WINTER 2016
JOURNAL OF THE SHUTTLEWORTH VETERAN AEROPLANE SOCIETY
In this issue: Peter Holloway and the Ryan STA Jack Bruce: the historian as artist Shuttleworth goes to RIAT Clayton Wagons Ltd 1 PROP-SWING WINTER 2016 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 Jim Box, Paul Ferguson SECRETARY: Edward Forrest, James Michell Bill Grigg, 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, Icknield Way, Baldock, Herts, SG7 5BB, 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: Peter Holloway’s Ryan STA on finals to R12 on 8th May this year Paul Ferguson
2 Seasons Greetings to all our readers
Editorial Bill Grigg
s ever, other people have beaten me to it in writing about most of the latest news which is both fortunate in that it saves me the job but unfortunate as it Aleaves me with an editorial to write! One ‘other person’, our new Chairman, Kevin Panter, explains the changes in the SVAS hierarchy in a few pages time. I don’t want to repeat what he says except that, as you’ll realise, the fact that he is our new Chairman means that Ken Cox, who steered the ship admirably from our low membership days in the 1990s to the getting on for 4,000 members in recent times, has retired from that post. We’ll all certainly miss Ken’s presence at the helm but he’ll still be seen around Old Warden in his role as Honorary Life Vice President. Those of you who came to the first air show of this year, although impressed by the Red Arrows, must have been dismayed at the distance of displaying aircraft from the crowd - a result of new regulations imposed by the CAA after the Shoreham accident: small aircraft like the Tiger Moth and Magister were mere specks in the distance and, not ideally, flying over the trees of the copse. Fortunately, Dodge Bailey and Jean-Michel Munn put in a lot of hard work to make carefully researched representations to the CAA and secured agreement to restoring many display routines to close to their former glory. We owe them our heartfelt thanks. You may have been wondering what’s happening to the Granger Archaeopteryx rebuild that’s been appearing on our aircraft status list for years with no apparent progress having been made. Well, the fuselage was finished a long time ago - if you were a member in 2005 you’ll have seen a photo of it in that Summer’s issue of P-S. I recently contacted Richard Granger to find out the current situation and he told me he’s had many more pressing distractions not to mention a health problem, thankfully much improved, to keep him from the rebuild in the intervening years but, “Fear not, the Archaeopteryx is alive and well and, bar the pilot’s harness, the structure is complete. Until December, when all went pear shaped, I was working on the wings and elevons, which are now finished. New controller shafts and extension tubes, bearings overhauled, CONTENTS new wing strut support brackets, repair of all The Ryan STA 4 the damaged woodwork, strengthening where SVAS & Collection News 10 necessary, and all nicely shellacked and awaiting Photo Section selection 15 inspection and covering. So now it is sitting in Aero Workshops 19 my nice warm workshop awaiting the next stage. Vehicle Collection Report 23 I know it is only twelve years into a two year rebuild, but I think the end is in sight. Having made Do You Read Me 28 a fool of myself on many occasions concerning the Jack Bruce as artist 32 completion date, I will most certainly keep you Shuttleworth goes to RIAT 35 posted without actually telling you when, if that is Clayton Wagons Ltd 40 OK with you!” It certainly is, and I eagerly await C & S Agricultural Collection 42 the next instalment. Idle Wonderings 44
3 The Ryan STA – First Impressions Peter Holloway
Darren Harbar
ome of you may remember my Ryan PT22 G-BTBH, a weird ugly device the appearance of which prompted more questions than its flying qualities (plus Sa few sniggers..) Weird definitely, with its funny bird-like undercarriage and its pop pop poppin’ Kinner radial that sounded like it was going to quit at any time. Flying qualities? Ahem, there’s a subject - despite its Primary Trainer designation, the PT22 remains a far more challenging aircraft than its contemporaries such as the Boeing Stearman and Fairchild Cornell. The high wing loading and unforgiving stall characteristics of the 22 were much more likely than his final Flight Assessment to end a rookie pilot’s training. Developed directly from the earlier STA, virtually everything was lost in the metamorphosis into a rugged trainer. Ruin the looks, add 400 lbs to its empty weight and the fairy became a toad. All that apart, I really liked it. A hoot of a thing! So, what of the fairy? The Ryan ST Series dates back to 1933. The design was clearly inspired by the racing aircraft of the day for which there was a huge public following. Its construction was highly advanced for the period, the fuselage consisting of steel and aluminium frames skinned in Alclad, and with an integral aluminium wing centre section. The wing panels had wooden spars but with Alclad ribs and leading edges. The engine is a Menasco, the various marques fitted ranging from 125-150 hp. The STA was a rich man’s plaything indeed. Few could afford one.
4 Keen to sell the aircraft as widely as possible, some were even sold to Nationalist China with a machine gun fitted. Floatplane versions were also offered. Anyway, you can find all that stuff on the Net. NC 18923 was built in 1939, is arguably the best extant of 76 built and 22 known survivors. It’s also fitted with the rare 139 hp Super Pirate providing a few more useful horses over the standard 125 hp but without the additional weight and reliability issues that seem to plague the 150 hp supercharged version. Aware of the STA, I had never seen one in the flesh. However, there is one in Rocketeer, a terrific 1991 kiddyflick with an air-racing theme, you can order a copy from Amazon for less than a fiver. The flying scenes are just great. Whilst the Gee Bee Sportster takes the lead, there is some glorious footage of a glittering STA rounding the pylons. How was I to know that I would one day own one of the machines in the film.
Darren Harbar Leaping ahead to 2011 (crikey, was it that long ago?!) John Munn and I flew the Storch to Hahnweide (see Winter 2011 Prop-Swing – Ed). We routed to Paderborn to connect with our friends at The Quax Club there – a like-minded group of vintage aeroplane enthusiasts. Theirs is a fabulous, ultra modern hangar complex in which the main hangar doubles as a conference and corporate event venue. Imagine the scene – polished floor, empty hangar and THE most beautiful aircraft ever built, EVER, posing in the corner beneath spotlights. It was love at first sight. From every angle the STA looked amazing. My questions fired off thick and fast in the direction of anybody who might know something about it.
