevin Panter

he world around us is changing and as it changes it increases the challenges to the SVAS to continue operating as a charity in the 21st century. There are new Tregulations, changing public expectations and increased costs to deal with in this brave new world. Many of you will have recently received emails from companies giving you an option to opt in to communications from them. This is due to the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that came into force on the 25th May. Many companies previously worked on an opt out scheme for communications, but the SVAS have always worked on an opt in basis. By joining the SVAS you are actively opting in to receiving communications from us. As an organisation the SVAS is contracted to provide you with your membership card (entitling you to membership benefits) and Prop-Swing magazine. You can also choose to subscribe to the monthly e-newsletters (available from the SVAS website www.svasweb.org). Then, if you wish to stop receiving them, there is always an unsubscribe option at the bottom of each one. The regulation changes will help to protect your data better. We have updated our privacy notice (available on the SVAS website and also on application by post to the SVAS office) to incorporate the changes and we encourage you to read it. In summary: ■ We promise to store your information securely ■ We will not sell your details to any company or individual ■ You have the right to see the information we hold about you ■ You have the right to amend any incorrect information ■ You can request that information we hold about you is deleted

The character of air displays has also changed: many of us remember the days of old when we would turn up not knowing what was going to fly and hope for fine weather throughout the display. Today there are many more events (not just air displays) competing for potential visitors’ attention and the internet allows endless speculation about which aircraft will or won’t be able to fly and weather forecasts are (sometimes) accurate up to a week ahead. This led to the scenario earlier this year where the Season Premiere air display went from not having many ticket sales on the preceding Sunday to being sold out on Thursday after the air display lineup was confirmed and the weather forecast was for exceptionally fine weather. Some members have contacted me to ask if there is anything extra that could be done to reserve places for SVAS members and this matter has been discussed with Collection management. Regulations dictate the numbers safely allowed on site at the Collection, as at other similar venues, and the numbers have to include staff and volunteers working at the event as well as the paying public. It obviously isn’t practicable to reserve ‘a small number’ of tickets for members: how could we possibly guess how many would be enough and if more than the reserved

9 ticket quota’s-worth of members turned up, would they be any happier? Would it be helpful to the Collection and our resolve to help ‘Keep them Flying’ to turn away paying customers just in case SVAS members decided to come? At present the only workable solution we have to reducing the likelihood of disappointment is to try to keep SVAS members informed about events through the monthly email newsletter, our website and social media channels. However, I am open to suggestions from members with constructive ideas. The changing expectations of the paying public have also affected the airshow content. For many years the Collection put on aircraft and vehicle displays with a few traders present and this was enough to satisfy the enthusiasts who visited. Today’s air shows are more family orientated and this has led to an increase in the amount of attractions to be seen on the ground before the flying starts. While this is to be welcomed, as without encouraging families we will have no future, it does mean that Paddock 1 is now largely being used for ground displays rather than car parking, meaning that some regular visitors now have to park further away from the action than they have previously been used to. The Collection has put on a regular service to ferry some of the less mobile visitors to the main site, but with an increase in the number of ground activities and an increase in the number of visitors are we becoming a victim of our own success? Amongst the attractions on the ground at air displays there is now a renewed emphasis on educational activities which, for an educational charity, can only be a good thing. SVAS volunteer Matthew Studdert-Kennedy has been taken on by the Collection as a full time staff member with an educational remit and spends his working week on developing new ideas as well as putting in his own time as a volunteer. Together with a group of volunteers he has developed a range of activities and a new Discovery Workshop has been created in the space formerly used as a vehicle workshop. Internal decoration of the Discovery Workshop is still being completed but it’s already looking very good and was made to look even better with the addition of the Pilcher Hawk glider replica which was built for the Science Museum in 1930 and has until recently been on The Discovery Workshop Kevin Panter display at IWM. The refurbishment has been funded by the SVAS using our dedicated educational fund and project managed by Alan Reed. Needless to say, under Alan’s management, the project is coming in well under budget! Funding is causing more headaches today than ever before. Supplies of spare parts are drying up across the world and more time (and therefore money) is needed to accomplish even simple tasks. We are fortunate that the Collection employs some very skilled engineers and that they are supported by able SVAS volunteer engineers. Even so, we’ve seen that the annual cost of spare parts has consistently exceeded the income

10 Eric Littledike’s photo of the Pilcher Hawk refurbishment in his garden from SVAS subscriptions over the past few years. We can’t allow this to continue as the SVAS can’t be sustained indefinitely while operating at a loss. Accordingly, we’ve instigated a new campaign to raise funds to cover the cost of essential parts to be manufactured for the Bristol Mercury engines that power the Gladiator and Lysander. Many of you will have seen the Gladiator’s enforced landing last season and, despite a lot of work over the winter, during testing earlier this year a similar engine problem was found - fortunately without an off field landing! I encourage you to read the enclosed leaflet or the page on our website at www.svasweb.org.uk/keepthemflying and please make a donation to keep our aircraft in the skies where they belong. Every pound really does count!

From the Treasurer John Edser

ou may recall that I warned of impending chaos over not only increasing the subscription rates but changing the bank into which standing orders should Ybe paid, well… about 370 members paid into our Bank of Scotland account instead of the Lloyds account detailed on the renewal forms and 52 members paid the old £25 rate instead of £30. I have written to all members in both groups in order to try and prevent a recurrence next year but from past experience I am not holding my breath! Now you may have heard that we are currently working on a new computer application for the Society, Uniconta, which will be a fully integrated system combining the membership database, accounts and gift aid system. When fully functioning it is envisaged that it will allow members to use direct debits for subscription payment rather than standing orders which, of course, should prevent chaos occurring when the subscription rate changes. My preference - for those who use computers for

11 online transactions - was to have a system that enabled members to manage their own accounts online. However this will require yet more software and associated cost and is some way off yet. The current plan is to run the new and old systems in parallel for a couple of months to check that the results from the new system match with the old and to hopefully not wind up with a TSB. Preparation is now well underway with the appeal for donations towards the £90,000 cost of refurbishing the engines for the Lysander and Gladiator. Flyers have been designed which will enable both SVAS and non-members to donate and have now been printed. Should anyone not have a flyer but wish to donate, they can always send in a cheque with a covering letter or use a direct transfer to our Lloyds account with an email to me to let me know what the donation is to be used for. The bank details are: Lloyds Bank, account name: SVAS; Sort Code: 30-90-79; A/C no: 00862730; Reference: your membership number. The 2017 accounts have been prepared and delivered to the accountant in the hope that, as the SVAS AGM has been delayed until September, the accounts will be finalised ready for the meeting. What I can tell you is that according to my calculations (yet to be checked by the accountant) we ended the year with outgoings exceeding income by £36,578 due to the £193,000 donation we made to Shuttleworth in the year. This then left us with accumulated funds of £369,755 of which £70,565 is held in our fund restricted for education. And finally, I managed to fly down to Old Warden for a meeting the other day, albeit in marginal conditions, and spent a couple of minutes taking photos of the fully assembled RV7. The engineers have done their usual good job and the aircraft has now been successfully test flown - its new owner, Paul Stone, is very pleased with it.

