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RAF COSFORD AIR SHOW TICKETS Closing date:

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April 2020
Issue No 564,
Vol 48,
No 4

HISTORY IN THE AIR SINCE 1911

SUNDERLAND
�A�
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U-boat strikes from the cockpit

“The downtown SLAYING OF A GIANT

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seaplane airline” Fate of Caproni’s

multi-wing monster
The Antilles Air Boats story
The flying boat that
changed the RAF
Supermarine’s great
Southampton in depth

PLUS… Norwegian Gladiator heroes • French ‘T-bird’ air-to-air

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 Contents
April 2020

See pages
26-27 for a g
reat
subscription
offer

61 36

70

WIN! RAF 98
COSFORD
AIR SHOW
28 TICKETS See page 60

NEWS AND FEATURES 75 DATABASE: DATA

TABASE
DATABASE KAWANISHI
N1K1 SHIDEN AND N1K2
IN
SERVICE With the
Southam
aircraft that pton, the
could genuine RAF had
ly span the
an
globe

COMMENT SUPERMARINE

Development
Development
A flight of
from No five Southampton
201 Squadron IIs
S1464, S1644, —
S1645 andK2965,

SUPERMARINE
— in formation S1646
England over
during 1930.southern
AEROPLANE

28 NORWEGIAN GLADIATORS SOUTHAMPTON

SOUTHAMPTON

Technical
Technical Details
13 WORDS: JAMES KIGHTLY

Details
Archive interviews with some of Oslo’s
IN-DEPTH
PAGES

As James Kightly

In
In Service
Service
4 FROM THE EDITOR
Britain
The Southampto in 1929, Flight
quantum n was Southampto wrote that the
leap in the a

Insights
Insights
heroic defenders from April 1940
capability RAF’s many other n, “among its
at
the air arm’s a critical time in incorporatesexcellent features,

describes, the
the somewhat
its own, new establishment of unusual
one of being
of planners role. The efforts definitely
to fly and able
crews were and Southampto with one
of its two
manoeuvre
n
a genuinely able to establish engines stopped. Napier ‘Lion’
reach. As global RAF probably
very few
There are
Coastal Command engined types of twin-

6 NEWS
historian aircraft in
Chris Ashworth able to do the world
noted, “Th this, and
is elegant the ‘Southampto the fact that
[…] quite machine
literally saved comparative n’ will do
day for the the it with
fl
authorities ying boat — the the design ease speaks well
of the machine.” for
abandoningbeing on the point

36 FRENCH ‘T-BIRD’
Such single-engin

legendary flying
of
such aircraft the developmen performance e
t of was exceptional
expensive after a number of in the era,
and was
failures.” the success a factor in
MAIN PICTURE: Metal- The first
Southampto of the
hulled Southampton II were delivered ns range flights. Its type’s long-
S1149 airborne from Mount 480 (Coastal in 1925 to No was a creditable initial range
Batten, the RAF flying Reconnaissa 500 miles,

13
boat Flight at early on so
base on Plymouth Sound, Calshot. nce) No
on a 200-day480 Flight set out

• Restored Spitfire to Russia

in August 1935. This aircraft very pleased The RAF
was
was a veteran of the type’s capability. with the type’s British Isles, cruise around the
Standard with the including
most famous feat, the at 14,300lb take-offs Royal Navy exercises
1927-
28 Far East Flight. AEROPLANE took 217 with an 8kt wind Irish Sea.
One Southampto
in the
yards and S9896, departed
In its first 15
report on seconds. n,

boat changed the

with coastal Felixstowe

The Canadian-built T-33 that’s enriched

the type
bound for area commander
DATAFIL Carrickfergu s
E RAF
s, Belfast
No 480 (Coastal SOUTHAM
No 201 SquadronReconnaissan PTON UNITS
Practising ce) Flight/
for the 1930 No 203 Squadron
Southampton RAF
S1233 and s, comprising Display are No 204 Squadron Calshot

• C-47 bound for Caen D-Day museum

S1234. AEROPLANE MkIs S1043, five No 201 Squadron
S1044 and Far East Basrah, Iraq
S1058, and Flight/No
MkIIs No 209 Squadron 205 Squadron
Mount Batten
Southampton II S1298 No 210 Squadron Seletar, Singapore
82 www.aeropla
served with

face of the inter-

No 203 Squadron. CHRIS nemonthly.co Mount Batten

the French jet warbird scene

SANDHAM-BAILEY
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• New era for de Havilland museum

02/03/2020
14:22

war RAF IN-DEPTH

42 ‘MARY’ CONINGHAM PAGES
…and the month’s other top aircraft
In the Western Desert, North Africa and
preservation news
Normandy, Arthur Coningham was a 90 AEROPLANE MEETS…
14 WORKSHOP pioneer of tactical air power MARTIN HOLLOWAY
The sole remaining F-4J(UK) Phantom
A stalwart of British vintage aviation —
starts down the preservation road
18 HANGAR TALK FLYING BOAT and of the Fleet Air Arm
98 PORTUGUESE CHIPMUNKS
Steve Slater’s comment on the historic GLORY DAYS It seems incredible, but Portuguese Air
aircraft world 50 SUNDERLAND F�Y�N� B�A� Force student pilots are still going solo
20 FLIGHT LINE SUB-KILLERS G�O�Y D�Y�
on the DHC Chipmunk
Reflections on aviation history with Tackling the German 111 AEROPLANE ARCHIVE:
Denis J. Calvert U-boat menace in the NEWS FROM 1940
Bay of Biscay Continuing our series, looking back
REGULARS 61 ANTILLES AIR BOATS
Hollywood glamour, and some
at how The Aeroplane covered a
momentous year
22 SKYWRITERS magnificent aircraft, with the
24 Q&A ‘downtown seaplane airline’ COVER IMAGE: Short Sunderland III ML828/RB-C
Your questions asked and answered 70 CAPRONI Ca.60 of No 10 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force,
88 HOOKS’ TOURS The fall of a nine-winged Italian giant assigned to RAF Coastal Command and pictured at
Mount Batten, Plymouth. HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
A final helping of colour images from
the archive of the late Mike Hooks.
The subject is the Tupolev Tu-154
108 REVIEWS See
page 19
The latest aviation books and products for
in the spotlight details Your Aviation Destination SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE
114 NEXT MONTH

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 From the

Editor CONNECT WITH AEROPLANE…

www.facebook.com/AeroplaneMonthly
@HistoryInTheAir

W
e tend to focus in one example, the Ministry of Defence
these pages on the has launched a consultation on the CONTRIBUTORS THIS MONTH
preservation of historic future of RAF Halton, which is due to
airframes themselves. close and then be disposed of in 2025. TOM ANUSEWICZ
After more than half a
But historic buildings relating to Again this historic site, the cradle of century in aviation, Tom
aviation shouldn’t be forgotten, RAF apprentice training, contains continues to provide
consulting services as
and if we’re worried — as I wrote numerous listed buildings, but what, president of Oke’e Aviation
about last month — for the future of realistically, will become of all of Services in Honolulu,
Hawaii. His experience
such airframes as the last surviving them when the airfield shuts and the spans everything from early
years as an airframe and
Blackburn Beverley, the condition site is sold? propulsion mechanic to
of certain airfield structures ought Buildings present many of the same director of maintenance for
various airlines; from flight
also to cause us some concern. The challenges as aircraft. In practical engineer on the Boeing 707 for South Pacific
situation at Old Sarum aerodrome terms, not all historic examples can Island Airways to management and co-ownership
of multiple private jet fixed-base operations. And
in Wiltshire is all too well-known: be kept forever, and their upkeep is he’s delighted to share those experiences with
since the end of costly and time- others — as he does in this issue about his time
with Antilles Air Boats.
October it has The condition of consuming. But
remained closed, ØYVIND MUNCH ELLINGSEN
in the words of
certain airfield structures if100-year-old
a more than
hangar The founder of Warbirds of

a statement, “to ought to cause us some at one of Britain’s

Norway, Øyvind has more
than 40 years’ experience
of historic aircraft. As
all private and
recreational
concern oldest aerodromes
cannot be properly
recounted in our
‘Aeroplane meets…’ feature
in the November issue last
flying”, though commercial operations preserved despite listed status, it’s year, he has been the
in arrangement with the airfield a worrying sign for the future of our owner-pilot of everything
from a Blériot XI-2
operator, such as parachuting, are built heritage, aviation-related or no. reproduction to a Hawker
permitted. Now, following the recent Hunter. Two decades ago
he made a TV documentary about the Norwegian
severe storms, comes news that Old Thanks to those of you who have Gloster Gladiators that defended Oslo in April
Sarum’s Grade II*-listed Hangar 3 has already written in about our returning 1940, and his interviews with surviving veterans
form the basis of a fascinating article.
sustained further serious damage. Its Personal Album feature, which makes
condition was already deteriorating. a comeback in the June issue with a GRAHAM GOODLAD
Graham gained a PhD in
Now the level of decay is quite selection of shots from the Battle of modern history from the
alarming. Britain filming in 1968. As a reminder, University of Cambridge
and has taught history and
This is what can happen, even to we’re after interesting collections politics for more than 30
a listed building, when damage is of images — black-and-white or years. He currently works at
St John’s College in
allowed to go unchecked. A planned colour — around a particular theme. Southsea. Graham is a
site visit in March by representatives I ought to add that shots of present- freelance writer and
aviation enthusiast who has
of Historic England and Wiltshire day airworthy historic aeroplanes written widely on military
Council is welcome, if somewhat or museum aircraft don’t fit the bill; history, specialising in 19th
and 20th-century subjects — such as Air Marshal
overdue. Whether the hangar will older such offerings certainly do, Arthur Coningham, his subject this month.
have deteriorated further by that however. Please send originals to the
MIKE HOOKS
visit remains to be seen. As I write, editorial address on page 114, clearly This issue marks the end of
the weather forecasts are a picture marked ‘Aeroplane Personal Album’, an Aeroplane era. The late
Mike Hooks, who died in
of more doom and gloom. Will it with full contact details and caption January 2018 aged 89, was
be possible to take action in time? information included, or high-quality one of our longest-standing
and most valued
And, more to the point, will more scans to me by e-mail or file transfer. contributors. It’s a tribute to
buildings go the same way? To cite Ben Dunnell the breadth of his colour
transparency collection that
his Hooks’ Tours photo-
spreads have carried on for
Aeroplane traces its lineage back to the weekly The Aeroplane, so long, but all good things
founded by C. G. Grey in 1911 and published until 1968. It was must come to an end, and this month’s helping —
relaunched as a monthly in 1973 by Richard T. Riding, editor for 25
of Tupolev Tu-154s — is the last.
ESTABLISHED 1911 years until 1998.

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 News
The unique sight of a Soviet-liveried
Spitfire V against a glowering December
NEWS EDITOR: TONY HARMSWORTH
E-MAIL TO: tony.harmsworth@keypublishing.com
TELEPHONE: +44 (0)7791 808044
WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd,
PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK

sky at Sandown. PETER R. ARNOLD

Russia gets its 1,336th Spitfire

Being a totally accurate static
rebuild, the Spitfire has a
completely stock cockpit.
PETER R. ARNOLD
T
he first Supermarine
Spitfire restoration to be
completed in Soviet Air
Force markings was due
to be despatched to Russia by
ship in early March, following
a rebuild with Airframe
Assemblies at Sandown on the
Isle of Wight. It will go on display
at an as yet undisclosed location
in Russia to represent the 1,335
Spitfires that flew with the Red
Air Force during the war.
During 2018 an American
client placed an order with
Airframe Assemblies on behalf
of a Russian end user to rebuild
a complete Spitfire V using as
much in the way of original parts
and structure as possible, with
the proviso that it was for static
purposes only and was not to
fly. Since being set up by Steve
Vizard in 1985 as a small ‘cottage
industry’ producing small sheet
metal aircraft assemblies for the
vintage aeroplane fraternity, AA
has developed into a flourishing
business in a purpose-built
workshop on the perimeter
of Sandown airfield. Over the
past 35 years AA has rebuilt no jigs and fixtures. For this
less than 23 Spitfire fuselages static Spitfire, AA was able to
with associated wings and tail incorporate many original
groups, and developed and forgings and castings discarded
manufactured all the necessary from previous airworthy
jigs, fixtures and tooling to make projects. The propeller hub
just about any airframe part and blades, Rolls-Royce Merlin
for a Spitfire. But the Russian 45 engine, the main and tail
Spitfire was new territory undercarriage, the wheels and
for the company, which was tyres, together with the full
contracted to cockpit layout,
see the project are all original.
right through It will go on display As the source
to the end, at an as yet undisclosed and quality
resulting in a of available
fully completed
location in Russia to Spitfires
aircraft painted represent the 1,335 suitable for
in Soviet livery Spitfires that flew with restoration
and standing the Red Air Force to fly has
on its wheels inevitably
ready for reduced
exhibition. Steve and his 25 over time, so the magnitude
full-time staff have relished of replacement material
the task and acknowledge the required has increased pro rata,
help received from the Spitfire generating a substantial stock
community in tracking down of castings and forgings that
components. would not pass muster for flying
The construction of the approval.
fuselage, wings and tail group At the beginning of November
was immediately set in motion 2019 the project was assembled
using the full suite of company in bare metal for the first time

6 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2020

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to enable the fitting of fillet
panels and so forth. It was then
immediately dismantled for
painting inside the workshop.
On 11 December 2019 the
completed Spitfire was fully
assembled on the restricted-area
company car park for a two-hour
session of official photographs
before being dismantled again
in preparation for shipment.
The end user had provided
details of the required livery,
which took some three weeks to
apply and harden off. No RAF
serial was needed but under
the top-coat in the correct
light the serial ‘BM185’ is just
visible. BM185 was taken on
charge by the RAF in early
March 1942, and after being
despatched by sea from Glasgow
arrived at Basrah on 27 March.
It was operated by the elite
57th Guards Air Regiment (57.
GvIAP), which on 2 September
1943 received the Order of the
Red Banner for heroism. The
unit fought in the Battle of
Kursk, the liberation of Belarus,
and the Warsaw offensive in
January 1945.
It was on 4 October 1942
that the Soviet ambassador in
London requested Spitfires for
the country’s air force, the first
Spitfire Vb being delivered to
Basrah in the Persian Gulf on
10 January the following year.
The last of 143 examples arrived
in late March. Personnel from
Nos 118 and 119 Maintenance
Units, RAF prepared the aircraft
at Basrah and painted them
in Soviet markings before the
Spitfires were entrusted to the
Soviet mission and flown to an
air depot at Baku on the Caspian
Sea by Russian pilots. The MkVbs
were operated as dedicated
fighters in Russia and never fitted
with bomb racks, seeing action
in the Black Sea coastal area and
in the vicinity of Moscow. One
of the major actions involving
Spitfire Vbs occurred over Orel,
170 miles south of Moscow in
late 1943, when 25 examples
tangled with Messerschmitt
Bf 109Gs of JG 52. During that
year, 28 MkVbs were lost in air
combat. Deliveries of Spitfire
IXs began in February 1944.
Some 843 Soviet Spitfires were
still serviceable at the end of the
war, 12 MkVbs remaining in use
as late as November 1945. The
MkIXs soldiered on until 1948.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 7
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Replacement CWH
Avenger completed
Unlike most Avenger warbirds which sport World
War Two schemes, the CWHM machine wears the
attractive 1950s markings of an 880 Squadron
aeroplane that flew from HMCS Magnificent. CWHM
Following an 11-year restoration, the Canadian
Warplane Heritage Museum’s Grumman TBM-3E
Avenger, BuNo 53858/C-GCWG, is due to return
to the air during the early spring at Hamilton,
Ontario. It replaces another Avenger, BuNo
91450 — also registered C-GCWG — which was
NZ Avenger fires up
At the Classic Flyers Aviation Museum at
Tauranga Airport on the North Island of New
Zealand, former Royal New Zealand Air Force
Grumman TBF-1 NZ2539 recently had its Wright
R-2600 Cyclone ground-run just three-and-a-half
years after arriving at the museum hangar as a
total derelict. For the 15 museum volunteers it is
their second Avenger restoration in less than four
years, the team having completed TBF-1 NZ2505
on behalf of its owners, the Gisborne Aviation
Preservation Society (GAPS), during the summer
of 2016.
It was after seeing what an excellent job had
been done on NZ2505 that the owner of ’2539,
Ken Jacobs, donated his Avenger to the
museum. Ken had acquired the heavily
vandalised former torpedo bomber/target tug in
the mid-1970s from a children’s playground in
Havelock North, in the Hawke’s Bay area. It was
moved from his property at Riverhead, just north
of Auckland, to Tauranga during July 2017. Both
aircraft had been retired from use as target tugs
by the RNZAF in 1959.
Now back on display at Gisborne as the
centrepiece in the GAPS museum hangar,
News April 2020
destroyed in a hangar fire at Hamilton during
February 1993.
Built by General Motors’ Eastern Aircraft
Division during 1945, 53858 flew with the US
Navy until the early 1950s, when it was put into
storage. Subsequently converted into a sprayer, it
was operated by Hemet Valley Flying Service in
California from 1963-72. Forest Protection in New
Brunswick purchased it in 1976, operating the
machine as C-GFPR/tanker 4 from Fredericton,
New Brunswick until it was stood down from that
role in 1992.
Acquired by Didier Chable of the Association
des Mécaniciens Pilotes d’Aéronefs Anciens at
Melun-Villaroche during 2000 and allotted the
registration F-WQON, it was not collected by the
new owner who was unable to arrange transport
for it across the Atlantic. The Avenger remained
parked at Fredericton until being acquired by the
CWHM with the help of a generous donor and
moved by road to Hamilton in October 2009. It
has been painted to represent a Royal Canadian
Navy Avenger AS3 that flew with 880 Squadron
in the anti-submarine role from the aircraft carrier
HMCS Magnificent and various shore
establishments during the 1950s.
Just three years after arriving at the Classic Flyers
Aviation Museum at Tauranga looking only fit
for the scrapheap, former RNZAF TBF-1 NZ2539
recently had its Wright Cyclone fired up. BENT JANSEN
NZ2505 has for company a former RAF and
Spanish Air Force Lockheed C-60 Lodestar
restoration project, EW984/ZK-BUV, and an
ex-USAAF Douglas C-47, 43-15585/ZK-BYF.
02/03/2020 09:26
 News April 2020

C-47 for Caen D-Day museum

T
he Caen-based D-Day
Wings organisation
recently purchased
Douglas C-47B Skytrain
43-49297/N514AC from the
Stow, Massachusetts-based
Collings Foundation. The
1943-vintage, Oklahoma-built
troop-hauler is being prepared
for a trans-Atlantic flight to
its new home. D-Day Wings
will base the Skytrain in a
32,300-square foot hangar at
Caen-Carpiquet airport, which
will also house a museum
covering the story of the air war
over Normandy.
The machine currently
wears the markings of a Vietnam
War AC-47 gunship with the
name Spooky below the cockpit,
dating from November 2007
when it joined the active fleet
at Rick Sharp’s Vietnam War
Flight Museum at Galveston,
Texas. It was acquired by the
Collings Foundation in 2014.
The Skytrain will now be painted at Fulbeck, Lincolnshire. During Airborne Division. After being ABOVE: C-47B 43-49297/N514AC,
as 42-92415, a 303rd Troop the early hours of 6 June 1944, delivered to its new home in pictured at Lakeland, Florida in
Carrier Squadron, 442nd Troop wearing the code J7, 42‑92415 Caen, the C-47 will be kitted out 2008, is now owned by D-Day
Wings and, following a trans-
Carrier Group C-47 named Miss participated in Mission Boston for its future role as a skydiving/ Atlantic crossing, will live in a new
Annabelle Lee, which was based over the Carpiquet Peninsula, commemorative parachute museum at Caen-Carpiquet.
at Army Air Forces Station 488 dropping paras from the 82nd drop machine. NIGEL HITCHMAN

HISTORIC ‘V-BOMBER’ COCKPITS FOR SALE

A unique quartet of ‘V-bomber’
cockpits is being offered for
potential sale. The Cockpit
Collection, assembled by Nigel
Towler, most notably includes
the largest section of Vickers
Valiant still in existence with the
exception of the complete
example at the RAF Museum
Cosford — this is the nose of
B(K)1 XD826, which survived as
a ground trainer at Feltwell after
the rest of the airframe was
scrapped in 1965. XD826
served with Nos 7, 90, 138 and,
briefly, 543 Squadrons, as well
as with No 232 Operational
Conversion Unit.
There are two Victor cockpits
in the collection. XH669 was
the second B2 model built, and
was later converted into a K2
tanker, being retired by No 55
Squadron in 1990 after a hot air
leak from one of the inboard
The Cockpit Collection’s Victor K2, Vulcan K2 and Victor B2 cockpits,
with that from the Valiant B(K)1 just visible behind. NIGEL TOWLER
engines damaged the flying
controls. Prior to that, in 1982
this aircraft was involved in the
first ‘Black Buck’ raid of the
Falklands War. It was to have
been the last aircraft that
passed fuel to Vulcan XM607
but, famously, XH669’s
refuelling probe broke while
receiving fuel from another
Victor. The cockpit of XH670 is
also of great historical interest
as it is the last surviving major
section of a Victor B2 in
existence, this aeroplane having
remained as a test aircraft and
never seeing conversion to K2
standard. Completing the
collection is Vulcan K2 XH560’s
cockpit, this having been one of
the six B2s converted into
tankers at the time of the
Falklands conflict.
As well as the cockpits
themselves, Nigel Towler holds
many spares and further parts
of these aircraft, amassed over
the course of nearly 40 years. “I
will be happy to hear from
groups and organisations that
have the necessary resources
to take them on”, he says. For
more information and to contact
Nigel, see www.v-bombers.org.
Ben Dunnell

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 News April 2020

DH museum opens new hangar

T
he newly completed,
£3-million building at
the de Havilland Aircraft
Museum at Salisbury
Hall, Hertfordshire opened
to the public on 16 February,
nearly 61 years after Britain’s
first museum solely dedicated to
aviation, the Mosquito Museum,
was inaugurated on the site.
Between 16-23 February, 1,250
visitors passed through the
doors, the biggest opening week
attendance ever at the museum,
which will from now on be open
all year apart from two weeks
over the Christmas period.
The lower floor of the hangar
boasts 11,808 square feet of
display space, and will permit
several aircraft to go under
cover for the first time. Soon
to move in is Sea Vixen FAW2
XJ565, which will join the yet-
to-be-assembled Sea Venom
FAW22 XG730, former Swiss Air
Force Vampire FB6 J-1008, and,
from the pre-war years, DH87
Hornet Moth G-ADOT, Cierva
C24 G-ABLM — a two-seat
autogyro built by de Havilland
in 1931, using the cabin of a
DH80A Puss Moth coupled to
a Cierva rotor head — and the
fuselage of DH53 Humming
Bird G-EBQP. Complementing
the three Mosquitos displayed
The Walter Goldsmith Hangar, the only place in the world where you can
see three Mosquitos. The priceless prototype, W4050, is in the middle. DHAM
near the museum entrance in
the adjoining Walter Goldsmith
Hangar from the 1980s is
the replica of DH88 Comet
G-ACSR, the original having
been flown to fourth place in
the 1934 Mildenhall-Melbourne
MacRobertson International
Air Race by Owen Cathcart-
Jones and Ken Waller. A replica
of the 1927 DH71 Tiger Moth
single-seat racing and high-
speed research monoplane is
under construction and will be
suspended from the ceiling in
the new building, which also
houses its biplane namesake in
the shape of a crop-spraying-
configured DH82A Tiger Moth,
G-ANRX.
Total under-cover space at
the DHAM — including the
Walter Goldsmith Hangar,
which houses DH98 Mosquito
prototype W4050, Mosquito FB6
TA122, Mosquito B35 TA634 and
an Airspeed Horsa nose and Looking down from the mezzanine of the Sir Geoffrey de Havilland
fuselage section, and is named Hangar onto Chipmunk T10 WP790, the ex-Swiss Vampire FB6 and
Sea Venom FAW22 XG730. In the background is a ‘DH at Sea’ display
after the ex-Royal Marines major featuring highly detailed large-scale models of the Sea Mosquito, Sea
who founded the Mosquito Hornet and Sea Vixen, built by museum curator Alistair Hodgson. NIGEL PRICE
Museum in 1959 — is now
more than 20,300 square feet.
The National Lottery Heritage trusts, foundations and private The NLHF part-funds both
Fund (NLHF) provided nearly donations. Niki and Stephanie, whose
£2 million for the project. The A mezzanine floor in the contribution in attracting a more
museum had to match-fund new building, named the Sir diverse audience to the museum
from other sources, mainly from Geoffrey de Havilland Hangar, was an essential requirement of
houses an event space which its grant award.
can accommodate 100 people The new hangar also gives
in ‘cabaret’-style seating, a the museum the opportunity
learning centre, archive room, to re-display and interpret its
and an office and volunteers’ wider collection alongside a
room. Crucial to the museum’s programme of activities. DHAM
enhanced educational remit is marketing director Mike Nevin
the appointment of a learning says, “We’ve put all our energy
and community manager, Niki into this. It’s a game-changer for
Goorney, who was previously the museum, which has hugely
the schools engagement and improved the visitor experience,
outreach officer at the Bentley as evidenced by the excellent
Priory Museum, and events attendance figures during
manager Stephanie Marshall. February’s dreadful weather.”

NALLS ‘SHAR’ FOR SALE

The world’s only privately operated V/STOL ‘jump jet’, the ex-Royal Navy Sea
Harrier FA2 XZ439/N94422, has been put up for sale by St Mary’s County,
Maryland-based owner Art Nalls, a former US Marine Corps Harrier and test
pilot who has flown the potent machine on the US airshow circuit since 2008.
Nalls is also seeking to sell two-seat Harrier T8 ZD993, which hasn’t flown
since he acquired it in 2014, along with spares, support equipment, manuals,
and expert advice to any would-be purchaser. The aircraft are currently listed Art Nalls displaying Sea Harrier FA2 XZ439 at his local show,
with Courtesy Aircraft Sales of Rockford, Illinois. the Culpeper Air Fest in Virginia, in August 2011. DENIS J. CALVERT

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 News April 2020

TANGMERE With its fuselage blisters and nose turret now

installed, PBV-1A Canso A 44-34081 has come
GEARS UP FOR to the end of its current work programme and
will go back into storage at Wigram. AFMNZ
BATTLE 80TH
To mark the 80th anniversary of
the Battle of Britain and RAF
Tangmere’s important
contribution, a temporary
exhibition will be held at the
Tangmere Military Aviation
Museum from 10 May-31 October.
It will include display boards on
the involvement of the based

Canso conserved in NZ
squadrons during the battle and
the story of AVM Keith Park, air
officer commanding No 11 Group,
who was a station commander at
Tangmere in the 1930s. There will

be paintings and drawings, and a
programme of talks. The
museum’s cinema will screen a
film on the Luftwaffe attack on
Tangmere on 16 August 1940 and
the new film The Story of Billy
Fiske — King of Speed, about
American pilot Billy Fiske who
flew with No 601 Squadron during
the summer of 1940.
In addition, a group of
Luftwaffe uniforms including one
previously worn by Feldwebel
Friedrich Gunther, first mechanic
to the leading Junkers Ju 87
‘Stuka’ pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel,
recently went on display at the
Tangmere museum.
A
t the Air Force Museum of New Zealand
in Wigram, Christchurch, 18 months of
detailed conservation/restoration work
on the fuselage of Canadian Vickers
PBV-1A Canso A 44-34081 is now coming to an
end, and the former US Army Air Forces machine
will soon go back into storage. It saw service
towards the end of the war and was operated by
Cathay Pacific Airways during 1948, but has no
Royal New Zealand Air Force history. The airframe
was rescued from the fire dump at Jacksons
Airport near Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in
1975, initially going to the Museum of Transport
and Technology in Auckland before arriving at
Wigram in 1990.
Museum collections manager Darren
Hammond says, “It’s very much been a case of
addressing some issues that have occurred during
many years in storage, mainly external corrosion.
Some structural work has taken place, but only
where it was necessary to seal the hull to aid
in its preservation. That’s why the blisters were
fitted and all other openings — both panels and
windows — were sourced or made and fitted. We
have reached the end of this planned preservation
work and the hull will soon be retaking its place in
our storage hangar. As an aircraft with no RNZAF
or New Zealand provenance, there are no plans
to take the rebuild of this aircraft any further in
the foreseeable future, as we have more pressing
projects requiring our attention.”
The next aircraft to receive conservation work
has yet to be signed off by the board of trustees, but
Hammond adds, “It’s quite a significant and rare
aircraft and we’re very much looking forward to
announcing the commencement of that project.”

Hunter F58 J-4077 during a very wet open day at Beauvechain in September
2008. It has re-emerged at the 1st Wing Historical Centre. LAURENT HEYLIGEN
HUNTER FOR BEAUVECHAIN MUSEUM
The 1st Wing Historical Centre at Beauvechain air
base, Belgium, recently took delivery of former
Swiss Air Force Hunter F58 J-4077. Following
retirement in 1994, the machine was donated to
the Brussels Air Museum, and during October
1995 flew from Emmen to the NATO reserve base
at Weelde, north-east of Antwerp, which was at the
time used as a storage facility for the museum. The
whereabouts of the Hunter remained unknown
until September 2008 when it was first noted at
Beauvechain during an open day, but after this
it disappeared again into one of the hardened
shelters. During early 2019 it was decided that
these shelters had to be emptied as they were
needed to store the Alpha Jets that were going to
be withdrawn from Belgian use later that year.
The Hunter arrived in a dismantled state, but the
plan is to reassemble it as soon as possible and to
put it on permanent display in the base museum
by the spring.
NEWS IN BRIEF
BRUNTINGTHORPE MUSEUM CLOSES
In mid-February Aeroplane
received confirmation that the
Bruntingthorpe Aviation Museum
of Cold War jets is closing due to
increased demand for car storage
at the former RAF airfield. A
decision on future taxiing events
for Bruntingthorpe-based aircraft,
including the EE Lightnings of the
Lightning Preservation Group, has
been deferred, with a review due
in a few months to reflect the
storage situation as it develops.
GOXHILL TOWER OPENS IN VIRGINIA
The World War Two control tower
from RAF Goxhill, Lincolnshire,
which became USAAF Station 345
during the war, recently opened
to the public at the Military
Aviation Museum in Virginia
Beach. The building was
dismantled and transported to the
USA in 2010 and gradually rebuilt.