5 Keith South It transpired that the owner had bought it from an American who had discovered it languishing in a small museum in Washington State and who had managed to acquire it when the museum closed its doors for the last time, auctioning off all the exhibits. Freeze frame Rocketeer and you will see the aircraft in the background as a static exhibit. It was painted then. A no expense-spared restoration was completed in 2005 by Victoria Air Maintenance in Canada (currently restoring a DH Mosquito to airworthiness). The work included a complete re-skinning of the fuselage and an engine rebuild by the world renowned Al Ball, guru in all things Menasco and Kinner. The aircraft flew occasionally in Canada and was then shipped to Arizona from where, after a further year, it was sold to Germany in order to fund the owner’s next project. Its German owner was obviously struck by such a thing of beauty in the same way as me for, although he only flew it a couple of times, he loved it very much and polished it regularly. Indeed, most of its flights were to relocate it – initially from Tempelhof on its closure, to Dortmund, and then to Paderborn – and it was being flown only by the very experienced Quax Club CFI, Tobias Rupel. “I have to have this aeroplane”, I confided in my German friends. “No chance. He doesn’t fly it but won’t sell. We also like it here because we hire it out for our corporate functions. Shhhh…..! The owner also pays hangarage for it.” Undeterred, I proposed a number of scenarios over the years, including what I thought would be an offer that couldn’t be refused in the form of my Bücker Jungmeister. It was… My friends diligently passed on my various proposals and offers, the culmination of which, in 2014 was a message: “Please tell Holloway that
6 my aircraft will be for sale over my dead body.” It should be clear to all that my intention over the next few years is to reduce my collection of aeroplanes, from a total of seven in 2007 to a level that is far easier to justify to the lovely Nicky, whose aspirations are more inclined to a holiday home, flat for the kids and other things far more sensible than aeroplanes. No sooner did I agree to this than the sad news reached me. The owner of the STA had died. My interest in it was well known (!) and I struck a deal with the estate. However, I had to promise that I wouldn’t keep it for more than a year: I vividly remember the rolling eyes. The decision was taken to dismantle the thing and truck it as opposed to flying it, despite its current Certificate of Airworthiness. This turned out to be a ‘Wise Move’ because the years of inactivity in a heated hangar had dried out the wooden spars to a degree and all the wing fittings were loose. Both magnetos were also found to be faulty and could have quit at any time. Off they went to be overhauled. Holes were cut in the lovely wing fabric to inspect the structure and tighten everything; the exact paint match was sourced; a new radio and battery were fitted and a considerable list of rectifications was drawn up and painstakingly gone through by our terrific engineers. Came the day, Dodge taxied in after a successful test flight and grinned at me:“Peter, you’ll like this!” he said. So, what is it like to fly? Climbing carefully into the exquisitely finished but snug cockpit, and trying very hard not to leave any finger marks on the gleaming fuselage, I lowered myself onto the leather seat. In fact, with the Holloway bulk in overalls and jacket, it really is VERY snug indeed. The top fuselage stringers were relocated to the outside on the later PT22 to enlarge the cockpit and allow the pilot to escape more easily by parachute. However, nothing compromised the clean, smooth, gorgeous lines of the STA. In my case, I aimed to sit as low as possible to allow my shoulders to fit below the cockpit opening. Unfortunately, with the seat fully back, the padded leather headrest pushed my head forward a little. I guess we could fix that quite easily. I opened the fuel tap, stroked the wobble pump lever to build fuel pressure, set the mixture to ‘rich’, set the advance/ retard lever to the position we learned works best, pumped the throttle a few times, set it, held the stick back and pressed the starter. The prop spun quickly and Darren Harbar the Menasco burst into life in a cloud of
7 white smoke, the exhaust stubs crackled and popped away. After warming for several minutes I taxied out in a series of exaggerated S’s in order to prove the (toe) brakes. With checks complete and flap selected, I smoothly opened the throttle. Acceleration is more leisurely than brisk but the tail was soon up and we were climbing
Both photographs Darren Harbar
8 away. As I retracted the flaps and scanned the instruments, I waggled the ailerons and smiled to myself. The Magister isn’t blessed with anything like the response. In the cruise, the Menasco puttered away quite happily. The stall was fairly benign even with full flap. I soon found myself flying ever-steepening turns and wingovers. As the G-force pushed more air out of the seat cushion, my shoulders were less confined by the cockpit sides. I was settling in well! I found it difficult to balance the turns correctly and impossible to predict where the slip ball would be when I checked it during my manoeuvres. Must try harder…. After 20 minutes at height away from the airfield I joined overhead and then descended into a practice display. The airframe is quite slippery despite the plethora of struts and bracing wires, which began to sing as the speed built. Being such a light, dinky little machine I found it easy to position, aided by its delightful controls. As I flew downwind to land, thoughts moved to the STA’s reputation for being somewhat tricky to land. Used to the ‘picture’ ahead – long nose and bracing wires - my thoughts darted back to the PT22, with its most flattering of undercarriages. How different could it be? I pointed the nose into the crosswind and pulled off the most gentle of landings. Absolutely divine. A fluke? Absolutely! My next landing was, let us say, a learning experience. As I began to flare I allowed the mainwheels to touch first and an unexpected fairground ride was the consequence. Ugh! With the wind building, and the crosswind more acute, my next take-off wasn’t pretty either. I raised the tail too early despite a mental note to self not to. With full opposite rudder I needed a dab of differential brake also in order to bring the end of the runway back into view. Phew! I’m working hard here. My focus now was to pull off a landing as good as my first (ever) in the thing. I recovered well from the third bounce (!) and decided to call it a day, hoping that nobody had been watching. When I taxied in the sniggers said it all. All aeroplanes are different. It takes time to learn how to fly them. Fortunately, with my machines I am not constrained in the same way as with the Collection aircraft and can fly them as often as I wish. My ensuing practice stood me in good stead when I displayed it at Little Gransden in support of Children in Need 2016. The wind was a blustery 15 kts at 90 degrees, yet I landed it beautifully on two occasions. The take- offs were uneventful. Flying back to Old Warden, the wind was straight down the runway. No excuses. I bounced it again... So what do I think? It is a drop dead gorgeous aeroplane, so much so that I quickly replaced the drip tray with a Champagne bucket. It flies beautifully. With a few more horses and a greater MAUW (Maximum All Up Weight) it would be a dream. On the debit side it’s an aeroplane to be treated with extreme care, it will otherwise bite the unwary. It’s an aeroplane to be fettled and polished, and brought out into the sunshine only on rare days – pretty much as you would operate a vintage car. I’m sure I will
9 Kevin Frazer live to regret the promise I made to keep it for just a year, but a promise is just that. Besides, I have a mooring in Croatia and I love boats too!
From the Chairman Kevin Panter
his year has been one of change for the Collection. There have been aircraft changes, staffing changes, new flying display participants, the new buses Thave been particularly popular with visitors and new ideas have been trialled for events; the ground activities in particular have been expanded, with themed agricultural and WW2 events and also the excellent ‘Shuttleworth Sprint’ which I am sure Richard Shuttleworth would have been proud of. Hopefully all of these events can be built upon for next year. At the same time there have also been major changes at the Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society. A new e-mail system to communicate with members is being introduced and will be used to try to give more frequent updates from the SVAS. We have introduced two new membership categories: Student (for those aged up to 25) and Family (for two adults living at the same address) so please ensure that you renew with the best choice for you. Perhaps the biggest occurrence of the year was that Ken Cox MBE stepped down at this year’s AGM after 25 years as Chairman. I have been asked by the Executive Committee of the SVAS to take over as Chairman. Ken will be a tough act to follow and I thank him for his hard work for the SVAS and the Collection. Ken will not disappear from life at the Collection as he has accepted the position of Honorary Life Vice President of the SVAS. 10 Many of you may already know me, or at least have seen me around. I have been a volunteer at Shuttleworth for several years and have been secretary to the SVAS since 2001. I am often seen on the airfield driving the little grey Fergie tractor and am also (partially) responsible for organising the annual aviation lecture and scale model exhibition that are put on for the Collection. I have been known to commentate on a few barnstorming airshow acts and help out when required around the Collection during the season. Shuttleworth keeps me busy, but I also have a full time job working in IT. Although this means that I will not be around on a daily basis at the Collection, I will be assisted in my role by Alan Reed who has agreed to take on the role of Vice Chairman and to liaise with the Collection on a day to day basis. Completing the changes in the SVAS management, James Michell will be taking on the responsibilities of the Secretary. Although there are some changes, hopefully nothing is too drastic and as a previous Aviation Trustee once commented, we are “changing to stay the same”. I welcome feedback, ideas and suggestions for other activities for the SVAS and can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected] I hope to see many members at Old Warden over the coming year.
From the Treasurer John Edser
his time I’ve decided to keep my ‘bit’ short and sweet because there is only one thing uppermost in my mind that I really need your help with and I don’t want Tyou falling asleep before you reach the end…. As you may already have read, our subscription rates for next year have changed as follows:
Adult membership £30 Adult overseas membership £35 Family membership (two residing at the same address) £50 Student membership (16-25) £15 Life membership (joining at age 25-60) £575 Life membership (joining over 60) £395
Now this is the really important bit which will cost me hours of extra work if ignored: if you pay by standing order PLEASE, PLEASE. PLEASE cancel your existing order and set up a new one to reflect your new rate BEFORE it is due on 1st February 2017. The easiest way, if you have the facility, is to cancel your existing standing order and set up a new one online. If you do not have online banking please do the same thing by informing your bank by snail mail. Please don’t forget to cancel the existing order as we still have some running from the last change 8 years ago! The payment date should be 1st February annually and please use your membership number as the ‘Reference’ for the payment. Our bank details are: Bank of Scotland, Account Name: Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society, Sort Code: 12-17-50, 11 Account No: 00803088. Again, please use your membership number (printed on the renewal form or a Prop-Swing envelope address label) as the ‘Reference’; otherwise I will not know who the payment is from. If you do not currently pay by standing order and wish to do so, please simply follow the above instructions. I’ve been dreading this change so watch this space for an update on the chaos that will almost certainly be caused. Please change your Standing Order today!