Paul Stone proudly displays the RV7 Nick Blacow 12 From the Tent Paul Ferguson

ollowing the Photo Section’s exhibition over the Engineering Open Workshop weekend all 44 competition prints were passed to Ian Frimston, our Print FCompetition Judge, for his professional view. He was very complimentary about the standard of entries and admitted that it had been difficult picking the winners. There were two competition categories: a) aircraft in motion and b) a subject or activity at Old Warden not eligible for category a. There were two awards in each category and the results were announced at our annual Photo Section meeting in April when the trophies were presented. The winning entries can be seen below and include Carl Kurstein’s Brisfit which came third in category b. The third place in category a went to Nigel Freestone whose Lysander picture, ‘We flew by moonlight’, was also third in the public vote and as such was published in the Spring Prop-Swing. Congratulations to him for doing so well with both public and judge. We have also held a digital photo competition for Photo Section members this year. The objective was to get a large entry by making it as easy as possible to enter and in this we seem to have succeeded as we received 175 entries from 38 members. All members were invited to vote and 35 did so. The winner is John Summerill who will receive the Ken Cates trophy for his Bristol Scout picture. You can see all the entries at https://www.flickr.com/photos/157614564@N08/ In the last issue we published a collection of miscellaneous images of our Spitfire in the hope that it would prompt it into action. It seems to have worked and it is now back in the air showing off its clipped wings at displays. There are new pictures of it in action in the Stu Goldspink article on page 40.

John Summerill’s winning Ken Cates trophy entry 13 Photo Section Print Competition Winners

DH88 Comet, Paul Braham, In flight, Winner

Sopwith Snipe, Paul Ferguson, In flight, Runner-up

14 Old and Young, Paul Ferguson, Ground activity, Winner

Five legged horse, Elizabeth Braham, Ground activity, Runner-up

15 Brisfit at rest, Ground activity, 3rd Carl Kurstein (Ed note: I hate to nitpick but if it’s at rest, is that ground activity?)

The Annual General Meeting of the Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society will be held on Saturday 29th September at 11.00am in The Discovery Workshop (at the rear of Hangar 3).

To: 1. Approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 21st May 2017. 2. Receive the auditor’s accounts for the year ending 31st March 2018. 3. Re-appoint Messrs George Hay as auditors. 4. Elect members of the Executive Committee. 5. Receive reports from the Executive Committee. 6. Transact any other business. By order of the Executive Committee, the Secretary

Spring’s Prize Crossword Winner The winner of two tickets for this year’s Flying Proms is Robert Wall from Billingshurst in West Sussex. Many thanks to all those who took part and sent in an entry - they were nearly all correct! - the solutions are on page 47.

16 Arnol Sellars Spring 2018’s Crossword elicited an entry from Arnol Sellars, one of our life members who lives in Oklahoma. He wrote that he entered for the fun of it and wouldn’t be able to use the prize even if he won as he is now 94 and he’s too old to travel these days. In response to my email thanking him for his entry and appreciation of the crossword he wrote back telling me, “I started to come to London in the mid-70s, when the company I worked for opened an engineering office there. Having been a WW2 fighter pilot (P-47s, 56 missions), plus owning a 1948 Luscombe aircraft at the time, I was really impressed at my first visit to the Collection. As we drove up the SE5a was performing. I have visited several times, always loved it, and in the past have given modest contributions to a hangar fund and a parachute fund.” This prompted me to ask if he had any photos of him and P-47 he’d allow us to publish and he sent these explaining, “All I have are from long ago and taken with very cheap cameras, but here are some for your consideration: Two of me with a P-47C, one in it and one by it: taken at the Gunnery Range at Palacious, Texas. One of me on top of a D model I had just crashed on my base at Pontedera, Italy. I’d been hit south of Venice, and got it home in time for dinner. I was in it here trying to steal the clock out of it, but had brought the wrong screwdriver.” He also sent, “One of me in 1948, on my National Guard P-51D. I loved the P-51 for a lively plaything, but was glad I had a P-47 when the flak got intense.”

17 From the Aero Workshops Crankcase

Toby inspecting the Hawk Speed Six soon after its arrival at Old Warden Bill Grigg he most exciting news in the workshops has been the arrival of the lovely Miles Hawk Speed Six. Jean-Michel Munn and Toby Lee went to its former base at TWhite Waltham to check it over for a ferry flight and Dodge Bailey brought it in on Thursday 19th May. As this was written in mid-June the Miles was still in the Workshop hangar being fettled for its Permit to Fly. Following this report there’s an account by its former owner, Roger Mills, of how he managed to keep it in this country when it very nearly departed for the United States 18 years ago. Its current condition is a tribute to Roger’s guardianship and we’re fortunate that he chose to allow it to find a new home at Old Warden where it fits in very well. Since the last report the Blériot’s Anzani engine is back in the airframe, having been reassembled with correctly positioned flywheels and the new piston rings fitted. However, as no accurate information is available on the correct settings for such things as the carburettor float level and tension of the automatic inlet valve springs, tuning it to run satisfactorily is involving a lot of experimentation which is not completed as I write. The new aluminium pistons for the Pup’s 80 hp le Rhône, also mentioned last time, have been received and are now fitted but, again as I write, more testing is required before the aeroplane is declared fit to rejoin the flight line.

18 Further on engine problems mentioned in the Spring issue, those who attended the first air shows this year will have seen both the M.1c and Avro 504 performing strongly, so Phil Norris’s work on establishing the correct cam profiles has obviously been successful. Dave Scott has finished making the new set of con rods for the spare 110 hp Le New con rods for the spare 110 hp Le Rhône Bill Grigg Rhône Phil is building. There’s been no progress with the Hind’s Kestrel engine. In the workshops the Elf is still being re-covered and the rear end of the main shop - where until recently the Spitfire stood as its rebuild was being completed - is presently full of a semi-naked Gladiator which is undergoing a thorough three year inspection. In front of it is the Magister whose engine is having a bottom end inspection

David Moan pressure testing the Magister crankshaft Bill Grigg

19 Three year inspection underway on the Gladiator Bill Grigg (as it’s an inverted engine the bottom end is uppermost of course..). The crankshaft is in the engine shop where David Moan has been pressure testing the bearings after the return of the crankshaft from having the latest mod fitted by an outside contractor. As originally manufactured the front end of the Gipsy Major crankshaft was of the same diameter as the as the rest of the bearing areas of the shaft but there have been some