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 News April 2020
PROJECT UPDATES
Survey ‘Mossie’ progressing
N
early eight years
after it arrived at the
workshops of the
Bomber Command
Museum of Canada at Nanton,
63 miles south of Calgary,
restoration of de Havilland
Mosquito B35 RS700/CF-HMS is
forging ahead with the Calgary
Mosquito Society (CMS).
Owned by the city of Calgary
and ultimately destined for
display in the Hangar Flight
Museum at Calgary Airport, the
Christchurch-built machine
is being restored back into the
silver and red markings it wore
while being operated by Ottawa-
based aerial survey company
Spartan Air Services during the
late 1950s.
CMS president Richard de
Boer says, “By the end of 2019
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we completed the structural
repairs on the fuselage. Sadly it
had suffered from neglect and
[was] left outdoors after the
fabric skin had been stripped
from it, leading to significant
One of the large stones that penetrated the skin of the horizontal tail of
CF-HMS during its days flying from rough strips while on survey flights
during the late 1950s. RICHARD DE BOER
water damage to the outer birch
plywood. Approximately a third
of the outer skins have been
replaced with aircraft-grade
birch sourced from Austria. With
the completion of the structural
Work under way
on the bomber-
configuration
Mosquito canopy
frame of CF-HMS at
Nanton. RICHARD DE BOER
repairs we can now begin the
process of reinstalling the
controls and systems into the
fuselage.
“Having completed the
structural repairs we have
finished the complete interior of
the fuselage with a new coat of
primer. The catchphrase among
our members is ‘Green is good!’
meaning that the long, tedious
process of replacing skins and
balsa is done and we can start
adding parts to the fuselage.
“We have also begun the
process of restoring and
reinstalling the canopy frame.
A good fit for the canopy long
dogged the type, and was
even noted by Sir Geoffrey de
Havilland in his autobiography,
Sky Fever. It was also commented
on by Lockheed test pilots when
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
02/03/2020 09:27
 News April 2020

they came to Canada to test a

newly built Canadian Mosquito
B20, KB106, in September 1943.
“We have stripped the
canopy frame down to bare
metal and refinished it. Work
is now focused on the frame-
to-fuselage fit, so new wooden
lips have been manufactured to
ensure a better fit for the frame.
A complete set of new Perspex
panels has been ordered from
Harwood Custom Composites in
Sidney, British Columbia as they
had previously produced a set of
moulds for the airworthy rebuild
of the Bob Jens-owned Mosquito
B35, VR796/CF-HML.

Our woodworking
crew has pulled the The restoration of Short Scion II G-AEZF is sponsored by the Rochester Bridge Trust, a quite appropriate
horizontal tail from benefactor when the wing structure is studied. TONY HARMSWORTH
storage and begun to

Scion coming together

restore it. It tells some
fascinating tales

“Again, with fuselage repairs
complete, our woodworking
crew has pulled the horizontal
tail from storage and begun
to restore it. It tells some
fascinating tales: we had heard
stories from former Spartan
employees that, to handle rock
damage on the stabiliser, Spartan
had covered the surfaces in
fibreglass. We discovered that
it was no rumour as most of the
span is covered in fibreglass, and
rightly so, as we found several
spots where sizeable stones had
penetrated the skins and been
sealed over with fibreglass. They
saw the light of day again when
we ground off the fibreglass and
lifted the original wood skins.
“The other tell-tale discovery
is that resorcinol glue does not
age very well. Once the tiny
brass nails were removed from
the skin, the 2mm plywood was
easily peeled from the structure
without breaking. Not a lot of
adhesion left there. With the
skins removed we are now going
over each rib in the stabiliser
and repairing damage, re-
glueing and reinstalling them.”
When completed, CF-HMS
will be the only civilian-
configured Mosquito in the
world, a fitting tribute to the
important work carried out by
the type in private ownership
during the post-war years.
A
t Rochester Airport, restoration of
England’s only surviving Short Scion,
G-AEZF, is progressing well with
the Medway Aircraft Preservation
Society (MAPS), recent work having included
the upholstering of the passenger compartment
walls with material appropriate to the build
date of the machine at Rochester in 1933. Brian
Barnard of MAPS sourced and fitted the material,
with reference to two photographs of Scion
interiors taken at the Rochester factory in period.
Project leader Robin Heaps says, “The pictures
are in black and white, so we have no idea of
the original colour. These are of a Scion I —
probably the first example, G-ACUV, which was
built for Aberdeen Airways. I am sure that Shorts
would have finished an aircraft to the customer’s
requirements, and ours, a Scion II floatplane,
was purchased by Elders Colonial Airways in
1937. Brian Barnard believes that it is pretty
authentic for the era.”
Although MAPS has a sectioned, 90hp Pobjoy
Niagara III engine, it didn’t come with ’AEZF.
Robin says, “My current thinking is that we fit
two lightweight boxes onto the engine bearers
to support the propellers and cowlings. There
is little to be seen of the engine when the cowl
is fitted as there is also a central disc in front of
the engine’s crankcase. The cylinders are about
4in back and only the front of them is visible
through a 2in-wide ring. That will be a good 10ft
above the floor when the aircraft has been fitted
with its floats and mounted on the beaching
trolley. We will display the part-sectioned
Pobjoy engine with the aeroplane.
“The fuselage, cockpit, instrument panel and
cabin are virtually complete, less the external
fabric, and the control runs are currently being
added. For the starboard wing, the spar box,
leading edge and inboard and outboard sections
of the trailing edge have been completed. Work
is about to commence on the centre section of
the trailing edge and aileron. No work has yet
been carried out on the port wing or engine
cowls. The empennage — fin, rudder, tailplane
and elevators — requires only the assembly of
the port elevator. All items have yet to be covered
and the tailplane struts need to be made.
“A 3D model of the floats has been created
and laser-cut formers produced. Work has
yet to start, partly due to space limitations in
the workshop”. As part of the rejuvenation of
Rochester Airport, MAPS was scheduled to soon
move from its ancient, hutted accommodation
to a new, purpose-built workshop, but work has
been delayed due to the discovery of Roman
remains under the airport turf. It is hoped that
the Scion will eventually be displayed in a new
heritage centre at the airport.
Rolls of 1930s-style material have been acquired to
upholster the interior walls of the Scion.
TONY HARMSWORTH

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 WORKSHOP
SAVING a TIGER
It isn’t actually in the workshop yet, but the sole former No 74 ‘Tiger’
Squadron F-4J(UK) Phantom remaining in RAF service configuration is
already being worked on WORDS: TONY CLAY
A
s the F-4J(UK) Phantom
climbed out of RAF
Wattisham for the very
last time on 22 February
1991, the crew had a plan. The pilot,
Fg Off Ian ‘Hagar’ Hargreaves, and
navigator Flt Lt Ray Jones were
heading out over the North Sea
where it was safely permitted to
break the speed of sound. This was,
after all, to be the final flight of this
F-4 and they wanted it to go out
with a bang — literally.
F-4J BuNo 155574 was built in
McDonnell’s facility at St Louis
Lambert International Airport,
Missouri. First flown on 6 April 1968
and accepted by the US Navy on 29
April, ’5574 was issued on 22 May to
fighter squadron VF-31 ‘Tomcatters’.
Over the next 13 years the jet was
ABOVE: based primarily on the east coast
F-4J(UK) ZE360 of the USA, its shore home being
at Manston on the
NAS Oceana, Virginia. It served
morning of the initial
airframe assessment aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt,
in January 2019. Independence and Saratoga,
NIGEL HODGSON embarking for cruises in the Atlantic
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and Mediterranean. Time was spent
with other units including VF-41
‘Black Aces’, VF-101 ‘Grim Reapers’
and VF-103 ‘Sluggers’. It ended its
days in US service with a US Marine
Corps squadron, VMFAT-101
‘Sharpshooters’ at Marine Corps Air
Station Yuma, Arizona, albeit for
August 1981 only.
With the introduction of the F-4S
variant into US service, those ‘J’
airframes not slated to receive the
upgrades were moved into storage.
In the case of BuNo 155574, this
was at NAS North Island, California.
There the story might have finished
were it not for Argentina’s invasion of
the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982.
Once hostilities were concluded
with the Argentinian surrender on
14 June, Britain looked to bolster
the islands’ defences against further
aggression. The RAF’s only real
option was to move a squadron
of Phantoms from the UK to the
Falklands to replace the small
Harrier force that had taken on
the air defence responsibility. No
23 Squadron’s Phantom FGR2s
arrived in October 1983, but with
one problem solved, a second
issue needed to be reviewed. There
was a squadron-sized hole in the
UK’s own air defence network. The
Panavia Tornado ADV was still
some time from entering service
and it was decided to order more
Phantoms, off-the-shelf, from the
Americans as a stop-gap measure.
Originally it was hoped to buy the
latest F-4S, but there were none
spare. Attention turned to the
F-4Js littered around the storage
facilities. The Spey-engined F-4K
and M variants had been based on
the J airframe, so there would be
some commonality. Fifteen low-
time aircraft, including ’5574, were
chosen and delivered to the Naval
Air Rework Facility at North Island.
Some of the upgrades built into
the F-4S could be implemented
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 As a ‘standard’ F-4J, BuNo 155574 sits on
the NAS Oceana flightline in July 1968,
while serving with VF-31.
JOSEPH HANDELMAN

into the F-4J refurbishments.

The radar was updated from the
standard AWG-10 to the much-
improved AWG-10B. All this work
turned the aircraft into a hybrid
mix of components from the J and
S models. If you include the RAF’s
own requirements to carry the
Skyflash missile and SUU-23A gun
pod wiring, installation of TESS
(the telescopic sighting system)
and a colour scheme that seemed
to change from grey to green to
blue depending on where the sun
was shining down on the aircraft, This was the
15 unusual Phantoms emerged
from the NARF line. The official
final flight of this
designation was F-4J(UK), but the
air and groundcrews considered
F-4 and the crew
that too much of a mouthful and wanted it to go
just referred to them as either the ‘J’ The USS Saratoga’s
or F-4J. They were never, contrary to out with a bang — catapult launches BuNo
155574, now with
some sources, called Phantom F3s.
Officially transferred to the RAF,
literally VF-103, some time in
1976. US NAVY
the former BuNo 155574 was given
serial ZE360 and served with the
newly re-formed No 74 ‘Tiger’
Squadron. Flying across the Atlantic
as part of the three-ship ‘Tiger
Trails 2’ delivery, ZE360 arrived
at Wattisham on 5 October 1984
and shortly afterwards obtained
individual tail code ‘O’. For the
next six years the F-4Js served with
distinction, protecting UK airspace
from incursions and taking part in
many exercises across Europe with
NATO allies. An excellent colour
Although the F-4Js had been comparison of the
bought with an expected service standard RAF air defence
grey sported by F-4J(UK)
life of just five years, by 1988 it was ZE360 and the US-
decided to extend that period to applied duck egg blue on
10. Therefore, from April 1989 a ZE359. COLIN COLLIS
number of the Js started to arrive
at St Athan for major servicing. The
opportunity was taken to repaint
them in the correct air defence
colours as the jets came through
the facility, though not all did so
and some retained their grey/
blue/green American paint until
retirement.
The Thatcher government’s
‘Options for Change’ defence review
paper of 1990 was to provide a fatal
blow to the F-4J(UK). It confirmed
the earlier-than-scheduled
retirement of the RAF’s Phantoms,
which led to No 74 Squadron being
ordered to swap the Js for FGR2s
as the Spey-engined machines
were cheaper to operate than the
American model. By the end of
January 1991 all the Js were in short- Fg Off Ian ‘Hagar’ Hargreaves
(right) and Flt Lt Ray Jones in front
term storage at Wattisham. Most of ZE360 on the morning of the
ended up on fire dumps, which delivery flight to Manston, on 22
brings us back to events on 22 February 1991. VIA TONY CLAY
February 1991.

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 WORKSHOP F-4J(UK) Phantom
CLOCKWISE Ian Hargreaves takes up the story.
FROM TOP LEFT: “We planned it to try and achieve the
Many of the elusive Mach 2. It was a completely
Phantom’s external
clean aircraft and the idea was to
panels will need
to be replaced or coast out over the Wash, talking to
refabricated. Eastern Radar, and then maintain
VIA TONY CLAY 35nm off the coast so that we could
If some areas of the
legally go supersonic whilst arcing
top of ZE360 look around East Anglia down towards
bad, unfortunately the Thames Estuary… We got to
it doesn’t get better about Mach 1.96 when the right
with the underside. intake ramp went out of phase and
VIA TONY CLAY
started banging, which surged the
Years of grime and
dirt were scrubbed
right engine, thus scuppering any
hope of Mach 2 as we decelerated
away, revealing
the air defence
as if we were hitting a brick wall.
grey paintwork
underneath.
The good old J79 engine promptly
cleared from surge when bought
VIA TONY CLAY back to idle and was able to be
reselected into reheat, but by
The cockpits have this time we were too slow and
been ransacked over
the years by various running out of fuel. We spiralled
restoration groups down, pulling as much g as I could
and visitors. physically pull — about 8-9g, I recall.
VIA TONY CLAY The aircraft was never going to fly
again! We landed at Manston with
an approach-end cable engagement
and self-cleared, folded the wings
and taxied in. A noble end for a
carrier-borne aircraft.”
Stripped of usable parts and made
safe, ZE360 was towed across a
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public road and onto the fire dump
where it joined sister-ship ZE353,
which survived until July 2001 when
it was scrapped on site. Having been
left out in the elements for the past
23 years, by September 2015 ZE360,
used mainly for aircrew extraction
training, found itself moved to the
burn pit, looking as though it would
suffer the fate of most other aircraft
at the fire school. But fate can be a
fickle beast, and
a short time later
ZE360 was noted It is estimated
to have been
removed from that a restoration
the burn pit after
environmental could take from five
concerns were
raised regarding
to 10 years
the burning of
aircraft and the effects of doing so
on the local area. There it languished
until the author was invited to visit
ZE360 in September 2017.
At the time my plan was to
document photographically a very
rare survivor from as many angles
as possible for the 74(F) Tiger
Squadron Association website.
Other F-4J(UK)s had either been
scrapped or, in the case of IWM
Duxford’s ZE359, been converted
back to US Navy standard. I hadn’t
raised my hopes as I had read and
heard that ZE360 was near collapse,
that the main undercarriage was
going through the top of the wings
and the scrap man was but a call
away. What I found was somewhat
different.
I’m not an engineer by trade, but
ZE360 did not come across as a
complete wreck, nor look as fragile
as I had been led to believe. That’s
not to say that it is in great shape,
but I started to think about the
possibility of preservation and if it
was viable even at this 11th hour.
Luckily I had met a gentleman by
the name of Mike Davey, one of the
UK’s leading F-4 enthusiasts, who
owns the cockpits from FGR2 XV490
and F-4J(UK) ZE352. I approached
him for advice and asked if he
would be interested or knew anyone
who would seriously consider a
possible rescue and restoration.
In the meantime, I maintained
contact with the Manston Fire
School and discussed the prospect
of saving the Phantom. They in turn
confirmed the airframe was surplus
to requirements.
A few weeks later Mike returned
my call and in turn put me in touch
with Paul Wright, chairman of the
British Phantom Aviation Group
(BPAG). Paul had joined the RAF in
1980 and went straight into three
years’ apprentice training as an
airframe and engine technician.
He was posted to Phantoms in
1983, firstly with No 228 OCU and
latterly with No 111 Squadron
before moving on to Tornados and
Hawks. The BPAG can rely on the
vast resource of its
members, many
with intimate
information
and knowledge
of Phantoms as
they are ex-air
or groundcrew.
It seemed more
than logical to
discuss creating a partnership and
plan a rescue and restoration.
In January 2019, members from
the BPAG and the 74(F) Tiger
Squadron Association met on a very
cold, wet and windy morning at the
Manston main gate. The aim was to
complete an initial assessment of
ZE360 to determine how viable an
option saving it was. This was done
by BPAG.
02/03/2020 15:29
 Paul Wright noted, “The
main cause of concern is the
intergranular corrosion on the
airframe. It can’t be treated by
chemical means, and will need
to be cut out otherwise it will
simply spread internally within the
material. The surface corrosion,
principally on upper wing panels,
outer wings and forward fuselage
panels, was bad. But despite having
gone through in places, it is deemed
treatable. It can be blended out
with the exposed metal treated and
the profile restored with careful
refilling. The spine panels may be a
different matter as there’s a major
amount of repair work there and it
may transpire that once they’re off,
it’ll be easier to make reproductions
rather than restore them. The
wheels and tyres will require some
work and the cockpit is obviously
completely stripped. It will be
a case of collecting parts either
via donations from supporters
or purchasing them as and when
required from third parties. Once
ZE360 is removed from Manston
and relocated, it is estimated that
it will take about a year to get the
aircraft fully stripped, depending
on manpower, and a full wingtip-
to-wingtip, nose-to-tail inspection
can be completed. Any removed
components will be restored ‘off-
jet’ and then stored ready for refit the first opportunity to get hands on section was covered with a tarpaulin ABOVE:
as and when. Good recording of the aeroplane and would hopefully to reduce water ingress. The weekend of 22-
components, panels and anything offer some early indications of A further visit on 20 October saw 23 February 2020
saw a working party
else as they come off is essential so the true state of the bodywork the brake parachute operating cable
back at Manston.
nothing goes missing. A ‘snag book’ and structure. Before any of this, being disconnected (a fiddly job The outer winglets
will also be vital so that assessments however, the whole aircraft was with limited access), and likewise were raised to allow
can be recorded and subsequent cleaned, scrubbed and rinsed to both flap actuators. Find of the access to other parts
repairs/replacements are logged. remove as much fire foam residue, day was a port intake blank, deep of the wing — not
It is estimated that it could take moss, dirt and salt deposits as inside an engine intake. With winter easy after nearly
30 years in the
anything from five to 10 years for a possible. Much of the original approaching this proved to be the
open. This allowed
full restoration to be completed.” paintwork became visible as a final visit of the year, but work on the port-side fuel
Despite the amount of work result, some of it in good condition, ’360 had just restarted for 2020 by venting vane to be
involved, ZE360 was deemed but further corrosion on small areas the time we went to press. removed, while the
restorable as long as the team started of the panelling and fasteners was There’s no doubting this will be mainwheels were
on a rescue plan now. February noted and logged for the team’s a very long restoration and the dug out ready for a
tyre change. As can
2019 saw the author contacting future attention. path ahead will be challenging,
be seen, various
DESA (the Defence Equipment with limited funds and manpower derelict airframes
Sales Authority) on behalf of the available. However, the will remain in the same
74(F) Tiger Squadron Association The underside, wing fold areas is there to save and restore a compound.
and BPAG and informing it of our and undercarriage were inspected. unique Phantom variant. VIA TONY CLAY
intent to obtain ’360. By 15 May, after The tail cone was partially
weeks of e-mails, form-filling and disassembled to gain access to the
one very long day of negotiations,
the Phantom had been acquired.
Thanks to the staff at the Manston
stabiliser pivot mechanism, which
seemed to be in good condition.
The upper panels unfortunately
CAN YOU HELP?
Fire School, DESA and Military proved not to be removable, which The 74(F) Tiger Squadron Association and the British
Spares, the final F-4J(UK) has been prevented wider inspection. Finally, Phantom Aviation Group are always looking for help, parts
given a lifeline. PX-32 preservative was put on all or additional information for the project. If you or someone
On 17 September 2019, a team the non-stainless outer surfaces, you know would like to assist in saving ZE360, please
of volunteers from BPAG and the including the underside where contact the association through its website, 74sqdn.tk,
association began preservation accessible, to try and limit further or BPAG by e-mail to bpagvolunteers@gmail.com.
work on site at Manston. This was weather damage. The cockpit

AEROPLANE APRIL 2020 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 17

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STEVE SLATER
HangarTalk
Comment on historic aviation by the chief executive of the UK’s Light Aircraft Association
H
ere’s a good pub quiz question for
you. Which major international
airport is directly linked to Britain’s
most famous horse race? The
answer, surprisingly, is Gatwick. Few
know that part of the airport was once a
racecourse, which in 1915, 1916 and 1917
hosted the Grand National.
I was prompted to look into a bit of
Gatwick’s history when, en route to a meeting
at the Civil Aviation Authority’s nearby
headquarters, the local bus service deposited
me adjacent to the ‘Beehive’, Gatwick’s
original airport terminal. Now separated
from the main airport by a perimeter road,
the building remains a Streamline Moderne
icon, as well as being truly historic as the
world’s first fully integrated airport terminal.
The ‘Beehive’ dates from 1936, when it was
built by Maurice Jackaman, who three years
earlier had bought the Gatwick Aerodrome
site for £13,500. It had been developed on
land adjacent to the racecourse at Hunts
Green Farm and, from November 1928,
Dominion Aircraft based
its Avro 504, G-AACX, at
the new airfield. The Surrey A WHSmith
Aero Club subsequently
kept its Avro 504s and DH60
store in the airport
Moths there, converting the
Hunts Green farmhouse into
is apparently
a clubhouse and terminal. still known as the
Jackaman, though,
planned something more ‘Winning Post’
ambitious. He designed and
patented a purpose-built terminal building
and pioneered the concept of integrated
transportation. One of the attractions of
Gatwick was a railway station which had
been built for racegoers.
The former Gatwick Racecourse station
was just a short walk from the ‘Beehive’ and
fast trains connected it to London Victoria
and Brighton on the south coast. Among the
new airport’s selling points was the fact that
18 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
18_AM_HangarTalk_Apr2020_cc C.indd 18
Gatwick Airport’s historic ‘Beehive’ — a revolution in airports, and a design classic in its own right.
STEVE SLATER
passengers arriving at Gatwick could be in
the centre of London within the hour. The
station served the airport until 1958, when
the current station in what is today the South
Terminal was constructed.
The circular terminal building was
revolutionary at the time. Jackaman claimed
advantages over more traditional buildings
modelled on railway ticket halls, including
more efficient use of space and greater safety
of aircraft movements,
with telescopic ‘piers’ or
gangways providing covered
access from the building to
the aircraft parked around
it. A glazed central section
on top of the building
contained a control tower
and weather station.
Even before the new
terminal was completed,
Hillman’s Airways became Gatwick’s first
commercial operator, beginning scheduled
services from the airport to Belfast and Paris
using DH84 Dragons. A few months later
Hillman’s was merged with United Airways
and Spartan Air Lines to form a new carrier.
Its name became British Airways.
The first departure from the ‘Beehive’
was a Jersey Airways DH86 Express, under
contract to British Airways. It departed
Comment
at 13.30hrs on 17 May 1936, bound for
Le Bourget in Paris. The fare was £4 5s,
including a first-class rail ticket from London
Victoria. Later the same day, British Airways
introduced another new service from
Gatwick to Malmö in southern Sweden, via
Amsterdam, Hamburg and Copenhagen.
The ‘Beehive’ remained the hub of
operations until the outbreak of World War
Two, when all civilian flying ceased. The
airfield was principally used for aircraft
maintenance and repair work and for
hosting army co-operation squadrons, while
post-war Airwork converted many Douglas
DC-3s for civilian use. In 1950, the ‘Beehive’
saw the departure of the first holiday charter
flight when a Jersey Airlines DC-3 left the
airport’s grass runway for Calvi on Corsica,
with a refuelling stop in Nice. The flight was
chartered by Horizon Holidays, the 32-seat
DC-3 carrying 11 passengers.
Today, the ‘Beehive’ may be unheard-
of by travellers heading for the sun from
Gatwick, but it is remembered in name at
least by a J. D. Wetherspoon restaurant and
bar in the South Terminal concourse. There’s
also another, less obvious nod to Gatwick’s
earlier history. A WHSmith store within the
airport is apparently still known internally
as the ‘Winning Post’, due to its location in
relation to the old racecourse.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
02/03/2020 09:30
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DENIS J. CALVERT
Flight
FlightLine
Recollections and reflections — a seasoned reporter’s view of aviation history
T
he arrival of the RAF’s first Boeing
P-8A Poseidon at Kinloss on 4
February marked the beginning of
the end of a ‘capability holiday’ —
wonderful phrase — in the RAF’s provision of
maritime patrol. This event occurred almost
10 years after the retirement of the Poseidon’s
RAF predecessor, the Hawker Siddeley
Nimrod. The Nimrod served for more than
40 years and was produced in five variants.
Rarely, though, have five marks of a single
aircraft type enjoyed such differing degrees
of success or caused such controversy. How,
exactly, did we end up without a maritime
patrol platform for so long?
The Nimrod, the ‘mighty hunter’, was
based around the Comet 4C airliner, re-
engined with Rolls-Royce Spey turbofans
and using the same pressure hull but with
an unpressurised lower fuselage lobe to
accommodate the weapons bay. Entering
RAF service in late 1969, the MR1 was a
huge advance over the Avro Shackleton it
replaced, and proved highly successful in
service. Forty-six Nimrods were built to
MR1 standard, in a total production run of
49. The ‘extra’ three
were R1 intelligence-
gathering aircraft Both the maritime
ordered to replace
No 51 Squadron’s
Nimrods and the R1s
long-serving ELINT gave the British taxpayer
Comets. When one
of the three, XW666, excellent value
was lost following an
uncontained engine fire and a skilful ditching
in the Moray Firth on 16 May 1995, MR2
XV249 was quickly selected for rebuild to
replace it. This complex conversion process
was completed in just 22 months under the
(surely not official) name Project Anneka.
The MR2 resulted from the need to
upgrade the MR1’s ageing anti-submarine
warfare suite to counter a growing Soviet
20 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
20_AM_Flightline_Apr2020_cc C.indd 20
The ill-fated XV230 photographed in February
1998. The loss in Afghanistan of this Nimrod
MR2 in 2006 has had a seismic impact on UK
military air safety. DENIS J. CALVERT
nuclear submarine threat. The MR1-to-MR2
conversion programme got under way in 1975
and eventually involved 35 airframes. With
a new EMI Searchwater radar and a move
from analogue towards digital equipment, the
MR2 represented a leap in capability. In early
1982 several aircraft were hurriedly fitted with
flight refuelling probes and sent to the South
Atlantic. Nimrods are
credited with flying
111 missions during
the Falklands War and
later played their part
in 1991’s Operation
‘Desert Storm’.
On 2 September
2006, MR2 XV230
crashed in Afghanistan following a fuel
leak and fire after an in-flight refuelling.
Subsequent concerns expressed about
safety aspects of the Nimrod’s fuel system
led inexorably to the withdrawal of the MR2
force on 31 March 2010. That said, there is
no doubt that the both the maritime patrol
fleet and the R1s gave the British taxpayer
excellent value for money.
Comment
A fourth Nimrod variant was the AEW3
airborne early warning platform. The
programme could have succeeded, but
was dogged and ultimately defeated by
insufficient on-board computing power,
poor decision-making and unrealistic
timescales. The inevitable result was the
programme’s cancellation in December
1986, the purchase of the E-3 Sentry and the
scrapping of all 11 converted airframes.
The final Nimrod variant — and it
represented such a change that a new name
might reasonably have been selected for it
— was the MRA4. With the need, expressed
in Air Staff Requirement 420 of 1993, to
replace the MR2 fleet, a variety of aircraft
were evaluated before the selection of the
Nimrod 2000 — an allusion to its intended
in-service date — which became the MRA4.
The programme was to involve the major
rebuild of 21 MR2s with, among other things,
new engines (Rolls-Royce BR700s), a new
wing, new undercarriage and a completely
new mission system. The project started
badly with a shortage of engineers and
strange work-sharing arrangements, and was
to suffer continuing technical difficulties.
Timescales slipped and the first aircraft did
not fly until August 2004, while increasing
costs caused a progressive reduction in the
procurement to nine aircraft.
Just when there seemed finally to be
real progress, the whole project was
cancelled in October 2010, the completed
aircraft being cut up at Woodford behind
‘no peeping’ canvas screens, and only a
nose section surviving. With the MR2 fleet
already withdrawn, the RAF was left with
no dedicated maritime patrol capability, a
sad situation that is only now on the way
to resolution — and with the sort of proven
platform that, perhaps, should have been
chosen when the MR2 replacement was
selected all those years ago.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
02/03/2020 09:30
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 Skywriters
In every issue, the writer of our Letter of the Month wins a £25 book voucher to spend with leading military and transport publisher Crécy.
Artistic differences
I read the Ron Goodwin Battle of Britain
score feature (Aeroplane September 2019)
and subsequent correspondence in the
letters pages with interest. During my
younger days I was a member of the Air
Cadets, and in 1990 I was one of many
cadets who lined the Mall for the route
of the parade and flypast over London to
mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle
of Britain. Around the same time I heard
Ron Goodwin’s specially composed
piece for the event, entitled September
15th 1940, which had been commissioned
and performed by the Central Band of the
RAF. As it reminded me of his film scores
from the ’60s, I wrote to him via the BBC,
which had recently interviewed him, to
mention how I enjoyed this piece and
my involvement with the parade. To my
amazement he wrote back and said how he
was thrilled at the way I heard his music in
connection with the event, especially as he
too was an air cadet back in the 1940s. He
even offered to discuss further my interest
in film music over the telephone as he
was well-known for encouraging young
people’s interest in music, but I was too
scared to dial the home number of one of
my musical heroes. Oh well — it’s one of
my regrets in life due to the inexperience of
youth, but at least I still have his letter and
A one-off made for two
It pains me to have to take to task no less
an aviation stalwart than the talented and
respected chief executive of the Light Aircraft
Association, but in your January issue my
good friend Steve Slater makes mention of
the two-seat ‘Luton Minor Duet’ light aircraft.
It is with some degree of sadness that I have
to report that there ain’t no such thing! The
The unique Duet on departure
from the PFA Rally at Wroughton
in July 1993. PETER R. MARCH
22 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
22-23_AM_Skywriters_Apr2020_cc C.indd 22
LETTER
A portrait of
the late Ron of the
Goodwin. MONTH
I got to see him conduct his orchestra at
Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall.
To add further discussion about his
rejected music for the Battle in the Air
sequence and whether this is where the
1990 musical tribute originated, it may
well be true. The reason for saying this is
that as an artist I have sketchbooks full of
unused ideas from unfulfilled or rejected
projects, although they do not always go
to waste as I sometimes resurrect them
Luton Minor, in all its guises from the LA2 of
1937 through to the LA4A of the 1950s, has
always been a single-seater.
In the summer of 1962 I was asked by the
then Popular Flying Association to design a
two-seat variant which, unlike the tandem-
seat LA6 Major, would accommodate two
side-by-side. The upshot was the Luton LA8
Minor-Two. This retained all the ‘good looks’
In association with…
WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd,
PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK
E-MAIL TO: aeroplane@keypublishing.com,
putting ‘Skywriters’ in the header
for other projects years later,
making some alterations to suit
the new client’s brief. It may be
that Goodwin did the same in
1990. That is why I like his music.
He was a commercial musician able
to turn his hand to just about anything,
delivering a score in a short timeframe — a
true all-rounder.
When he was approached by the
producers to replace William Walton, who
was known as a slow worker, I can again
sympathise with Goodwin when he said in
the BBC interview that he would do it on
one condition: that it was only his music
used in the final film version as he didn’t
want people comparing his music in an
unfavourable light to one of England’s
greatest living classical composers. I
have been in similar situations where the
internal politics of business has pitched
my commercial illustration work against
a world-renowned artist from the fine
art world. You are always going to lose in
that situation with critical reviews of two
separate artistic genres. Personally, I like
both scores to Battle of Britain as they offer
two totally different musical responses,
but I can understand Goodwin’s creative
frustration with the film producers in that
he always felt he had been double-crossed.
Tim O’Brien GAvA
of its predecessor with the addition of slotted
ailerons and NACA wingtips as used on the
O-H7 Coupe design. Sadly this aircraft was
not built, in the main because there simply
was not a suitable engine available for it at
that time.
After I sold Phoenix Aircraft, in 1969-70
one James A. Bainbridge put together an
idea for a two-place Minor with a 42in-wide
fuselage. Initially he wanted to call this the
Phoenix Minor III but this name was not
used. The one flying example was built by
A. S. Knowles and Druine Condor-type
controls for its unbalanced rudder were
installed. Registered G-AYTT on 4 March
1971, it first flew on 22 June 1973 and was
displayed that that summer’s PFA Fly-in
at Sywell. While popularly known as the
Phoenix Duet, the important thing to note
is that the Duet is neither a Luton Aircraft
product nor a Phoenix design. And it did not
hail from my drawing-board.
Arthur W. J. G. Ord-Hume
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
02/03/2020 09:31
 ‘Mossie’ magic
Ben Dunnell’s splendid article on RR299
(Aeroplane December 2019) brought back
many wonderful memories of seeing
the amazing Mosquito both at displays
in the 1970s and ’80s and on those rare
occasions where it flew over my then
house in Shrewsbury on its way to, or from,
Hawarden. The sound of the twin Merlins
was unmistakable and would have me racing
out into the garden to catch a glimpse of it.
However, none of these compared with the
memory of a June afternoon at Salisbury Hall
— perhaps the occasion mentioned in June
1988, but I recall the ‘Mossie’ appearing at
several events at Salisbury Hall in the 1980s
(my father was Vic White and his extensive
model collection was located in the hangar
holding the prototype, so we were there
almost weekly).
On this particular day, I was standing
with Dad on the front apron of the house
talking to Walter Goldsmith, the owner of
the hall. A small crowd was at the back of the
hall, where the museum was located, and
we were all awaiting the arrival of RR299.
As I stood there with my back to the house
the ‘Mossie’ suddenly appeared at eye level
and flying directly at us. Though holding
my camera, it was so fast that by the time I
had even thought to raise it, it was already
sweeping over the roof. The people on
the other side of the house can have had
no warning at all, even though they were
expecting it, since the sound only came
after it had passed — I imagine quite a few
will have jumped at the sight. One could
see how, on wartime missions, the ‘Mossie’
could get away with its low-level raids even
in the face of manned ‘ack-ack’ as it was just
so quick and unexpected.
The article was absolutely right to stress
the informality, but also the cautious skill of
these wonderful flyers. I don’t imagine we
shall see their like again. However, I do hope
the current campaigns to get a ‘Mossie’ back
into British skies again will happen. It is such
a huge gap in our aviation scene.
Roger White
Tough school
I was amused by the bit in the Rob
Millinship article (Aeroplane December
2019) when he wanted to fly a Tiger Moth
and was told to “go away and come back
with 500 hours”. In the 1950s the RAF sent
us as ab initio pilots on the Harvard, so it
was no surprise that seven out of 13 failed.
The others were lucky to have had a flying
scholarship or been on a UAS.
Tony Brown
Delving into TSR2’s details
Regarding the letter ‘Exciting Times’ from
Gordon Lloyd in the February 2020 issue, it
was very interesting to hear from someone
else who worked on the TSR2. I did not know
him as I worked in the main design office,
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 23
22-23_AM_Skywriters_Apr2020_cc C.indd 23
but I did have a similar experience when I
visited the RAF Museum Cosford about four
years ago. My aim was to give the museum a
list of names working in the design office in
1964 who had signed my departure present
card. In talking to a volunteer, he asked me
if I could identify a small cylindrical object
that was able to rotate on the underbelly of
the front fuselage. Of course I could: I was the
person responsible for integrating all of the
innards forward of station 280. This item was
an ice warning device, and, if I remember
correctly, it was designed by Napier.
I also noted that this aircraft was fitted
with the steel centreline access panels which
The SAFE Air Bristol
170 nose exhibit in the
Ferrymead Heritage Park.
Leaky lessons
In reading a back issue of Aeroplane I
spotted the story of the repatriation of an
ex-Royal New Zealand Air Force Bristol
170 to Filton. Few would deny that it has a
face only a mother could love, but with its
operational capabilities in its day, it had
few equals.
While the Freighters performed sterling
service with the RNZAF, they had a much
bigger role in this country in civilian
transport. This was under the name
SAFE (Straits Air Freight Express), which
operated the type from 1951 to 1986.
Payloads included basically anything
that would fit: livestock, general freight,
including drive-on/drive-off small cars,
and even self-loading cargo — that is,
passengers carried in a container-type
capsule, in a service to one of our outer
islands. SAFE had the largest civilian
fleet of this type in the world, 17 in total.
The last operating example, ZK-CPT, is
preserved in taxiable condition at its
original home base near Blenheim at the
top of South Island. A forward section
were marked that they must be supported
or trestled during removal as they, with
the addition of lead blocks inside, could
weigh as much as 200lb each depending
upon flight test centre of gravity adjustment.
I’m not sure if the IWM Duxford example
has them, though. They were exciting and
happy days for a young draughtsman, but
ultimately sad ones.
Keith Paine, Shrivenham, Wiltshire
The editor reserves the right to edit all
letters. Please include your full name and
address in correspondence.
of fuselage, complete with Morris Minor
emerging from its nose, is on permanent
display in the Aeronautical Society
hangar at the Ferrymead Heritage Park in
Christchurch.
My own involvement on the type was as
an apprentice engineer in the late 1960s,
on the ramp handling the B170s as well as
my own employer’s Viscount 807s, Fokker
F27s and DC-3s. On the first occasion I did
a pre-flight, I expressed my concern about
the amount of engine oil leakage to the
extent of it even being on the landing gear
strut. The elderly captain (they all seemed
elderly to me) said, “Come with me, lad”.
While standing in front of the tailplane, he
said, “When you see it dripping off here,
come and tell me. Otherwise, just top it
up and get us out of here”. Indeed, a reality
check on well-lubricated engines. In a
similar vein, it was often said in respect of
the Hercules engine, “if it isn’t leaking oil,
then it must have run out”. Cruelly unfair,
but that’s life.
David Laughlin, Christchurch,
New Zealand
02/03/2020 09:31
 Q&A COMPILER: BARRY WHEELER
WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd,
PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK
E-MAIL TO: aeroplane@keypublishing.com,
putting ‘Q&A’ in the header