From the Library John Benjamin
nother year is drawing to a close and it is a bright autumn day as I write with a hint of sadness that summer is now behind us. A Life in the library continues running to its settled routine – Jim and I handling enquiries and accessions while Frank and Peter concentrate on cataloguing the contents of folders, a task which is approaching completion, if not by the end of this year then certainly during the first quarter of next. It’s been a quiet summer with plenty of work but no outstanding high spots. However, much to our surprise, we received a request for assistance with research from Kevin Desmond. Many of you will be familiar with his illustrated biography of Richard Shuttleworth published in 1982: this is the first contact we have had with him since then. He has asked us to assist with research into aspects of early aviation, the specific topics presently being confidential for commercial reasons. However we will produce a report in due course, which we hope you will find of interest. Jim is undertaking this task. Three of the team paid a visit to the Cambridge University Library (CUL) in company with Ciara Harper in July. A fascinating visit as the CUL are world leaders in digitisation and modern exhibition techniques apart from holding the most wonderful collections of ancient and medieval artifacts. Of special interest to us is the Vickers Archive which covers the period 1867-1970 and is concerned with the activities of all the companies in the group including aviation, ship-building and armaments. The CUL is planning an exhibition covering the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic from west to east by Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown in June 1919. They flew a modified Vickers Vimy bomber from Newfoundland to Connemara. The Shuttleworth Collection Archives contain a set of four framed photographs associated with John Alcock and a copy of an invoice for the preparation of the airstrip in Newfoundland prior to the flight. Having mentioned this material to CUL, we shall be shortly sending copies of it to them for possible inclusion in their planned exhibition. While on the subject of exhibitions, in early November we will commence planning and collating materials for the 2017 ‘From the Archives’ Exhibition, the theme being aviation in 1917. Finally, following the recent re-organisation of the Shuttleworth Trust, the
12 Library and Archive team now report to Ciara Harper, the Marketing Manager, and look forward to a continuing cordial working relationship. As ever, my thanks go to the Library Team – Jim, Frank and Peter for putting up with me and without whom little or nothing would happen. We continue to welcome your comments and suggestions – contact us at our email address library@ shuttleworth.org – we look forward to hearing from you. Also, please don’t forget to let us know in advance if you plan to visit the Library and the topic(s) of interest to you. We would appreciate a minimum of three weeks’ notice so that we can prepare the necessary material before your visit.
Marketing & Communications Update Ciara Harper
Filming The Great Flying Challenge has recently been aired on BBC NI and was available on BBC iPlayer. The series is about building a replica of Harry Ferguson’s 1911 monoplane. In one episode our Chief Pilot, Dodge Bailey, was interviewed by Dick Strawbridge (better known for Scrapheap Challenge!) about the challenges of flying these early aircraft. The series should be released on the BBC in the UK early next year and a copy on DVD will be in the library at some point in the future.
The Collection Hangars Plans are being drawn up to revitalise the internal displays in the hangars to make The Collection more enjoyable for visitors and put the history and heritage of the Shuttleworth family on display. This is being done to support the Trust’s aims of attracting more daily visitors next year and, with input from the engineers, marketing, education, agricultural teams and the Vehicle Section, we hope to achieve this whilst keeping costs as low as possible. As part of this planning process The Collection’s vintage bicycles have been properly photographed for the first time. The House was chosen as the location for the photos as not only does it make an attractive period backdrop but there are historical images of Colonel Frank and Richard riding bicycles so it makes a nice link between the past and present. The new images will help provide improved displays within the hangars, Penny Farthing at The House Darren Harbar 13 Arrol Johnston in the 1930s and in 2016 2016 Darren Harbar on the website and for advertising. We’ve also recreated a modern day version of the archive photo of the Arrol Johnston outside The House to use in promoting its participation in this year’s London to Brighton Run.
Social Media Our social media channels have benefitted from an increased number of subscribers over the past season, mainly for The Collection. Page Likes for Facebook as of 1st October are: for The Collection 18,955, Swiss Garden 1,509, and The House 867. On Twitter, The Collection has 3,760 followers, Swiss Garden 398, and The House 1,671. These statistics are valuable as the sites are important channels by which we can let those interested know about future news and events.
Contrasting cars at the Race Day Season Finale - 1913 Mercedes... 14 ...and Austin Seven special Paul Smith Education Shuttleworth’s Education Officer, Chris Jefferson, has run children’s activities at our airshows for the later part of the season. It’s intended that they will be a regular feature for the 2017 season and if anyone is keen to be involved, please get in touch with Chris over the winter months – [email protected] On the PR front The Collection’s agricultural display had a feature spread in Vintage Spirit (August); expect to see coverage of the excellent visiting car array for our Race Day; Season Finale in Octane magazine and on motoring websites. Oh, and The Collection Guide has gone to press and will be on the shelves by mid-late November!
From the Tent (including Photo Section Selection) Paul Ferguson
t’s been a vintage year for us photographers. The weather has been kind, apart from that pesky wind, that is, and thanks are due to the Collection for continuing to find Inew and interesting types to entertain us at the air shows. The season was rounded off with the Roaring Twenties Race day which passed in fine style. That day was also meant to be the closing date for our print competition but there were disappointingly few entries. Photo Section members who have received our Merlin e-newsletter will already know that the closing date has been put back to 31st December. In case you think that mounting prints is too difficult we also took the opportunity to send out with the
15 Mark Davy in his Yak-3M at 3rd July airshow Barry Dowsett
Re-enactors relaxing 18th June Beth Braham 16 Posing by the Fergie on 16th July Paul Braham
Mew Gull catches the sun on 7th August Chris Enion 17 Anson interior Andrew Goldsmith newsletter some guidance on how to do it. If any member has not received the newsletter it may be because our record of your email address is not correct in which case please let me know at svasphotosection@gmail. com Do please have a go at entering the competition. Following our enjoyable visit to the RAF Museum earlier this year, the Photo Section has plans to arrange a visit before the start of next season to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Visitor Centre with a guided tour of the BBMF Hangar. The cost of entry will be about £8 and any SVAS member will be welcome. If you are interested please email me at the above address and I will arrange a date and try to arrange car sharing.