New manifold casings for the Wren engine Bill Grigg 20 instances of cracks appearing around the front bearing surface. (Ours, by the way, wasn’t suffering from this). There are two separate modifications to the crankshaft front end to bring it to the highest mod. standard. This first involved machining off the bearing retaining screw threads from which cracks were liable to form in service and then shrinking on a bearing retaining sleeve in their stead. Then the front end of the crank was sulfinuzed (basically, a chemical bath) treated to help prevent fretting or galling of the sleeve on the crank and improve its fatigue resistance. The Wren engine’s exhaust piping runs through a small fabricated metal ‘box’ surrounding the inlet tract to pre-heat the fuel mixture and the box has finally shown its age by corroding away in parts. Dave Scott is making a new one in the machine shop and though ‘box’ may suggest a simple structure it has curved outer casings covering internal intricacies that make it fiddly to manufacture. The Wren should soon be bungeeworthy again. Apart from a small problem with the Tiger Moth fouling its plugs during training week due, it turned out, to the varnish on the cork float in the float chamber having cracked with Titanic effect and thus provided a very rich mixture, the other aircraft have generally been running trouble free: a fitting tribute to the splendid team of engineers. Despite the, often quite rude, things they say about your correspondent as he asks essential questions and they feign non co-operation, sometimes very realistically, one has to give them their due. And, almost last, but certainly not least and probably not news - the Spitfire has flown! Elsewhere you’ll read AR501’s test pilot, Stu Goldspink’s, report of his Spitfire experience which went extremely well, but he doesn’t mention two minor problems now revealed by the engineering side. The first was a tendency to fly left wing low and was corrected by tweaking the thin trailing edge of an aileron. This is done to eliminate any roll at typical cruising speeds and has the same effect as a tab. The fix can be applied to either aileron (one bent up the other down) but is normally applied ‘down’ on the opposite side to the ‘low wing’ as this tends to be more effective. The other thing that needed adjustment was the propeller which was turning too fast at maximum power. On aircraft with variable pitch, or in flight controllable pitch propellers, the maximum RPM is adjusted on the propeller not the throttle. The throttle controls the power developed by the engine, not its speed in this case. The throttle will be set to maximum power and the pitch of the propeller blades is then adjusted to give maximum RPM. This is set as closely as possible on the ground but needs final adjustment after test flights to compensate for the effect of the airflow through the propeller in flight. In this case we had a bit too high an RPM so it was adjusted down over the first few flights until correct. (Note from Chief Engineer; Incidentally maximum power (measured in lbs boost on British supercharged engines) at sea level may be ‘full throttle’ on the pilot’s control but is not full throttle at the carburettor. On supercharged engines at sea level the throttle plates themselves may be as much as half closed to prevent over boosting the engine - the throttles progressively open as the aircraft gains altitude [done automatically on British engines] to maintain the max boost in thinning air

21 until they are fully open [full throttle height] after which the engine power will reduce with altitude as in a normally aspirated engine) As predicted in the Spring issue, I’m sure everyone now knows about the new RAF colour scheme applied to BAe’s Avro XIX but anyway there’s a photo here of the machine which is now back at Old Warden.

Avro X1X in its new colour scheme Paul Ferguson We’ve had an update from Colin Essex on his work for the Collection. There’s been no progress with the DH 53 rebuild which has been held up by building work on Colin’s workshop. However, he is making a new propeller for the SE5a. The original 1918 propeller fitted to the SE’s Wolseley Viper was found to have tiny cracks within the laminations near the hub, so Colin was asked to make an exact copy in American Black Walnut, as per original. He sourced the timber and started construction immediately it was received, having already worked out the shapes for the laminations. These were cut then glued up with Aerodux adhesive and, when the glue had thoroughly dried, the propeller was finally shaped to exact proportions with, in order, a Surform plane, spokeshave and cabinet scraper. As this is written it was time to drill the bolt holes and varnish the finished job which should be back on the aeroplane by the time you read this. As an addendum to the Aero Workshop report, Richard Granger recently sent us this short update on progress with the Archaeopteryx restoration: “Archaeopteryx is well, and slowly approaching the end of the restoration. It is, after all, now only fourteen years into the two year rebuild. The wings and elevons are all finished, covered (the words ‘frayed edge tapes’ reduce me to a gibbering idiot) and waiting for Rob’s (Millinship) amazing spraying skills. The wheel discs are

22 just being finished, and the pilot’s harness sorted. My lovely wife Ulla has become a dab hand at rib stitching, having become immune to her husband blindly poking sharp needles at her from the other side of the wing. It would have been so much easier with tissue paste and an acre of Modelspan. Here are a few pics for you”.

23 24 Saving the Hawk Speed Six G-ADGP Roger Mills

Hawk Speed Six in an earlier incarnation at Wolverhampton in 1950 hen I was just three and a quarter years old I went to my first air show, on 12th June 1948 at Wolverhampton; one of the first aircraft I saw there Wwas the Hawk Speed Six G-ADGP, to be flown by Ron Paine in the first Goodyear Challenge Trophy Race. I watched ’DGP race throughout the forties, fifties and sixties and held her in great esteem. Step forward fifty one years to 1999 by which time I was flying as aBritish Airways Concorde Captain. G-ADGP was offered for sale and Ron Souch, who had restored the aeroplane during 1986-89 for American owner, Tom Buffaloe, was acting as agent; so I spoke with Ron, who told me the figure that Tom wanted and was adamant that no offers would be accepted. At the time I had a share in Zlin 526F G-PCDP, based at Fairoaks, and a half share in an SNJ-4 (US Navy variant of the Harvard) N26808, based at Solberg, NJ in the USA, and I was using my day job to commute between my ‘toys’. To invest further capital to the tune that was required I thought would be unfair on both the family purse and in particular on the ‘memsahib’ so I, reluctantly, decided not to buy G-ADGP, though I hoped someone else in the UK would do so. However, I sold my share in the SNJ-4 later in 1999 as my retirement was due in early 2000. Shortly afterwards I discovered that there had not been a buyer for the Speed Six and therefore Tom Buffaloe was taking her back to the USA. At the time I was about to leave on a trip to New York, so I had to make some rapid decisions. After arriving in NY I spoke again to Ron, who told me that the asking price remained the same; so I quickly phoned my wife who encouraged me to buy G-ADGP as she said I would regret it for the rest of my life if I did not. As I now only had one aeroplane I

25 thought it would not be unreasonable to do so. After further conversations with Ron and Tom it was agreed that I would become the new owner from July 1999; however it transpired that the aeroplane had already been put in a container and was being shipped to San Francisco, so I would have to wait until she arrived there and then ship her back. After Ron had made a few phone calls, he found that the ship had routed via Rotterdam and, at the eleventh hour, managed to have her off loaded there and shipped back to the UK, where he reassembled her for me at Roughay Farm in Hampshire. On 20th August 1999 I took to the air for the first time in G-ADGP and ferried her to Wycombe Air Park for storage until I could find suitable hangarage. I then moved her to Fairoaks on 9th March 2000, and there she remained until I moved her to her base at White Waltham on 6th July 2003. Saving G-ADGP for the UK had been a close call, but it was the right decision for me. She’s given an enormous amount of pleasure to me to fly her and, it’s become apparent, to the public that see her fly. After almost nineteen years of ownership I thought it was time to find a new custodian for this iconic aeroplane – the only choice that I felt comfortable with was the Shuttleworth Trust.