Are you seeking the answer to a thorny aviation question, or trying to trace an old aviation friend? Our ‘questions and answers’ page might help

THIS MONTH’S QUESTIONS

Aircraft Gun
Mounting
Establishment
Q The endless search for
details about past
relatives finds Jim Hurst
looking for information about
his late grandfather, Arthur
Benjamin Miles — known as
Ben — who served with the
Aircraft Gun Mounting
Establishment (AGME) at RAF
Duxford and then the
Aeroplane and Armament
Experimental Establishment
at Boscombe Down from
1940-45. Among a number of
photographs related to the
AGME which Jim has is one
which identifies the CO, Wg
Cdr Proud, and chief test pilot
Sqn Ldr J. G. Munro amongst
others. With the likelihood
that most of the staff have
now died, do readers have
details on the AGME and
confirmation that Ben Miles
was attached to the unit,
together with any further
information which would
help Jim find out more about
his grandfather?
Did the was convinced that ordinary
‘insect-plane’ fly? aeroplanes were built on the
AGME and A&AEE pilot Ben
Miles in his flying clothing.
Q Invented by 78-year-old
T. A. Dring of Poulner,
Hampshire, the ‘insect-plane’
wrong principles. His machine
was designed with two sets of
motor-driven rotor vanes each
purportedly made its initial projecting a stream of
flight in a clearing in the New compressed air under the
One of the lesser-known Forest in April or May 1934, but fuselage, the expansion of which
organisations established in did it? Dring had studied the was expected to lift the strange-
World War Two, the AGME flight of hovering insects and looking craft.
was formed at Duxford on 30
December 1940 within No 12
Group with a strength of four
medium bombers and four
fighters. On 29 January 1942 it
was absorbed into the A&AEE
with a fleet comprising single
examples of the DH Puss
Moth, Curtiss Mohawk IV,
Curtiss Tomahawk II and
Hawker Hector. Can anyone
enlarge on these details?
Is it Ringway?
Q Historian Andrew Thomas was shown two photographs by
an ex-RAF friend who is curious about their origin. They
are believed to have been taken around 1950 and the lower one
appears to show RAF personnel, but what and where was the
occasion? It is possible the location might be Manchester’s
Ringway airport, but confirmation would be welcome.

The staff of the Aircraft Gun Mounting Establishment at Duxford in

1941. In the back row, from left to right, are WO George Dalby from
the unit’s workshops, test pilot Plt Off Peter Poole, scientific officer
Mr Spearman, three ‘unknowns’ and then WO ‘Taffy’ Lewis from
the armoury. In front, from left to right, are the CO’s adjutant Flt Lt
Agincourt, chief scientific officer John Savage, commanding officer
Wg Cdr Proud, chief test pilot Sqn Ldr J. G. Munro and deputy
scientific officer Mr Watson.

24 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2020

24-25_AM_Q&A_Apr2020 C.indd 24 02/03/2020 09:32


Tempest V serial
Q Geoffrey McCleland is
trying to trace the serial
number of a Tempest V flown
by his father Desmond when
he was a pilot with No 222
Squadron early in 1945. Having
converted from Spitfire IXs,
Desmond McCleland recorded
only one aircraft in his
logbook, ZD-X, but with no
accompanying serial.
Having completed a model of
his father’s aircraft, it only
remains for the appropriate
serial to be applied. Is anyone
able to help?
SAAF pictures
Q Jon Eagar is
compiling a book
on the South Africans
who served in the RAF
during World War Two.
To gain as much detail as
possible, Jon wondered if
any readers with
photographs of South
African personnel within
a certain list of
squadrons could send
him copies to add to
those he already has. The
RAF units he is
particularly keen to gain
coverage of are Nos 9, 37,
41, 44, 57, 73, 74, 79, 85,
110 and 630 Squadrons.
Some 700 South African
Air Force pilots were
attached to around 150
RAF squadrons between
1940 and 1945, so any
illustrations of both air
and groundcrew would
be welcome. Pictures
published will be
acknowledged. Jon can
be contacted via this
column.
Sunderland pilot
Q Donald Proud is keen to
discover the service
details of Richard Lawson, who
said he was a captain on Short
Sunderland flying boats with
RAF Coastal Command.
Donald worked with Richard
back in 1988 when the latter
was the manager of an NHS
laundry in York. Can any
reader provide details of
Richard’s stint on the type?
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
24-25_AM_Q&A_Apr2020 C.indd 25
THIS MONTH’S ANSWERS
View from the terrace
Q Geoff Dobson’s
photograph of a British
European Airways Vickers
Vanguard at Heathrow
appeared in the December
issue with a request for the
reason why so many people
were gathered around the
boarding steps.
A
The occasion jogged Peter
Lewis’s memory of his
time as a fitter with the airline.
He puts the date at about
1964-65 and continues, “The
Vanguard is parked on what
was called the north-east outer
face [of the Queen’s Building],
while the Air France Caravelles
in the background are on the
north-east inner face. Beyond
were the taxi-in/taxi-out
stands for the Comets which
needed more room to turn. The
Vanguard in question is on one
of BEA’s infamous ‘30-minute
turnarounds’ during an
experiment which was
short-lived. The idea was to get
everything out of the aircraft at
the same time, leading to
gridlock and chaos. The
passengers were boarded by
foot straight from the terminal
and were obviously released
before the cleaners and
caterers were off the aircraft.
The pre-departure inspection
(PDI) fitter hasn’t done his
checks as the props are not in
the ‘1, 3, 6, 9’ position,
arranged so the passing
chargehand could see how far
we’d got with the checks.”
Graeme Hulme says the ‘red
square’ marking was
introduced by BEA in 1959 and
not the mid-1960s. He offered
an alternative reason for the
crowd, wondering if it was to
welcome the Beatles who
arrived at Heathrow on 15
January 1964. However, that
was a winter’s day which
doesn’t fit with the lightweight
summer dresses visible when
the image is enlarged. A month
later, on 5 February, the group
arrived again, the highlight
being when Ringo Starr held a
sign reading ‘TLES’ alongside
‘BEA’ when they emerged from
the forward door of a
Vanguard.
Meteor men
Q In the May and July 2019
issues, Christmas cards
‘doctored’ by Nos 56 and 66
Squadrons appeared with
requests for the names of the
various pilots who are seen on
the Meteors. January 2020’s
magazine published an
original picture showing
members of No 66 Squadron
posing for the 1951 card before
the artists set to work.
A Audrey Harrington was
prompted to write in and
identify her late husband Joe as
the one in the engine intake.
She says she is sure the Flight
photographer was the late John
Yoxall, who also took a fine set
of photos of the squadron’s
aerobatic team. Audrey adds
that Joe survived a night
bail-out from a Meteor F4 in
December 1950 — with no
ejection seat!
Dakota colours
Q George Cato outlined his
need in the September
issue for colour details to
complete a model of a No 167
Squadron Dakota to remember
his flight to the UK in October
1945.
A Peter Butt e-mailed to say
that No 167 Squadron was
equipped with Vickers
Warwicks by 1945, but
problems with the type
resulted in the operation of
‘borrowed’ Dakotas from No
147 Squadron. These could
have carried code letters 5F or
ODF in line with Transport
Command callsign letters
which were applied at the time.
A contemporary photograph
might confirm the markings.
Does anyone have such a
picture?
Q&A
CORRECTIONS AND
CLARIFICATIONS
• Discussion has arisen about
the cars owned and driven by
R. J. Mitchell (Flight Line,
October 2019). The biography
R. J. Mitchell: Schooldays to
Spitfire, written by his son
Gordon Mitchell, recalls, “the
winning of the Schneider
Trophy brought him other
perks. From this time on he
always drove a Rolls-Royce car
provided by the firm in
appreciation of his designing
skills”. Rolls-Royce company
records list three such vehicles
owned by him at the address
‘The Supermarine Aviation
Works Ltd at Southampton’ —
two Rolls-Royce 20hp saloons
with chassis numbers GYL25
(‘the hearse’) and GLR31 (‘the
yellow one’) and, from 1936, a
3.5-litre Bentley with chassis
number B87HM, registration
DLA 372. Indeed, a Rolls-Royce
press advertisement from 1982
lists many famous owners from
over the years. Along with Air
Marshal Lord Trenchard, Henry
Ford, Rudyard Kipling, Charlie
Chaplin, Muhammad Ali, John
Lennon and King Farouk of
Egypt appears the name
“Reginald J. Mitchell”.
• After we went to press with the
December issue’s piece on
Portuguese Air Force operations
in Guinea-Bissau, co-author
José Matos sent in some
amendments. The base at
Bissalanca was not designated
Base Aérea 2 in 1961, but
Aerodromo Base 2 (AB2), and
eight, rather than nine, Fiat G91s
arrived there in 1966. The peak
Alouette III strength in Guinea in
1970 was 19 machines, not 21.
Guileje is in southern Guinea,
not the north. Contrary to what
was written on page 45, G91
pilot José Brito was not
informed by the Portuguese
intelligence services that the
PAIGC was using SA-7 missiles
— no-one in Guinea, says Matos,
knew the guerrillas had the
missile when Lt Miguel Pessoa
and Brito were shot down, and
Brito’s G91 wasn’t performing a
bombing raid. Lastly, the
commander of Esquadra 121 at
the time was Capt Pinto Ferreira.
• A mistake appeared in the
letter about the Hafner Rotatank
on page 25 of the November
issue: 35,000lb equates to
15,876kg, not 1,876.
• Further to the piece in last
October’s magazine about the
Valiant B2, Rowland White wrote
to say that Brian Trubshaw’s
quote suggesting Vickers
should “paint the f***er black”
definitely came from Trubshaw
himself, as confirmed in his
autobiography.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 25
02/03/2020 09:32
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 WW2 HISTORY Norwegian Gladiators
THE MAGNIFI C
Seven Gloster Gladiators:
not much of a defence
against invasion. Yet
that was the extent of
the Norwegian Army Air
Service’s operational fighter
fleet when, on 9 April
1940, Germany launched
Operation ‘Weserübung’
— its assault on neutral
Norway. The efforts of the
Gladiator pilots in their
obsolescent mounts have
rightly entered the annals
as an example of courage
against the odds. To mark
the 80th anniversary of
this action, the man behind
a documentary film on
the operations flown by
those outmoded biplanes
draws on the interviews he
conducted with two of the
surviving veterans more
than 20 years ago to recall
a day of heroism
WORDS: ØYVIND MUNCH ELLINGSEN
28 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
28-34_AM_NorweiganGladiators_April2020_cc C.indd 28
Ensign Finn Thorsager, in another
Gladiator, captured this image of Sgt Stein
Sem at the controls of 423. VIA ELLEN THORSAGER
N
orway declared neutrality in northern Germany a mix of
when World War Two transport, bomber and fighter
broke out. For many
reasons, no wonder the
aircraft were prepared for flight
the next day, their destination
great powers took an increasing
interest in it through the winter of
Fornebu airport a few miles west
of the capital Oslo. At Fornebu
1939-40. The British boarding of the
German tanker Altmark — being
the total Norwegian fighter force
consisted of seven operational
used to transport 300 captured
British merchant seamen — in
Gloster Gladiators. The Gladiator
had, of course, taken its name from
Norwegian waters during February
1940 convinced Hitler that Norway
the Roman swordsman, gladius
meaning sword. It wasn’t much
must be occupied, and planning for
a German invasion was intensified.
of a weapon for defending Oslo
against the mighty Luftwaffe, but
On 8 April 1940, German
warships entered the outer
the biplanes put up a valiant fight.
Interviewed in 1999, here two of the
Oslofjord. Meanwhile, at air bases Gladiator pilots tell their story.
At Kjeller in the summer of 1938, some of the Norwegian Gladiator pilots pose
for a photo with a technical representative from Gloster. On the left are (left to
right) Sgt Per Waaler and Ensign Dag Krohn; second from the right is Ensign
Finn Thorsager and fourth from the right Ensign Arve Braathen. VIA ØYVIND ELLINGSEN
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
02/03/2020 12:43
I CENT SEVEN
“Against such an
armada of German
aeroplanes we
could only inflict a
few mosquito bites”
F
inn Thorsager was born in
Bergen on 20 May 1916.
At the age of eight his
family moved to Oslo. He
became interested in aviation
at an early age, working as a
ticket boy and general helper for
Widerøes Flyveselskap when
it went ‘barnstorming’ with de
Havilland Moths or a Waco RNF.
On ferry flights Finn would sit in
the front seat. He also received
some instruction. The day after Finn
turned 18 he went solo in a Moth.
Thorsager completed elementary
training with the Norwegian Army
Air Service (Hærens flyvåpen),
flying Moths and Tiger Moths from
Kjeller, north of Oslo, during the
summer of 1936. In June 1937 he
received his wings and joined the
reserves. For the rest of 1937 and
’38 he gained experience in tactical
manoeuvring and strafing with the
Fokker C.VD and C.VE. Finn was
chosen to fly fighters, in his case the
Armstrong Whitworth Scimitar and
Gloster Gladiator I. He described
the Scimitar as a superb aircraft for
aerobatics, even better, in fact, than
the Gladiator.
Finn was again at Kjeller during
the summer of 1939, honing
his skills on the Gladiator. That
September the entire fighter force,
numbering three Scimitars and
six Gladiators, was transferred to
Fornebu. The unit was now referred
to as the Jagevingen (Fighter Flight)
and its task was to defend the
capital. Thorsager was one of 17
pilots on its strength, led by Capt
Erling Munthe-Dahl.
One might think the Jagevingen
would have been devoted to
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
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training its pilots and groundcrew
to become an effective force.
Not so. To save money, many
of its personnel were placed on
temporary leave from mid-October
until 1 December. It was quite a
contradiction, since Norway had by
now increased its military budget
and ordered 24 Curtiss Hawk 75A-6
monoplane fighters.
The winter of 1939-40 was a
snowy one. All the Gladiators were
equipped with skis since there
were no snowploughs with the
capability to clear the runways. One
Gladiator was written off after one
or both of its skis came off in a dive
approaching 600km/h (372mph)
and hit the aft spar, causing the
wings to fold up. The pilot escaped
successfully using his parachute.
Two other examples were damaged
that winter, one hitting a power line,
while the other lost its skis during
a dive and overturned on landing.
The delivery from Gloster late in
1939 of six more Gladiators, this
time improved MkIIs, came at an
opportune time. The three Scimitars
were duly withdrawn early in the
new year.
As 1940 dawned, activity picked ABOVE LEFT:
up with more simulated dogfights Finn Thorsager in
and strafing against ground targets. his smart Army Air
Service (Hærens
Yet the Norwegian authorities still flyvåpen) uniform,
wanted to save money, ordering the probably in 1938.
pilots only to use one machine gun VIA ELLEN THORSAGER
when strafing and allocating just
600 rounds of ammunition for each ABOVE:
pilot per month. Unit CO Munthe- Sgt Stein Sem
enjoying the
Dahl protested against this directive spirited handling
and obtained permission to use “a characteristics of his
little more” ammunition. So much Gladiator.
snow had melted by early April VIA ELLEN THORSAGER
that most of the Gladiators traded
their skis for wheels. Operationally
this was very important, since
the increased drag from the skis
resulted in a 20mph reduction in
top speed.
Intrusions into southern Norway
by British and German aircraft were
a growing problem, and the early
warning system the Jagevingen
depended on for interceptions did
not work. After one incursion over
Oslo on 4 February the Jagevingen
received the order to have one
Gladiator on five-minute alert and
two on 20-minute stand-by. The
intruders typically flew at high
speed, at altitudes between 6,000
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 29
02/03/2020 12:43
 WW2 HISTORY Norwegian Gladiators

TOP LEFT: and 8,000m (19,685 and 26,247ft). placed on alert. Those operational long. An unidentified aircraft was
On 3 January 1940, By the time the order to scramble Gladiators that were still on skis heard above the overcast at 04.00,
Lt Odd Bull — later was given, they were almost directly were switched to a wheeled and from the south came the
a general — lost the
skis on Gladiator II overhead Fornebu and could not undercarriage. All the aircraft were noise of cannon fire. That was the
431 during a dive, be intercepted by a slow-moving filled with fuel and rearmed. That Oscarsborg coastal fortress firing at
resulting in a turn- Gladiator. On 5 March there came evening an order was issued to start the German cruiser Blücher.
over on landing at a new order from high command: and warm up the engines on the Again Thorsager was roused from
Kjeller. This is the if a Gladiator pilot intercepted an seven serviceable Gladiators every his slumbers. Outside it was just
subsequent salvage intruding aircraft, he was permitted second hour, helping ensure their starting to turn light. Finn did not
operation.
VIA ERIK HOELSÆTER
to shoot it down. During the three readiness on these cold April nights. feel well — he had a fever. Half an
weeks leading up the invasion there At 15 minutes hour later he was
TOP RIGHT: was a scramble almost every day. past midnight in the cockpit of
MkI 423 was the last Finn Thorsager recalled, “We an air raid I had never seen Gladiator 433, its
remaining airworthy
Gladiator of the felt that the whole situation was
starting to get scary, as more and
siren woke the
population of
so many aeroplanes Mercury engine
already warmed
Jagevingen after the
actions of 9 April. more signs told us that something Oslo. It was a before. I picked a up and its tanks
F. ARNESEN VIA unusual would happen”. The pilots false alarm. filled with 83
R. C. B. ASHWORTH
decided between themselves that At Fornebu, target gallons of fuel,
ABOVE: they would only shoot at German a few miles enough for two-
The ski aeroplanes, not at British, Danish or away, they heard the siren as and-a-half hours’ flying. The time
undercarriage, as Swedish ones. Jokingly they agreed well. Munthe-Dahl received a was around 05.00hrs.
sported here by to paint a mark in recognition of report saying defensive positions Thorsager recounted, “I took
Gladiator Is 419, 421 each victory on the fireplace in the at two fortresses on the Oslofjord off towards the south. There was
and one other, was
obviously useful for officers’ quarters. had engaged unidentified ships. some fog. As I got higher there
winter operations On Monday 8 April, Norway All personnel stood to and the were only scattered clouds above
but brought a awoke to the reality that Allied ships Gladiators were dispersed around and the sun was up. By Morse code
performance penalty. had laid mines off the coast and that the airfield in case of an attack. I was ordered to look out for an
VIA BJØRN OLSEN a large German naval force was on At 02.00hrs everyone was told to unidentified aeroplane to the north.
its way north. The Jagevingen was go back to sleep, but it didn’t last Soon I could see on my left, below,

30 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2020

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 what looked like a German Dornier
[Do 17]. I cocked the four machine
guns. I thought, I am a lonely
Norwegian boy about to shoot at
other people, and I did not want to
shoot at such a beautiful thing as
an aeroplane, but I had to. I started
firing at probably too far a distance.
The enemy aircraft disappeared into
the clouds in a shallow right turn. I
followed in a slight right turn above
the clouds. I thought he would
need to come up above the clouds
again due to high terrain shrouded
in fog. Soon the enemy aeroplane
reappeared. I attacked again.”
Using this technique Finn was
able to engage the German aircraft
four or five times before he lost
contact. Now it was time to head
back to base. “I used the radio
and asked about the weather at
Fornebu. I did not get an answer”.
He found a hole in the clouds about
15 miles south-west of Fornebu and
navigated to the airfield by following
a road at very low level. He landed
at around 06.30. Thorsager was the
first Norwegian pilot to have fired
his guns in anger while flying a
Norwegian aircraft.
After landing Munthe-Dahl asked
Finn if the German aeroplane had
returned fire. Finn didn’t think so.
It was a time of confusion. Was
this war, or just another violation
of Norwegian neutrality? Munthe-
Dahl told Finn that he must,
immediately, write a report. After
half an hour he was interrupted.
Thorsager said, “The door opened. It
was Munthe-Dahl — he told me to
stop writing my report. I had to take
off again, together with four other
Gladiators.”
Shortly after 07.00 the five fighters
duly got airborne, led by Lt Rolf
Torbjørn Tradin in 429. Finn was at
the controls of 433. The formation
climbed to 1,000m (3,281ft) and
then to 1,800m (5,906ft), patrolling
over the Oslofjord south of Fornebu.
After 30 minutes they spotted,
below them, eight Messerschmitt
Bf 110s on a northerly course to
Fornebu. Further south they could
see more aeroplanes, Heinkel
He 111s and Junkers Ju 52/3ms.
Altogether there were 70-80 aircraft.
Tradin gave the order: “Attack —
each pilot to choose his own target.”
“I looked at the formations”,
Thorsager remembered. “I had
never seen so many aeroplanes
before. I picked a target. I started
firing. Almost immediately
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 31
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the machine guns stopped
working. That was an enormous “I could see smoke
disappointment for me”. Finn tried
to attack other aircraft, but had the coming from one
same result. For some reason 433
had not been reloaded with ammo. of the engines. I
Thorsager thought it was a
technical fault, so he headed back
felt a great sense of
to Fornebu to get the machine guns satisfaction”
O
fixed. “On finals for a landing from
the south I could see two parked
Gladiators burning. I then noticed slo was the birthplace
that I had two Germans behind me. of Kristian Fredrik
I broke hard left to attack, but with Schye, on 1 October
the machine guns not functioning it 1917. After college and
was to no avail. I got away from the a year studying medicine he was
Germans by hiding in cloud. I heard accepted as one of 20 cadets at the
via Morse the order not to land at Norwegian Army Air Service flying
Fornebu. I flew north and wanted school at Kjeller, beginning tuition
to land at Kjeller, but found Kjeller in July 1938. “We knew the army
air base bombed. I flew south and only had funding to train 16 cadets
landed on a frozen lake.” to be pilots”, he remembered, “so
People on a nearby farm helped there was a very tense atmosphere
Finn board a bus bound for Oslo, for the first few weeks. Then four of
but there he could find no military us got the message to pack our bags
unit to attach himself to, and and go home.”
Fornebu had been evacuated. He Schye stayed on. Over the next
took a train to Kjeller, knowing that 11 months he got his wings on
some of the Curtiss Hawks had been Tiger Moths and received advanced
assembled there. “Perhaps I could training on Fokker C.Vs. He
fly one of them?” But the guards at participated in a winter camp on
Kjeller would not let him in. “I felt the frozen Tisleia fjord, flying the
that the world was falling apart. All Fokkers on skis. In late July 1939
my future plans were now shattered. he was called up as a reservist for
I did not know what to do. And 40 days and checked out on the
against such an armada of German Gladiator. He enthused, “After flying
aeroplanes we could only inflict a the Fokker, the first take-off in a
few mosquito bites…” Gladiator felt like it was climbing
Finn went home to his family almost straight up!”
and was put to bed. He was At the end of those 40 days, in
diagnosed with pleurisy and rested early September, Schye — now a BELOW:
Sgt Kristian Fredrik
for two months. In October 1940 sergeant — was ordered to join Schye photographed
he escaped to Sweden. Traveling the Jagevingen as a full-time pilot. during the spring of
by Aeroflot to Moscow, a train to “We did simulated dogfights and 1940.
Vladivostok and a ship to California, simulated interceptions. We also VIA CHRISTOPHER F. SHORES
Finn finally arrived at the ‘Little
Norway’ training camp for pilots,
navigators and technicians in
Toronto. He was put to work as an
instructor and was able to develop
his skills as a fighter pilot flying
Norwegian-owned Hawk 75s. Later
in the war Finn flew Spitfires with
Nos 331 and 332 Squadrons, rising
to the rank of squadron leader with
332. In March 1943 he damaged
a Messerschmitt Bf 109F, and the
following month he shot down a
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 near Vlissingen,
the Netherlands. With hostilities
over, Thorsager joined Det Norske
Luftfartsselskap (DNL), later to
be merged into SAS. He flew as a
captain on most of the types SAS
operated, among them the Convair
CV-990 Coronado and Douglas
DC‑8, until retirement at the age of
60. Finn died on 29 August 2000.
02/03/2020 12:44
 WW2 HISTORY Norwegian Gladiators