Little and Large on 4th September Andrew Goldsmith 18 From the Aero Workshops ‘Crankcase’
t’s good to report that the Sopwiths, Camel and Triplane, are now ready to go, with engines successfully test run, but on the downside there’s a lot of paperwork Ito be completed before Dodge can even think of making test flights. Apart from that, let’s run through the aircraft where there’s something significant to report in alphabetical order. First, the Avro Tutor has had the piston in No. 1, the topmost, cylinder of its Lynx radial replaced. A compression test showed a low reading and with the plug removed you could see the piston rocking slightly in the bore. It was diagnosed that excess wear had occurred as this cylinder is the highest and, with the splash lubrication system employed, the most likely to be short of oil until the engine is running reasonably fast. In future it’s been deemed prudent to add pre-oiling No. 1 to the start up routine. As a slight digression, the master connecting rod operates on the Lynx’s top piston though in many later designs it’s found on one lower down where the master rod is more likely to be guaranteed its full share of lubrication. There are pros and cons for doing that and probably the earlier design sought to minimise the effects of hydraulic lock if excess oil got past a piston. If a slave rodded piston/connecting rod failed through hydraulic lock the engine could keep running with minimal damage, if it happened to the master rod, it certainly wouldn’t! The Blériot XI has been running rough and it’s suspected that the flywheel balances clamped onto the crankshaft could have shifted slightly, causing imbalance or perhaps just touching the sides of the crankcase. It’s hardly surprising that the engine will have to come out to check as the log book shows that historically the average time between overhauls and/or failure of the Anzani is two and a half hours! That’s a telling legacy of a time, fairly early in aviation petrol engine development, when to get off the ground you needed an engine that was as light as possible whilst giving as much power as possible. As visitors to recent shows will have seen, the Bristol M.1C is going like a train, but all is not quite as rosy as it seems. The 110 hp le Rhône was never a consistently good engine in its own time and the idiosyncrasy of the one in the Bristol is that at the moment it runs very well at flying type revs but is a devil to get to pick up after it’s throttled right back. Hence, after it’s been started and is raring to go and has to be throttled back so that the chocks can be removed without employing superhuman strength, the engine can take an age to pick up, leaving the pilot in a spot of limbo. Phil will, I’m sure, be working on it over the winter. The Wren is in what we might call an advanced state of re-covering, with the emphasis on weight saving to get improved performance. Lightweight fabric has been used and as few coats of dope as practicable applied. One of the problems is that it’s effectively a motor glider and as such, for a small aeroplane, has a relatively large wing area to be doped. The engine of the Hind is still being worked on. What started as an investigation of the skew gear that drives the engine accessories revealed worn main bearings. The
19 The re-covered Wren fuselage in October crankshaft is alright so it’s just (“Hah, just!” say the engineers) a case of replacing the bearings. The old lead bronze type are not the ideal choice for longevity in today’s world and the engineering dept is working on the possibility of replacing them at some stage with modern thin wall, steel backed bearings. This of course would be a significant modification and will require careful investigation. As many of you may have seen, the Sea Hurricane’s tail wheel snapped off during a landing on the afternoon of the Flying Proms in August. Fortunately damage was limited to slight rippling to the underside of the rear fuselage and rudder. The yoke holding the wheel is similar to that fitted to the Hind and Gladiator and thus originally designed to support lighter aircraft. (It’s understood that Battle of Britain airfields flying Mk I Hurricanes kept a ready stock of spare tailwheel yokes!) The Mk II had a much stronger affair but we like to keep ours original and a replacement Mk I type is being fitted. 20 The Mew Gull missed the Race Day show as during its annual servicing small slivers of white metal were found in the filters. The top cover of the engine was taken off (remember, it’s inverted) to check the bearings and the main bearing shells of Nos 2 and 5 cylinders were seen to be out of line. The shells were loose as a result of the dowel pins that hold them in place having failed. Many bearings are held in place by slotting into detents in the block, but perversely in the Gypsy Queen these small pins are used. The photos below should make their positioning clear.
Fortunately this pin failure resulted in no damage to the journals, crankshaft or crankcase. New dowels and shells are to be fitted but, unfortunately, internal inspection of the crankshaft while it was out found corrosion in No 6 crankpin – which equals scrap crankshaft. Luckily there’s a good looking spare in the stores and it’s being cleaned and assessed as I write. That complex jigsaw that’s the Spitfire continues to come together. The wing bolts to hand have successfully been reamed and fitted but there are still three awaited
The Spitfire’s recently fitted pristine radiator (above) and a tight fit for the coolant pipes between fuselage and wing root (right)
21 Ian Laraman wiggling one of the Spitfire’s coolant pipes into a very restricted space from the suppliers, Supermarine Aero. While they’re on the way, Ian and the team have been installing the radiator and cooling system, completing the wiring and making sure everything aft of the firewall is in perfect order before fitting the engine. Everything’s so tightly packaged and they don’t want to have to take the engine out to fix something that doesn’t work! The flaps and pneumatics do all work and they’re currently sorting out a few leaks in the undercarriage mechanism. That concludes the spares and repairs bit, but it should be mentioned that the BAe trio of Avro 19, Blackburn B2 and Moth have attended a number of away air shows and events during 2016 with no problems reported. See Julian Harcourt’s report on the trio’s trip to RIAT later in this issue.
RV7 update John Edser
’ve done it! Since the previous issue I’ve put in another 250 hours, taking the grand total to just under 2,000 hours, a mark that will be reached once final assembly Ihas been completed. You may recall I estimated 3 years to complete the project when I started in July 2013 so I am pleased to have completed almost on time – I’m now contemplating volunteering to help the Highways Agency with getting motorway repairs carried out on time. Whilst waiting for the upholstery to be delivered from America I spent many more
22 hours filling, sanding and priming the fibreglass cowls, spats, fairings and spinner in order to keep down the cost of spraying the final finish coat. Other work included fitting the control sticks and a first fit of all control surfaces. Finally the protective plastic coating was removed from all panels which were then cleaned together with the canopy, ready for shipment.
When the upholstery turned up in mid-September I realised that the manufacturers had changed the seat back design since I built my RV6-A which meant that, just when I thought that I had finished, I had to set about making up the aluminium trays that the seat backs fit into (not required on the earlier seats). To keep the cost down I ordered some fabric and made arm rests and panels to insulate the pilot’s and passenger’s arms from the side of the fuselage. Very pleased with myself, I rechecked the avionics and discovered that the ammeter was not working so, being an electronics engineer, I thought it must be something simple and took it apart…. Well I’ve never seen an ammeter with so many electronics inside; I spent some time on it and discovered that one chip was u/s, changed it and found that I had not cured the fault. After changing another three chips I gave up and ordered a new one from Vans… that fixed it! So, with the project complete I have been in discussion with Jean Munn about transporting the aircraft to Old Warden. Once there, it is my intention to fly down for several days to help with and oversee the final assembly before the test flight takes place. As you know, the intended use of the aircraft is to carry out training and offer air experience flights to the next generation of aviators. As such and in memory of Trevor, I have placed the following words on the aircraft identification plate:Built by Trevor Roche and John Edser and operated by the Shuttleworth Collection in memory of Trevor Roche to inspire future aviators.
Vehicle Collection Report Neil Thomas and Stuart Gray
hat a year it’s been, with a packed series of events held both on and off site and vehicles taking part in both static and active roles. But what have we Wbeen up to in our two operational sites at the collection? The ‘display’ side in Hangar 5 has, as previously mentioned, been where minor repairs are carried out, mainly on the motorbikes. The cars there are primarily just 23 checked over for fitness to go on parade. Also based there are the two Leyland buses which are looked after by a dedicated ‘bus group’. I will hasten to add here that the polishing and cleaning of all vehicles is also done there by the ‘spick and span group’, both groups set up by Stuart Gray (the Guv). In more detail, the work on the Sunbeam S8 motorbike - which required a full replacement wiring loom - has been completed and it’s now on parade. The BSA M20 (RAF) has had new clutch plates fitted and they are now bedding in nicely. The Norton Big 4’s sidecar had its wooden frame examined and dry rot was discovered on the near side, which had caused the door to drop. Replacement wood for the sill should cure the problem. The ABC motorbike has had its petrol tank, pipes and carburettor cleaned out, has been reassembled and now needs some TLC spent on it to achieve reliable running. Over in the main workshop at Home Farm the volunteers have been hard at work on our four main restorations. We haven’t yet seen the De Dietrich running as hoped for in the Summer 2016 report, but the car is still coming together and the rather vestigial bodywork has been repainted ready for refitting. The newly cast replacement water rail is now fitted to the Wolseley’s engine and although it appears at first sight to be just a simple job to bolt it to the top of the cylinders, the core plugs which needed replacing at the same time are located at the bottom of the studs holding on both cylinders and water rail, so the cylinders and ancillaries had
The Wolseley engine with the new water rail fitted to the top of the cylinders. That’s one of the newley refurbished wheels in the background
24 to come off too. All that work has now been successfully completed and also the Wolseley’s wheels are back from the repairers with new spokes and felloes, just awaiting some paint. Nearly all the upholstery in the Wolseley is original except that the rear nearside door lining has been replaced (with inappropriate material!) The reason this was found necessary was that there is a crack in the door which had let water Rebuilt Bosch double six magneto to fire the in. The door is off the car for repairs and Wolseley’s two plugs per cylinder appropriate lining fabric is on order. The rest of the upholstery is to be professionally cleaned to freshen up the interior. Our Austin Seven tourer chassis is now completely repainted and rebuilt, with the engine fitted. Respraying the bodywork in Westminster Green, an authentic contemporary shade, is well under way.