Hawk Speed Six as she is today Paul Ferguson Vehicle Collection Report Paul Davies

A Nice Day Out We have a Spirit of Shuttleworth award, given away at the annual Race Day – October 7th make a note now - but there’s also the Spirit of Shuttleworth, and nothing could embody this more than the first Evening Air Show of this year. Held on a hot and sunny spring Saturday, visitors to Old Warden could not fail to be drawn into the relaxed (although, we must add, behind the scenes things were just as well organised 26 Stuart Gray leads the Evening Airshow parade at the wheel of ‘Violette’, Debbie Land’s 1936 Citroen Traction Avant Wayne Allen

Volunteers’ pride and joys: The Austin Seven of Mark Lewis, your correspondent’s Porsche Carrera (had to get that one in!) and the Editor’s Ford Fiesta based Quantum Paul Davies 27 Tim King at the ’bars of the Collection’s 1948 Norton combi. Provost in background Wayne Allen as always) atmosphere that said simply ‘enjoy’. With flying not starting until late, there was an opportunity for the Vehicle Collection to grab a slice of the early limelight. This year the call went out for volunteers to show a little bit of their personal passions by opening up their own garages and bringing their cherished vehicles along to put on display and join the traditional cavalcade of Collection vehicles around the field before the props and wings brigade took over. The resulting ‘snake’ - actually ‘snakes’, there were two parades - that wound its way along the spectator fence, past the control tower and between parked aircraft provided visitors with many a photo opportunity. Drivers doffed hats as they passed, and spectators fired cameras and said “I had one of those” - this comment most likely directed at an Austin Seven, motorcycle and sidecar, or MGB rather than Shuttleworth’s own De Dietrich. Like a military commander Vehicle Collection manager, Stuart Gray, led the parade, first at the wheel of his own ex-Korean War Jeep (spot the bullet hole) and then driving ‘Violette’, the Citroen 7cv Traction Avant owned by SVAS member Debbie Land and named in honour of the French resistance hero Violette Szabo. Other Collection vehicles drew crowds as part of the static display. Joining the display and parades were members of the 1066 Motor Club with their cars. Based in Suffolk, the club – so called because they meet regularly at a pub on the A1066 road – describes itself as a ‘collection of like-minded car enthusiasts’ who get together to drive to interesting events. And what better destination than an Evening Airshow? The 1066 members attended as the Collection’s invited club for the day and it seemed to go down well with members; does anyone know of another motor club who might like to bring their vehicles along to a future event? The good weather just called for a trip on an open-top bus, and our own 1913 28 All aboard! Wellingborough was busy all day giving visitors a taste of a veteran open top bus Paul Davies Leyland ‘Wellingborough’ was on hand to give spectators rides. Bus manager Mark Lewis - who also brought his lovely maroon Austin Seven along for the parade - reports there was always a queue of spectators waiting for a ride, keeping driver and conductor busy all day. In fact, does any SVAS member out there fancy becoming a conductor for a day or two? If so contact Stuart Gray please. All in all, a good day out was had. For your correspondent it was a chance to show off his own pride and joy - even if it is somewhat younger than most on display - answer questions from folks wanting more details on the Collection vehicles lined up, and get behind the wheel of our delightful little Austin Seven in the parade. I can thoroughly recommend volunteering at Shuttleworth.

Meanwhile, in the Workshop Of course the presence of our vehicles at an air show is the result of the hard work that gets put in by our volunteers at other times. So, what’s been happening in our workshop since last issue? Work on the Panhard progresses, new pistons have arrived, the engine is being re-assembled and the target is to have the car running in time for the London to Brighton Run on 5th November to mark the occasion when Richard Shuttleworth first took the car on the Run 90 years ago. In fact the entry’s already in, so there’s no pressure there! As far as the Panhard is concerned there’s also work going on behind the scenes. 29 The Panhard’s elegant steering wheel with The Panhard’s cylinder heads and cylinders hand throttle and ignition controls has been with new pistons already installed on the refurbished. Bill Grigg workshop bench. Bill Grigg It’s come to light that some of our perceived history of the vehicle may not be correct and we’re working to put things right. For example, the Veteran Car Club has dated the car as 1900, which calls into question the previous belief that it took part in the Paris-Amsterdam race of 1898. From photographs of that 1928 London to Brighton appearance it seems that Richard was convinced the car was made earlier – the rally plate on the side clearly states it is a ‘Panhard-Levassor 1897’. Currently we’re seeking the assistance of the museum at Peugeot, who took over Panhard. More on this soon, I hope.

Tim King at the milling machine putting the finishing touches to a new Panhard gearwheel. Bill Grigg 30 Studebaker mudguards and Scott sidecar awaiting the paintbrush. Bill Grigg Also in the workshop undergoing complete re-builds are the Morris Oxford, the Studebaker Light 4 and the Scott motorcycle combo. In all three cases it’s paint brush and spray gun to the fore as the two cars and the sidecar bodies have been prepared for final coats. In the case of the Studebaker the plan is to adopt the colour scheme

The Studebaker body in undercoat; soon to be in World War 1 colours Paul Davies 31 assumed by the many vehicles of this make which made their way from the USA to Europe to serve in the Army during the First World War. With the arrival of new valves, work on the Morris engine has also moved up a gear. Although many spares for the Morris are available from the Bullnose Club, it’s not so easy with the engine which for our model was manufactured by White and Poppe of Coventry and therefore the valves had to be specially manufactured. Expect this iconic British machine to be running before the end of the season. Some vehicles in the Collection less likely to be seen in action this year are our ‘Bebe’ Peugeot, which has been sidelined with a nasty knock in the engine, and the International Benz which is also a non-runner. Next in the queue for major work are the 1903 Richard Brasier (in need of full engine and running gear overhaul and new interior trim) and the 1899 Mors. The Locomobile, as previously reported, is in its final season before the boiler certificate runs out, and it will have to be taken out of operation until it can be re-built and passed fit for further steamy service.