RIGHT:
Schye’s damaged
427 shortly after its
crash-landing near
Bråtenjordet, but
before souvenir-
hunters tore off
much of the fabric
and dismantled
various parts. The
fighter was probably
shot down by a
Bf 110 from 1./ZG 76
in the hands of Ltn
Helmut Lent.
VIA ØYVIND ELLINGSEN

attacked targets set up on a frozen From there a call was made to were more and more violations of
lake. Between flights we spent a lot the Jagevingen. This system was Norway’s airspace. “We believed
of time learning aircraft recognition. evidently inefficient. Ringing the aeroplanes to be German. We
In order to save money we did not from locations near the border felt that something serious could
receive as much training as we felt constituted a long-distance call, happen any day.”
we needed.” which sometimes had to wait 15 On 8 April things got very serious
BELOW: That lack minutes to be indeed. The German troop carrier
Quite a crowd of budget I manoeuvred connected. MS Rio de Janeiro was torpedoed
gathered around manifested “Our warning and sunk by a Polish Navy
Gladiator 423 after itself in other violently and system was submarine just off the Norwegian
Lt Dag Krohn’s
landing on the frozen
ways, too. Early
warning of managed to escape, ridiculous”,
said Schye.
coast at Lillesand. Norwegian boats
rescued some 180 German soldiers
surface of Lake
Mjøsa. The aircraft intrusions into
Norwegian
but a third Bf 110 got “One should
not laugh — it
from the water. “We thought the
next day would not be an ordinary
later proceeded to
Brumunddal, and airspace by on my tail was the best we day”, Schye recalled. Then came the
subsequently to foreign aircraft could have with air raid siren shortly after midnight.
Vangsmjøsa, where depended on particular personnel our resources. Sometimes, at the “Our two old Citroëns drove us to the
other remaining
aeroplanes from the
— for example, a lighthouse-keeper same time as the ’phone rang to airfield. We dispersed the Gladiators
Army Air Service or the police in a border town — warn us about an intruder we in case of an air raid and were told to
were based. using their ’phone to contact a could see the intruder above us”. go back to bed at 02.00hrs. I kept my
TERJE SØGAARD communications centre in Oslo. As Easter 1940 approached, there uniform on — I think all the other
pilots kept their uniforms on, too.”
They were awakened again at
04.15. “Now we got the Glosters
together on the flightline, topped
them up with fuel and checked the
ammunition. The machine gun troop
connected to the Jagevingen readied
their seven Colt 7.92mm [0.3in]
machine guns, dispersed at different
locations around the airfield”.
Unidentified aircraft were reported,
and Kristian Fredrik and two other
pilots were ordered to get ready for
a mission. At 05.15 he was airborne
in Gladiator 427 as number two to Lt
Dag Krohn in 423, but, he said, “My
radio did not work”. After just over an
hour patrolling south-west of Oslo,
Krohn gave a hand signal saying they
were to return to Fornebu. There was
nothing to report.
A short while later came another
scramble. This time Kristian Fredrik
was in the same formation as Finn
Thorsager. “We climbed to 1,700-

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1,800m [5,577-5,906ft] and flew
south”, Schye explained. “We could
see smoke from something burning
further south [oil from the destroyed
Blücher]. We saw a formation of
fighters below us. My radio was
still not working [meaning he did
not receive the order to attack]. We
started diving and turned right [to
intercept]”. Schye attacked several
enemy aircraft, but his inferior
speed meant he could only fire
short bursts at them. All the while
he was getting closer to base.
“I saw two Gladiators burning
[on the ground]. I also saw a
Messerschmitt Bf 110 underneath
me. We crossed each other’s paths. I
did a half-roll and a half-loop to get
behind it. That tactic worked. I was
able to shoot at closer range than
before. The aeroplane entered a
turn, and I could see smoke coming
from one of the engines. I felt a great
sense of satisfaction”. The Bf 110
belly-landed in a field a few miles
west of Fornebu. Its crew set fire to
the aeroplane to stop it falling into
Norwegian hands.
For Schye, the fight was not over.
“Two Bf 110s closed in on me and
I could see tracer passing by. I
manoeuvred violently and managed
to escape, but then a third 110
positioned itself on my tail and hit
me in the left lower wing. Shrapnel
went into my left arm and lower
down… I had to land. I tried to land
on the frozen lake at Dælivann
[three miles north-west of Fornebu]
where I had played bandy [a form
of ice hockey] on the ice as a boy”.
However, with his injured left arm
it was not possible to pump down
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LEFT:
Finn Thorsager
landed his Gladiator,
MkII 433 — the
only one to be
given rudimentary
camouflage — at
Lake Mjærvann east
of Oslo. When the ice
melted the aircraft
was pulled ashore.
Finally, in June, the
Germans found out
about the hidden
433 and removed it.
RUNE SANDKVIST
the hydraulic flap mechanism. “I
overshot the lake, kicked in right They also served…
R
rudder to avoid some down-sloping
terrain, turned off the magnetos and BELOW:
hoped the trees would soften my eports from the seven Per Waaler during his
time as an instructor
landing so I would not be killed. Gladiator pilots and German
at ‘Little Norway’,
“The plan worked. I shaved off records show that one the Norwegian
some treetops and an electrical wire Gladiator was shot down, military aviation
was cut. I lost a great deal of speed, but also that the Gloster biplanes training facility in
so when the terrain started to slope downed two Heinkel He 111s and Ontario, Canada.
uphill the aeroplane stopped with two Messerschmitt Bf 110s. The Waaler was Norway’s
last Gladiator pilot,
its nose buried in the snow. To my Fornebu machine gunners put up
ferrying 423 from
surprise I was still alive. I had flown a valiant effort against Ju 52s that Brumunddal to
with the cockpit canopy open, were landing or trying to land, Vangsmjøsa on 19
and it slammed shut in the crash- resulting in dozens of dead or April 1940, and then
landing. I had to stand up and use wounded German soldiers. Several taking it on its final
my shoulders to force it open. A Luftwaffe aircraft were written off operational sortie
two days later. The
German aircraft passed overhead. in landing accidents. Air defences
aircraft was found
I thought it might attack. I got out in and around Oslo shot down to have sustained
of the aeroplane and I hid near a one Ju 52 and inflicted damage damage and did not
creek. After a few minutes a German on several other aeroplanes fly again.
aircraft fired at my Gladiator. I got
so angry.”
Schye walked to a nearby farm.
The son of the family living there
drove him to the Bærum hospital
a mile away. “As I arrived at the
hospital I could see German Ju 52s
overhead. I felt anger. How could a
nation like Germany come here and
invade poor little Norway?”
Kristian Fredrik was hospitalised
for just two days. As a civilian
he resumed studying medicine,
and soon became involved in the
Norwegian resistance. In 1943 he
barely escaped being arrested by
the Germans and fled to Sweden.
He ended up as a flying instructor
in Canada and, later on, in Britain.
After the war he completed his
medical studies and worked as a
doctor in Oslo and Drammen until
retirement in 1986. Following a
short illness, Kristian Fredrik died
on 28 October 2003.
02/03/2020 12:44
 WW2 HISTORY Norwegian Gladiators
ABOVE: including a Bf 110. This resistance
The burnt-out gave King Haakon, his family and
remains of Gladiators some government ministers two
419 and 425 at
Fornebu, both
to three hours more to make good
having fallen victim their escape north, barely avoiding
to strafing runs by capture. The seven Gladiator pilots
Bf 110s. all managed, eventually, to flee from
F. ARNESEN VIA Norway and to serve operationally
R. C. B. ASHWORTH
in the RAF or as instructors.
Flying Gladiator 429, Lt Rolf
Tradin fired on as many as 10
German aeroplanes until he was
out of ammunition. One of them,
a Bf 110, dived to port with smoke
trailing from one engine. This was
probably one of the two Bf 110s shot
down that morning. Unable to land
back at Fornebu, he alighted on the
frozen Steinsfjorden, later flying
north to Lake Mjösa where 429 went
partially through the ice and was
abandoned. Escaping via Sweden,
Tradin served as an instructor in
Canada, before being posted to No
611 Squadron at Biggin Hill flying
Spitfire IXs. He was shot down
and killed by an Fw 190 over the
Channel on 30 May 1943, moments
after shooting down another Fw 190.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Lt Arve Braathen was the unlucky
Due and grateful pilot flying 413, a Gladiator whose
acknowledgement Bristol Mercury engine started to
is given to Cato misfire when at full throttle. He was
Guhnfeldt’s book still able to shoot at four enemy
Fornebu 9. April, the
definitive account of
aircraft; the starboard engine of one
Norwegian Gladiator of them, probably a He 111, began
operations on that to smoke. At the same time he
date. was engaged by another Luftwaffe
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aeroplane, making him take evasive
action and lose sight of what
happened to his previous quarry. He
landed 413 on the Bogstadvannet, a
lake north-west of Oslo, abandoning
the fighter there. Braathen joined
the RAF in 1942 and converted to
multi-engined aircraft. On 6 October
1943 he and a Norwegian navigator
took off from Dyce for a training
sortie in a DH Mosquito FBIV from
No 8 (Coastal) Operational Training
Unit. They never returned.
Sgt Oscar Lütken flew Gladiator
419. Just a few minutes after
take-off he was forced to return
to Fornebu, his engine misfiring
due to faulty spark plugs. There
were no new ones in store, so he
test-ran the engine and decided
to get airborne again. Taxiing out,
he suffered a flat tyre. He jumped
out of the Gladiator, while a soldier
ran to the depot to collect a repair
kit. Meanwhile a Bf 110 strafed 419
and set it alight. In 1941 Lütken
was a flying instructor in London,
Ontario, when he was killed in a
ground collision.
Lt Dag Krohn in 423 fought with
several Luftwaffe aircraft on 9
April. One of them, a He 111, went
into an almost vertical dive. It is
possible that this was among the
two He 111s downed by Gladiators.
Krohn also probably damaged a
Bf 110. Like Tradin, he landed first
on the Steinsfjorden and then Lake
Mjösa. As the day went on, 423 was
left as the sole airworthy Norwegian
Gladiator, Krohn and his mount
proceeding to Brumunddal where
other remnants of the air arm had
gathered. It subsequently moved on
to Vangsmjøsa. Krohn joined RAF
Ferry Command during 1942, and
in February 1945 he flew Winston
Churchill to Tehran. After the war
he became an SAS captain. Krohn
passed away in 1989.
Another He 111 was shot down
by Sgt Per Waaler in 425. Just
after landing back at Fornebu to
rearm, his Gladiator was strafed
by a Bf 110, resulting in its total
loss. On 21 April he made the last
Norwegian Gladiator flight when he
took 423 up from Vangsmjøsa on a
recce of Gardermoen. Having spent
time as an instructor in Canada
and with Ferry Command, Waaler
joined RAF Bomber Command.
On his very first mission, with No
76 Squadron, he was shot down
and parachuted from his stricken
Handley Page Halifax. He spent two
years in Stalag Luft III. In peacetime
Waaler started an accountancy firm,
but from 1950-52 he served with
the Royal Norwegian Air Force as
a major, in the role of adjutant for
Crown Prince Olav. He died in
June 2014, aged 96 — the last
of Norway’s Gladiator heroes.
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 WARBIRDS French T-33

OP
T N
GU

RD’
-BI
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 Highly polished and immaculate in every respect, Top Gun Voltige’s Canadair
CT-133 — the Canadian-built version of the Lockheed T-33 — is a new star in
the European classic jet firmament WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: BASTIEN OTELLI

T
here is good reason for World Aerobatic Championships in France and across Europe. “I ABOVE:
the Lockheed T-33 to at Châteauroux. This was followed wanted an aircraft that would be The ‘T-bird’ about to
be famed in France. It by an outing at Melun-Villaroche’s requested by airshow organisers”, start and taxi prior
to a passenger flight
trained a generation of the Air Legend show a week later. For he explained. With performance, from its base at La
country’s fast jet pilots, and starred the first time since the early 1980s, beauty and rarity, its design Roche-sur-Yon.
in the adventures of Tanguy and France has a flying ‘T-bird’. reflecting a crossover between
Laverdure, the heroes of a comic For several years two generations of OPPOSITE PAGE:
Top Gun Voltige’s
strip series first published in Pilote
magazine. Last year, when one of
Top Gun Voltige
had been known for Its markings aircraft aesthetics,
the T-33 was a recently restored
CT-133 Silver Star,
these legendary jets returned to
French skies, its markings were
its aerobatic team.
This included an
are inspired by natural choice.
It also has rarity
F-AYMD, in the
hands of François
indeed inspired by the ‘T-bird’s’ Extra EA330LX, a the ‘T-bird’s’ role on its side. Since Dubreuil with Louis
role in the great Franco-Belgian Game Composites the Golden Apple Lebaud in the back
tradition of bandes dessinées. GB1 GameBird — a in the Franco- Trust’s CT-133 seat.
Top Gun Voltige, a company
based at La Roche-sur-Yon in the
state-of-the-art,
Philipp Steinbach-
Belgian tradition crashed at Duxford
in September 2006,
Vendée region of France, along designed two-seat of bandes only one ‘T-bird’
the west coast between Nantes carbon composite has flown regularly
and La Rochelle, spent just over aerobatic aircraft of dessinées in Europe. This
a year restoring its T-33. In fact, which the company too is a former
the aircraft is a Canadian-built is the official European distributor Canadian example, operated by
CT-133, a variant itself used by — and an Aero L-39C Albatros jet the Norwegian Air Force Historical
France’s Armée de l’Air. It took to trainer. The company sometimes Squadron. Having been active in
the air again last June and gave its appeared at airshows, but its chief 2012-13, it only returned to the
first public display at the end of executive François Dubreuil wanted circuit last year, a few weeks before
August, at the conclusion of the to give it a higher profile at events the Top Gun Voltige machine.

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 WARBIRDS French T-33

ABOVE: In 2017 François Dubreuil started were phased out by the Aerospace Canadian Forces. Kept indoors
The CT-133 comes searching not for a T-33 but a Engineering Test Establishment at since 2002, its condition was almost
apart in the Jet CT-133, more modern and more CFB Cold Lake, Alberta. miraculous. It had been exhibited
Aircraft Museum car powerful thanks to its Nene 10 After viewing with full fuel
park. VIA TOP GUN VOLTIGE
engine. By the early 1990s most of several Silver tanks, meaning
ABOVE RIGHT: the Silver Stars had been retired by Stars, Dubreuil We started with a the tanks were
In one of the Top the Canadian Forces. From 1996‑99 was in the Jet still in very good
Gun Voltige hangars the remainder underwent the Aircraft Museum good base that didn’t condition, and
at La Roche-sur-
Yon, the fuselage
AUP (Avionics Upgrade Program)
modernisation process. The majority
in London,
Ontario and
need a lot of work none of the seals
had perished.
is painstakingly
polished to ensure
were retired in 2002 after being
employed as target tugs, as target
found himself in
front of CT-133
done on it The same was
the outstanding true of all its
finish seen on the aircraft themselves, or as electronic serial 133263, hydraulics. Even
aircraft today. warfare training platforms. The type registered C-FUPK. It had left the better, the museum used to take the
VIA TOP GUN VOLTIGE was decommissioned on 26 April factory in 1954, and was one of aircraft out of the display hall to run
2005, when the final four examples the last Silver Stars to fly with the up the Nene engine. Finally, it was

FRANCE AND THE T-33

T
he Armée de l’Air received its initial
T-33A from Lockheed on 4 October
1951. Early deliveries were to the
Ecole de Chasse ‘Christian Martell’,
a fighter school named in tribute to a Free
French pilot and member of the French
resistance who escaped to the UK, scored
six aerial victories and took command of No
341 Squadron, otherwise known as the
Groupe Alsace. Martell — born Lucien
Montet — lost his life in the crash of a Spitfire
IX at Ouston, Northumberland, on 31 August
1945. At the time it introduced the T-33, the
school was stationed at Base Aérienne (BA)
708 ‘Mézergues’, at Meknès in Morocco. It
returned to France in May 1961, the school
being re-established at BA705 Tours.
Meanwhile, in 1951 Canadair had signed a
contract with Lockheed to build the T-33A
under licence for the Royal Canadian Air
Force. The deal allowed for Canadair to
substitute the original Allison J33-A-35
engine, rated at 4,600lb thrust, for a more
powerful, efficient and reliable Rolls-Royce
Nene 10 with 5,000lb thrust, supplied by
Orenda. This variant was initially dubbed the
T-33AN Silver Star Mk3 in RCAF service, the
designation being changed in 1971 to CT-133.
Canadair produced 656 such aircraft, having
received a first RCAF order for 576. Of
those, 57 were sold on to France under the
Mutual Aid programme. Completing a
221-strong French fleet were six RT-33A
reconnaissance derivatives.
With distinct versions now in use with the
Armée de l’Air, it was decided in the early
1960s to carry out a degree of
standardisation. This programme involved
84 aircraft, which were worked on by the
SFERMA (Société Française d’Entretien et de
Réparation de Matériel Aéronautique) plant
at Bordeaux-Mérignac. Comprising some of
the US-built T-33As and all the ex-Canadian
T-33ANs, they were fitted with French-built
Hispano-Suiza Nene 106 engines taken from
retired Dassault Ouragan fighter-bombers,
improved avionics and other common
equipment. The first modified example of
what was dubbed the T-33 S was rolled out
on 7 April 1964 and re-entered service soon
afterwards. While the aircraft were still far
from identical, the differences were at least
minimised. The rest of the American-
manufactured aeroplanes, meanwhile, were
rewired to a uniform standard.
The T-33s remained at Tours, with what
became Groupement Ecole 314, until the
arrival of the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet in
1981. On 12 November that year, they were
phased out by the school. More than 3,300
French pilots were trained on the ‘T-birds’, in
the course of nearly 480,000 flying hours.
Other examples were used by Centre
d’Entraînement au Vol Sans Visibilité (Blind
Flying Training Centre) 338 at BA139 Lahr,
West Germany and then BA133 Nancy-
Ochey. It flew the last T-33s in French
service, until they were retired in the summer
of 1982. Ben Dunnell and David Halford

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established that 133263 was one of
the CT-133s that benefited from the
AUP update. In other words, it was
a gem.
Talking about it today, François
Dubreuil’s eyes light up. “It was
the ideal project. We started with a
good base that didn’t need a lot of
work done on it. A 10-year project
would not have interested me. I
wanted it ready for the 2019 season
at the latest”. A few handshakes later
and with the sales contract signed,
all that remained was to transport
the vintage jet to France. However,
to pack a four-ton aircraft into a
Some of the last T-33s in Armée de l’Air service with Centre d’Entraînement
au Vol Sans Visibilité 338 at Nancy-Ochey in 1978. In the foreground is a
Lockheed-built T-33A, serial 53-4959. RICHARD VANDERVORD
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container you need custom-made
metal frames and other supports.
Before making them, Dubreuil went
back across the Atlantic and took all
the necessary measurements of a
T-33 on display outside the museum.
A team of four travelled to Canada
to dismantle 133263 during May
2018. With the regular flow of
visitors to the museum, there was
no question of dismantling it in the
main display hall. It was in a car
park that François, accompanied
by Aurélien Roumet, Jean-Louis
Tricoire and Jean Coulon, took
the Silver Star apart. While on site
LEFT:
The ‘T-bird’ emerges
from the hangar for
the first time, nearly
ready for engine
runs. VIA TOP GUN VOLTIGE
they found help in the person of
Brian Rhodenizer, a former CT-133
mechanic who knew the machine
well. The task proved complicated
since the aircraft’s shock absorbers
had deflated and the ground
clearance was very low, sometimes
forcing the men to contort like
limbo dancers. In addition to the
May cold and regular downpours in
Ontario, those working underneath
the aircraft sometimes received
unexpected punishments in the
form of kerosene or oil showers.
Once the aircraft was in its
container, it was transported to
France by ship and, a few weeks
later, arrived at La Roche-sur-Yon. A
shock was in store, though, as part
of the fuselage had been stoved in,
probably because of a sharp impact.
Though the damage was covered by
the insurance, two metal fuselage
sheets still had to be rebuilt. The
aircraft was then put in one of the
Top Gun Voltige hangars where
it was completely dismantled.
Dubreuil wanted 133263 to be
perfect, and above all very reliable.
“When I make a commitment to an
airshow, I don’t want to be forced
to cancel the day before the show
because the aircraft has gone tech”,
he says.
The more the Top Gun Voltige
team took the aircraft apart, the
more it discovered how good its
state of preservation was. “The only
corrosion that we discovered was
on a nut attached to the flaps”, says
Dubreuil. The only renovation, in
the strictest sense, that needed
doing was to the seals and
02/03/2020 09:34
 WARBIRDS French T-33

A modernised cockpit, with up-to-date avionics, makes life

easier in today’s air traffic environment. It enables the CT-133
to operate in IFR conditions should the situation demand it.

electrical circuits, which were

modernised. All the other parts
and miscellaneous items were
meticulously checked, cleaned,
stored and recorded, before being
gradually reassembled.
Dubreuil wished the aircraft to
be IFR (instrument flight rules)-
rated with modern equipment,
even though, as it was registered
under the Certificat de Navigabilité
Restreint d’Aéronef de Collection
(CNRAC) scheme that exists for
French historic aircraft, it would not
actually be IFR-certified. Thanks
to this valuable capability, the T-33
could get away without damage if,
one day, it became trapped by the
weather. Talking of safety, Top Gun
Voltige wanted to keep the canopy
ejection charge system, and the two
ejection seats, operational. Forty-
three explosive charges are therefore
still installed. The seats themselves
are two vintage Lockheed examples
that are not ‘zero-zero’-capable, and
whose ejection is particularly brutal.
But in an emergency, compacted

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 vertebrae are always preferable to when he scored his maiden air the colours of the Meknès fighter ABOVE:
the alternative… combat victory. This T-33 appeared school, its badge incorporating the F-AYMD is the first
François Dubreuil returned to on the front of the first collection of green star of Morocco and a stork example of the T-33
or CT-133 to be
Canada one more time in June 2019, bandes dessinées featuring Tanguy, — a bird still sported by the Mirage
placed on the French
to learn to fly the CT-133. Back in L’Ecole des Aigles. 2000-5Fs of Escadron de Chasse 1/2 civil register.
France, on 16 June the Silver Star The Top Gun Voltige aeroplane ‘Cigognes’ at BA116 Luxeuil
made its first flight for 15 years. thus combines French aviation — give this ‘T-bird’ a truly
Registered F-AYMD, it did so with and cultural history. While the legendary flavour.
a laissez-passer (LP, a temporary codes on its nose, QR-34, came
permit to fly) before a full permit from the imagination of Tanguy et ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
was issued. However, well before Laverdure illustrator Albert Uderzo, With thanks to David Halford.
this, Top Gun Voltige performed its
last major task: the livery. And what
a livery! The aircraft was completely
stripped and sanded in seven
phases and buffed up to give it a
stunning polished aluminium look.
While Top Gun Voltige worked on
the wings, the fuselage was sent to
Aéro Restauration Service in Dijon.
The scheme was dictated purely
by one man’s passion. As a fan of
the Tanguy et Laverdure comic strip,
adapted for television and later
for film as Les Chevaliers du Ciel,
Dubreuil’s choice seemed obvious:
F-AYMD would look identical to the
aircraft piloted by Michel Tanguy

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 PROFILE Arthur Coningham

Coningham’s T
In seeking to provide battlefield commanders with “a combination of
shield and punch”, involving a “travelling circus” of versatile fighter-
bombers, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham must be counted among the
greatest architects of tactical air power. In North Africa and Normandy, he
helped pioneer a form of aerial warfare that made a key contribution to
Allied victory, and continues to resonate today WORDS: GRAHAM GOODLAD

F
ew people today are
likely to recall the name
BELOW: of Air Marshal Sir Arthur
At Sidi Haneish, Coningham. He is much
Egypt on 14 April less well-known than, for example,
1942, Coningham, Hugh Dowding of Fighter
then commander of
the Desert Air Force,
Command, ‘Bomber’ Harris or
talks to Sqn Ldr his own immediate superior,
Clive Caldwell, CO Arthur Tedder. Yet, arguably,
of No 112 Squadron, Coningham has an equal claim to
on the occasion of be remembered alongside his more
the presentation of famous colleagues. As a pioneer
the squadron’s new
crest. Behind them is
of combined operations, he was
Caldwell’s personal undoubtedly one of the architects of
Kittyhawk Ia. victory over Hitler’s Reich. As head
VIA CHRISTOPHER F. SHORES of the Western Desert Air Force,
he devised methods of army-air
co-operation that helped to defeat
Rommel’s Afrika Korps. In North
Africa he was instrumental in
developing techniques of tactical air
support which, later adapted to the
conditions of north-west Europe,
played a crucial role in taking Allied
forces from the Normandy beaches
to the heart of Germany.
Coningham did not follow a
conventional path to senior RAF
command. He was born in Australia
but brought up in New Zealand
after his parents fled there following
a notorious scandal at the turn of
the century. His father, a fraudster
and one-time Test cricketer, had lost
a court case in which, for financial
gain, he attempted to frame a
Catholic priest for adultery with
his wife. The young Coningham
left school without qualifications
and worked as a farm hand before
joining the army at the start of
the First World War and then
transferring to the Royal Flying
Corps. His New Zealand upbringing
left him with an incongruous
nickname, ‘Mary’, derived from
the word ‘Maori’ — a handle he
willingly embraced in later life.
An instinctive pilot and navigator,
Coningham was a physically
imposing figure with a natural air
of authority. His open manner and
aversion to micro-management
made him popular with his
subordinates, but he was ruthless in
removing those who failed to meet
his exacting standards. Nor did he
lack courage. In 1925 he led the first
flight across Africa from east to west,
completing a round trip of 6,500
miles from Egypt to Nigeria at the
head of a group of three DH9As. He
was a paradoxical character, almost
teetotal and a strict non-smoker
who disapproved of blue jokes, yet
at the height of his career he was
noted for organising lively parties.
Nor did he stint when it came to his
own material comfort. Coningham’s
reputation for lavish living, in
palatial residences commandeered
for his use in liberated Europe, may
be one reason he did not rise higher
in the service when the Second
World War came to an end.

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s Travelling
Circus

AVM Arthur
Coningham, recently
appointed as
commander of the 2nd
Tactical Air Force, at his
headquarters in London
during February 1944.
POPPERFOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES

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 PROFILE Arthur Coningham
ABOVE:
Relations between
Coningham (left)
and Gen Bernard
Montgomery
deteriorated after El
Alamein. GETTY IMAGES
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The start of that conflict found
him in Yorkshire, an air commodore
in charge of No 4 Group, Bomber
Command, directing missions flown
by Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys.
He was promoted to air vice-marshal
a year later but his most important
career break did not come until
July 1941. At the request of Air
Marshal Tedder, head of Middle
East Command, he was transferred
to the North African theatre. There
he became commander of No 204
Group, soon to be renamed the
Western Desert Air Force.
Coningham arrived in North
Africa at a point when the Allied
cause hung in the balance, with
Rommel threatening Egypt and
by extension the entire British
position in the Middle East. Logistics
presented a particular challenge, the
shortest route for reinforcements
from Britain, via Gibraltar and Malta,
being more than 2,000 miles long.
Maintenance and repair of aircraft
called for a huge support network
based in Egypt, often a considerable
distance from where the squadrons
themselves were located.
The provision of this essential
support was the responsibility of
Coningham’s exceptionally able
subordinate, Air Cdre Thomas
Elmhirst. He wrote of his boss, “of
the organisation, administration
and supply of his force he knows
nothing and never asks me…
But if anything went wrong and
a squadron could not operate
through failure or shortage of crews
or supplies, he would know in a
moment and be down on me like
a ton of bricks”. Coningham’s skills
lay not in detailed planning of this
kind but elsewhere, in evolving the
means of army-air co-operation.
There was a great deal to do if the
two forces were to work together
effectively to turn back the Axis
advance in the desert. In the past
RAF commanders had rarely seemed
to consider battlefield support a
priority, and in any case their ability
to provide it was hampered by a lack
of information about developments
on the ground. Identification of
friend from foe was limited, and
decision-making was frustrated
by a lack of situational awareness.
Crucially, the army and RAF
headquarters were 80 miles apart.
The creation of a joint
headquarters, on Coningham’s
initiative, was the first step towards
overcoming these problems. It was
followed by the formation of air
support controls to handle requests
from the ground for aerial attacks
on specified targets. Alongside
this came improved wireless
links between front-line units
and their headquarters, known as
‘tentacles’, and forward air support
links (FASLs) to control support
aeroplanes in the air. Coningham
was also an avid user of intelligence,
derived from
a variety of
sources — photo- In Coningham’s
reconnaissance,
the interrogation words, the air force
of prisoners
and not least,
was to provide a
Bletchley combination of
Park decrypts,
which proved shield and punch
indispensable in
determining enemy intentions and
selecting targets for attack.
These innovations meant aircraft
could be scrambled when necessary,
putting an end to the expectation
that troops must be protected by
continuous patrols. In Coningham’s
words, the air force was to provide
“a combination of shield and
punch”. The objectives were three-
fold: winning and maintaining air
superiority, isolating the battlefield
by cutting off the flow of supplies
and troop reinforcements to the
enemy, and providing ground forces
with close air support. The first of
these aims was a vital pre-condition
for the other two. As Rommel later
ruefully reflected, “anyone who
has to fight, even with the most
modern weapons, against an enemy
in complete command of the air
fights like a savage against modern
European troops, under the same
handicaps and with the same
chances of success.”
Progress in putting all this into
practice was initially a slow business.
Most pilots lacked operational
experience, and distances between
airfields and targets were as much
as 200 miles. Target location and
recognition was no easy matter in
the bleak, featureless landscape. The
sheer scale of the desert imposed
considerable challenges, especially
in terms of moving fuel to where
it was needed. However, at least a
workable system was now in place.
Whereas at first the average time lag
between a call for support and the
arrival of aircraft overhead could be
as much as three hours, by mid-1942
this had fallen to around 35 minutes.
Command of the air was
guaranteed by a concentrated use
of aircraft rather than having them
dispersed in what Coningham called
“penny packets”. Centralised control
was vital to ensure an appropriate
response in changing battlefield
conditions. On one occasion a tank
officer told Coningham a corps
commander should be able to call
up a squadron at will, to bomb an
enemy position in front of him.
Coningham briskly replied, “the
whole lot would
be immediately
shot down by
Me [sic] 109s
because there
would be no one
central authority
to ensure a
fighter escort
for them”. He
rightly regarded
the capacity to take an overview
of operational needs as vital if the
most important targets were to
be hit. When not needed for close
support, aircraft would be employed
attacking German airfields, supply
dumps and communication lines.
The arrival of Bernard
Montgomery as Eighth Army
commander in August 1942 was
another gain for the cause of inter-
service co-operation. Although
his relationship with Coningham
would later come under strain, at
02/03/2020 09:36
 this stage Montgomery made clear
that he grasped the importance
of joint working. He declared,
“any officer who aspires to hold
command in war must understand
[…] the use of air power” and agreed
with Coningham that “control of
the available air power must be
centralised, and command must be
exercised through RAF channels.”
Mistakes made by the Luftwaffe
of course played a major part in the
eventual Allied victory. The German
air arm was slow to protect its own
side’s troops or to attack the British,
even though German fighters had
the edge in terms of performance
and armament. When Coningham
took up his command, the Western
Desert Air Force was mainly
equipped with underpowered
Bristol Blenheim IV and Martin
Maryland light bombers, supported
by Hawker Hurricanes which
were outclassed by Messerschmitt
Bf 109Fs and Bf 109Gs. Supermarine
Spitfires were in short supply. At
night obsolete Fleet Air Arm Fairey
Albacores were used to mark targets
for Vickers Wellingtons. These were
later supplemented by Douglas
Bostons, North American Mitchells
and Bristol Beaufighters.
Coningham’s most important
innovation was the deployment of
fighter-bombers on daylight raids.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 45
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On his instructions Hurricanes
were equipped with bomb racks.
The best-known fighter-bomber
of the campaign, however, was the
Curtiss Kittyhawk, typically adorned
with an instantly recognisable
shark-mouth marking. It performed
poorly as a high-altitude fighter but,
transformed into the ‘Kittybomber’,
the machine came into its own in a
ground attack role, flying three or
four sorties a day from rough desert
airstrips. Capable of carrying up
to 1,000lb of bombs — close to the
load of a Blenheim or Maryland
— the Kittyhawk could follow up
with strafing attacks using six wing-
mounted 0.50-calibre machine guns.
Invariably flying at an altitude
of less than 6,000ft (1,828m) and
concentrating on close air support
and interdiction, the fighter-
bombers proved their worth against
vulnerable Axis columns. Unlike
traditional bombers, they did not
need a fighter escort. They were,
however, dangerously exposed to
light flak thrown up at them from
the ground. Fighter-bombers were
most effective when enemy troops
jumped from their lorries and
scattered as they came under attack,
thereby reducing the concentration
of their anti-aircraft weaponry.
Hidden microphones in prisoner ABOVE:
of war cells later testified to their The use of the
impact on German soldiers. One Curtiss Kittyhawk
as a fighter-bomber
account related, “our whole unit in the Western
was exhausted and at the end of our Desert and the
tether from RAF machine-gunning Mediterranean was
attacks.” a masterstroke.
The progress made since This is Kittyhawk III
Coningham’s arrival was seen at FR781 Raynor of No
5 Squadron, South
Alam el Halfa in August 1942. The African Air Force at
battle was of critical importance Cutella, Italy, with
as the last time the Afrika Korps the unit’s outgoing
attempted to recover the initiative CO Maj E. M. Baker
in Egypt. It represented the peak on the left and a
of the methods developed by 1,000lb bomb in the
foreground.
Coningham over the previous KEY COLLECTION
year. His aircrews had trained and
familiarised themselves with the
terrain. All available aircraft were
concentrated on the Allied airfields,
and communications across the
battle zone were good. Round-
the-clock bombing weakened
enemy cohesion, with lines of
communication, airfields and
ground forces being continually
pounded. At the height of the
operation, it has been estimated that
bombs were being dropped at an
average of one every four seconds.
Air attacks caused heavy casualties
and, in conjunction with the
effective use of armour and artillery
by Eighth Army, were an important
reason why Rommel called off his
offensive against the British lines.
02/03/2020 13:50
 PROFILE Arthur Coningham
RIGHT:
RAF chiefs meet
for a conference
in Italy during late
1943. From left to
right, ACM Sir Arthur
Tedder, air officer
commanding-in-
chief, Mediterranean
Air Command; ACM
Sir Charles Portal,
Chief of the Air
Staff; AVM Harry
Broadhurst, AOC
Desert Air Force;
and Coningham,
AOC North African
Tactical Air Force.
KEYSTONE/HULTON ARCHIVE/
GETTY IMAGES
Alam el Halfa showed what could
be achieved by the co-ordinated use
of air power in both indirect and
direct support of ground operations.
It was a preliminary to the decisive
engagement at El Alamein in
October. Four days before the
ground battle began, Coningham’s
forces carried out intensive attacks
on Axis landing grounds, making
it much harder for groundcrews to
service their machines. As a result,
enemy air reconnaissance efforts
prior to the battle were crippled, and
the Luftwaffe was
unable to mount
any serious The Normandy
opposition
as the Eighth campaign saw the
Army began its
offensive below.
tactics pioneered in
Coningham’s North Africa taken to
partnership with
Montgomery a new level
began to break
down after El Alamein, partly as
a result of what he regarded as
the general’s slow pursuit of the
defeated German forces. ‘Monty’s’
prickly personality and taste for self-
advertisement were also sources
of conflict. Nonetheless, as the war
moved westwards into Tunisia, the
by now tried and tested methods of
the Western Desert Air Force were
used to decisive effect. Tedder and
Coningham were now working
with US forces, which landed in
Vichy French-occupied north-west
Africa as part of Operation ‘Torch’
in November 1942. The principles of
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air power laid down by Coningham
became the basis of a new US Army
field manual, FM 100-20. Land
and air power were now to enjoy
equal status, and the importance of
battlefield air operations was clearly
established.
Air support was continuous
as the British and Americans
pushed forward into Tunisia.
Reconnaissance groups selected
locations for new airfields and
construction parties then prepared
the sites, supported by engineers
whose task was
to clear mines
and booby-
traps left by
the retreating
Germans. The
capture of the
Mareth Line
in March 1943
showed the
concentrated
use of air power at its most effective.
This was a system of fortifications,
originally built by the French
and more recently strengthened
by Axis technicians. The Mareth
Line defences included more
than 60 miles of barbed wire and
thousands of anti-armour and
anti-personnel mines. After initial
attacks proved inconclusive, the
saturation bombing of vehicles and
communications began, together
with raids aimed at sapping the
morale of the defenders. Over two
nights Coningham’s aircraft flew
300 sorties and dropped 800,000lb
(363,000kg) of bombs. In daylight,
relays of fighter-bombers came in
at low altitude every 15 minutes. In
combination with artillery, which
fired smoke shells to mark targets
for the aerial assault, they opened
a path through the line for Allied
ground troops. Damage to Axis
airfields was so extensive that only
five enemy aircraft appeared over
the battlefield during the action.
As the enemy retreated
northwards, air force attacks on
their vehicles completed the
rout. Coningham also helped to
interrupt the increasingly desperate
attempts to supply German forces
by air, which in April 1943 featured
the use of enormous six-engined
Messerschmitt Me 323 transports,
flying to Tunisia from Sicily.
The interception of intelligence
about their planned routes and
the strength of their escorts was
invaluable. No fewer than 21 of
these lumbering giants were lost
in a single action, underlining the
hopelessness of the Axis position.
After the North African campaign
ended, Coningham was a key
member of the team which took
the war across the Mediterranean
to Sicily and then the Italian
mainland. This campaign showed
he was not infallible. Although the
invasion of Sicily was well-handled,
he did not do enough to prevent
the evacuation of German forces
to mainland Italy in August 1943.
02/03/2020 09:36
 Critics have with justice pointed out enemy convoy would usually be prevented Luftwaffe fighters from
that, with concentrated use of heavy knocked out first so that, trapped on intervening and attacked enemy
bombers, enemy troops which later the narrow roads of rural Normandy, transport moving into the battle
held up the Allied advance through the other tanks and lorries could zone. Although relatively few tanks
south-central Italy could have been then be attacked. were hit directly from the air, the
stopped from leaving the island. ‘Thin-skinned’ support vehicles, loss of unarmoured vehicles and the
Coningham was recalled to carrying fuel and ammunition for dispersal of panic-stricken troops
Britain in January 1944. Appointed the Panzers, made particularly good were major gains. Some German
head of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, targets. Unlike tanks, they did not tank crews abandoned their
he prepared for the final important need a direct hit to disable them, vehicles or even destroyed them
assignment of his career, as a as they were vulnerable to the blast to avoid capture. The Typhoons
member of the team charged with and shrapnel from near-misses. effectively paralysed the German
the liberation of north-west Europe. Survivors who abandoned their advance, in what was probably the
There could be no doubt of the scale transports and tried to escape on most effective tactical air operation
of the task, although the inability foot through adjoining fields were of the Normandy campaign.
of the Luftwaffe to mount serious frequently hit with cannon fire. The It was unfortunate that
resistance in the skies of northern resulting chaos on the ground could Coningham’s relationship with
France came as a welcome surprise then be exploited by advancing Montgomery, who was in charge
to all the Allied commanders. The Allied units. of Allied land forces in ‘Overlord’,
destruction of most of the German further deteriorated from this point.
coastal radar network gave the A major bone of contention was
invaders another great advantage. These methods were seen at their Montgomery’s slowness to take BELOW:
The Normandy campaign saw most effective in the Allied response the city of Caen and to secure for Typhoon Ib JP853 of
the tactics pioneered in North to the German counter-attack RAF use the airfields which lay to No 486 Squadron,
Africa taken to a new level. With air at Mortain in August 1944. The the south-east. Coningham found pictured in October
superiority over the beach-heads episode also showed what could himself bypassed as the point of 1943. The type was
assured, Coningham’s priorities be achieved through good Anglo- contact for tactical air support, and a key 2nd Tactical
Air Force asset when
were to provide enough pilots skilled American co-operation. Rocket- he was opposed to Montgomery’s Coningham took
in ground attack, and squadrons armed Typhoons concentrated on counterproductive attempt to speed command early the
able to keep up the momentum the German armoured columns, up the surrender of Caen by calling following year.
as Allied troops pushed inland while the US 9th Air Force in heavy bombers. The result was CROWN COPYRIGHT
after D-Day. Mobility was a key
feature of training in the run-up
to the landings, with Coningham
describing his air force as a
“travelling circus”. Once Operation
‘Overlord’ began, land forces were
accompanied by radio operators
who could call up support from
aircraft on patrol in the so-called
‘cab rank’ system. Coningham’s
forces had been issued with lists of
pre-arranged objectives but they had
the flexibility to switch in response
to changing circumstances. It was
dangerous work, as the requirement
for low-level attack exposed the
Allied aeroplanes to ground fire
from remarkably tenacious, battle-
hardened German troops.
By now the RAF possessed a
formidable new ground attack
aircraft, the Hawker Typhoon. It
was armed with four 20mm cannon
and, in addition, a choice of either
1,000lb (454kg) of bombs or eight
rockets, mounted on rails under
the wings. Although claims made
at the time for the ‘hit rate’ of the
Typhoon’s rocketry were later shown
to be exaggerated, its psychological
impact on German troops was
devastating. The disruption of
German armoured columns, and
the ensuing demoralisation of the
crews, was more important than any
physical destruction they caused.
The lead and rear vehicles of an

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42-48_AM_Coningham_Apr2020 C.indd 47 02/03/2020 09:36

 PROFILE Arthur Coningham
ABOVE:
Allied air chiefs meet
in London during
March 1944 to plan
the liberation of
Europe. From left,
they comprise AVM
Leslie Hollinghurst,
No 38 Group
commanding officer;
Maj Gen Hoyt
Vandenberg, deputy
air commander-in-
chief of the Allied
Expeditionary Force;
Coningham; ACM
Trafford Leigh-
Mallory, commander-
in-chief of the Allied
Expeditionary Air
Force; Maj Gen
Lewis Brereton,
US 9th Air Force
commander; AVM
Hugh Saunders, AOC
No 11 Group; and Air
Marshal Roderic Hill,
Air Defence of Great
Britain C-in-C.
POPPERFOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
48 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
42-48_AM_Coningham_Apr2020 C.indd 48
that Allied troops should aim to
overrun them as rapidly as possible.
From the ill-fated Arnhem
operation in September 1944
Coningham was largely excluded.
Almost no aspect of this episode was
properly planned, but one of the
worst errors was the decision that the
2nd TAF would not be used in areas
where gliders and paratroops were
to be dropped. He played a more
positive role in helping orchestrate
the Allied response to Hitler’s final
offensive in the Ardennes at the
end of 1944. Air force efforts were
initially hampered by poor weather.
However, as this improved from
23 December onwards, it became
possible to mount repeated sorties,
preventing the Luftwaffe from
concentrating in the battle area
and giving Allied ground forces the
opportunity to counter-attack.
Coningham’s short post-war
career was something of an anti-
climax. He was denied the rank of air
chief marshal and, after a period as
head of Flying Training Command,
he left the RAF in August 1947. His
flamboyant personality may not have
helped his chances of staying on, but
the destruction of 75 per cent of the not seriously impede the enemy’s it is also the case that a number of
fabric of the city, producing rubble movements. He insisted that the senior officers were being retired as
which provided excellent cover for lives and homes of friendly civilians the service adjusted to peacetime.
the German defenders. would be destroyed for no purpose. His death in the 1948 loss of Avro
Coningham was consistent in Tudor Star Tiger was an abrupt
regarding heavy bombers as a end to the life of a distinguished
weapon to be used against cities Another area where Coningham airman. Coningham left a memory
and industrial targets, not to was clear about the limits of air of a clear-thinking, unorthodox
support battlefield objectives. His power was the problem of how leader, first-rate in a crisis, who
refusal to support the bombing to deal with flying bombs, which excelled at creating a sense of unity
of French towns stemmed from started to rain down on southern and purpose among those below
both practical and humanitarian England soon after D-Day. V1 him. His ingenuity in devising new
considerations. In response to launch sites could be rapidly tactics of air warfare, and the clarity
Montgomery’s claim that this constructed and camouflaged, with which he instilled lessons of
would disrupt key centres of road so aerial attack was not a feasible army-air force co-operation,
communication, Coningham response to the menace they posed. place him among the great
argued that such assaults would Instead Coningham recommended figures of RAF history.
A TRAGIC END
C
oningham had just started to make a new government wanted the inquiry into the loss curtailed.
life for himself in business when he met his The truth is likely to be more prosaic. The Tudor had a
death at the early age of 53. In January poor safety record — Lancaster designer Roy
1948 he was on his way across the Atlantic Chadwick had recently been killed in one and, almost
to Cuba, as a passenger in British South American exactly a year after the Star Tiger tragedy, another
Airways’ Avro Tudor IV G-AHNP named Star Tiger. It BSAA example, Tudor IVB G-AGRE Star Ariel, vanished
crashed into the sea north-east of Bermuda in between Bermuda and Jamaica. It is known that the
circumstances which have never been properly aeroplane on which Coningham was travelling had a
explained. No wreckage or bodies were ever found. faulty heater and, in order to keep the passengers
The fact that Star Tiger disappeared in the so-called warmer, it may have been flying at too low an altitude.
‘Bermuda triangle’ has led to considerable speculation With pilots tired by a long journey from the Azores, it
about the cause of the disaster. At the time there were was speculated that a significant gust of wind may
dark rumours of a saboteur seen near the aircraft have caused the airliner to dive and crash into the sea,
shortly before it took off, and allegations that the without time to radio for help.
02/03/2020 09:37
 I NT E R NAT I O N AL SU B SC R I P T I O N O FFER S

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122 AM Bundle fp Apr20 overseas.indd 49 02/03/2020 11:19

 FLYING BOATS Sunderland sub-killers

It has been called the greatest air/sea U-boat battle of

World War Two. But the sinking of U-461 in July 1943
was far from the only outstanding feat in the career of
F�Y�N� B�A� the late Dudley Marrows, a Short Sunderland captain
G�O�Y D�Y� with No 461 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force,
who was without doubt one of the war’s finest flying
boat exponents WORDS: MARILYN MARROWS VOULLAIRE

STRIKE SEA
T
ABOVE: he passing last year of Flt
A typical No Lt Dudley Marrows DSO
461 Squadron DFC Légion d’Honneur, at
Sunderland III,
the age of 101, brought to
JM678, in flight
during January 1944. a close a remarkable story which
VIA D. VINCENT stands high in the annals of the
Battle of the Atlantic.
Dudley had first joined the
Royal Australian Air Force in 1940,
completing his primary training
with No 1 Initial Training School
at Somers, Victoria. Topping the
course there, he was categorised
as an observer but was able to
have himself remustered for
pilot training, together with his
older brother Keith. After further
instruction in Rhodesia, with No 25
Elementary Flying Training School
on Tiger Moths and subsequently
No 22 Service Flying Training
School on Harvards, he completed
a general reconnaissance and
navigation course at George,
South Africa.
ON
THE
Once again ending up top of his
course, Dudley was granted his
commission in Rhodesia, before
he was posted to No 4 (Coastal)
Operational Training Unit at
Invergordon in Scotland. At the
outbreak of World War Two, No
240 Squadron had moved there
equipped with the Saunders-Roe
London flying boat.
It was there that Dudley
spent many hours learning the
vagaries of water handling on the
Supermarine Stranraer and then
the London. Both were powered
by Bristol Pegasus engines, which
introduced Dudley to the famous
powerplant he would later operate
on the Sunderland. It was his first
acquaintance with multi-engine
operations and learning how
to read the wind and tide, plus
the techniques of manoeuvring
around harbours and moorings
often crowded with shipping
and obstacles. This did much to
add to his frustration — and his
vocabulary. Flying boat training
was by necessity of much longer
duration and involved considerably
more flying than land-based fighter
or bomber aircraft.
Transition to the Sunderland was
conducted at Invergordon, while
attachment to No 201 Squadron
at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland
provided him with an introduction
to multi-crew work and to the
operational use of the aircraft.
Dudley joined No 461 Squadron,
RAAF which was initially based
at Mount Batten, then later at
Pembroke Dock in south-west
Wales. He flew many anti-
submarine and shipping patrols
as second pilot prior to gaining
command with his own crew of up
to 12 men.

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 The weather in the British
Isles was often atrocious, and
he recalled that operations
continued day and night in order
to maintain surveillance over
the convoys, preventing U-boats
from making surface attacks. This
often necessitated taking off
and landing in fog, low cloud
and crosswinds. Indeed,
returning from one patrol,
all bases were ‘clampers’
and Dudley’s Sunderland
was diverted to Plymouth
where he made a
blind approach,
descending over the
surrounding hills
with the navigator
talking him down
on a bearing, time
and distance from
the Eddystone
lighthouse.
Late in his life,
Dudley described
the stresses involved in
maintaining those long patrols.
“There was a requirement to be on
patrol regardless of weather, which
meant that on occasion, take-off
was conducted in fog or both
bad weather and sea conditions.
Mooring the boat and manoeuvring
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
50-56_AM_Sunderland Flying Boats_Apr2020 C.indd 51
around a buoy required lots of
practice and nose gunners used
special vernacular to describe pilots
who fouled it up.
“Drogues were good but could
not be deployed above 5kt for fear
of structural damage. Reversing
propellers would have been very
useful but weren’t installed on
the Sunderland. You have to
keep in mind that the sea
conditions for landing when
we returned at the end of
patrol could be totally
different from that which
had existed when
we took off. Wind
and tide, and any
other thing moving
or fixed, was the
natural enemy for a
flying boat. Engine
run-up was done in
a triangular pattern
to finish up at the BELOW:
point of take-off. Flt Lt Dudley
Marrows at the
“Every take-off was controls of a
an event in itself, particularly at Sunderland, the type
maximum weight in a crosswind in which he spent
at night. They seemed to go on the majority of his
forever, and I can still remember flying career, though
he did also captain
the howling of the engines and
Catalinas.
frightening ‘whoomps’ as the hull VIA MARILYN MARROWS
crashed down onto the water. VOULLAIRE
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 51
02/03/2020 09:38
 FLYING BOATS Sunderland sub-killers

RIGHT: The aircraft would rise up on the

The end of U-461 waves and dip into the troughs
occurred north-west as it slowly gathered speed. A
of Cape Ortegal,
Spain, on 30 July
crosswind take-off began with three
1943. There were 15 engines, gradually bringing up the
survivors out of the downwind outboard engine. At 50-
68 on board. 60kt you would start getting rudder
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL control and often it would skip from
a crest, miss the next and ‘whump’
BELOW RIGHT:
Under the command
down into a trough. There was great
of Korvettenkapitän relief when at last she would fly
Wolf Stiebler, U-461 and the load could be taken off the
returns to port in engines as we set course and started
triumph after a the long, slow climb.
success against “The wardroom cutlery,
Allied shipping.
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
plates and eating irons reflected
many of the pubs in the British
Isles. Members of my crew, the
Australians in particular, were adept
at souveniring such items. Bacon
and eggs was standard fare after
about six hours, although in rough
weather the humble sandwich was
the sustenance usually called for.
Most ops were 12-14 hours.”

On 30 July 1943, No 461 Squadron

Sunderland III W6077/U, with
Dudley at the controls, took off on
a routine anti-submarine patrol
over the Bay of Biscay. He and his
crew had turned for home after an
uneventful sortie, having sighted
a few suspicious Spanish fishing
boats but not the Junkers Ju 88s
which were often associated with
them. Low on fuel they listened
with interest to a rising scrap
between three outbound U-boats
and several aircraft, including two
No 502 Squadron Halifaxes, a No
210 Squadron Catalina, a No 228
Squadron Sunderland, a No 53
Squadron Liberator and a B-24 from
the USAAF’s 19th Antisubmarine
Squadron. The Royal Navy’s Second
Support Group of five sloops
was also heading into the attack.
A message from group ordered
Dudley and his crew to divert and
join the battle.
Arriving on the scene, they
found the three U-boats — U-461,
U-462 and U-504 — in a tight ‘V’
formation. It was later discovered
that two were armed refueller
submarines known to the Germans
as ‘Milchkühe’ or ‘milk cows’, their
role being to refuel, rearm and, if
necessary, provide engineering
and medical assistance to the
attack U-boats at sea. These were
considerably larger than the
standard German attack boats and
were highly valued targets.
The U-boat captains had elected
to remain on the surface and use
their considerable combined
firepower to fight off attacking
aircraft. This was the result of
a relatively new directive from
commander of submarines Admiral
Dönitz that correct positioning
and use of armament was more

SUCCESS IN ‘B
RAF Sunderland
veteran Alan Lacy
recalls his two U-boat
kills in the Bay of Biscay,
just weeks apart in 1943

I
joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1940.
I was 17, but gave my age as 18. I spent a
long period on airfield defence and other
Alan Lacy was on No 228 Squadron when he achieved his two U-boat kills. tasks. Finally I learned to fly on Tiger
This Sunderland II, W3989/DQ-L, was on the unit’s strength in 1942. R. PEARSON Moths at the elementary flying training

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 LEFT:
The crew of
Sunderland W6077
after their return
to Pembroke Dock
upon sinking U-461.
VIA MARILYN MARROWS
VOULLAIRE

effective than submerging following his crew tried a standard attack Sunderland’s hull skimmed the
discovery. but broke off after suffering flak wave-tops and he had to lift the
By that stage, a German Ju 88, the damage. Critically low on fuel, they aircraft to clear the conning tower.
No 228 Squadron Sunderland and could afford only one more run. Releasing seven 450lb MkVI depth
the Catalina had already departed He elected to charges, they
the scene. The remaining aircraft, attack on the pulled hard away
having suffered murderous fire from surface which, The attack was so from the flak
the U-boats armed with 27 anti- while providing from the other
aircraft guns including two or three shielding from low the hull skimmed two boats.
batteries of 20mm cannon, had
ceased standard low-level attacks
two of the
boats, meant
the wave-tops His navigator
Jock Rolland
and were attempting to bomb them he was exposed shouted, “you’ve
from high altitude. directly to all three of them after got him”. Reviewing the wreckage
With such intense fire from the releasing his depth charges. This of U-461, Dudley noticed the crew
three submarines, Dudley and time the attack was so low that the had no survival gear and were

N ‘BLOODY BISCAY’
school at Cambridge, where I had a flight in a
Tiger to celebrate my 90th birthday.
After training on various aircraft, I ended
up on Sunderlands. I was posted to No 228
Squadron, first at Oban, then at Lough Erne
and finally at Pembroke Dock. From Oban
and Lough Erne we flew patrols over the
Atlantic, finding convoys to protect them
from U-boats. They were long, boring flights.
On one trip we saw an overloaded lifeboat.
The sea seemed calm, and we thought we
could land and pick some of them up. We
contacted base to seek permission. We
received a message in plain language: “Do
not land”. We had a closer look at the sea —
it had looked calm but close-up you could
see a 30ft swell. Landing would have been
difficult indeed.
Flights from Pembroke Dock were over
the Bay of Biscay, known as ‘Bloody Biscay’.
The U-boats crossed the bay on the surface
to get quickly to the Atlantic. It was patrolled
by packs of six Ju 88s, and by Beaufighters
to give us some protection. The Ju 88s were
deadly — they would attack three ahead
and three astern. We had lots of guns at our
disposal, but our only real protection was
to get into cloud. Our ideal weather was 10-
10ths cloud at 1,000ft. We could quickly get
down to our attack height of 50ft if we saw
U-boats, and then get back into cloud if we
saw Ju 88s. A forecast of clear blue sky was
bad news. Sometimes, though, we would
pick up a radar blip and find it was not a
U-boat but a lone merchant ship. In that
case we would drop leaflets telling them
to ‘go home or join us’.
Flying Sunderland ‘N’ on No 228
Squadron we sank two U-boats, U-607
on 13 July 1943 and U-106 on 2 August
that year. On 13 July we saw a pack
of five U-boats. There was another
Sunderland close to them. We contacted
this Sunderland and agreed tactics: we
would fly around the pack in opposite
directions to split their fire and hope for
the opportunity to attack one. The other
Sunderland ran out of time and had to

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 FLYING BOATS Sunderland sub-killers

they went straight in to attack. A approaching found them miles from

ABOVE: struggling in the oil and debris.
Taken by a Ju 88 After consultation with the crew, he
crew member, flew low across the survivors and
this image shows
dropped a life-raft to them. This
Sunderland EK578
in the Bay of Biscay, benevolent action was controversial
its crew — Dudley at the time and resulted in censure
Marrows included as his own aircraft had suffered
— atop the downed flak damage. Fifty-three crew from
machine. the U-boat had perished but 15
VIA MARILYN MARROWS
VOULLAIRE
survived.
Diverting to advise the Royal Navy
escort group, the Sunderland at last
turned for home. By an incredible
coincidence, it had sunk U-461, a
U-boat with the same identification
as the aircraft, ‘U’, and its squadron,
461. The day was not over, however.
Shortly after setting course for base,
another U-boat was sighted, and
hit by a cannon shell caused an
on-board fire and prevented them
from releasing the remaining depth
charge. Nonetheless, they returned
to strafe the rapidly submerging
U-boat with machine guns.
Now desperately low on fuel, luck
was with them that day, as they
landed in the channel outside St
Mary’s in the Scillies with virtually
dry tanks after a flight time of 13
hours 55 minutes. Dudley recalled
how they were back on ‘best
range’ power and speed on the
way home, and Jock Rolland, the
navigator, stood behind him and
tapped him on the shoulder with
a ruler if he deviated from course.
The Sunderland was subsequently
written-off due to the structural
damage it had suffered. After the
sinking of U-461, the two remaining
submarines, U-462 and U-504, were
sunk by the Second Escort Group
ships HMS Kite, Woodpecker, Wren
and Wild Goose.
Dudley was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross for his
part in what was widely reported as
being the greatest air/sea U-boat
battle, in which all three U-boats
were sunk. But this was far from the
end of his war.
On 16 September 1943, Dudley
and his crew departed Pembroke
Dock in Sunderland III EK578/E of
No 461 Squadron for a routine patrol
down to Portugal, returning home
along the coast of Spain. A new
navigator called George Done would
guide them. The dreaded call from
the tail gunner that six Ju 88s were
the nearest cloud and in serious
trouble. The Ju 88s, from 14./KG 40,
were manned by experienced crews
returning from an inconclusive
combat with a Catalina, but they
were all too aware of the fearsome
reputation of the Sunderland’s
firepower. The desperate radio
message to group that they were
under attack from six Ju 88s was the
last call heard from EK578.
The crew jettisoned the eight
depth charges, deciding to
maintain height, and prepared for
the worst. Dudley soon realised
he was up against seasoned foes
as, rather than attacking singly,
the Ju 88 formation split into two
— to port and starboard, led by a
control aircraft — before starting a
simultaneous attack. Always turning
in towards the nearest approaching
Ju 88, the Sunderland nonetheless
suffered hits and lost valuable
height. Further attacks wounded
some of the crew and put the all-
important rear and nose turrets out
of action. Dudley said cannon and
machine-gun shells were tearing
into the aircraft.
The ensuing battle lasted nearly
an hour. One Ju 88 was streaming
smoke and others seriously
damaged, but finally, with both port
engines dead and the starboard
outer failing, Dudley and his
crew were forced to ditch. Dudley
believed that they damaged one
aircraft sufficiently to make it
break off, and that others were hit.
However, he said, “they surely won
the day”. The Sunderland’s hull and
fuselage were riddled with bullet
holes, and oil ran everywhere from

leave and return to base, but we carried on
regardless.
In trying to keep his fire on us one U-boat
lost contact with the rest. We got down
to 50ft and our skipper dropped a stick of
eight depth charges, four on the starboard
bow and four on the port stern.
The U-boat submerged. Suddenly
the sea was covered in oil, and
sailors clinging to debris. It was a
pathetic sight. It made you realise
that a U-boat was not just a metal
structure but also contained
human beings. We took a vote and
agreed to drop a dinghy. Seven
men, including the captain, got on board
and later were picked up by HMS Wren.
We were reprimanded for jeopardising our
safety by reducing the number of dinghies
we had on board.
On 2 August we were patrolling near the
Spanish coast. There were lots of Spanish
fishing boats — U-boats liked to mix with
them in order to slink out into the Atlantic.
By mistake we dropped leaflets on the
fishing boats telling them to ‘go home’. They
The U-boat kept firing at us.
Suddenly the crew started to jump
overboard. Then there was an
enormous explosion
stood on the decks shaking their fists at us.
We saw three destroyers, and they opened
fire on us. This did not necessarily mean
they were German — the Royal Navy often
greeted us with ack-ack before we could
drop the colours of the day. But these kept
firing at us. They were Germans.
Far ahead of them was a U-boat. We went
to have a look at it, and it did not dive. This
was surprising. We got in closer and it still
did not dive. We came to the conclusion
that it could not dive as it must be
damaged and the destroyers were
going to escort it to the French
coast. We attacked and dropped
eight depth charges. We thought
they were well-aimed but the
U-boat stayed on the surface. We
got in closer and took really good
photos. The U-boat kept firing
at us. Suddenly the crew started to jump
overboard. Then there was an enormous
explosion. It nearly took us with it! We got
into cloud in case there was also an escort
of Ju 88s, before heading for home with our

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 broken hydraulic lines. Continually
under attack, Dudley pulled off the
landing of his career along a 15ft
swell in the Bay of Biscay.
Taking to the life-rafts, they
discovered that shrapnel had
damaged two of them. The 11-man
crew, some of whom were wounded
— one seriously — had to fit into
one raft. The five remaining Ju 88s
circled and watched, but finally
departed after the control aircraft
conducted a low-level ‘beat-up’,
waved his wings in salute and flew
off. A famous photo of the downed
Sunderland crew atop the sinking
aircraft, taken by one of the Ju 88
crew, was recovered when that
particular crewman was shot down
some time later over England and
taken prisoner.
The stranded men were found
in bad weather the next day, after
18 hours sitting in cold, wet and
cramped conditions, by a searching
Catalina. This aircraft was captained
by Fg Off John Cruickshank, who German survivors from U-461. ones, as 18 Sunderlands were shot ABOVE:
would later earn the Victoria Cross He bestowed the compliment of down over a two-year period and Back on dry land, the
for his actions while attacking delivering Dudley and his crew very few of the crew members crew of EK578 pose
for a photograph
and sinking a U-boat. Dudley directly to Pembroke Dock itself. survived. Indeed, it has recently with a life-raft of the
considered it a miracle that the been acknowledged that Coastal type into which all 11
Catalina found them as the last Command suffered much greater men had to fit. The
known position of his Sunderland Walker presented Dudley with losses than previously believed. He other raft aboard
was miles from the raft’s position the lifejacket and keys used by the received the Distinguished Service the Sunderland was
and the weather conditions captain of U-461. To each of the crew Order for “inspiring leadership, unusable thanks to
bullet holes made
were low cloud with a rising sea. was given a fragment of wreckage great courage and determination during the flying
Cruickshank’s crew guided a from the sunken submarine, and to in the air battle”, while two of his boat’s combat with
number of vessels to the airmen’s No 461 Squadron a piece of timber crew, Sgt Fred ‘Pierre’ Bamber and the Ju 88s.
location. These sloops were from bearing the inscription, “part of Sgt Allan ‘Bubbles’ Pearce, were VIA MARILYN MARROWS
the Royal Navy Second Support, the wreckage of U-Boat 461, sunk given the Distinguished Flying VOULLAIRE

commanded by none other than
the famous U-boat hunter Capt F. J.
‘Johnny’ Walker CB DSO and three
bars. In yet another coincidence,
Walker had earlier picked up the
by ‘U’ 461, presented by the crew
of HMS Woodpecker with heartiest
congratulations.”
Dudley always considered he
and his crew to be among the lucky
Medal. The flight engineer, Fg Off
Lance Woodland, had previously
been presented with the DFM for
entering the wing in flight during
a mid-air emergency and

U-607’s demise on 13 July 1943, at the hands of Lacy and his crew. The U-boat was initially sighted on the surface, before the Sunderland pressed
home its attack. Only then did it submerge. VIA ALAN LACY

photos, one of which was enlarged and hung who was researching his family’s history. His it proved to be a rewarding meeting. We
in the officers’ mess at Pembroke Dock. uncle had been on U-106 when it was sunk subsequently visited the RAF Museum at
In June 1997 I received a letter from a Dr on 2 August 1943. In spite of some initial Hendon, getting permission to access their
Manfred Hennig of Rudolstadt, Germany misgivings, I agreed to see Dr Hennig and Sunderland’s cockpit and a Ju 88.