Austin Seven chassis and engine The Vintage Car Radiator Co has finally delivered an immaculate new radiator for the Scott Combi to enable us to complete the restoration of that motorcycle combination.
25 Not a rubish bin but the Austin Seven body being re- Shiny new Scott Combi radiator sprayed Westminster Green Lastly, in between working on the Collection’s exhibits, the team have been sorting out the blue Shuttleworth Land Rover, adjusting and repairing its minor ailments. With regard to activities, the Charabus, Wellingborough double decker and McCurd lorry are under control of the bus group led by Mark Lewis, and the buses have been hard at it this year with passenger trips during the flying displays and also transporting visitors to the House now that it’s open to the public. They have during
The vehicle team are also working on refurbishing the Collection’s Land Rover
26 these trips been subject to an amount of wear and tear they have not been used to in the recent past and various problems have been encountered. The Charabus in particular has a problem with broken seat fittings; a programme of work to strengthen them will be undertaken during the winter months. A full examination of the mechanical health and bodywork will also be carried out on all three vehicles during this time. This year our vehicles have participated in several events outside the Collection site. The ABC and Aurora visited an event at Mallory Park earlier in the year and were also displayed at the recent KOP hill climb, both times ably overseen by Richard Martin. The Peugeot took part in the Creepy Crawley Run driven by Alan Staple and Tim King (not both at once), a run which terminated when the engine failed to start during the event. The piece de resistance this year will have been an attempt at the London to Brighton run in early November - before you get this but after we’ve had to write about it!. The Arrol Johnston, driven by Steve Hartles and Stuart Gray, was to fly the flag. Hope it went well! As this year comes to an end we, that’s Stuart and Neil, wish all our volunteers a Happy Christmas and New Year and thank them for all their hard work. And finally, an autumn update on the progress of 92 Squadron from Roger England, one of the Vehicle Group’s volunteers (just don’t mention green paint to him!) “We’re now at the stage where we think we’ve almost completed all the work but there are many ‘little’ jobs left to do. The cab is virtually finished although the fireman’s seat has disappeared. This is a wooden affair offering little in the way of creature comfort and for main line service this wouldn’t present an issue as the fireman would spend all his time feeding the fire, but on a heritage line the pace is a little different and the fireman somewhat older than his mainline counterpart, so a seat is desirable.
92 Squadron’s cabside and tender finished in Malachite Green with yellow lettering From a mechanical perspective there are two principal jobs: the setting up and testing of the Wakefield mechanical lubrication system (a network of pipes that run all over the engine so each outlet has to be checked for operation), and the fixing of the roof panels. Whilst the side casings of the streamline casing have been fitted, the centre roof panels have proved to be a little awkward. This has been caused by
27 some distortion in storage of the side panel framework (a not overly substantial ‘U’ section) resulting in the re-alignment of most of the fixing holes and a degree of panel trimming. Much of the remaining work is cosmetic although the tender is now complete and sign written, whilst the cab signwriting is in progress. I have managed to get two top coats on the engine casings but the autumn weather has seen temperatures drop such that the paint is less than enthusiastic to flow and the casings quite cold as well. With a pretty good finish at present we’re reluctant to tempt fate with a third coat that may well result in a worse finish than we have now. It is hoped to have a steam test in a few weeks.”
Do You Read Me?
Purely serendipitously - and rather like buses - a group of publications on the subject of WWI aviation have all turned up at once in time for review in this issue. However we know that’s all welcome grist to the mill for many SVAS members so we have pleasure in presenting our views on the following - Ed:
Cross & Cockade International The Quarterly Journal of the First World War Aviation Historical Society Edited by Mick Davis Membership: Andrew Kemp - [email protected] phone: 01832 720522
ross & Cockade have kindly been sending us a copy of their quarterly journal as a sort of quid pro quo for Prop-Swing for quite some time and I’ve neglected Cto comment on that publication in this magazine. I’m always impressed by the production values and the variety and quality of the articles therein, relating to all AVIATION BOOKS AND aspects of WWI aviation. Their ability to MAGAZINES (Rare and Second Hand) continue finding new material and so many from apposite photos to fill the A4 format is BRIAN COCKS, 18 Woodgate, enviable – the Autumn 2016 issue is typical Helpston, in having 80 odd pages too. Peterborough, Cambs. PE6 7ED This latest issue includes, inter alia, (Tel: 01733-252791) diverse articles on Canadian Sopwith [email protected] Triplane pilots of Naval One Squadron, www.aviationbookhouse.co.uk Visits by appointment; Catalogues the birth of the Serbian Aviation Command twice a year - please send, towards (wider ranging in its inclusion of aircraft postage costs: £1.00 each (UK); and aviators from pre-1914 than the bare £3.00 each (Europe); £5.00 each (other) title might suggest), RFC Morane Saulniers Wants records held; attendance at on the Western Front and the latter days of most main Old Warden Flying Sundays the Royal Aircraft Factory before it became SVAS LIFE MEMBER
28 the Royal Aircraft Establishment: all by respected and, to WWI aficionados I’m sure, well known authors. Although the military applications of aircraft are not a particular interest of this editor, there is much more to be gleaned from C & C and I would think it’s practically indispensible to those with a passion for WWI aviation. It would also seem from personal observation that the Shuttleworth engineers are very keen to get their hands on it! WG
Oswald Boelcke: Germany’s First Fighter Ace and Father of Air Combat by R G Head Grub Street, 4 Rainham Close, London, SW11 6SS 240pp casebound illustrated, 180 x 245 mm ISBN: 978-1-910690-23-9 £20.00
he author, Bob Head, is a retired USAF Brigadier General: he has written a most interesting book which, far more than a biography, addresses the strategic Tand tactical doctrines for the employment of air power during the period 1914- 1916 and the development of the aircraft as a weapon with particular reference to the German Albatros series of fighters. There hasn’t been a biography of Boelcke since the 2009 reprint of Knight of Germany – Oswald Boelcke, German Ace by Johannes Werner, originally published in 1933, so this excellent new biography is very welcome. The book starts with the background to the air war and the German Air Service,
29 followed by Boelcke’s life and career. It covers the ‘Ace Race’ between Immelmann and Boelcke and the rise of the ‘Fighter Ace’ and how the ace system was applied in the British, French and German air services. Boelcke was the first of the ‘thinking’ air fighters and developed a series of instructions on how to maximise the efforts of a whole unit with the aim of overcoming the enemy. He was awarded the Prussian VC – the Orden Pour le Mérite – by the Kaiser and was promoted to the rank of Hauptmann – Captain – at the age of twenty-five: the normal promotion age being thirty. Boelcke was probably the single most important figure in the development of air fighting during the first part of the First World War. I highly recommend this book to all with an interest in the First World War in the Air. However if I have one complaint it relates to the paucity of the index. JEB
The Royal Naval Air Service in The First World War by Philip Jarrett Pen & Sword, Barnsley 365pp Casebound Illustrated 283 x 223 mm ISBN 978 1 47382 819 3 £30.00