Ack Ack! Finally, let’s talk guns. Big guns. With all the necessary safety measures in place (including sandbags around the ‘emplacement’ of course) the Bofors anti- aircraft gun - which is also the responsibility of the Vehicle Collection - proved a big attraction at the opening air show of the year. What could be more fun for a youngster than winding the wheels like mad to keep, or try to keep, a low-passing Hurricane in the sights? Now, in anticipation of demand at future shows, we’re looking for volunteers to help marshal the eager queues. Form an orderly line the other side of the Stuart Gray’s son Chris and grandson Cameron on Bofors. barriers please… Stuart Gray

32 Dear Bill, Prop-Swing arrived this morning and all LETTERS other activities stopped while I had a read. Being a Scott owner and enthusiast I was quickly on to the Vehicle Collection Report by Paul Davies and somewhat puzzled by the Scott clutch/gear mechanism being described as semi-automatic. The system is very simple but not what I would consider semi-automatic though it does combine the clutch and change of ratio in one unit. There are no gears in the accepted sense, just two primary chains connecting the engine sprockets to two all steel internal expanding clutches operated by a right hand side rocking pedal (which usually has ‘LOW’ cast into one end and ‘HIGH’ into the other). The low gear clutch sprocket has more teeth on it than the high gear one – which gives you the change of ratio. These clutches require a certain amount of hand-pump fed lubrication but you need to achieve a fine balance between insufficient and too much. Insufficientwill allow the clutch to snatch on take-up from a standstill and too much oil will make it much harder to get the low gear clutch to engage. I have been there and gained a little experience thereof! Well maintained, the system is robust and trouble free and has the advantage that you can, if you need to, very easily engage low gear for engine braking – just put your foot on the ‘LOW’ end of the pedal and press it down. Much more effective and easier to do than with the normal hand change gearbox/clutch. The Scott engine is incredibly flexible and copes with the two speed gear set up admirably. In the days when the Shuttleworth Scott was new the Scott Company used to run the famous Scott Trial over the Yorkshire moors and the two speed Scott was more than a match for its contemporaries, which had 3 speed gearboxes and clutches, even in the most inhospitable conditions. I might perhaps add that if you are riding a two speed Scott and one of the primary chains breaks you can continue your journey using the other gear - may be a bit difficult if you are left just with high gear and have a hill to climb but you CAN still be mobile. Incidentally this two speed gear mechanism was also used on early P&M (Phelon and Moore) motorcycles made, not far away from Shipley, in Cleckheaton. I believe there was some ‘discussion’ at the time about who invented the device and whether Scott ‘borrowed’ the idea from P&M, or whether P&M ‘borrowed’ it from Scott. As for the nature of the two bikes they could hardly be more different. The Scott was always a two-stroke twin whereas the P&M was a big four-stroke single. It is early 20th Century history now and I very much doubt if anyone really cares anymore. Prop-Swing is a truly wonderful journal and brings joy every time it drops through the letter box - thank you for your untiring efforts. Kindest regards, Roger Cooper

33 Blériot Bluffery Philip Jarrett

hen Louis Blériot made his cross-Channel flight in the early hours of 25 July 1909 there were few photographers present to record this momentous Wevent. Nevertheless, this did not deter the French postcard publishers of

A faked French postcard of Blériot’s cross-Channel flight, showing the Blériot VIII-ter rather than the Blériot XI used for the actual flight.

In this faked card the aeroplane depicted is a Blériot XII, in which the pilot sat beneath the wing 34 the time who promptly issued a plethora of images purporting to depict either his departure from Calais or his arrival over Dover. Unfortunately most of them knew little or nothing about aeroplanes, so the images of Blériot monoplanes they superimposed on scenic views often portrayed the wrong aeroplane type. A great many of these cards have survived, so the postcard collector should bear in mind the warning caveat emptor. A similar situation arose in 1910 when American aviator John B. Moisant set off on 17 August to make the first cross-Channel flight from Paris to London with a passenger. His chosen mount was a later model of the Blériot XI used by Louis, a Blériot XI-2bis côte-à-côte side-by-side two-seater powered by a 50 hp Gnome rotary engine. This time, however, the postcard producers did get the aeroplane right, but they again used images taken before the actual event. Moisant’s passenger was his French mechanic, Albert Fileux, who had never flown before. Although the cross-Channel part of the flight was accomplished on the 17th, the remainder of the flight to London was a rather troubled and protracted affair, taking three weeks and involving nine forced landings and four replacement propellers. He arrived over the Crystal Palace on 6 September and finally crashed on landing on the new cricket field at Beckenham.

A French postcard depicting the right type of machine as used by Moisant, a Blériot XI-2bis, but not taken during the flight. Moisant is on the right in the inset image, with his passenger, Albert Fileux, on the left.

One witness of his passage was a soldier at Deal, on the Kent coast, who was so excited that he decided to convey his impression of the aeroplane to a relative or his wife in Southampton. His impression of Moisant’s aeroplane, drawn only a few

35 days after he had seen it, testifies to the unreliability of a layman’s view of things. Signing himself only as ‘B’, he wrote on his card, postmarked 24 August 1910, “MOISANT’S MONOPLANE. This passed over Deal & RMLI [Royal Marines Light Infantry] Barracks at 11.30, we all saw it, so probably this will be the first you have

Soldier ‘B’s postcard sketch of what he thought he saw when Moisant’s Blériot flew overhead at Deal. seen of it. I will write tomorrow.” He added: “It flew like a gigantic hornet buzzing”. Soldier ‘B’s impression of the aeroplane only serves to reveal his total misconception of its appearance, making it appear far larger than it really was and rendering it unrecognisable. There is a tendency nowadays for historians to place great store by the distant recollections of elderly people who were witness to significant events in their earlier years. Quite often, however, these memories are inaccurate or of little value. Our soldier’s postcard sketch, made much closer to the event concerned, serves to remind us just how suspect such records can be.

More on Stonehenge Barry Dowsett

ollowing my article ‘Wings Over Stonehenge’ in the last issue of Prop-Swing I have rightly been taken to task by Librarian John Benjamin about my comment Fthat there was some doubt that a hangar from the Stonehenge Airfield was actually used as the basis for the current workshop hangar at Old Warden. John points out that in the Summer 2008 issue of Prop-Swing he wrote that information had come to light that showed that Richard Shuttleworth did make a

36 Aerial view of the North Camp (RNAS) taken on 22 March 1918 just a few days before the formation of the RAF. The four joined HP sheds in the foreground with a couple of bombers outside. HP aircraft were hangared with wings folded back. The remaining hangars were of the Bessonneau type. purchase from Stonehenge in the early thirties. I should also have consulted our esteemed editor’s book on Old Warden in the Airfield Focus series published by GMS Enterprises. In this Bill wrote that the Handley Page multi-bay hangar The hangar at Woodley at Stonehenge was dismantled and the iron framework divided into lots. One was sold to the Wiltshire School of Flying at High Post, another for use at the new Woodley Aerodrome near Reading and the third to Richard Shuttleworth and thus makes up the core of the Old Warden workshop hangar. (I always like being referred to as esteemed but, to be fair to Barry, as editor I should have picked up this point in his article and corrected the impression he’d been given rather than endorsing it by sloppy editing - Ed) It appears that the sections used at High Post were to make a hangar that was half of the original height. This makes sense as the Handley Page Type O Handley Page O/400 with two of the HP sheds in the right was a tall aeroplane and background. The bombers were hangared with their wings folded the school were only back. A camouflaged Bessoneau hangar also in view.