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 FLYING BOATS Sunderland sub-killers
RIGHT:
The page from
Dudley Marrows’
logbook showing the
report from his CO
on No 461 Squadron,
Wg Cdr Desmond
Douglas, describing
him as “A most
outstanding flying
boat captain”.
VIA MARILYN MARROWS
VOULLAIRE
BELOW:
Dudley Marrows transferring oil from one engine to rated Dudley’s abilities as a flying
in 2015, displaying another, enabling a safe return to boat pilot as exceptional, and
his newly awarded base. above average for both navigation
Légion d’Honneur Commanding officers rarely and bombing. Wg Cdr Douglas,
alongside his other
wartime decorations.
gave their pilots ‘above average’ ‘boss’ of 461 said he was, “A most
VIA MARILYN MARROWS
assessments. However, the COs of outstanding flying boat captain.”
VOULLAIRE both Nos 461 and 40 Squadrons Dudley reflected that the
Sunderland was a wonderful
aeroplane for its role, and that the
enemy learned to respect it. The
on-board firepower and rugged
construction made it a lethal foe to
attack, earning its reputation as the
‘Flying Porcupine’.
Later in the war, Dudley and
his crew were selected to fly
Sunderland ML733 to Australia.
Following transfer to No 40
Squadron, he operated Sunderlands
to New Guinea for retrieval of
the sick and wounded. On one
occasion, going from Port Moresby
to Madang and back, he was obliged
to climb to more than 15,000ft
in cloud in order to clear the
mountains across the Owen Stanley
ranges. “A very flexible aeroplane
indeed but one which required time
and exposure to operate it to its best
potential”, he said.
Late in life, Dudley’s wife Silvia
attended a Sunderland reunion in
Europe where she first met Wolf
Stiebler, captain of U-461. Silvia
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was approached by the wife of
one of the submarine’s crew, who,
with tears in her eyes, wanted her
to thank Dudley for saving her
husband’s life by dropping the life-
raft to him.
When Wolf came to Australia in
1987, he met Dudley in Melbourne.
“I looked into his eyes and
saw a friend”, said the German
veteran, who held the rank of
Korvettenkapitän at the time of
his sinking. Wolf stayed with the
Marrows at their citrus farm near
Mildura. He had commanded four
other U-boats — U-8, U-17, U-21
and U-61 — prior to U-461 and felt
himself fortunate to survive the war.
In 2015, the 70th anniversary
of the end of the Second World
War, France honoured Australian
veterans such as Dudley Marrows
who fought for its liberation
by awarding them the rank of
Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur
(Knight of the Legion of Honour).
After his death on 11 March 2019,
Dudley was given a full military
RAAF funeral including a No 10
Squadron AP-3C Orion flypast. It
was a fitting tribute to a heroic
and gifted maritime aviator.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Thanks to Ken Broomhead FRAeS
and WGCDR (Ret) Robin Page.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
02/03/2020 09:39
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 FLYING BOATS Antilles Air Boats

The Streetcar
Line of the
Virgin Islands
Beautiful flying boats serving sun-drenched Caribbean
islands, and a dash of Hollywood glamour — Antilles Air
Boats seemed to have it all. But legendary aviator Capt
Charles Blair and his airline came to an untimely end
WORDS: TOM ANUSEWICZ

Sandringham IV VP-LVE Southern Cross over the Shannon

estuary in August 1976, en route from Lough Derg to Charles
Blair and Maureen O’Hara’s house in Kerry. MALCOLM NASON

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 FLYING BOATS Antilles Air Boats

I
t was while I was serving in the Capt Charles Blair and discuss one of them. Blair found himself
US Coast Guard at its air station employment. I knew Blair as a true a naval aviator flying the Sikorsky
in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during pioneer in aviation and was excited VS-44 across the Atlantic to Foynes,
1968 that I was first introduced to to talk to him. I’d packed a duffle Ireland. On one return trip in
Antilles Air Boats. I was a structural bag with some necessities, including this remarkable flying boat, he
mechanic and crew member on a file with a few documents. When passed up his refuelling station in
the Grumman HU-16E Albatross, Blair asked if I had an honourable Newfoundland and continued on
providing search and rescue efforts discharge from the coast guard, I to New York. Arriving there after 25
in the Caribbean. The hangar next handed it to him to seal the deal. hours 40 minutes in the air, he was
door housed the last of the Sikorsky You can’t tell stories of Antilles the first pilot to carry passengers
VS-44 flying boats and I performed Air Boats without talking about the and mail on a non-stop flight across
some structural repairs on it in man who started it. Charles F. Blair the Atlantic.
my spare time. The company liked Jr was born in Buffalo, New York, in After the war, Blair took charge
having an aircraft sheet metal shop 1909. His first solo flight was at the of proving flights with Lockheed
close by. age of 19 while he was attending the Constellations and Boeing
Every few weeks or so the HU-16E University of Vermont, from which Stratocruisers for American
delivered supplies to another USCG he graduated with a mechanical Overseas Airlines, as American
station in Charlotte Amalie, capital engineering degree in 1931. He then Export Airlines was renamed in
of the US Virgin joined Boeing 1945. It merged with Pan American
Islands, on St Air Transport World Airways during 1950, and
Thomas. We
would land at the
Blair realised as one of the air
mail pioneers
Blair assumed a new role as chief
pilot at Pan Am.
BELOW:
A portrait of Capt airport and assist
the local staff by
a downtown-to- flying out of
Cheyenne,
Charles Blair and
Sandringham taking their new downtown service Wyoming. He was also well-known for his
Excalibur VIII taken provisions back Blair was a new long-distance P-51 Mustang flights.
by internationally to the harbour. should be provided co-pilot on the In modified P-51C N1202 Excalibur
renowned
photographer Fritz
Veterans Drive
was the main
and he was the Boeing 247, and
while he was
III he flew non-stop from New
York to London in January 1951,
Henle, who was a
friend to the Blairs road that ran person to do it flying mail he travelling 3,478 miles in seven hours
and lived in St Croix along the water’s was also in the 48 minutes at an average speed of
until his death in edge, with the naval reserves as 446mph, and setting a record for a
1993. FRITZ HENLE coast guard base at one end and an aviator. It was just the beginning piston-engined aeroplane. With the
BELOW RIGHT:
Antilles Air Boats at the other. Each of an incredible career. In his book same aircraft, at the end of May that
Two of AAB’s time we went by the AAB seaplane Red Ball In The Sky he stated, “One year he flew from Bardufoss, Norway
Grumman Goose ramp, I looked at the aircraft — thing led to another, and in 1940, I to Fairbanks, Alaska, involving a
fleet, N8229 mainly examples of the Grumman found myself installed in the boss non-stop leg across the North Pole.
and N74676, Goose — with great interest. pilot’s chair of a new overseas For these achievements President
photographed from I returned to St Thomas in 1975. I airline” — American Export Harry S. Truman presented Blair
a third off St Croix.
This was actually a
travelled south from Massachusetts Airlines — “that would give Pan with the Harmon Trophy.
four-ship formation in the hope of securing a job with American Airways such a run for Leaving the navy in 1952,
performed by some what was, at that time, the world’s its transatlantic money that within Blair transferred to the US Air
of the airline’s largest seaplane airline. By then AAB ten years it would become a leading Force during 1953, accepting
ex-military pilots had already been flying between carrier on the North Atlantic.” a commission in the Air Force
on 9 January 1978 the islands for about 11 years. My The Naval Air Transport Service Reserve with the rank of colonel.
to commemorate
the death of the
first dialogue was with Capt Ron was developed at the onset of World The USAF was especially interested
US Virgin Islands’ Gillies. After reviewing my limited War Two, contracting airlines and in his experience of navigation on
governor Cyril E. aviation background, Gillies told their personnel for the war effort. long-distance and polar flights, as
King. TOM ANUSEWICZ me to return in a few days to meet American Export Airlines was it sought to improve its ability to

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conduct worldwide deployments. To
that end, Blair headed some notable
sorties himself. He was at the helm
of 1956’s Operation ‘Shark Bait’, in
which three F-84F Thunderstreaks
became the first jet fighters to cross
the Atlantic non-stop. In 1959, newly
promoted to brigadier general, he
led Operation ‘Julius Caesar’, the
first jet fighter flight over the North
Pole, which involved two F-100
Super Sabres deploying from RAF
Wethersfield, UK to Eielson AFB,
Alaska. For that he received the
Distinguished Flying Cross.
All the while Blair carried on
working for Pan Am, latterly
captaining the Boeing 707 on
preferred routes. But in 1961
he relocated his residence to St
Croix, where his home was on
a hill overlooking Christiansted
and the crystal-clear waters of the
Caribbean. Travelling from island to
island took longer than he wanted.
Driving to the airport, the flight and
then driving from the airport to
town was always time-consuming.
From his home he could see St
Thomas just 45 miles to the north.
His years of experience with
seaplanes and flying boats told him
there was a better way.
Blair’s first Grumman Goose
was more for his own inter-island
transport, but soon he realised a
downtown-to-downtown service
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should be provided to the public
and he was the person to do it.
The G-21A, furthermore, was the
perfect aircraft. Grumman had
manufactured more than 340, so
they were readily available. Antilles
Air Boats was founded in February
1964, and over the years it flew 23
different examples.
The airline’s first Goose, N95467
(c/n 1161), came from Southeast
Airlines in Miami, previously Cat
Cay Airlines. Early operations
saw passengers boarding a small
boat and being brought out to
the waiting Goose. The boarding
process could be challenging in
bad weather. In time, shoreline
properties were acquired to allow
the amphibian to come up the
ramp for quicker and more reliable
turnarounds.
I was asked to relocate to St
Croix to become a mechanic at the
Christiansted seaplane base, and
duly boarded the next Goose for
the 20-minute flight south. Upon
arrival I met certain individuals
who educated me on seaplane
maintenance. Claude ‘Bonny’
Austin and Victor Pinheiro had a
great deal of Grumman experience,
both having been with British
Guiana Airways before their arrival
at AAB. Charles Freehling had spent
O’HARA, BLAIR
AND ‘THE DUKE’
Maureen O’Hara Blair always showed great interest in
AAB, as did her friends. John Wayne was one who came to
visit regularly. Maureen would say Charles and ‘Duke’ were
“cut from the same cloth”, commenting that both were “a
man’s man”. In fact, Maureen fell for both. You might think
Charlie would be jealous, but it was more Maureen being
the jealous one as her husband and the ‘Duke’ became
good friends and spent a lot of time together. One day,
Charlie took him for a local flight in Southern Cross. Jim
Flanagan was in the right-hand seat and asked Wayne if he
would like to take the controls. He said, “Just because I
played a pilot in movies didn’t mean I was one”. Jim sat
silent and a little deflated. The ‘Duke’ couldn’t really fly.
years with the USAF and brought ABOVE:
his abilities and perspective to the John Wayne and
Charles Blair
position of chief inspector. Jim returning from
Flanagan came from the air force a flight in the
and Eric Crossfield the navy. Jim Sandringham.
and Eric were my closest friends and PAT BILLMAN
allies, the three of us being recent
veterans and about the same age. ABOVE LEFT:
Goose N323 was lost
We worked the night shift to prepare on 4 June 1978 after
each aircraft for the following day. an engine failure,
Many others worked in the AAB though on this
maintenance department, whether occasion there were
rebuilding Pratt & Whitney R-985 no injuries among
and R-1340 engines at the San the 11 on board.
TOM ANUSEWICZ
Juan engine shop, re-covering
control surfaces in the fabric shop
or providing ongoing scheduled
inspections along with unscheduled
maintenance at the St Thomas and
St Croix bases. Most personnel
came from the islands, not only
the US Virgin Islands but Antigua,
Puerto Rico and elsewhere. AAB
was well-stocked with parts and
was always in direct contact with
Dean Franklin in Miami, the man
who strategically secured the
Grumman amphibian parts supply.
In those years you did not operate a
Grumman seaplane without having
Dean’s ’phone number. Additional
G-21s arrived, coming from
Catalina Air Lines, Alaska Airlines
and Guyana Airways as well as
private owners. One Goose (N8229,
c/n 1187) had flown for Gen Batista
in Cuba during the early ’50s.
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 FLYING BOATS Antilles Air Boats
ABOVE: I could go on at length about the
Against moody skies, experience of the Antilles Air Boats
an AAB PBY-5A takes pilots. They were as impressive
off from St Croix.
as the aircraft they flew. Many
Three Catalinas were
operated by the pilots today start their careers at
airline. smaller airlines, building hours and
FRITZ HENLE moving up the ladder as time goes
on. Blair, however, knew he had
the opportunity to hire men with
thousands of hours of experience to
fly the Goose between the islands
and their turquoise waters. His years
in the navy and air force meant
he knew many seasoned aviators.
For the majority, being ex-military
with a pension, spending semi-
retirement in the US Virgin Islands
seemed pretty good.
Brian Lincoln flew fighters in the
Korean War as well as Vietnam,
and became a wing commander at
Nellis AFB, Nevada. He spent time
at the Pentagon in Washington DC,
where his job was to provide briefs
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of war plans and contingencies
for senior leadership up to and
including the president. His last
assignment before retiring in 1973
was director of operations for the
US 5th Air Force in Japan, going
on to become vice-president and
assistant general manager of AAB.
During World War Two, Robert
Scott was based in China and,
flying the P-61 Black Widow, was
recognised for shooting down the
first enemy aircraft to be downed
at night in the China-Burma-India
theatre. He completed 114 missions
in Korea and, as commander of
the F-105 Thunderchief-equipped
355th Tactical Fighter Wing, 134 in
Vietnam. Shooting down a North
Vietnamese MiG-17 meant he was
one of just two pilots to score aerial
victories in both World War Two
and Vietnam, the other being Robin
Olds. Scott had met Blair during
his time as boss of the 510th TFS at
Langley AFB, Virginia. Retiring as
a colonel, Scott relocated to the US
Virgin Islands to take on the role of
AAB’s vice-president of operations.
Bill Mable started flying gliders
at the age of 14. When war broke
out, Bill, now 21, found himself
training glider pilots in the UK. At 24
he was assigned to the 4th Fighter
Group at Debden, Essex, as the war
ended. The next episode had him
flying bombing runs in Korea. Bill
also spent some years in the HU-16
Albatross with a rescue squadron at
Westover AFB. In 1969 he answered
an AAB advertisement seeking
seaplane pilots. He primarily flew
and trained others on the G-73
Mallards when they arrived in 1974.
Nick Castuccio, who joined AAB
in 1971, was a US Naval Academy
02/03/2020 09:42

graduate who flew jet fighters from
aircraft carriers during the Korean
War and the Albatross on search and
rescue duties for the Air National
Guard. He assisted designers with
development of the automatic
throttle control used extensively
in automatic
landing systems
for both military I went out in the
and civilian
aircraft.
support boat with
In other cases, a lantern to assist
Blair’s colleagues
at Pan Am the pilot with his
introduced their
sons as young landing
and capable
recruits. Donald T. McDermott
was a good friend, having flown
with Blair at AOA and then Pan
Am. His son, Don R. McDermott,
arrived shortly after the start-up in
1964 and flew a little but then left,
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returning in 1969 when the schedule
allowed for more flight time. He
was a natural seaplane pilot. ‘Mac’
flew the Mallard from its arrival and
continued to fly for Virgin Island
Seaplane Shuttle after AAB’s demise.
As time went by and the daily
schedule
increased, the
turnarounds
became ever
more important
if AAB were to get
as many flights
in as possible
under daytime
VFR (visual flight
rules) conditions.
Even though we tried to have
an additional Goose in reserve,
mechanical or other delays could
disrupt the timetable. Those booked
on the last flight to return home at
the end of their working day may
have had an additional adventure. LEFT:
A service leaving St Thomas just Blair in AAB’s
before sunset for the 20-minute first Goose, G-21A
N95467. This ex-US
trip to St Croix had to take into Navy machine is
consideration official twilight, airworthy today,
allowing time to get to the ramp owned by Addison
before dark. I remember on more Pemberton and
than one occasion going out in the based in Spokane,
support boat with a lantern to assist Washington.
FRITZ HENLE
the pilot with his landing.
1968 was a significant year for BELOW LEFT:
the company and its buccaneering Sikorsky VS-44
founder. Charles Blair had met N41881 Excambian
Irish-born actress Maureen O’Hara was a short-lived
many years earlier on an aircraft he member of the active
fleet. KEY COLLECTION
was flying across the Atlantic. It took
a while before the movie star and
the adventurous aviator became a
couple, but then they were married
on 11 March 1968.
AAB added the first of three
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalinas
when N5588V was purchased from
Forrest Bird, a famed inventor
and aviator from Idaho who had
converted another PBY into his
one-off, four-engine Bird Innovator.
Sikorsky VS-44 N41881 Excambian
arrived in St Thomas from Long
Beach, California with its previous
owner Dick Probert of Catalina
Air Lines. The carrier had owned
N41881, which it named Mother
Goose, for 10 years and used it to
make the crossing between Long
Beach and Catalina Island 8,172
times with 211,246 passengers.
Probert assisted with the ferry flight
and subsequent crew training.
Excambian would not only
allow more seat capacity between
St Thomas and St Croix, but gave
Blair the satisfaction of continuing
his involvement with this special
aircraft. Many years earlier, Sikorsky
had hoped to secure further flying
boat orders from Pan Am but Juan
Trippe, the airline’s founder and
president, decided to look to the
Martin company instead. Sikorsky
also sought a government contract
to build VS‑44s for the US Navy
but lost out to the Consolidated
PBY. American Export Airlines, the
new operator looking to compete
with Pan Am, decided to go with
Sikorsky. It had three built, naming
them Excalibur, Excambian and
Exeter. As chief pilot for AEA, Blair
had flown all three of the VS-44s
and established time and distance
records in doing so.
Unfortunately, Excambian’s
service with AAB was brief. On 10
January 1969 it suffered the failure
of its number four engine while
02/03/2020 09:42
 FLYING BOATS Antilles Air Boats

RIGHT: landing at Charlotte Amalie and ran

Ready for its aground. This was to be the VS-44’s
delivery flight to last flight. Blair hoped to put it back
St Croix and with
AAB titles applied,
into flying condition, but it was not
Sandringham N158J to be. N41881 sat on a cradle next to
Excalibur VIII sits in the terminal for years.
Sydney’s Rose Bay Two more PBYs, N2763A and
during September N5584V, came from Alaska Airlines
1974. This aircraft in 1970. Both had been converted
would see only
minimal use with the
by Steward-Davis as Super Cats,
carrier. which included the upgrade to
ADRIAN M. BALCH COLLECTION Wright R-2600 Cyclone engines
along with other modifications.
Within a year, N5584V was declared
beyond economic repair after a
gear collapse on landing at St Croix
airport. The PBYs in time became
less attractive to AAB, considering
the operating cost for a passenger
load of 25.
The Grumman G-73 Mallard
entered service in 1974 with the
addition of N7356 and N7338. Both IVs of Ansett Flying Boat Services, AAB needed the expertise to
came from Miami, one from Dean VH‑BRC Beachcomber and VH-BRF fly and maintain these majestic
Franklin and the other from Chalk’s Islander, had provided the primary machines. Ron Gillies, who
Airlines. The Mallard, with 15 seats, means of air transport from Sydney joined the company in 1970, was
gave AAB some much-needed to Lord Howe Island. Once a new a former captain for Ansett with
extra capacity at a lower cost than airport was established on the the distinction of having been a
the PBYs and allowed for quicker island the flying boats were no wartime Sunderland squadron
turnarounds, better scheduling longer viable, not least given the commander at the age of 24. Ron
frequency and greater reliability. expenditure required to operate was director first of maintenance
BELOW: That same year there arrived these converted Sunderlands. They and then of operations, but with
The busy AAB the aircraft for which AAB is were acquired by AAB and prepared the arrival of the S25s he became
seaplane base perhaps best-remembered. The in Sydney for the long flight to the the vice-president of engineering,
at Christiansted, last two Short S25 Sandringham US Virgin Islands. responsible for the Sandringham
St Croix, with a
mixture of Grumman
Mallards and Gooses
— never ‘Geese’ to Without FAA certification there was no positive future for the
the airline — on the
ramp. TOM ANUSEWICZ Sandringhams operating in the US

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operations. Ron’s wife Noreen, a
former WAAF plotter, also joined
the AAB team, taking charge of the
St Thomas terminal.
Blair was not finished with
recruiting for his new venture as
Bryan Monkton, another seasoned
flying boat exponent, joined the
ranks. A former Hurricane and
Boston pilot, Bryan had amassed
many operational hours on RAAF
Catalinas, Martin Mariners and
Dornier Do 24s. He had founded
Trans Oceanic Airways with surplus
Sunderlands, establishing the Lord
Howe Island service. Monkton was
as comfortable in the Goose as in a
four-engine flying boat. Noel Holle
was a flight engineer and mechanic
on the Sandringham, and along
with his wife Margaret, a flying boat
stewardess, he joined the aircraft
when they relocated.
Blair sent some of his trusted
and experienced staff to Sydney to
assist with arrangements for the
ferry flights. Both aircraft made the
journey across the Pacific with a
stop in Honolulu before taking on
fuel at various locations around the
US mainland, ready for the final
leg to St Croix. With temporary US
registration N158J, VH-BRF was the
first to leave Sydney’s Rose Bay, on
15 September 1974. Ansett veteran
Lloyd Maundrell joined Blair in
the cockpit, while O’Hara went
along for the ride. VH-BRC became
N158C and set off on 28 November
1974, Blair, Monkton and Noel Holle
comprising its crew. Both reached
their destination without incident.
There were great hopes for the
Sandringhams, but without FAA
certification there was no positive
future operating in the US. This
would basically have involved the
aircraft being rebuilt to meet US
standards, which was financially
unacceptable. As an alternative
the former Beachcomber, now
Southern Cross, took up British
Virgin Islands registration VP-LVE
in April 1975.
Southern Cross was used on
several occasions — by Blair’s
executive decision — to transport
those passengers who would
have been stranded at the end
of the day due to a lack of other
airworthy aircraft and the onset
of darkness. I remember Blair
coming into maintenance to grab
a few mechanics to assist with a
quick Sandringham turnaround
in St Thomas. On occasion I
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FLIGHT OF A LIFETIME
O
n 2 September 1977, Sandringham
VP-LVE Southern Cross touched
down on Southampton Water. It had
flown to the UK via Ireland to
undertake a short programme of pleasure flights
from Calshot, organised and advertised by Mike
Coghlan of MM Aviation. It had been almost 30
years since Aquila Airways abandoned its flying
boat operations from Southampton. During that
time, traffic on Southampton Water —
particularly small pleasure boat activity — had
increased considerably, and for this reason the
authorities ruled out any possibility of the aircraft
operating from the old BOAC/Aquila berths in
Southampton’s Eastern Docks.
For the duration of its visit, VP-LVE was thus
moored overnight at the former flying boat base
at Calshot, allowing both crew and passengers
to be taken out to the aeroplane in a small The Sandringham makes its stately way across
launch. Pilots for the flight on which I was lucky the countryside of southern England. Imagine the
enough to be aboard were Ron Gillies as noise of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp
radials as much as anything else… DENIS J. CALVERT
captain with Charles Blair in the right-hand seat.
Following engine start, the Sandringham taxied
for some 15 minutes to the allocated operating
area to the west of Calshot, and much attention the waterline and gave a fascinating view of the
was required by the pilots to identify a suitable wing floats digging in and kicking up spray
stretch of water, into wind and free of ship during the taxi run. The pilots were happy to talk
traffic, for a safe take-off to be made. with those on board; they were clearly
A five-day programme of pleasure flying was enthusiasts too, and one got the feeling that the
scheduled, but this was impacted by weather. whole UK visit had been organised because
Because the operating area was so far from they wanted to, ‘because it was fun’.
Calshot, passengers for other than the first flight Although not evident at the time, this was the
of the day were subjected to a long boat trip. last opportunity aspiring passengers would have
Few, though, complained as what followed was to purchase a ticket for a flying boat flight in UK
a truly special flight which proceeded at low waters. Talk was that a third successive return
level over the south coast and around the Isle of visit might be scheduled for summer 1978, this
Wight. My impressions? The interior was time using the company’s second Sandringham
spacious, the seats more like armchairs than the (strictly a Sunderland, even if its FAA-issued C of
standard ‘30in-pitch economy’ one is used to, A showed otherwise), N158J Excalibur VIII,
and passengers had the chance — no, were which was then undergoing major servicing at
encouraged — to walk around the aircraft in San Juan. Sadly, this was not to be.
flight. Windows in the main cabin were close to Denis J. Calvert
A simply gorgeous study of
Southern Cross moored off Calshot
in September 1977. DENIS J. CALVERT
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 FLYING BOATS Antilles Air Boats
Southern Cross during August 1976 in
the idyllic surroundings of Glengarriff,
County Cork, where Maureen O’Hara
had her Irish home. ADRIAN M. BALCH COLLECTION
THE AAB LEGACY
M
any flying boats were destroyed, but the
survivors from AAB allow us to recognise the
aircraft and the people that made a difference
to this airline. VS-44 Excambian was restored to
pristine condition and is displayed at the New England Air
Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, not far from its
birthplace at the Sikorsky factory in Stratford. Both
Sandringhams also found homes. Acquired by Edward
Hulton in 1979 and flown across the Atlantic that May,
N158J Excalibur VIII became G-BJHS — registered as a
Sunderland — and was operated around Britain and
elsewhere in Europe for the next decade. In 1993 it
returned to the US and is now at Kermit Weeks’ Fantasy of
Flight museum in Polk City, Florida, unflown for some years.
Ron Gillies ferried Southern Cross, again registered as
N158C, from St Croix to Killaloe in October 1980. It flew
from there to Calshot the following February. Since 1984
the aeroplane has been displayed in what is now the Solent
Sky museum in Southampton as Beachcomber in its Ansett
colours. Not to be forgotten, many ex-AAB examples of the
Goose and Mallard are still flying today.
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performed the duties of ‘bow-man’,
a required crew position for large
flying boats. Blair knew he did not
have authority to fly within the US,
but he elected to pay the petty fines
rather than strand his passengers.
The FAA continued to increase
the amount of the fines until they
became uneconomical to defy.
Other than that, VP-LVE saw
limited employment on down-
island excursions and summer
service in Ireland and the UK. Its
first such sojourn took place in July-
August 1976, following a three-day
trans-Atlantic flight from St Croix
to Foynes. Operating from Killaloe
on Lough Derg, using the licence
of local carrier Aer Arann, the
Sandringham made tourist flights to
the southern and western coasts. It
also spent time in Belfast and Poole,
conducting further passenger-
carrying sorties from Studland Bay,
before heading home. The trip was
repeated in August-September
1977, this time using Calshot as the
British base.
A number of great seaplanes and
flying boats graced the Caribbean
skies in AAB’s hands, but the
Grummans were the mainstays of
the airline. The Goose and Mallard
fleets completed as many as 150
scheduled flights a day, moving
1,000 passengers between the
islands. What started as a simple
connection between St Croix and St
Thomas grew into a route network
including St John, Puerto Rico,
Tortola and St Maarten. Through
the 1960s and ’70s AAB carried out
more than 380,000 flights, carrying
in excess of two million passengers.
That is how the little company
became known as the ‘world’s
largest seaplane airline’. Today that
honour goes to Trans Maldivian
Airways, flying DHC Twin Otter
floatplanes.
I continued to work as a
mechanic, but in early 1978 I
02/03/2020 09:43
 was asked to take on additional
responsibilities with regard to
record-keeping and maintenance
scheduling. With that I became the
assistant director of maintenance.
I was looking forward to the task
at hand, but knew there would be
challenges ahead.
The years did not pass without
tragedy. Incidents and accidents did
occur, some being catastrophic. On
2 September 1978 a Goose piloted
by Blair lost an engine en route
from St Croix to St Thomas and
failed to reach
the safety of the
harbour. The
aircraft, N7777V,
Maureen O’Hara
was not able to Blair took on the role
sustain flight
on one engine. of AAB president
It emerged in
the National and provided the
Transportation
Safety Board
leadership that was
report that Blair needed
“attempted to
fly the aircraft in
ground effect”, about 20-50ft above
the water, rather than following
the correct procedures to make
an open-sea emergency landing.
The machine struck the water and
cartwheeled, killing Blair and three
passengers. The NTSB further
determined that the safety culture at
AAB was less than desired, and that
the FAA’s oversight was insufficient.
Capt Charles Blair’s career took
in more than 45,000 flying hours
over the course of 40-plus years.
He had spent a long time in an
era when pilots often had to make
each flight work without much in
the way of regulation. Many people
thought Blair could fly a refrigerator
that poor decisions caused these
results. No doubt the Goose lost its
credibility with the local commuters.
Maureen O’Hara Blair
immediately took on the role of
AAB president and provided the
leadership that was needed. The
strong-willed redhead from Ireland
was very much in charge and did
an incredible job, aided by Nick
Castuccio as general manager.
Unfortunately, the financial forecast
was not favourable. The grand, four-
engine Sandringhams were sent to
the hangar in
San Juan where
they sat while
their future was
determined.
They left the US
Virgin Islands
in 1979 and
’80. AAB was
intending to
introduce the
Grumman
Albatross,
acquiring one in
St Croix and two more in Arizona, Maureen O’Hara and Charles Blair in the cockpit of Excalibur VIII
but certification was still awaited during a stop in Los Angeles on the Sandringham’s ferry flight to
and they never entered service. join the AAB fleet. SHUTTERSTOCK
Maureen revisited discussions
her late husband had started
with Resorts International about
a purchase of AAB. Resorts had
already bought Chalk’s and felt it
had the ability to keep AAB flying
for years to come. But the new
management’s aviation expertise
came from non-seaplane entities,
while water operations were always
more expensive than those using
land-based aircraft. Antilles Air
Boats closed its doors in 1981.
This was a unique operation.
Being there gave me the The Boeing 314 replica in the
opportunity to work and fly on Foynes Flying Boat Museum.
the very last flying boats and hull

if it had wings. I believe he thought
the same. He flew N7777V that day
because he felt it was a perfectly
good aircraft, and only a rule stated
it was not.
2 September 1978 was a day
that changed many things for
many people. First and foremost,
there was the loss of life and the
difficulty for the families of those
who perished. It was also hard for
the employees and friends of AAB.
Regardless of having to deal with
certain problems which emerged in
the company, we lost a great man.
In 1978, AAB had four Goose
accidents, two of which resulted
in six deaths. They should never
have happened. The G-21 was a
great aircraft and it was unfortunate
seaplanes on active airline duty.
Among my colleagues were some
outstanding people, aviators who
— whether in war or peace — often
found themselves in situations
that left much to the pilot’s
discretion, but still got their mission
accomplished. That does not always
sit well in times of more stringent
rules and regulations to ensure the
public’s safety. Even so, Antilles
Air Boats was a very special airline.
It has its place in history because
it truly was, to borrow one period
description, ‘The Streetcar
Line of the Virgin Islands.’
For more information, go to the
author’s website at
www.antillesairboats.com.
HALLOWED GROUND
The Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum is the place to
go to find out more about Charles Blair and Maureen O’Hara.
It holds Blair’s personal aviation collection — together with
the memorial to him, incorporating a model of Mustang
Excalibur III, that was for many years displayed at Heathrow
Airport — and a range of memorabilia relating to the career of
O’Hara, who opened the museum in 1989 and was its patron
until her death in 2015. Many other fascinating displays on
the flying boat heritage of this Irish village and its role as one
of the most important locations for trans-Atlantic air travel
include the world’s only full-size replica Boeing 314 ‘Clipper’.
Housed in facilities that include the original Foynes flying
boat terminal and control tower, the museum re-opens for the
2020 season on 28 March. Ben Dunnell
For more information, visit www.flyingboatmuseum.com

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 FLYING BOATS Caproni Ca.60

SLAIN
GIANT
Gianni Caproni’s idea was the right one: an ocean-traversing airliner,
able to make air travel cheaper for everyone. His execution of it was
questionable: a nine-wing, eight-engine flying boat. But the Ca.60 was
undoubtedly a very impressive achievement WORDS: LUIGINO CALIARO

A
t the end of the First World
War, the Italian aviation
industry suffered a grave
setback: cancellation of
all active military orders. Besides
resulting in a severe crisis for
BELOW: the manufacturers, this decision
The Caproni Ca.60 allowed large quantities of military
photographed aircraft to suddenly become
probably while
taxiing prior to its
available at derisory prices.
first and only flight, Gianni Caproni, the dynamic and
on 4 March 1921. genial designer and manufacturer,
ALL VIA LUIGINO CALIARO already had significant experience
in the design of large aircraft. In
1913 he conceived and constructed
the Ca.3 three-engine biplane
bomber, and in 1917 the giant
Ca.4 triplane bomber, used by the
Esercito Italiano during the last
months of the First World War. It
was, therefore, inevitable that the
expertise acquired by his company
in the manufacturing of bombers
pushed Caproni to exploit them as a
starting point for large commercial
transport aeroplanes.
Caproni quickly realised it
would not be sufficient to simply
re-adapt combat aircraft, but that
it was necessary to create a new
generation of designs, characterised
by long range and a viable payload,
with the aim of reducing costs for
the travelling public. His visionary
ideas were realised in 1921 in the
design of the Ca.60 ‘Transaereo’, a
massive aircraft schemed to carry
60 people over a distance of 850km
(528 miles).