he sub-title of the book is ‘Aircraft and events as recorded in official documents’ and that is a good description of what’s on offer here. The book reproduces a Tnumber of contemporary documents plus several collections of photographs also relating to the RNAS. As Phil states in his introduction this is not intended as a history of the RNAS but to make available rare documents and photographs. The first document is a diary of important operations in Flanders for four months in 1916 and includes details of flights and some aerial photographs. Then there is ‘Disposition of Aircraft as at 23rd February 1917’. This is a detailed list by Air Station showing each individual aircraft by type and serial number. The interest here to the more general reader is in seeing some of the older aircraft still extant and some of the prototype/experimental aircraft ‘on the books’. RNAS Communiques Nos. 1 to 14 are fortnightly reports covering the period July 1917 to January 1918 and again give details of significant operations. I found it interesting to see the amount of bombs dropped by De Havilland DH4s by day and Handley Page O/100s and O/400s by night, mainly on airfields and the rail network. There is also the document ‘Truing-up Of Aeroplanes’ issued in 1916 and the drawing sketch book of a Mr Earl who worked at RNAS Port Victoria, Isle of Grain. The various photograph collections cover subjects such as the seaplane carrier HMS Riviera, hydrovanes and flotation gear, landing trials on HMS Furious, RNAS East Fortune and RNAS Tresco. In addition Phil has added pertinent photographs to illustrate some of the documents, particularly the ‘Disposition of Aircraft’. Overall this is a good read and the 30 photographs are all well captioned. In spite of Phil’s statement on history I still think a bit of background information/scene setting would have been useful for the more general reader. That said this is a good book presenting a lot of rarely seen material which will be of interest to the World War I enthusiast. RJG Windsock Datfile Update: 2F.1 Ship’s Camel (Centenary Datafile 170) by Colin A Owers Aviatik (Berg) D.I At War! (Centenary Datafile 171) by Paolo Varriale The RAF BE2c At War! (Centenary Datafile 172) by Paul R Hare Pfalz D.IIIa At War! Volume One (Centenary Datafile 173)by Greg Van Wyngarden (36-40pp - £12.50 each) The Last Flight of the L31 by R L Rimell (limited edition £10) The Last Flight of the L32 by R L Rimell (limited edition £10) Albatros Productions Ltd, Berkhamsted. All Soft Bound 298 x 210 mm Illustrated (www.windsockdatafilespecials.co.uk)
he Ship’s Camel looked outwardly like the standard fighter that was one of the mainstays of the RFC / RNAS / RAF fighter complement but was in fact Tstructurally very different with a fuselage that could be stored in two separate parts, shorter span, and increased dihedral. The Aviatik D.I was designed by Julius von Berg and proved to be fast with a good rate of climb, albeit it was not without its problems as it gained a not altogether unwarranted reputation for structural weakness. Nevertheless, over 40% of the fighters used by the Austrian Air Service were Bergs. The BE2c was, of course, a mainstay of the British Air Service throughout the Great War in a multitude of roles (including Zeppelin fighting – see below). This monograph covers the type’s story but also includes photos of the airworthy reproductions being produced in New Zealand. The products of the Pfalz factory were never regarded by German pilots as being the best machines available although some preferred their more robust build to the frailties of the Fokkers and Albatroses that were generally deemed to be first choice. However, there is no denying that the Pfalz D.III was one of the most aesthetically pleasing machines of WWI and it is thus a joy to see so many fresh photos thereof in this monograph (which I believe to be the first that is dedicated to the D.IIIa) and I can’t wait for Volume Two! The two Zeppelin titles cover the machines that were brought down at Potters Bar and Billericay respectively. Both Zepps were brought down “exactly” 100 years ago (01/10/1916 and 24/09/1916) by Royal Flying Corps Home Defence pilots (Tempest and Sowrey) each of whom was in a BE2c. Although the focus is on those fateful final flights, these titles also cover the wider ‘careers’ of the craft and crews. All titles are, of course, copiously illustrated with rare photos, plans and colour profiles making them first class works of reference. ICD
31 Jack Bruce: The Historian as Artist Philip Jarrett
have always counted it as a great privilege, and certainly a pleasure, to have met and subsequently I become friends with some of those aviation writers whom I regarded as role models when I was a young and avid student of things aeronautical. Now that I am an ageing (though just as enthusiastic) researcher and writer myself, memories of regular encounters, conversations and correspondence with the likes of Charles Gibbs-Smith, A J Jackson and Chris Barnes are treasured. Another member of my ‘great men’ gallery is Jack Bruce, an outstanding and meticulous researcher into the British aeroplanes of the First World War. I was lucky enough to share some years with Jack on the committee of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group and it was through this connection that another of Jack’s hidden talents was revealed to me. At the time I was working in the society’s library and the librarian, a sharp and witty man with a stentorian voice and an acerbic sense of humour, was Frank Smith. Frank used to attend the committee meetings and one afternoon he emerged with a small collection of doodles drawn by the various committee members during the more tedious periods of the meeting. He gave these to me, and my jackdaw inclinations led me to keep them. One was a pencil sketch by Jack of Capitaine Georges Guynemer’s Spad fighter, and I promptly asked Jack to autograph it for me. More recently, quite by chance, more of Jack’s drawings have come my way, and I thought it would be nice to share them. They go back to the Second World War, the earliest examples being taken from an aircraft recognition book compiled by him in a school exercise book. Remembering his unassuming nature, I am sure that, had I suggested that we publish some of his artistic endeavours when he was still with us, he would have recoiled in horror at the idea. However, I hope his spirit will forgive me for enabling his undoubted artistic talents to be enjoyed by a wider audience.
The SPAD VII pencil doodle that started it all; dashed off during dull periods in a committee meeting and subsequently signed.
32 A small ink sketch of a Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.3 with a four-bladed propeller
Dated 17 April 1949, this ink drawing depicts the two-seat Bristol Coanda G.B.75 as first flown on 7 April 1914, with its original louvred spinner to help cool its 75 h.p. Monosoupape Gnome engine
A nice ink drawing, dated 4 April 1949, of the projected Handley Page Type H-110, an improved version of the Type E with a 110 h.p. Anzani radial engine and seating two in tandem.
33 A page from Jack Bruce’s aircraft recognition The subject of this page is the Heinkel ‘He book, featuring the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive 113’, actually a false designation given to bomber the He 100D-1 as part of an elaborate and successful ploy to deceive the Allies into Jack’s ink drawing of the Supermarine P.B.31E believing that the fighter was in operational Nighthawk anti-Zeppelin quadruplane, simply service with the Luftwaffe signed ‘B’ and dated 3 February 1948 (below)
34 Shuttleworth goes to RIAT 2016 Julian Harcourt
Dave Proctor and Julian Harcourt with the Shuttleworth Sea Hurricane at RIAT
few months ago I was lucky enough to be picked as a volunteer to help at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT). This involved two of us spending six Adays ‘babysitting’ the Collection’s Sea Hurricane - putting the cover on at night and removing it again next morning. Easy work, I thought! BAE Systems had arranged with Shuttleworth to have their Blackburn B2, Cirrus Moth (BLV), Avro Anson and our Hurricane as part of the static display at their stand and I was delighted to learn that my fellow babysitter was to be the highly experienced Dave Proctor. The Hurricane was originally to be ferried on Wednesday 6th July, but in the event Dodge could only make the Thursday. Dave and I were already booked for the Wednesday and decided to go anyway and see what needed preparing. Dave, from Harrogate, and I met at Shuttleworth and drove down to Fairford together where we booked in and while doing so saw we could enter an aircraft in the concours competition. A little tongue in cheek, we entered the Hurricane - you never know. Then we had time to watch some practice displays, including the new F35. We checked in that evening to our hotel, 18 miles away in Cheltenham, and went for an excellent curry at a nearby - unlicensed – restaurant. I had to get a beer from next door!