37 going to hangar light aircraft. Dave Scott of The Museum of Berkshire Aviation confirms a hangar was erected at Woodley with parts from Stonehenge. The multi-bay hangar for the Handley Page Flying School, as it was known, was essentially four sheds joined together and this was located on the north-west corner of the Stonehenge Airfield site, the area being used by the RNAS and known as Night Camp. These sheds were on the eastern end of a line of Bessonneau hangars. The large bombers were hangared with their wings folded back. Today this site lies alongside the road (once the A344) used by the buses ferrying visitors to the Stonehenge Stones from the new Visitor Centre. Of the thousands of tourists every day who pass by here, and indeed the whole of the Stonehenge Aerodrome site, how many have any idea of what they would have seen in 1917/18? It is an issue that the Wings Over Stonehenge group hope to address.

From the Back of the Workshops James Michell

t the time of writing this at the end of May, progress has slowed on the restoration of the elevator, mainly due to resources being diverted to other Aactivities which are covered in this issue of Prop-Swing. That said, by the time you read this, all of the repairs to the side panels and top and bottom beams will have been completed so that they are ready for trial assembly. This means that the next step will be to recreate the base of the elevator from new timbers as the originals were beyond salvaging and only suitable for use as patterns. Over the spring months some further maintenance work has been carried out on Dorothy, the traction engine. The steering has been removed, cleaned and repainted and - with a new collar made to replace the five washers of various sizes that were used to take up some slack - it has all been refitted. The brake wheel was also removed and repainted before refitting. Preparation work for the annual boiler inspection was carried out with the boiler being washed out and the mud hole doors removed to allow the visual inspection. The Inspector returned in early May to carry out a successful steam test meaning that Dorothy is now ready for the season ahead. The agricultural heritage team have been kept busy with work on the new education space at the Collection over the winter and in preparing a new storage space for some of the larger exhibits not currently on public display. The new space was made ready just in time for the arrival of the restored Clayton & Shuttleworth items donated by Elizabeth and David Solomon. Over the following few (very sunny) weekends we washed each item and allowed it to dry before safely storing everything again. As mentioned elsewhere all of the items will be on display at this year’s Heritage Day. With the arrival of the new equipment we have been thinking about the displays in the hangars and are currently working with the Collection staff to create new history boards and to formulate a plan for rotating exhibits throughout the season so as to showcase each of the items at some time during the year.

38 Clayton & Shuttleworth Heritage James Michell

he Collection has been most fortunate recently to have received, through a generous donation from Elizabeth and David Solomon, three items that will add Tsignificantly to our collection of Clayton & Shuttleworth agricultural implements. These have been given to the Shuttleworth Trust in memory of their son, Stuart David Solomon. Each of the items has been restored to full working order by David. Circa 1880 ‘No. 2’ saw bench From the notes that we received from David, he believed this to be an example of a ‘No 1’ saw bench. However, from information we have gleaned from our own research we believe this to be a ‘No 2’, distinguishable from the ‘No 1’ only by the shape of the casting where the sweeping curve of the main stretcher meets the bed of the saw bench. Built around 1880, its early history is unknown. It was purchased from the Deebles Saw Mill, Chasewater, Cornwall in the 1980s and rebuilt and has been fitted onto a replica carriage. There are several original Clayton Shuttleworth & Co. drawings of these saw benches within the collection of drawings owned by the Trust. Whether it turns out to be a ‘No 1’ or a ‘No 2’ we are extremely fortunate to have this very rare piece in the Collection. 1919 4 ft thrashing machine no. 47302 Dispatched from the Stamp End Works on the 6th August to F W Newton of Swimbridge, North Devon (Swimbridge Threshing Company) it worked with Clayton & Shuttleworth traction engine no. 48279 until 1947 following which it was worked with an Oliver tractor until 1960. It lay derelict until purchased by David Solomon in 1976. Over a period of six years it was stripped to a bare frame and rebuilt. During the paint removal, evidence of lining out was found suggesting it may have been a show model. It still retains its original tool kit and comes with an official user’s manual. 1926 5-knife chaff cutter no.1185 This was supplied new on the 23rd December 1926 to C & S’s agent J & E Ison Ltd, Ashby-de- la-Zouch, Leicestershire. It was then purchased by F W Weeks and Son, Canworthy Water, North Cornwall. It was completed to Weeks’s specification, having the bagging chute fitted to the rear of the machine instead of the centre. There are also no underside riddles fitted, as 39 stated in the build sheet, so it is one of a kind. It was used until 1950 when it was stored in a shed. David Solomon purchased it in 1981 and rebuilt it. It still retains its original toolkit and instruction manual. Also as part of the donation comes a set of Avery scales for weighing sacks and a John Cook & Sons sack lifter. We are currently carrying out a thorough inspection and service of all working parts and plan to have these implements on display, certainly at our Heritage Day on Sunday 2nd September, if not before, and then at the Bedfordshire Steam and Country Fayre held on the Parkland in front of the house from the 14th to 16th September. With our growing collection of implements and archives our plans are now turning to a dedicated display area that will eventually allow us to become a centre of national importance for our Clayton & Shuttleworth heritage. Until then we shall rotate our collection for display in Hangar 3 throughout the seasons.

Spitfire AR501 – first impressions Stu Goldspink

Darren Harbar

hen I was aged about eight to ten I lived with my parents in the, now long gone, bungalow (also known as the Boonaglo) in the copse opposite the Wmain entrance to Old Warden. My dad was involved with opening the Collection to the public in 1963 and at one stage I was invited by a grown up to sit in a ‘Spitfire’. Alongside the fuselage which was propped up with no wings or tail in what is now the Visitor Centre was, I remember, a small step made of wood. My earliest memories are of leather and hydraulic oil and a faint musty smell,

40 Paul Ferguson perhaps mingled with cellulose paint, when, as a child I sat there wondering what it would be like to fly one! I somehow contrived to touch the chain behind the stick that moved the ailerons, which was covered in grease and oil, and I do remember wiping my hands on my freshly laundered shirt, much to my mother’s annoyance. Those memories came flooding back to me as I climbed aboard AR501 for its first flight after a 12 year restoration, together with fleeting recollections of my childhood heroes such as Neil Williams, Allen Wheeler and John Lewis - who all put on a pretty good show. I felt a huge responsibility that the fate of this iconic Spitfire, which some 50 years ago was an inert lump of aluminium and into which lately hundreds of man hours had been invested under the guidance of Ian Laraman, was somehow in my hands. Certainly I was very lucky but had mixed emotions as I felt a strong sense of my need not to let anyone down. I’ve been flying Spitfires on and off for over 27 years and clearly remember my first solo at Duxford -14th April 1991! - but on such an occasion as this, would all my experience suddenly desert me? Thoughts like these flashed by but the task in hand was now in front of me and I had to concentrate as the engine will overheat within five minutes of ground running, as is normal with the single radiator Spitfires. When I shouted “Clear prop” the starter motor hardly had to turn the engine at all and after a couple of blades the familiar wisp of smoke and loud barking settled to the comforting deep rumble of the Merlin. The checks were done in timely fashion and then, the moment of truth, as I lined up on runway 21 at Old Warden. The freshly rebuilt Spitfire started to roll, ever faster as increased power was applied to get to +6 boost and 3,000 rpm. The noise was deafening and I applied some more right aileron