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 LEFT:
Construction under
way in the large
hangar built specially
for final assembly
of the Ca.60 on
the Lago Maggiore
coastline.

A patent for a six-wing flying
boat had been lodged by Gianni
Caproni on 6 February 1919. Design
and construction of what, at the
time, was without doubt the largest
aircraft ever produced began the
same year. It emerged with a totally
novel configuration, three triplane
cells being arranged in tandem,
one behind the other. From them
was suspended a large dual-keel
hull/cabin. The two pilots sat in an
open cockpit at the extreme prow,
while the passengers were housed
in a spacious, enclosed cabin.
They were provided with wooden
bench seating, arranged into open
compartments containing four
seats, with two benches facing each
other being positioned adjacent to
the ample glazing in the fuselage
sides.
The angles of incidence of the
triplane cells and their arrangement
were designed to ensure the centre
section was below the forward and
rear sections to avoid the effect
of drag. The aircraft did not have
a conventional tailplane, with
the exception of eight fins, and
directional control was provided by
eight vertically mounted rudders
located between the wings of the
rearmost triplane section. Control
of lateral stability and in the
longitudinal axis was managed by
the ailerons alone. The three cells
were, moreover, connected at the
same level as the middle wings by
four boom tunnels coupled two-
by-two so as to correspond with the
middle cell.
Given the aircraft’s huge size
and the complexity of its structure,
extensive use was made of metal
struts to provide support and limit
airframe vibration. These, together
with the wing struts and bracing,
formed an impressive ‘spider’s web’
which would undoubtedly be the
source of aerodynamic interference.
It is estimated that the Ca.60’s
airframe involved more than 250m
(820ft) of struts and 2,000m (6,562ft)
of bracing wire in total.
Power for this monster was
provided by eight Liberty L-12
400hp water-cooled engines. They
were divided into two groups of four
units each, one group in the forward
cell and the other in the rear. The
engine mechanics were housed in
the boom tunnels, their positions
affording control over the engines.
They communicated with the pilots
through a system of electrical light
signals, and could walk to the BELOW:
engines either through internal Gianni Caproni is
passageways or, more hazardously, second from right in
this group of Italian
by going outside. Two floats were
aviators, which also
positioned alongside the hull at the includes Gabriele
same keel level, intended to ensure D’Annunzio third
stability in the rolling plane from right.

KEY DATA: CAPRONI Ca.60

Wing span: 29.97m (88.33ft)
Length: 23.36m (76.64ft)
Height: 9.13m (29.95ft)
Engines: Eight Liberty L-12s, 400hp each
Empty weight: 15,000kg (33,069lb)
Max weight: 25,000kg (55,116lb)
Max speed (estimated): 140km/h (87mph)
Cruising speed (estimated): 110km/h (68mph)
Range: Around 800km (498 miles)

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 FLYING BOATS Caproni Ca.60

ABOVE during stationary floating, take-off Some concerns arose over torsional engine specialists Parietti and
LEFT TO RIGHT: and landing. The fuel tanks were problems that the engines created Bertieri.
An internal view situated in the upper part of the hull with the structure, but the addition On that occasion the Ca.60 took
of the Caproni
monster, which could
in line with the central section, and of further bracing resolved them. off from Sesto Calende with a
accommodate up from these the fuel was pumped up According to ballast payload
to 50 passengers, to feeder tanks which gravity-fed reports written of sandbags,
and a shot of its the engines. at the time, The pilot lost equivalent to
cockpit showing the Despite its complexity, the the aircraft 60 passengers,
electrical panel by aircraft was completed in little more performed a control in a turn, which was
which the two pilots
could communicate
than 18 months. It came together
in a dedicated hangar built by the
brief flight a
few days later,
a wingtip struck intended to
guarantee
with the engine
mechanics by way of Società Caproni on Lake Maggiore though in reality the water and the balance and
light signals. near Sesto Calende, which was this was little stability. The
used to assemble the components more than a aircraft stalled and aircraft was seen
BELOW:
A three-view drawing
produced by the Taliedo factory. On
29 January 1921 the ‘Transaereo’
hop off the
water. This was crashed to lift from the
waters of the
of the Ca.60 helps
explain just how was rolled out, and a few days repeated on 14 lake, but after a
complicated its later the first water flotation trials February. The first real, dedicated few moments of flight at a height
design was. began. From what is known, the test flight was made on 4 March of little more than 70ft, the pilot
results identified that the Ca.60 1921, with pilot Federico Semprini lost control in a turn, a wingtip
had reasonable on-water qualities. at the controls, accompanied by struck the surface of the water and

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 On the Lago Maggiore slipway before the start of
buoyancy tests. In front of the Ca.60 is a Macchi M5
fighter, probably used as a chase aircraft for the trials.

the aircraft stalled and crashed

A nice study of the ‘Transaereo’ outside its
into the lake. A few boats rapidly
construction hangar. Clearly shown
connected ropes to the stricken are three of the eight Liberty engines,
machine and towed it into shallow four of which had tractor and the
waters to prevent it from sinking, other four pusher propellers.
but during the towing operation
the Caproni sustained further and
irreparable damage. The cause of
the accident was attributed to the
ballast moving towards the tail
during climb-out, as the sacks had
not been properly stowed, although
numerous technicians and experts
suggested it was actually due more
to the aircraft’s poor stability and
underpowered nature.

Despite the failure of the project,

his foresight made Gianni Caproni
famous the world over. He is
recognised as having understood
and believed in the future of mass
air transport, well ahead of his
time. Unfortunately, insufficient
technological and powerplant
solutions were available to him The recovery operation
that could overcome the enormous after the accident
problems required to get a trans- which occurred on the
Atlantic passenger transport Ca.60’s maiden
into the air. In this respect, it is flight.
interesting to note the opinion
voiced by Caproni in 1927: “The
constant power of the engines at
altitude will enable us to achieve
speeds far greater than those of
today, and there is no doubt that
continuing on this path, in a short
space of time the Milan-New York
crossing will be completed in less
than 24 hours…”
Gianni Caproni died in Rome
on 27 October 1957, in time to
witness his vision of mass air
transport come to fruition.

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 DATA
DATABASE
DATABASE KAWANISHI N1K1 SHIDEN AND N1K2

Development
Development
SUPERMARINE

Technical Details
Technical
SOUTHAMPTON

Details
13
WORDS: JAMES KIGHTLY

H
IN-DEPETS
PAG

In
In Service
Service
Insights
Insights
MAIN PICTURE: Metal-
hulled Southampton II
S1149 airborne from Mount
Batten, the RAF flying boat
base on Plymouth Sound,
in August 1935. This aircraft
was a veteran of the type’s
most famous feat, the 1927-
28 Far East Flight. AEROPLANE

Southampton II S1298 served with

No 203 Squadron. CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY

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DEVELOPMENT
The very first Southampton,
N9896, with the city’s coat of
arms on the nose. VIA JAMES KIGHTLY
T
he Supermarine
Southampton
established the British
Empire’s expectation of
a long-range, independent flying
boat capability. It was the first
major success in what became a
series of large, multi-engine
flying boat designs from
Supermarine, all designed by
Reginald J. Mitchell and each an
iterative development, building
on the success of the previous
example.
The family started with the
Supermarine Swan, a 1924 one-
off built to specification 21/22
for a “twin-engined amphibian
flying boat for civil operations”.
The Swan had unusual forward-
folding wings, and a ‘landing-
carriage’ that could be brought
up below the wings. Its retraction
was powered by a small,
horizontally rotatable propeller
and gear system, but the
equipment was later removed,
making it a pure flying boat,
along with the wing folding.
Initially powered by two 360hp
Rolls-Royce Eagle IXs, these were
replaced by 450hp Napier Lion
IIBs in the conventional biplane
layout. It had a very deep Linton
Hope wood-structure fuselage
and planing hull. The pilot’s
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An era-defining flying boat that
changed Supermarine’s fortunes
cockpit was in something like a from the deep hull, and the smaller engine powering a water
submarine’s conning tower set conclusion of the MAEE’s report screw for taxiing, but it was
above the fuselage, leaving the stated that the aircraft would abandoned after the hull had
hull interior clear for passengers. need to be structurally lighter for been completed.
First flown on 25 March 1924 putative adoption as a service Impressed with the Swan, the
by Capt Henri C. Biard, it was type, it was “a pleasure to fly”. In Air Ministry issued specification
R18/24, the amphibian
requirement being quietly
The aircraft was ordered off the drawing board, forgotten. The result was ordered
designed and then built in seven months off the drawing board, designed
and then built in seven months.
An initial order was placed for six
delivered with the military 1926 it was loaned to Imperial Southamptons, with serials from
serial N175 and tested by the Airways as a 10-passenger N9896 onwards, in 1924. Four
Marine Aircraft Experimental airliner registered G-EBJY. development aircraft took in
Establishment (MAEE) at An even earlier predecessor, N218, which became the metal-
Felixstowe in July 1924. Although the Scylla, was intended as a hull MkII prototype in 1927 —
there were issues with spray three-engine triplane, the third, this alternative hull construction
having been foreseen from the
start — and N251-3. This was
followed by a contract for 18
more of what was now known
as the MkI, to be followed by
41 MkII examples. About 28
of the MkIIs had a wing sweep
modification incorporated, while
the remaining MkIs in service
had their wooden hulls replaced
by metal between 1929 and
1933, once the superiority of that
material had been proven in the
marine environment.
More than 80 Southamptons
were built, including
The sole Supermarine Swan, by now powered by two 450hp Napier Lion overseas orders and modified
IIBs, served with Imperial Airways as G-EBJY. KEY COLLECTION development airframes — a
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 notable production run in the
era of otherwise parsimonious

Development
Treasury spending. Indeed,
thanks to the Southampton,
Supermarine was finally to move
on from being something like a
bespoke local boatyard building
one-offs.
The first Southampton,
N9896, arrived at the MAEE
on 15 March 1925, five days
after its maiden flight and with

Technical Details
more than six hours’ flying
time already achieved. It bore
a shield with the coat of arms
of the city of Southampton on
its bow. Handling was regarded
as excellent, and with enough
rudder control available it could
maintain height at 500ft using
either engine alone (presumably
when lightly loaded). The only
criticism was that one wing float
could submerge if the aircraft

In Service
drifted aft. On the first flight on
10 March, in the hands of Biard,
one float had been damaged,
this temporarily fixed by a
change in its incidence. Thus
the floats were changed to a
deeper ‘V’ section, and given
greater volume. As the type was
TOP: N218 was one of the four initial development Southamptons. During 1927 it became the prototype of the

accepted into service, it was
reported after the initial multi-
day cruise that the second pilot
and engineer suffered severe
headaches from their proximity
to the engines and propellers,
while the second pilot had to be
very careful of those propellers,
and 300lb of seawater had been
absorbed by the wooden hull.
Refuelling the tanks under the
upper wing was found difficult,
and moving them to the fuselage
interior was tried but rejected.
The solution was to fit a fuel
sump in the lower wing as an
intermediate filling point, from
which the main tanks could
be pumped up. By November,
N9896 had flown 200 hours.
The MAEE undertook a great
range of tests on the type through
to the early 1930s. On the return
of N9896 to the establishment,
it had been equipped with the
then-fashionable ‘fighting tops’
— gunners’ positions fitted to
the upper wings, each intended
to hold two gunners. Only one
airman was ever carried in each
during the abortive tests, as the
‘tops’ degraded the handling
and reduced the ceiling to
3,600ft, while the gunners were
bounced off their footing in any
turbulence. In 1931-32, propeller
metal-hull MkII. KEY COLLECTION
ABOVE: Southampton I N9901 dropping a torpedo — just visible beside the hull — on test. VIA JAMES KIGHTLY
testing was undertaken on S1231
of different four-blade units,
both a single unit as well as a
pair of two-bladers combined.
Due to the propellers’ rpm
requirements, they used different
engines, one a Lion VA and the
other a Lion V. Other airscrew
trials included cellulose covers,
and Fairey-Reed metal propellers
which lowered the top speed.
The first MkII, N218, delivered
with the mark-defining
The second pilot and engineer suffered severe
headaches from their proximity to the engines
metal hull, later had further
improvements, including the
incorporation of wing sweep into
the outer wing cellules. It was
tested with Armstrong Siddeley
Jaguar powerplants, and later
the Jupiter IX and the 570hp
Jupiter XFBM — the prototype
Pegasus engines. In one set of
Jupiter tests, vibrations broke
an engine mounting and split
an oil tank. S1122 was fitted
with Kestrel IIMS engines and
evaporative cooling, developed
further on N253. During 1929,
MkII N9900 carried two 1,425lb
torpedoes and 423 gallons of fuel
(rather than the standard 300),
culminating in an overload to
18,000lb. The take-off relied on
exceptional sea conditions.
S1039 trialled Serck oil coolers
on a test flight to Egypt and back
in 1926. Lamblin radiators were
evaluated that same year, but
required more maintenance
for the slight improvement,
while ‘Super’ tropical radiators
were tried in 1928 and gave
good results. During 1933
fixed Handley Page slats were
fitted, but offered no significant
advantage. Later trials with
swept wings on S1248 included
lift and drag measurements
being taken while the engines
were switched off! Other tests
with S1039 were the installation
of a genuinely greenhouse-style
Insights
glass and mahogany-framed
cockpit cover in 1930, which
worked well except in rain, a
‘Persian Gulf’ version being used
by No 203 Squadron in Iraq.
While service Southamptons
had no autopilots fitted as we
understand them today, the
trimmable tailplane reduced
pilot loads in flight. The MAEE
tested a ‘pilot’s assister’ which
was initially troublesome due to
inadequate power to the servos,
while the improved version,
working on the elevator and
rudder, managed to maintain
heading accurately during 119
hours of tests in 1928. K2888
(N253 re-serialled) assessed
circular take-offs, but they only
slightly reduced the stretch of
water required.
A trial of a landing light in 1929
wasn’t universally well-received
and never became standard
equipment. Holt flare brackets
were normally fitted to the lower
wings instead, just forward of the
ailerons, and an ovoid blanking
plate was added to the mounting
to protect the pilot’s night vision.
Though crews were equipped

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 DATABASE SUPERMARINE SOUTHAMPTON

A one-off was the Southampton X, N252, a radical redesign of the type The Nanok torpedo bomber for the Royal Danish Navy — which rejected
as a three-engine sesquiplane. No matter which engines were used, it it — became a nine-passenger ‘air yacht’ for brewing magnate Arthur
did not prove successful. KEY COLLECTION Ernest Guinness as G-AAAB. SAN DIEGO AIR & SPACE MUSEUM

with parachutes (seat-type for mostly comprising single-curve It performed below the being lost from the condensers
the pilots) from the start, it was metal plate sections. With contracted requirement even above and behind each engine.
only in 1934 that parachute trials external corrugations instead of after modifications, including The ailerons were upgraded to
took place. Egress was safe for stringers to simplify construction, addition of an auxiliary elevator Frise type and all the control
everyone except the second its success resulted in the to counter a nose-down pitch, surfaces gap-sealed with a
pilot, again at risk from the subsequent range of patented and was rejected by the Danes. notable handling improvement.
propellers. A notice advising him metal-hull Saunders-Roe flying Briefly renamed as the Solent, it These developments
not to stand up when the engine boats. N9896 was designated as was offered for sale as a torpedo were incorporated into the
was running a MkIII after bomber, but was converted into prototype Scapa, S1648, built
was apparently some minor a civil ‘air yacht’ as G-AAAB for to specification R20/31. It
standard in The development fuel tank and Irish brewing magnate Arthur was initially known as the
the cockpit of the planing hull and armament Ernest Guinness who used it for Southampton IV, and advertised
by this time!
Aluminium
swept-up rear fuselage position modifications,
a couple of years. as such by Supermarine, but by
the time of its first flight in the
petrol tanks was carried forward on but was Supermarine Scapa hands of ‘Mutt’ Summers on
passed tests the Scapa converted 8 July 1932 the new name had
after 179 hours’ back. Trials Southampton N253, been adopted. The development
flying, but Another equipped with a MkII metal of the Southampton’s planing
aluminium oil tanks failed. Other unique machine was the hull and ‘metallised’, though hull and swept-up rear fuselage
metal testing saw K2889 being Southampton X, N252, of 1930. still fabric-covered, wings (the was carried forward and
equipped with a metal hull of In reality this was a different spars and ribs were made from performed even better. The
MG7 alloy in 1934. type, a three-engine sesquiplane light alloy, and the struts of steel layout was similar, though the
with a stainless-steel fuselage with alloy fairings) was powered Scapa (and Stranraer) had all-
Beyond Southampton also featuring external stringers. by two Rolls-Royce Kestrel metal structures with fabric-
Larger rudders, oversize inboard IIMS engines with evaporative covered wings and empennage.
The Southampton’s success floats and a tail gun position cooling, but this technology Only 15 Scapas were built but
was the foundation of a notable were noticeable changes, and proved frustrating with further development led to the
family of Supermarine flying different engines — Armstrong increasing volumes of water Stranraer, the last of the line.
boats. The Saunders A14 joined Siddeley Jaguar VIC, Panther IIA
a new, slab-sided, all-duralumin and Bristol Jupiter — were tried
hull designed by Henry Knowler in an attempt to address the
of the Saunders company to aircraft’s weight problem, but all
development Southampton the tinkering never resulted in a
N251’s wing cellule, engines and useful aeroplane.
empennage. This combination The Royal Danish Navy
was erected at the MAEE in ordered an improved, three-
March 1930, with some difficulty Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar-
as the extra hull width seems engined torpedo bomber version
to have been overlooked in named the Nanok (meaning
positioning the wing pick-up polar bear) with a greater wing
points, and more portholes area and a thicker aerofoil
were later added to illuminate section. First flown on 27 June
the gloomy interior. Lighter at 1927, the MAEE report noted
8,870lb, the A14 demonstrated that the cockpit was “too open,
reduced performance compared noisy, draughty and wet on take
to the standard Southampton, off” but also that “the pilot’s view
but considerable improvement in was excellent”! In 40 hours of
internal space and crew comfort flight-testing the handling was
as well as water handling. The found somewhat less pleasant The first prototype Scapa, S1648, with decidedly unsynchronised
structure was relatively simple, than the Southampton’s. propellers on its two Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIIMS engines. KEY COLLECTION

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 TECHNICAL
DETAILS
T
he Southampton’s hull
was of a complex shape
with a constantly
variable section, an
effective upward curve to raise
the empennage, and a
broadened forward hull to
provide sufficient volume to
support the aircraft in the water.
Designer R. J. Mitchell used the
Linton Hope hull construction of
double-skin diagonal wood
planking, cedar inside and
mahogany externally, separated
by varnished fabric. The wooden
planing hull was built onto the
semi-monocoque fuselage,
giving a double bottom and
separated into 10 watertight
compartments. The hull’s
structure was intended to have a
degree of flexibility for take-off
and alighting, and the pilots’
positions were built up on a
separate floor module also
containing the control system
mountings, while the wing was
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
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Elegant and practical, the Southampton’s
design went through many changes in production
mounted above the hull, the
whole of the biplane cellule
effectively being rigged
separately to the fuselage. The
lower centre section was
ply-covered (as were the wing
leading edges) to enable it to be
used as a working area for
maintenance. Gravity-feed fuel
tanks were carried under the
The planing hull was built onto the semi-
monocoque fuselage, giving a double bottom
upper wing; long-range tanks
could be fitted below the lower
mainplanes. Fuselage and inner
wing integral tanks were tried
but not adopted.
As Flight noted in 1929, “the
hull itself is particularly free
of obstructions, and in fact
it is possible for members of
the crew to walk about freely
anywhere from bow to stern.
taken early in the type’s life as a
sump tank was later added to the
lower wing root to enable easier
There is even ample space in
which to sling hammocks for
the crew, who can, and do, thus
sleep on board. In fact, except
for refuelling, the machine is
independent altogether, and is a
self-contained unit.”
In the nose was a gunner’s
position with a Scarff ring,
also used for mooring and
theoretically bomb-aiming,
and including a seat. The two
tandem pilots’ positions were
behind; then, inside the hull,
were the navigator’s chair
and table, with the wireless
compartment still further aft.
Behind that were the two rear
gunners’ staggered positions,
again furnished with Scarff
rings. Equipment and lockers
An unidentified wooden-hull
Development
Southampton I promoting Shell
petrol. This shot was probably
refuelling. VIA JAMES KIGHTLY
Technical Details
In Service
Insights
could be added as required,
and eventually included bunks,
a methylated spirit-fuelled
Clyde cooker and fold-away
counter, together with ‘sanitary
accommodation’ at the very tail
end in the form of a metal pan,
venting externally.
The angle of the entire
empennage could be adjusted up
or down for trim in pitch, and the
mainplanes were mounted on a
cleverly designed Warren truss
strut arrangement, providing
a clean, separate-strut engine
mounting, minimal rigging and a
relatively unobstructed space for
the crews to work on the engines.
The entire aircraft was effectively
designed in modular sections, all
removable without complex tools
or jigs, proving a boon when
conducting repairs in remote
locations. Another innovation
was a multi-part beaching
chassis with two side wheel sets
and a tail trolley, much more
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 DATABASE SUPERMARINE SOUTHAMPTON

One of the Far East Flight’s MkIIs, S1151, offers a good front view of the hull profile — and the stripes specially painted around the nose. KEY COLLECTION

straightforward to use than the

previous cradle designs.
The MkII had an all-new metal
hull with the same airframe
and hydrodynamic profile of
the wooden one. Internally the
double bottom was abandoned,
eliminating the watertight
separate compartments but
gaining much internal space. The
electrolytic-treated duralumin
hull gave a weight saving of 900lb
(500lb in the material change, the
further 400lb being the accepted
water soak). This allowed for a
range increase of 200 miles, or
carriage of more stores or crew.
Stainless steel substituted for
mild steel fittings, an important
anti-corrosion measure for
maritime conditions.
SPECIFICATIONS: SOUTHAMPTON I AND II
MkI MkII
POWERPLANTS Two Napier Lion Vs, 470hp each Two Napier Lion VAs, 500hp each
DIMENSIONS Span: 75ft (22.86m) As MkI
Length: 49ft 8.5in (15.15m)
Height: 18ft 7in (5.6m)
Wing area: 1,448 sq ft (134.5 sq m)
WEIGHTS Empty: 9,320lb (4,100kg) 9,021lb (4,398kg)
Loaded: 14,300lb (6,500kg) 15,200lb (6,895kg)
Overload: 18,000lb (8,164lb) 18,000lb (8,164lb)
PERFORMANCE Max speed
at sea level: 108mph (173km/h) 95mph (153km/h)
Cruising speed: 83mph (134km/h) 85mph (137km/h)
Service ceiling: 11,000ft (3,353m) 11,000ft (3,353m)
Range: 680 miles (1,094km) 544 miles (876km) at 86mph
(139km/h) and 2,000ft (610m)
ARMAMENT Defensive: Three .303in Lewis MkIII machine guns, one in bow position, two
amidships each with five 97-round ammunition drums
Offensive: 1,900lb of bombs or two torpedoes, carried under inner wings

Early RAF Southampton activity at Calshot,

with one aircraft about to follow the other
into the water. AEROPLANE

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 DATABASE SUPERMARINE SOUTHAMPTON