35 Refuelling the Moth (above) and the Blackburn (below) at Fairford
36 Dave (left) and Julian (right) sample the cockpit of the BAE Hawk
Thursday: at the airfield we found Pete Kosogorin and John Hurrell refuelling the Blackburn and Moth. A Bulldog and Chipmunk were also there as was the Bristol Scout crew with Dave Bremner who were unpacking their aircraft. Shuttleworth engineer Toby Lee arrived later and whilst we waited for the Hurricane and Anson a crew was erecting a large BAE poster, supported by six hefty concrete blocks, showing Pete Kosogorin in a Hawk jet; others were erecting temporary ‘hangars’ for the biplanes. Dodge and the Hurricane landed and he shut down as soon as he reached taxiway Charlie to prevent overheating. As pre-arranged with the RIAT operations crew we towed the Hurricane the long way to the BAE stand using their Transit van, with a queue of jet aircraft slowly following us, probably miffed at having to taxy at walking pace! When the Anson arrived it quickly became obvious that the BAE poster made the proposed stand layout impossible. The 60 ft wingspan of the Anson would not fit past it so we swapped the Anson and Hurricane with the far smaller Bulldog and Chipmunk creating a large arc of BAE/Shuttleworth aircraft in place of the intended echelon. This presented a new problem as we realised the Anson’s wing was now overhanging the front of the Scout’s tent! Dave P collared a troop of Air Cadets who, with the enthusiasm of youth, jumped at the chance to handle some old aircraft and helped us move both aircraft about 20 feet. Soon it was time to put the covers on, tuck the aircraft up for the night and make our way over to the Flight Centre for the ‘meet and greet’ party where food and beer were served (Note the beer leitmotif - Ed). In company with Dave and Sue Bremner and fellow Scout builder Theo Willford it was a good evening after a tiring day. Friday: room service breakfast at 6:30 allowed us to get to the airfield at 8:00 and the ‘kids’ looked no worse for a night in the open. We took the covers off our two charges and made them look good for the public. BAE Systems had produced excellent posters for the Anson and Hurricane and, in addition to the Shuttleworth leaflets we’d taken, information leaflets that we were tasked with distributing - with instructions from John Blunham of BAE not to have any left over. The public arrived and asked many questions. We were able to allow some to have their photos taken with the aircraft. After lunch I was, gently, moved aside to allow the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, with Prince George, to be ushered through.
37 The royal visitors inspecting the Hurricane Prince William took great interest in the Hurricane and George started crawling over one of its wheels. A security man urged Dave to move forward and introduce himself and talk about the Hurricane. Dave asked Prince George, “Are you having fun young man?” just as an Apache was displaying to which George replied with “Helicopter” - understandable considering what his father does! For future reference Dave is now known as ‘Lord Proctor of Harrogate’, as he’s ‘friends’ with royalty... Saturday: to the airfield early to avoid the traffic and following rain overnight we removed the covers and chamoised down the Hurricane. Further contact with the public made two things evident: firstly, most had heard of Shuttleworth and had always meant to go and secondly there were countless men of a certain age for whom the presence of the Anson and Hurricane resurrected some fond memories. The stand location allowed us a great view and we became quite blasé about Phantoms, F22s, F35s, Red Arrows, A400s, Chinooks, Ospreys and so on - all very impressive and some very loud! The Bristol Scout was visited by Prince Michael of Kent, another day, another Royal visit - which Lord Proctor missed! The concours competition judges came and we found the Hurricane had made the top 20, making us eligible for entry to the Gala dinner. That didn’t appeal, especially as it required dinner jackets... Sunday: a US Air Force F35 pilot expressed great interest in the Hurricane. He was enthralled when I allowed him to look in the cockpit, it made his day. If even half the people we gave leaflets to attend Shuttleworth, Dave and I felt we’d filled nearly a whole show. 38 At 7:30 pm, after the public had gone, with the help of the Ops Team Transit we moved the Hurricane and Anson to taxiway Charlie for refuelling the next morning, prior to departure. While we covered them, the Ops Team disappeared to the end of show party and by the time we’d finished and got back we realised we’d missed the party. So, off to the hotel for pizza and a beer (! – Ed). Monday : it was windy and raining heavily when we arrived at Fairford. Peter Kosogorin and Paul Stone arrived as we waited for the bowser and Ops Crew who then got us to move both aircraft to a nearby holding area as they were blocking the taxiway for larger aircraft not restricted by the weather conditions. Toby arrived by car and was his usual efficient self in ensuring that both aircraft met with his discerning approval for flight. Thankfully, the rain stopped but the wind was still very strong and while waiting for departure we were invited to look over a nearby Osprey, the crew and female pilot of which showed great interest in the Hurricane, being especially fascinated by Toby, Dave and me starting it with handles and a battery. After waiting for the Red Arrows, two jets and the Tricolori team to take off the Hurricane was allowed to taxy down the runway - which caused Toby more concern about overheating. All was well though and shortly afterwards the Anson took off. This left us (well, Toby really) able to check the B2 and Moth. Toby received texts confirming that the first pair had landed at Old Warden safely and, despite the wind, Pete and Paul Stone decided they could fly the biplanes and we went home. Overall it was a very good trip. It was quite hard work, especially on our ageing legs and backs, but I think we flew the Shuttleworth flag well. Enormous thanks go to Caroline Hurrell, John Bulmer, John Hurrell and the BAE systems team for their help, hospitality and arrangements. The RIAT Ops team were very efficient and helpful, especially in dealing with our old quirky aircraft, so a big thank you to them. We must also thank Dodge Bailey, Pete Kosogorin and Paul Stone for their help. But the biggest thanks must go to the indominatable Toby Lee for staying far later than he originally intended on Wednesday and his painfully early start on Monday to be with us for the departure - and for letting us go whilst he stayed for the B2 and BLV departure. (Wot no more beer? – Ed)
The Frecce Tricolori sign off our visit to RIAT
39 Clayton Wagons Ltd, Abbey Works, Lincoln Steam Railcars James Michell
layton Wagons Ltd was formed in 1920 by Clayton & Shuttleworth Ltd to consolidate all elements of its railway wagon building business in a new Ccompany. During the First World War, Clayton & Shuttleworth had built 60 cm gauge D-Type wagons for the War Department Light Railway. This led on to building other wagons and carriages for the home market, including the Pullman Car Company and the LNER, and around the world, including South African Railways and the Trans-Zambesi Railway. One of their products in the late 1920s was a steam railcar.This was in direct competition to the better known Sentinel steam railcars. The railcars were built with a vertical boiler that was housed in the body of the carriage, but they featured an external 550 gallon water tank and 15 cwt coal bunker. The carriages had steel body panels. Power Bogie (The Engineer, May 1925)
There was also an order placed for a single railcar by the New Zealand Government Railway. It was delivered in May 1925.
New Zealand Government Railway Clayton Railcar (The Engineer, May 1925) The first order in the UK was built to the London & North Eastern Railway diagram 91, leaving the Abbey Works in July 1927 and numbered No.41, later receiving the name Pilot. It had a seating capacity of 60. The first run was on the Lincoln to Woodhall Spa Junction line. Further trials were carried out on the steeply graded York to Whitby and the Newcastle to Ponteland branch line. These trials proved ‘satisfactory’.
40 LNER No.285 ‘Rapid’ outside the paint shop, Abbey Works, Lincoln, 1928. LNER Press Office After some improvements, a further order for 10 was received from the LNER. These had an increased seating capacity of 64. They proved successful, but a further increase in seating was needed at times so an order for some trailers was received. Railcar Bang Up was moved to Hitchin on 19th August 1928 to operate services over the Hitchin to Hertford North line until May 1930. The LNER railcars were all named after former well known stagecoaches and initially painted green and cream.