41 to fight the increasing torque that was squashing the left oleo into the grass. With the aircraft tracking straight, a quick glance inside showed oil temp and pressure good and airspeed rising, a gentle bump and she was flying. A quick change of hands and a dab on the brakes to stop the wheels rotating then undercarriage selected up. Two red lights after a resounding thump confirmed that the gear was up and then we were climbing away. The delightful handling has been described by many and, to my surprise on this first flight, there was very little trim required on the ailerons to fly straight. A success so far and all I had to do then was let it all settle down and keep a very close eye on the engine parameters as I spiralled upwards over the airfield into the blue sky. I could tell the Spitfire was happy to be back in the air too! After about 15 minutes of checking the general handling it was time to make sure there were no leaks or anything working loose. Nothing appeared to be amiss so I joined the circuit for a landing. Delaying lowering the gear maintains airflow over the radiator and helps to keep the coolant at a lower temperature but I was more interested in making sure it went down, so selected ‘down’ halfway along the downwind leg. With another familiar thump the two greens appeared to say all was well in the undercarriage department. Full flap came almost instantaneously, with a pitch change, halfway round base turn. With the canopy open it is always advisable on a first flight to put your goggles down as much build debris escapes with the wind, despite the great efforts to remove it all before flight. A speed of 85-90 mph over the hedge proved slightly too fast but with a gentle flare the Spitfire landed on runway 21 with a little skip.

Darren Harbar

42 I taxied back and switched off the engine halfway up the hill as the rad temperature was rising rapidly. The gentle ticking of the exhausts and hissing of the pneumatic system started to go quiet as a group of nervous people gathered round to ask “What’s she like?” For a moment I was lost for words, then “Fantastic”, I said, “and well done to one and all for a great rebuild”. Here’s hoping she’ll enjoy the skies of Old Warden for many years to come and continue to inspire young people, as she did me. Many thanks to Dodge Bailey and Tim Roustis and all the team who made it happen. It was a huge honour to be asked to conduct the first flight after the major rebuild, and another great memory that will stay with me forever.

Captain A G Miller, RFC (Part Two) Graham Skillen

ow ‘ticketed’, Alastair was able to fly around as he chose, so unsurprisingly he took Maurice Farman 661 on a cross-country to the family house at Harwood Nnear Newbury, doing “a few stunts” when he got there. At this point the engine gave trouble so he landed on Newbury Race Course but took off again returning to Upavon. This outing was repeated a day or so later in BE 2c 1676 but, as Alastair was only cleared solo on the Maurice Farman, he was accompanied by more senior pilot, Flt Comd Breese, RN. An evening session with Flt Lt Vernon in BE 2a 441 resulted in Alastair going solo, about which he noted “did one more circuit and landed. Did not smash anything”. Shortly afterwards a weekend outing to Norwich - distance and fuel usage never seemed a problem - Alastair borrowed a Maurice Farman to give his Air Mechanic, Baker, a ride. One has to say it seemed a very relaxed system where a strange pilot could pitch up and borrow one of your aircraft for a quick jaunt. Back at Upavon he carried on flying on BE 2a 454, which he took to 7,000 ft, and BE 2c 1786, 1673 and 4710. These he noted as “absolute Rolls-Royce of a machine and am looking forward to another go in them, easy to land and top-hole to fly”. Initial training over, Alastair passed out at CFS and departed on 14th September 1915 to his Squadron, No 21 at Netheravon, not a million miles away. He was now a Flying Officer with 8 hr 8 min on Maurice Farmans, and 13 hr 54 min on BEs of which 8 hr 59 min was solo. At Netheravon he was given 5331, an Armstrong-Whitworth FK 2 which was an improved version of the BE 2, and began instructing on it. He also had time to give his father a five minute flight! Amazing - try that today! Also part of the activity at Netheravon was experimentation with wireless and night flying in Armstrong Whitworth FK 2 5330. And he was given a flight in a ‘Bloater’, or BE 8 in official parlance. Curiously, he mentions a Curtiss, probably a JN-3, which he looked at. It must have been one belonging to 20 Sqn also based at Netheravon and as reported by Alastair, “the Curtisses were doing a lot of flying”. His time at 21 Squadron and its tired and worn out aircraft came to an end when he was asked to fly a BE 2c, 1676, from Farnborough to France. Bad weather forced him back, but he tried again in BE 2c 4100, once again being forced back. On 5th November he tried again in 4100, climbing to 5,000 ft but running into fog which,

43 together with a failed engine, meant a forced landing at Dorking. The following day, after repairs, he set off again but got lost after Shoreham, ending up at Folkestone, finally arriving in France at St. Omer on the 7th. It was planned that he would then fly another worn-out BE 2c, 1788, back to England, but one and a half hours out of St. Omer the engine was failing so he returned, finally catching the night boat back home. On the 14th November 1915 his RFC record states that he was posted to ‘E.F.’, that is Expeditionary Force, in other words France. Curiously, 5 Squadron as his destination is mentioned in his diary before he left England, although I believe that the RFC General HQ at St Omer was responsible for the allocation of aircraft and pilots to specific units as they put in requests, this being more efficient than it being controlled long range from London. At that date the Squadron was at Bailleul, some 15 miles east of St Omer and Alastair reports meeting his Flight Commander, Captain Read. He was allocated BE 2c 4501 fitted with a 90 hp RAF engine and on the 18th took it into the air for 15 minutes, reporting “flying very well”. Later the same day they were bombed by the Germans but Alastair was unable to respond by taking off and chasing them as his machine was unarmed. He flew again the following day for another 15 minutes, with an Air Mechanic as passenger, possibly with the aircraft now armed, but the winter cold air essentially did for him and he was shepherded off to hospital the following day with acute rheumatism, later returning to England by hospital train, so ending his time on the Western Front after a few days and two 15 minute flights. One could comment on this in various ways but, in his defence, his medical record before going to France wasn’t great and in fact he saw out the rest of the war in England, with repeated medical problems, all dutifully written down in his official record. His diary records a busy and active life, much as before, once he was released from hospital early in 1916. After the end of his sick leave he reported to Lt Col Cormack at RFC Headquarters at the War Office, where he was put to work inspecting factories. This seems to have been largely based in the London area using a Crossley tender to get about. About this time he became engaged to Kathleen Daisy Howard, whose father lived at The Moat, Upend, Newmarket, more of which anon. She was only fourteen and still at school in Harrow at the time but the diaries don’t record how they met. Alastair was still under the control of the RFC Medical Boards and although they decided he was permanently unfit for General Services it seems that he wasn’t prohibited from flying as in early 1916 he took a friend up in a BE 2c from Hounslow for a ten minute flight. He was also trying to borrow a BE2c from Hounslow to get up to Newmarket to see his fiancée but the poor weather beat him. In June 1916 he was posted to No 14 Reserve Squadron at Catterick, immediately starting to fly again, instructing and giving flights to various RFC personnel in Maurice Farman Longhorns. After talking to Col Cormack at the War Office he was posted back to the CFS at Upavon as a Wing-Adjutant, where he was given BE 2c 5395, as his machine, flying it and others, 7144, 4168 and 1676, on various instructing duties with A-flight including visits to Bournemouth and Netheravon. Whether it was arranged with his contacts at the War Office or not, Alastair was posted on 12th July 1916 to 51 (Home Defence) Squadron at Thetford, where he was to

44 take over a flight. This was, of course, conveniently close to his fiancée’s father’s house which facilitated stopping for lunch on various cross-country training flights. These training outings also included going to Southwold to renew friendships from before the war, one occasioning a night stop when the weather deteriorated. The aircraft used was BE2c 4099, although Alastair mentions the presence of a single-seat BE 12 at Thetford as well. His own machine was BE 2c 2474 which he used for further outings to Southwold, Newmarket and Rowdham, but when busy at Thetford on other matters he was able to have his fiancée, Kathleen, in attendance. Another world! Things changed somewhat for Alastair on 28th July 1916. 51 (Home Defence) Squadron was just that, their primary purpose being to defend England against the Zeppelins and night bombers, the existence of which and the damage they’d done, causing disquiet amongst the civilian population. Alastair, himself, had been at the receiving end of a Zeppelin raid on 13th October 1915 when a bomb landed outside the door of the Strand Theatre where he was attending a performance of The Scarlet Pimpernel. He reported “bombed by Zeppelins and knocked in, but we all got home alright” and that he had returned in the morning to look at the damage. So now was his chance to fight back. At 11.30 pm Friday the 29th July, Zeppelins were reported over the Eastern counties. Alastair and Beanlands (possibly the later Captain Bernard Beanlands, MC) were called out and at 2 am they went to intercept the raiders, climbing to 5,000 ft, but were defeated by fog (flying by night in fog in 1916 - brave men!). Unfortunately Alastair wrecked his BE 2c, 2474, on landing,

The wreckage of Beanlands and Alastair Miller’s night-fighting B.E. 2cs 2473 and 2474 after their collision in August 1916. A bit of work for the Mechanics the morning afterwards! 45 colliding with Beanlands aircraft, 2473. It would appear from the heavy thumbing that the photographs shown here of the pile of BE 2c wreckage were carried about by Alastair in his wallet as a memento. In the side view of 2473, under its fuselage the wreckage of 2474 is marked with an X, with the note “My machine is the one underneath, which is scarcely visible”. He was fairly shaken up, as one might expect. The photographs show that 2473 appears to be painted matt black overall, with a hand painted serial number, and no other markings. The date, July 1916, is before the introduction of Nivo as a night-fighter scheme. Regarding the Zeppelins, it was a ten airship attack and the fog beat them as well as the Bes with no damage being done. Alastair was back on flying duties soon afterwards, flying BE 12s 6160 and 6161 as well as the more familiar BE 2c 4203. By now a flight commander, Alastair, after successive bouts of sick leave ended up once again at the War Office, recruiting for the RFC and RNAS. Here he remained for the better part of two years, also being involved in inspecting squadron transport in the southern half of the country. In passing, his diary notes the “big explosion at Silvertown, near Woolwich - saw it plainly from the park”. This explosion of 50 tons

Another picture of the wreckage following the collision between the two B.E.s in August 1916.

46 of TNT in a munitions factory on 19th January 1917 killed 73 people and damaged 70,000 properties. Also noted was the big air raid on London on 13th June 1917, the first daylight raid by fixed wing aircraft, Gothas, 104 people being killed. Alastair was anxious to get back to a flying job and with the metamorphosis of the RFC into the RAF in April 1918 he was posted, still as a flight commander, to the newly formed No.1 Group, covering the South-East area. He was then appointed Acting Squadron Commander for 56 Training Squadron at London Colney. Even though a commander, he was not cleared to fly the aircraft type to hand, the ubiquitous Avro 504, so in his ‘going about’ was accompanied by another pilot. In this fashion, from London Colney he made a local flight on 25th June 1918 in Avro 504J (Monosoupape) D4372, went to Hendon in D25 and to Watford (Cassiobury Park) in D112 for lunch on Saturday 13th July. Regrettably he pranged the Avro on return to London Colney, slightly damaging another one on the tarmac. He did another 45 minutes in D4395 with Captain Thomas, before driving with him to Chingford to collect DH 6 2650, but abandoned the idea due to the poor weather. On return he drove to Newmarket where he was given a flight in a DH 6 by Captain Edgar. On being cleared medically to fly he returned to London Colney where he made several flights in DH 6 2650 with RFC passengers. His RFC flying career came to a rather dramatic close on 29th September 1918 with him taking DH 6 2650 to Newmarket in company with Major Darley in a BE 2c, with the DH 6 “not flying too well”. He was heading for his future father-in- law’s house, The Moat, but got lost, then spotted Major Darley force landed in a field, so landed beside him. Major Darley then taxied the DH 6 but ran inadvertently into a farm horse-rake, damaging the wing leading edge. Undaunted, the pair of them then proceeded in the BE, presumably restored to health, to Newmarket Aerodrome. By the end of the war he had returned to being London based and seems to have been demobbed in January 1919. Spring 2018 Crossword Solution

1 2 3 4 5 6 R S T G C A 7 8 H AWKER A THENA D I I M R Z 9 10 H IND P ERCIVAL A L K S N 11 12 13 G LOS TER A LVIS 14 P X L E 15 16 17 18 S T ALL B ALANC E 19 A I R T I 20 21 S PITFIRE A NEC P P V R L R 22 23 V ENICE A CTIVE T N T L O A 47 12 3 4567

12 3 4567 8 Prize Crossword

8 The prizes for the first two correct 9 10 entries pulled from the hat on 11th 9 10 September are DVDs of the 2018 Premier Air Show. Entries must be 11 12 received by noon on 4th September 11 12 13 to qualify. 13 14 15 16 Please send your completed grid (copies acceptable) or a numbered 14 15 16 17 list of answers, clearly identified 17 18 19 20 with your name, membership

18 19 20 number and contact details either 21 by email to [email protected] 21 22 23 (email headed ‘Summer Crossword’

22 23 with grid or list attached) or post to SVAS, Old Warden Aerodrome, 24 25 Biggleswade SG18 9EP, marking the 24 25 envelope ‘Summer Crossword’.

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