Initial Number Name Build Date Withdrawal 41 Pilot July 1927 September 1936 285 Rapid May 1928 July 1932 287 Royal Sailor May 1928 September 1936 289 Wellington June 1928 September 1936 296 Wonder July 1928 September 1936 2101 Union July 1928 April 1936 2110 Comet June 1928 January 1937 2120 Chevy Chase June 1928 February 1937 2121 Transit June 1928 February 1937 2122 Railway June 1928 February 1937 2130 Bang Up July 1928 January 1937
41 Further steam railcars were sold to Sudan Government Railway, South African Railways and Egypt. Unfortunately Clayton Wagons ceased trading in about 1930 and the support to the LNER to help iron out problems and provide spare parts stopped. Withdrawal started after a very short service life due to unreliability.
LNER No.41 ‘Pilot’ at Lintz Green
Clayton & Shuttleworth Agricultural Heritage Collection James Michell
his has been a busy few months for all those involved in the restoration and operation of the agricultural machinery. T The Marshall Sons & Co sack lifter has proved to require a bit more work than originally thought. Not a lot on it was straight and it has taken a significant amount of work to get the metalwork to fit into the new wooden handles. The finished article is now on display in Hangar 3. One of the donated chaff cutter knife wheels has been restored to top coat. Unfortunately it does not fit into the carry position on the side of the machine. It is the same dimension as the wheel fitted, and the supporting blocks were returned to their original locations by using the original holes, but it seems that they are too close together. We need to have a think! The straw elevator restoration has reached the half way stage. The carriage part has been completely rebuilt with the structural timber repairs completed and the rear
42 The Shuttleworth C & S agricultural heritage collection lined up in front of the House wheels refurbished and painted to top coat. The badly worn front wheels are still away being repaired but, as we suspected, there is nothing true about them so they are proving a bit of a challenge. The opportunity has been taken to acquire four wheels from a well-known internet auction site. They had come from an old elevator that had been burnt. We were after two of them as they are of the same cast construction as ours, although have a slightly different axle which means that there is less toe in than on the original. They have been grit blasted, painted and temporarily fitted until the originals are repaired. The other pair is a larger set of Ruston & Hornsby main wheels. We had two opportunities this year to showcase the Collection’s agricultural heritage and collection, the first being the ‘At Home’ in July where we used ‘Dorothy’ to drive the chaff cutter for the first time at a Collection event. We also had the items that live on the ‘other side of the airfield’ on display. The second opportunity was the Bedfordshire Steam & Country Fayre, held in the parkland, where we took all the farm machinery and tractors. The elevator carriage was on One of the original elevator front wheels display there so that the public could see Margaret Morrell the work carried out by the Collection.
43 Idle Wonderings Bill Grigg
aving never lost interest in toys, mainly cars, ships, planes and trains, I still find myself buying things that take my fancy and a recent acquisition Hmade me wonder what made toy manufacturers choose particular subjects to model. I would have thought it was something they deemed fairly certain to be popular. This indeed resulted in Dinky Toys putting a model of the Queen Mary on sale in 1934 before she’d been officially named by the eponymous monarch at her launching ceremony. The original models were stamped underneath Cunard White Star “534” (the John Brown yard works number) and the boxes were so marked. The next batch, after the launch, had Queen Mary added and later the 534 was deleted. It was a popular model and right to the end of production after the war the inverted commas remained. But I digress, the toy that started this train of thought was a model of the Lockheed XF-90, made by the Italian company Mercury in around 1950. There were any number of jet aircraft to choose from but it was a rather obscure choice as production of real XF-90s equalled the grand total of two. It was designed to meet a US Air Force specification for a penetration fighter to escort bombers that doubled as aground attack fighter. The specification details wavered and the resultant aircraft ended up far too heavy, so the role was filled by a McDonnell Douglas design that eventually became the Voodoo. Perhaps the XF-90 was chosen by Mercury just because it was swept wing, looked modern and reasonably simple to cast, and they reasoned that all children wanted was something swept wing and modern. But was it chosen with a pin from The Boys’ Book of Aeroplanes?
Mercury “Lockheed F-90” in original condition, the upside down fuselage markings were applied in Italy 44 The real XF-90 via Philip Jarrett Dinky Toys France made a model of the Amiot 370, an aerodynamically cleaned up version of the one-off Amiot 341 twin- engined long range postal aircraft, originally intended to compete in a proposed 1937 New York/Paris race which was cancelled as being too dangerous a proposition. The aircraft was completed and used to break several closed circuit My Dinky Amiot needed a repaint so I gave it civil markings world records with and without carrying loads of 500 and 1,000 kg. It also broke the straight line distance record in 1939 flying 10,000 km at an average speed of 311 kph. Amiot also built a prototype bomber, the 340, also based on the 341, which was famously used on a propaganda flight to Berlin in August 1938 but singularly failed to convince General Milch, Goering’s deputy, that there were any more like it at home.
45 The real Amiot 370 via Philip Jarrett Two production twin engined bombers were soon afterwards developed, the Amiots 351 and 354, too late to play any significant role in the imminent war. They looked quite different from the 370 as did the one-off 340, but Dinky just stuck roundels on their civil 370 and sold it as a bomber! Lastly, most baby boomer boys would have owned a Dinky Toy Messerschmitt 110 prudently, given that it was produced just after the war, with the legend “Twin Engined Fighter” cast underneath. Although they continued to knock out their pre- War Junkers Ju90 casting re-titled “Giant High Speed Airliner”, I wonder what on earth possessed them to make a new casting of a German aeroplane just post war? However, the contemporary small British aeroplane they cast was a Tempest which didn’t exactly go on to play a major role in the RAF, but both were at the lower end of the price range and certainly sold well: I suppose we were just glad to get our austerity constrained little mitts on anything new and shiny!
500 Club Winners £ £ June J Martin 126.00 July A Dykes 126.00 A Taylor 63.00 J Buxton 63.00 G Halfacre 47.25 D Russell 47.25 W Dean 39.38 M Allison 39.38 P Foster 23.63 G Williams 23.62 P Fuller 15.75 K Whitfield 15.75 August B Euinton 125.00 September B Dowsett 124.20 J Hanna 62.50 N Benson 62.10 M Lawrence 46.88 J Finnimore 46.58 P Wyatt 39.06 T Wilson 38.81 D Jones 23.44 D Wall 23.29 P Waylett 15.63 D Atkins 15.53
46 AND...
The pilot wants to talk to you! Andrew Goldsmith
Portillo and Gray steam quietly by Denise Dowsett
47 Calendar of 2017 Events at the Collection
SCALE MODEL EXHIBITION Sun 19 February 2017
Disabled Access Day Sat 11 March 2017
SEASON PREMIERE* Sun 7 May 2017
AEROMODELLERS’ WEEKEND Sat 13 & Sun 14 May 2017
CLASSIC EVENING AIRSHOW* Sat 20 May 2017
FLY NAVY* Sun 4 June 2017
CLASSIC EVENING AIRSHOW* Sat 17 June 2017
MILITARY PAGEANT* Sun 2 July 2017
EVENING AIRSHOW – WWI* Sat 15 July 2017
AEROMODELLERS’ WEEKEND Sat 22 & Sun 23 July 2017
EDWARDIAN PAGEANT* Sun 6 August 2017
FLYING PROMS (20 YEARS) Sat 19 August 2017
SHUTTLEWORTH HERITAGE* Sun 3 September 2017
AEROMODELLERS’ WEEKEND Sat 23 & Sun 24 September 2017
SHUTTLEWORTH RACE DAY* Sun 1 October 2017
Events in bold type include full flying displays and those asterisked are eligible for the 2016 Collection Event Season ticket. 48