Development
SOUTHAMPTON
II TOP

Technical Details
SOUTHAMPTON
II FRONT

In Service
Insights
SOUTHAMPTON II

SOUTHAMPTON I

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 IN
SERVICE
Practising for the 1930 RAF Display are five No 201 Squadron
Southamptons, comprising MkIs S1043, S1044 and S1058, and MkIIs
S1233 and S1234. AEROPLANE
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With the Southampton, the RAF had an
aircraft that could genuinely span the globe
Britain
The Southampton was a
quantum leap in the RAF’s
capability at a critical time in
the air arm’s establishment of
its own, new role. The efforts
of planners and Southampton
crews were able to establish
a genuinely global RAF
reach. As Coastal Command
historian Chris Ashworth
noted, “This elegant machine
[…] quite literally saved the
day for the flying boat — the
authorities being on the point of
abandoning the development of
such aircraft after a number of
expensive failures.”
The first Southamptons
were delivered in 1925 to No
480 (Coastal Reconnaissance)
Flight at Calshot. The RAF was
very pleased with the type’s
capability. Standard take-offs
at 14,300lb with an 8kt wind
took 217 yards and 15 seconds.
In its first report on the type
DATAFILE RAF SOUTHAMPTON UNITS
No 480 (Coastal Reconnaissance) Flight/
No 201 Squadron
No 203 Squadron
No 204 Squadron
Far East Flight/No 205 Squadron
No 209 Squadron
No 210 Squadron
A flight of five Southampton IIs
from No 201 Squadron — K2965,
S1464, S1644, S1645 and S1646
— in formation over southern
England during 1930. AEROPLANE
in 1929, Flight wrote that the
Southampton, “among its
many other excellent features,
incorporates the somewhat
unusual one of being able
definitely to fly and manoeuvre
with one of its two Napier ‘Lion’
engines stopped. There are
probably very few types of twin-
engined aircraft in the world
able to do this, and the fact that
the ‘Southampton’ will do it with
comparative ease speaks well for
the design of the machine.”
Such single-engine
performance was exceptional
in the era, and was a factor in
the success of the type’s long-
range flights. Its initial range
was a creditable 500 miles, so
early on No 480 Flight set out
on a 200-day cruise around the
British Isles, including exercises
with the Royal Navy in the
Irish Sea. One Southampton,
S9896, departed Felixstowe
with coastal area commanders
bound for Carrickfergus, Belfast
Calshot
Basrah, Iraq
Mount Batten
Seletar, Singapore
Mount Batten
Felixstowe
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 Lough, Oban, the Firth of Forth
and back to Felixstowe. The
Air Ministry issued a special
communiqué on 8 October 1925,
concluding, “Both cruises have
shown that under conditions of
weather which must throughout
be considered distinctly bad, the
Southampton flying boats are
capable of keeping the air and
carrying out such observations
as visibility will permit. What is
more important, it demonstrates
that a programme once having
been drawn up, can be adhered
to practically independent of
the weather. Refuelling at sea
was carried out on all occasions
without a hitch, and provided
a certain amount of shelter
is available when the flying
boats are not flying, it has been
demonstrated that they can
function successfully quite
separately and independently of
their land bases.”
Planners and
Southampton crews
were able to establish
a genuinely global
RAF reach
Departing from Plymouth on
2 July 1926 was an expedition
to Egypt by S1038 and S1939,
led by Sqn Ldr Gerald Livock
DFC. It travelled via Bordeaux,
Marseilles, Naples, Malta,
Benghazi and Sollum, finishing
at Aboukir, and called in at
Athens and Corfu on the return
— a total of 14,000 miles. These
flights were continuously able to
call up land bases to stay in touch
using the wireless telegraphy kit.
A late-summer coastal holiday
town tour was undertaken by
four Southamptons in 1926,
starting with a flight from Cromer
to Great Yarmouth with Sir
Samuel Hoare, the Secretary of
State for Air, aboard.
In September 1930,
Southamptons S1228, S1229,
S1234 and S1058 of No 201
Squadron (formerly No 480
Flight), commanded by Gp
Capt E. R. C. Nanson CBE
DSC AFC, toured the Baltic,
calling at Esbjerg, Copenhagen,
Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn,
Riga, Memel, Gothenburg and
Oslo (but not Germany). In
covering 3,833 miles, the only
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The Far East Flight aircrew with a model Southampton. Back row, left to right: Flt Lt D. V. Carnegie, Fg
Off B. Cheeseman, Flt Lt H. G. Sawyer, Fg Off S. D. Scott and Fg Off L. Harwood. Front row, left to right:
Flt Lt C. G. Wigglesworth, Sqn Ldr G. E. Livock, Gp Capt H. M. Cave-Browne-Cave, Flt Lt P. E. Maitland,
Fg Off G. E. Nicholetts and Flt Lt S. T. Freeman. KEY COLLECTION
DATAFILE
FAR EAST FLIGHT
T
he type’s greatest achievement was
when four RAF Southampton IIs ‘flew
the flag’ under the command of Gp Capt
Henry Cave-Browne-Cave from the UK
to Singapore. The objective of the Far East Flight
(see Aeroplane November 2017) was to open air
routes to the Far East. Cave-Browne-Cave
captained S1152, while Gerald Livock was
second-in-command in S1149, Flt Lt David
Carnegie AFC flew S1150 and Flt Lt Cecil
Wigglesworth AFC flew S1151. While Cave-
Browne-Cave was a very experienced ex-Royal
Naval Air Service engineering officer, and much
respected by his peers, Gp Capt Edwin Shipley
remembered, “he was ill fitted to deal with the
social side of the expedition, and the press, both
of which he regarded as a nuisance.”
As well as the growing evidence of the Napier
engines’ and the airframes’ reliability, the
Southamptons had the ability to take enough
equipment for their own ongoing maintenance
and minor running repairs. Even engine changes
were facilitated by inclusion of an engine-lifting
derrick. The metal fuselages were painted white,
with black stripes around the noses to
differentiate the aircraft. Newly developed
rubber dinghies were carried, while only two of
the four aircraft had wireless telegraphy sets,
primarily for air-to-ground communication. That
between aircraft in the air was undertaken by
Aldis lamp and hand signals.
One of the Far East Flight’s Southampton IIs on
the step during take-off. VIA JAMES KIGHTLY
Development
Technical Details
While speed was not an objective, reliability
was. The flight was carried out in four main
stages, two to Singapore and two beyond. First
was Felixstowe to Karachi from 14 October-13
December 1927; after three weeks in Karachi to
In Service
inspect the aircraft, they went on to Singapore,
arriving on 20 May 1928. The aircraft then flew to
— and around — Australia and back to Singapore
between 21 May and 31 September 1928. After
new Lion engines were fitted to all the aircraft,
another expedition to Hong Kong was
undertaken, the spare Southampton S1127
— sent, crated, to Singapore — being used to
Insights
replace one of the machines on Air Ministry
instruction. Completed between 1 November and
11 December 1928, this was a journey of 27,000
miles, involving 351 hours 40 minutes’ flying time
at an average ground speed of 80mph (70kt).
Once back at Singapore, the aircraft formed
the RAF’s new No 205 Squadron, command
being taken over by the recently promoted Gp
Capt Livock on 1 January 1930. With the S5’s win
in the 1927 Schneider Trophy, Britain, the RAF
and Supermarine were at a remarkable peak.
Even then, that was not the end of No 205
Squadron’s expeditions, as in 1929 it flew a
19,500-mile return trip to the Nicobar and
Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean.
The Far East Flight’s five Southamptons were
without armament, equipped with 250-gallon
enlarged fuel tanks of tinned steel rather than
the standard light alloy, had their oil tanks
enlarged to 18 gallons, and the radiators made
nearly 50 per cent bigger to maintain a coolant
temperature of 76°C in tropical and desert
environments. Leitner-Watts metal propellers
were fitted during an early part of the trip.
The metal hulls proved their advantage,
though in Singapore light alloy rivets and
degraded paint were replaced, the former with
stainless rivets, and the latter then covered with
a dope varnish. Marine encrustations of
barnacles and the like on the underwater areas
proved an unexpected challenge. The wing and
empennage structure was still of wood with
fabric covering, but no moisture or heat
problems were found. Arguably these can be
thought of as the first ‘tropicalised’ RAF aircraft.
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 DATABASE SUPERMARINE SOUTHAMPTON
Between November 1929 and early 1930, MkII S1235 was loaned by the
RAF to Imperial Airways as a mailplane, registered G-AAFH. KEY COLLECTION
notable incident — managed
without damage — was S1228
dragging its moorings in
Copenhagen during a gale.
The Southamptons’ imposing
presence made their form of
British imperial aerial ‘gunboat
diplomacy’ explicit, and took
over some of the Royal Navy’s
traditional role for the RAF.
Most RAF Southamptons
were replaced in 1936 after the
type had clocked up 10 years of
service, a record not matched
until the Short Sunderland’s
tenure. One MkII, S1235, was
loaned to Imperial Airways for
three months as a mailplane and
registered G-AAFH. It replaced a
lost Short Calcutta on the service
between Alexandria and Salonika
from 15 November 1929, being
returned to the RAF in 1930.
DATAFILE
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Australia
In 1927, two wooden-hulled
Southampton Is, S1158
and S1159, were shipped to
Melbourne aboard the SS
Ferndale, the first flights of the
two occurring in May and June
1928 respectively. They were
the largest aircraft the Royal
Australian Air Force had ever
operated, a seaplane hangar
being erected specifically for
them at RAAF Point Cook on Port
Philip Bay. Initially retaining their
RAF serials, they were allocated
Australian serials A11-1 (S1158)
and A11-2 (S1159) and assigned
to the newly formed Coastal
Reconnaissance Flight.
The RAAF’s long and
successful use of the
Southampton started badly
The RAAF’s first Southampton, still with British serial S1158, after being
turned over by a wind squall on the Port River. RAAF MUSEUM ARCHIVE
when the first aircraft, S1158, flights between Tasmania and
was struck by a wind squall and along the eastern coast under the
overturned while it was moored guise of ‘recruitment interviews’.
on the Port River in Adelaide to The Southamptons liaised
meet the RAF’s Far East Flight with the Royal Australian Navy,
on 22 June 1928. Six months part of the price the RAAF paid
of repairs cost an estimated for having quashed the RAN’s
A£3,500. In attempt at
1929 and 1930, having its
the repaired The Southamptons own air arm.
A11-1 surveyed were the largest aircraft In early 1934,
the Tasmanian Sqn Ldr A. E.
coast and
the Royal Australian ‘Uncle’ Hempel
bushland, Air Force had ever in A11-1
carrying operated managed to
forestry locate HMAS
officials, the Canberra off
report noting, “Many more Gabo Island, while less than
rivers, headlands and bays exist a month later A11-2 tried to
than appear on these charts and ‘intercept’ an ‘enemy’ naval
those that appear are incorrectly force near King Island.
shaped”. A11-2 was mainly used In April 1934 Hempel flew
for RAAF publicity and VIP A11-1 to Twofold Bay, New
A11-1 embarked on the round-
Australia survey flight in June
SOUTHAMPTONS
1935. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA AROUND
AUSTRALIA
L
eaving Point Cook on 26
June 1935, Southampton
A11-1, commanded by Sqn
Ldr Hempel with four
crew, undertook an around-
Australia survey flight, a single-
aircraft repeat of the RAF’s Far
East Flight circumnavigation. The
main purpose of the voyage was
to find possible water
aerodromes for the proposed
Empire Air Mail scheme on the
Australian mainland, notably
between Sydney and Darwin, and
to look for potential emergency
alighting areas.
The flight headed to Sydney
before departing north again,
arriving in Brisbane on 1 July
having made a forced landing at
MacLean, New South Wales, due
02/03/2020 11:24

South Wales, for navy exercises,
but the Southampton’s wireless
was compromised by water,
and during an aborted take-off
the tailplane and starboard
propeller were badly damaged
due to a heavy swell. Worse, on
7 April, the Southampton made
a forced landing on Lake Reeve
due to engine problems. Though
the aircraft alighted safely, the
shallow water effectively saw it
becoming bogged-down on the
shells and seagrass of the soft
lakebed, making it impossible
to take off. It was decided to
dismantle the Southampton and
take it over land to the deeper
Lake Wellington where it was
reassembled. A11-1 flew back to
Point Cook on 15 May.
On 8 November 1934, both
Southamptons were used to
meet a flight of three Short
Rangoon flying boats from No
203 Squadron, RAF, and escorted
them to St Kilda, Melbourne. The
Rangoons had come all the way
from Iraq, and were in Australia
as a goodwill gesture for the
Victorian centenary celebrations.
Ten days later the Southamptons
escorted HMS Sussex, with HRH
Prince Henry aboard, into Port
Melbourne. As the largest aircraft
operating in Australia at the time,
and in an era of relatively empty
skies, these flights would have
been impressive. A less pleasant
to torrential rain. The
subsequent stops (including
local surveys) were at
Gladstone, Rockhampton,
where the tailplane sustained
damage on take-off and was
repaired, and Bowen, where
two overload tanks and
replacement airscrews were
received by overland transport
from Point Cook. The aircraft
departed for the Norman River
in Karumba to fly over land to
the western coast of Cape York
Peninsula on 23 July.
While in the Gulf of
Carpentaria, the aircraft was
diverted to help locate a lost
Short Scion amphibian and its
crew. They were quickly found,
safe, by the Fly River. The
Southampton’s own adventures
hit a rough patch, literally, when
it struck a coral reef. While that
damage was being repaired, an
engine change was undertaken.
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DATABASE SUPERMARINE SOUTHAMPTON
Two volunteer parachutists about to depart Southampton A11-2 over
Point Cook. RAAF MUSEUM ARCHIVE
duty occurred after DH86
airliner VH-URN Miss Hobart of
Holyman’s Airways went missing
over Bass Strait on 20 November
1934, the Southamptons joining
the massive, but ultimately
unsuccessful, search.
One odd latter-day
role involved the RAAF
Southamptons being used for
volunteer parachute training.
The first jumps were made by
Sqn Ldr Paddy Heffernan, who
ran the courses, and Flt Lt Don
Carroll. Heffernan recalled, “We
worked our way along the wing,
through the bracing wires to the
outer strut. Here we stood with
our backs to the way we were
going and leant against the strut
until we reached jumping height.
I think that this time was the
worst part of the trip, because
Five weeks later the
Southampton was flown to Port
Moresby and survey work was
undertaken along the coast of
Papua. The new powerplant
proved unsatisfactory, so the
Southampton returned to Port
Moresby until 27 September
when it resumed the around-
Australia flight.
At Thursday Island the aircraft
hit a submerged log, losing a
wing float and causing wing
damage. For two months A11-1
remained at a mission station
near Normanton, a crew
member coming down with
tropical ulcers and being
invalided home. His
replacement was flown up in an
RAAF Hawker Demon fighter.
On 26 November the
Southampton arrived in Darwin
to recommence the survey.
It continued around north-
western Australia’s coast to
during the take-off you could feel
every movement of the wings
and you felt sure that they were
going to fall off… we pulled our
respective ripcords and the next
thing we knew was that we were
yanked off the platform and were
floating in space”. By 1940 the
Australian Southamptons had
vanished from the record.
Argentina
In the mid-1920s, Argentina’s
Servicio de Aviación Naval
needed to replace its Curtiss
F5L flying boats. A European
mission led by Capitán de
Fragata Marcos A. Zar examined
a number of available types from
Britain, France and Germany
and found the Southampton
the superior maritime machine,
Geraldton, where the aircraft
was again damaged on take-off.
Nearly a month was required for
repairs, the machine leaving on
18 January 1936. It travelled
onward to Perth, then around
the south-west and south,
traversing the Great Australian
Bight where the open sea
crossing posed a greater risk
than normal coasting routes.
The last leg to Point Cook on 8
February was frustrated when
the waters were too rough to
land back home, forcing a
diversion to Williamtown. Finally
the Southampton arrived in
triumph the following day after
seven long months. Once the
aircraft had been thoroughly
overhauled, a second-stage
survey up to Darwin via Sydney,
Brisbane, Bowen and Karumba
was undertaken uneventfully in
less than a month, between 30
April and 28 May 1936.
though not the cheapest. An
initial order in June 1928 for five
Development
wooden-hulled Southamptons
and one metal-hulled example,
plus a spare wooden hull
and parts, was placed with
Supermarine for £103,260. The
order was increased in August
with another two metal-hulled
examples, accessories and
spares for £37,500. The mix of
configurations was due to the
Technical Details
extra cost of Argentina’s preferred
metal Southamptons — before
negotiation, £2,000 more per
aircraft — limiting their number.
They were all to be powered by
Lorraine-Dietrich 12E engines,
chosen by the Argentinian
government for local licence-
production by the Fábrica
Militar de Aviones in Córdoba.
Though these were of broad-
arrow configuration like the
In Service
Napier Lion, they still required
a number of changes to the
Southampton’s engine mounts
and related equipment, and
a worrying vibration problem
was found on early tests, cured
when it was realised one of the
tail struts was vibrating. Once
Insights
it was strengthened, the issue
disappeared.
The aircraft were painted with
codes HB-1 to HB-5 for the MkIs
and HB-6 to HB-8 for the metal-
hulled examples (the fleet was
later renumbered as P-151 to
P-158). The Southamptons were
shipped to Argentina, entering
service with the Escuadrilla de
Patrulleros based at Estación
Aeronaval Puerto Belgrano
near Punta Alta under the
command of Teniente Fragata
Eduardo Brown. They were
intended for naval co-operation,
reconnaissance, gunfire and
torpedo-spotting, and target-
towing. The first six examples
entered service in mid-1930, the
last two in early 1931.
During 1931 the Prince of
Wales and Prince George arrived
in Argentina aboard the carrier
HMS Eagle to open the British
Empire Exhibition in Buenos
Aires. Afterwards, three of the
Southamptons (HB-6, 7 and
8) were used to ferry the royal
entourage to Montevideo in
Uruguay to continue their
tour. Later in 1931, five aircraft
undertook a 5,000km (3,100-
mile) tour to Posadas from Punta
Alta via Buenos Aires, proving
the aircraft’s utility, though the
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 DATABASE SUPERMARINE SOUTHAMPTON
DATAFILE
SOLE SURVIVOR
L
ike most pre-war
aircraft, the
Southampton had
apparently
disappeared by 1945.
However, a number of former
flying boat hulls now being
used as houseboats were
rediscovered on the tidal
flats of the River Deben at
Bawdsey Ferry near
Felixstowe in the 1950s. The
nascent RAF Museum
bought the only remaining
hull for £75 during 1967, and
it was transported to the
store at Henlow. It had had a
doorway cut in the nose, a
clerestory roof added along
the forward fuselage, and
was heavily waterlogged
with what proved to be a ton
of water. Identified as the hull
of N9899, it was one of the
initial production batch and in
fact the first example
delivered to No 480 (Coastal
Reconnaissance) Flight. After
drying out, restoration was
started at Cardington in 1984,
a massive job led by John
Chapman, later honoured by
an MBE in recognition of his
conservation work for the
museum. The Southampton
involved many unique
challenges including the
reconstruction of a new
empennage and the
replacement of 70,000
slot-head 0.5in brass screws.
The restored hull,
empennage and a Napier
Lion engine were officially
unveiled by the RAF Museum
at Hendon in 1996.
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The first of the Argentinian Navy’s Southampton Is, serial HB-1, on trials
at Southampton. VIA RICARDO MARTIN LEZON
engines were less than reliable. Jun Okamura, used it as the
A ‘new’ Southampton I was basis of a new Japanese flying
assembled at Estación Aeronaval boat to replace the Hiro H1H,
Puerto Belgrano in April 1932 itself based on the Felixstowe
based around the spare hull. F5. The Hiro H2H1, or Navy
It was coded P-159, the other Type 89 Flying Boat, was very
Southamptons having been similar to the Southampton,
re-serialled in this sequence. though it had a single fin and
However, the limitations of the rudder and was powered by
Lorraine-Dietrich 12E engine two Hiro Type 14 engines,
degraded the capability of the themselves based on the
Southamptons by the mid- Napier Lion. Their performance
1930s, and the airframes were proved disappointing and they
tired. Replacements, ultimately were replaced by the further-
Consolidated P2Y-3A Rangers, developed Type 90-91 of 600
were obtained. to 750hp. The H2H1 first flew
in 1930. Hiro built 13 and Aichi
Japan four more.
The sole Japanese
The Japanese ordered one Southampton was sold to the
Southampton in 1927, a metal- Japan Air Transport Research
hulled MkII. Delivered to the Institute and converted into an
naval air depot at Oppama 18-passenger airliner with a row
in 1928, it then went to the of large, rectangular windows
Kure Naval Arsenal for type down the side. It was operated
evaluation and data-gathering. by Nippon Kokuyuso Kenkyujo
It was flown to the Hiro Naval (NKYK, Japan Air Transport)
Arsenal in 1929, where the chief as J-BAID Kirin Go, the name
engineer, Lt Cdr (Ordnance) a reference to sponsorship
from the Kirin brewery, whose
logo depicting the kirin — a
mythical Asian creature — was
painted down the side of the
Southampton. It was operated
on the mostly marine route
between Osaka and Beppu in
the late 1930s, and perhaps
because of its unique status and
luxurious interior, it became
nationally famous.
Turkey
Purchased during 1933, the six
Turkish Southamptons replaced
two Rohrbach Ro III flying boats
that had entered service in 1928.
Powered by 500hp Hispano-Suiza
12 engines, they were delivered
in 1934 with British Class B
markings and then serialled 1661
to 1663 and 4137 to 4139, being
numbered N3 to N8 in Turkish
service. The Southamptons’
arrival increased the capability
of the rapidly growing Türk Hava
Kuvvetleri, which had been re-
established after the Great War
and the foundation of the Turkish
republic, the air arm then being
part of the Turkish Army. The
Southamptons were operated
by the newly constituted 31.
Deniz Bombardiman Ty. Bl.
(31st Maritime Seaplane Bomber
Company) based at Güzelyalı
near the port city of Izmir.
While the air arm was further
modernised in the late 1930s,
and into World War Two, by
Turkey’s armed neutrality policy
drawing support from the Axis
and Allied powers, nevertheless
the Southamptons remained
in service until 1943, when the
seaplane unit at Güzelyalı was
disbanded. The Southamptons
were replaced by land-
based bombers and Turkey’s
remaining Supermarine Walrus
amphibians.
The only Southampton II that
was supplied to the Imperial
Japanese Navy. CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY
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 INSIGHTS
The view from the starboard gunner’s position on a Southampton II, with S1149 in formation. AEROPLANE
A
ustralian Sir Richard
Kingsland AO CBE
DFC flew the big
seaplanes at RAAF
Point Cook. He recalled, “We
had two Southamptons, and
they were massive wooden
beasts… The thing was only
doing about sixty miles an hour.
Very, very slow. I mean it was
windy and uncomfortable but
you could tolerate it for quite
long times.”
RAF Gp Capt Edwin Shipley
trained on Southamptons.
“When on the water, one crew
member had to be in one
of those aft positions to be
ready to throw out a drogue
on instructions from the pilot.
Those drogues were sea anchors
about two feet in diameter
and made of canvas on an
iron ring. The pilot called for
these by holding up one arm
at full stretch, the right arm for
the right drogue which would
swing the boat around to the
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At the controls of the “massive wooden beast”
right and vice-versa. If he put
up both arms the drogues were
thrown out both sides to slow
the boat up. The latter was used
sometimes when approaching
a buoy for mooring but was not
normally necessary as you came
up to the buoy up wind and with
the engines just ticking over the
boat moved quite slowly through
the water, and direction could
It was windy and uncomfortable but you could
tolerate it for quite long times
be controlled by brief bursts of
engine on one side or the other.”
Gp Capt Gerald Livock had
been second-in-command of
the Far East Flight. He recalled,
“Our first real test came on the
leg from Alexandretta in Syria
across the desert to Baghdad,
a distance of 480 sea miles.
Owing to a strong downdraught,
we had difficulty, with our full
petrol load, in climbing over the
cloud-covered mountains. Once
over the desert we were met by
an increasing headwind with
alternating dust and rain storms,
which reduced visibility in places
to a few hundred yards. After
more than eight hours in the
air we ran into a thunderstorm
and, as it was clear that we did
not have enough fuel to reach
Baghdad, we landed on the
River Euphrates at Ramadi and
anchored for the night. There
was a store of petrol at the local
RAF emergency landing ground
and we took thirty gallons for
each boat, which we brought
in our rubber dinghies. The
night was made miserable by
thunderstorms, howling jackals
on the banks and the boats
Development
Technical Details
In Service
Insights
swinging wildly as first the
5-knot current and then the 20-
knot wind took charge.
“We stayed for three weeks
at Karachi to enable the base
party to carry out a thorough
inspection of the aircraft, which
were hauled up on to a beach.
After Karachi we were not to
see another RAF station until
we landed at Hong Kong a year
later.
“In some ways the flight down
the west coast of India to Ceylon
was the most interesting and
certainly the most entertaining
of the whole cruise. As far as I
know, no aircraft had ever flown
that way before and, as news of
our programme had been sent
ahead, the inhabitants of whole
districts flocked down to the
beaches to watch us pass. It was
an extraordinary sight to see
miles of beautiful sandy beach
crowded with thousands of
Indians, all looking up as
we flew over their heads.”
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 87
02/03/2020 11:25
 HOOKS’
Mike Hooks began his aviation photography career in 1945
with a simple box camera, moving on to an Ensign folding
camera in about 1948, and later to a Voigtlander Vito B. He

TOURS
converted to colour in the 1950s, and went on to build one of
the UK’s most extensive archives of Kodachrome transparencies

PHOTOGRAPHY:
MIKE HOOKS

TUPOLEV Tu-154
Designed when three-engine airliners were de rigueur, the Tu-154 was an
important long-range addition to the Aeroflot fleet following service entry
on 9 February 1972. The type was exported to airlines in 16 countries
MAIN PICTURE: Tu-154B CCCP-85242 was attached to
Aeroflot’s Northern Division from 1977. It was photographed on
approach to Heathrow in May 1989 with the ‘ironmongery’ of
4 Tu-154M RA-85720 arrived with Aeroflot in July 1992 and
moved to Kras Air in 1995, when this picture was taken.
Leases to Iran Air Tours as EP-ITA and later ’MBZ followed, with
flaps, leading-edge slats and six-wheel main undercarriage units a return to Kras Air for storage and scrapping in 2010.
deployed for landing. This aircraft was scrapped in 1999.

2 Founded in 1990, Bulgarian holiday company Air Via

operated a small number of Tu-154Ms for charter flights,
supplemented by Airbus A320s. However, the company closed
in October 2016, by which time LZ-MIL had departed for the
breakers’ yard.
5 Tu-154B LZ-BTJ with Palair Macedonian at Cologne/Bonn.
A watery grave awaited this ex-Balkan Bulgarian machine
— since May 2011, it lies 22m (72ft) deep in the Black Sea as a
diving attraction near the coastal resort of Varna.
6 Seen in August 1993, Meta Aviotransport received Tu-154M
RA-85745 (c/n 92A928) during 1992, later leasing the

3 Operating the Budapest-London service in the 1980s, Malev

Airlines’ Tu-154B HA-LCO was a familiar visitor at Heathrow
where this view was taken in May 1989. Along with many of its
aircraft to Iran Air as EP-MAT. It ended its commercial flying with
Domodedovo Airlines in 2005 before being withdrawn from use
three years later.
type, c/n 81A473 was retired in 2002.

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 2 3

4 5

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 meets
MARTIN
HOLLOWAY
NEIL WILSON
V
intage aviation would
be nowhere without its
great enthusiasts from all
walks of life who stick by
the scene through changing times.
Their expertise is invaluable, and
their stories compelling — and
often very funny. Some may not be
aviation professionals, while others
come from a background of flying
larger or faster aeroplanes, but their
love of what one might term ‘real’
flying never leaves them, even when
their time in big airliners or military
jets comes to a close.
Martin Holloway is a classic
example. He served in the Fleet
Air Arm of the Royal Navy, and
carried on flying naval fast jets in
his civilian life. There were years
with the airlines, too. But learning
to fly on Tiger Moths certainly left
its mark, for when he saw a Stampe
SV-4 for sale, he decided it should be
his. Today he’s surely the longest-
standing Stampe private owner-pilot
in the UK. And that unassuming
biplane trainer led him to fly many
other marvellous aeroplanes for a
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A marvellous stalwart of
the vintage aeroplane
world, this former Fleet
Air Arm fast jet pilot has
long enjoyed his time at
the lighter, slower end of
the aircraft spectrum
WORDS: BEN DUNNELL
colourful operator. For a time in the
late 1980s, Martin was Britain’s only
current Westland Lysander pilot.
Today he’s still a regular on the West
Country vintage and light aeroplane
circuit, and lunch at the Manor
Arms in North Perrott was a suitably
entertaining affair.
Martin grew up in Surrey. HMS Eagle under way
His interest in aviation, he says, in late 1970, with the
developed “from the earliest age Buccaneer S2s of 800
you can imagine. I went through the Squadron — Martin’s
usual building plastic models and unit — and the Sea Vixen
everything else. At school in Oundle FAW2s of 899 Squadron
embarked. VIA PETER R. MARCH
there was an RAF section in the
CCF, which I joined eventually. I got
a flying scholarship and went off to
fly Tiger Moths at Skegness. It was a
30-hour course for a PPL, and I went
solo in four-and-a-half hours, or
something like that. I was very lucky
because I had a terrific instructor, I
was the only pupil he had and the
weather was pretty good, so I got
through it in two weeks. I was doing
three trips a day.
“I was 17 then, and after I left
school I went to Croydon and
joined the Surrey and Kent Flying
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
02/03/2020 15:14
 Martin flying Wessex Aviation and
Transport’s Lysander IIIa ‘V9281’ over the
Westland factory airfield at Yeovil in July
1993. The aircraft had been grounded for
four years while its troublesome Bristol
Mercury engine was worked on. PETER R. MARCH

A Blue Herons display

practice photographed
from a fifth Hunter
in Martin’s hands.
KEY COLLECTION

Dragon Rapide G-ACZE was Martin’s

mount in this de Havilland transport
formation at the 1989 Badminton Air
Day, alongside another Wessex Aviation
and Transport aeroplane in the form of
Dragonfly G-AEDT, and the Aer Lingus
Dragon EI-ABI Iolar. PETER R. MARCH

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 AEROPLANE MEETS Martin Holloway
ABOVE: Club, where I flew their Tigers for
En route back from £3 an hour, borrowing some money
its post-restoration from my mother. It wasn’t enough
show debut at
Finningley in
to stay current, but it was alright for
September 1988, bimbling around in total ignorance
the Lysander called of what I was doing. Croydon shut
in at an Old Sarum down and we all moved to Biggin
fly-in — just over Hill, and I occasionally used to go
50 years after there and do 30 minutes’ worth.
the type entered
service there — and
“I was actually doing a builders’
posed for Peter course at the London School of
March’s camera on Building, because my family were
the way back to builders in London and it was the
Henstridge. Outings intention that I would eventually
in Brian Woodford’s go into the company. But one day I
ownership were rare,
until it went to the
was reading the Sunday papers and
Aircraft Restoration there was this advertisement with a
Company at picture of a Sea Vixen, saying, ‘You
Duxford in 1995 for can join the Fleet Air Arm’. With no
maintenance and intention of ever getting accepted
operation. At the end I sent the form off. I did the
of the 1998 season
the ‘Lizzie’, which
introductory course at Biggin Hill,
had finally become where you played with machines
a regular sight on to see if you were capable at doing
the circuit, departed anything, and I went off to HMS
Britain, acquired Sultan for the selection. Much to my
by Kermit Weeks in amazement, I got in. That came as a
Florida, and there it
remains.
bit of a surprise to my parents…”
PETER R. MARCH During two terms at the Britannia
Royal Naval College in Dartmouth,
beginning in September 1963,
Martin flew the Tiger Moth again.
“The idea wasn’t to go solo — it was
to see whether you were capable —
but because I had probably 40 hours
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on Tiger Moths at that stage, they
let me. None of the others on the
course did, but we all got through.
Off we went to Linton-on-Ouse, to
go through the standard 150-hour Jet
Provost course. I had two excellent
instructors: Bob Fisher was the first,
and then somebody else wanted to
change, so I got Norrie Grove, who’d
been a wartime Spitfire pilot, led
Linton’s JP aerobatic team and later
became the Slingsby chief test pilot.
He was a great character, and a very
patient man.”
Apart from one who didn’t
make the flying training grade and
became an observer, the whole of
Martin’s course got their wings. “We
decamped down to Brawdy and
did 50 hours on Hunter T8s, just
learning basic fixed-wing fast jet
flying with 759 Squadron. Then we
moved into the next hangar, which
was 738, the Hunter GA11 outfit.
We did rocketing, lots of low-level
navs, camera gun stuff. The single-
seat Hunters were lovely. When we
were seeded to where we went next,
I thought, ‘Sea Vixens, here I come’,
but no — I got the bombers.”
This meant the Buccaneer S1,
with its troublesome Gyron Junior
engines. Martin trained on 736
Squadron at Lossiemouth. “They
had quite a good cockpit-type
simulator, because, of course, there
were no twin-stick Buccaneers. You
were then stuck in the front of one
— the chap who sat in the back with
me was called Carl Davis. It all went
reasonably straightforwardly. A lot
of people had banged out of Mk1s
— we were aware of that. It was a
bit short on puff, but it was OK. I
didn’t really have any trouble with
it. I had just one fire warning, after
the jet pipe had split and hot air was
getting out.
“Part of the course was catapult
launches at RAE Bedford, which was
a bit of an eye-opener because it was
the hardest shot I ever had. There
wasn’t much natural wind, but you
still had to make 130kt off the end. It
was a real punch, I tell you. We did
a couple of shots there. Then HMS
Victorious turned up in the Moray
Firth, and on one day I did three
trips and 20 touch-and-goes. But my
first arrested deck landing wasn’t
until I went onto HMS Eagle.
“At the end of the course, because
there wasn’t a slot for me anywhere
I stayed on at 736, getting plenty
more flying. Then I went to replace
somebody on 800 Squadron. I flew
out to Singapore in an RAF Comet
and joined Eagle there in June 1966.
The squadron was ashore at Changi
and the ship was in the dockyard,
so we flew from Changi for quite a
while. Another pilot who’d flown
out with me, an ex-Scimitar chap,
was joining 800 as well and we went
off to do our first landings on Eagle.
The ship was now just off Singapore,
so it wasn’t very far away. Of course,
the ‘goofers’ were absolutely
packed, because we were the new
boys, but we made it all right.
“Embarked on a carrier you don’t
do that much flying, but we went up
to Hong Kong, we did some flying
in the Philippines, and we did some
bombing on a wreck on a shoal
somewhere out in the Pacific. That
was quite amusing because, after
the first day or so, some Chinese
turned up and moored their boat
at the stern of this wreck. They’d
obviously heard that people were
lobbing 1,000lb bombs at it and
thought, ‘That’s a nice bit of scrap’.
We didn’t stop lobbing bombs at it,
but we aimed at the bows. They still
stayed there, though.”
Having returned to the UK, 800
converted to the Spey-powered
Buccaneer S2. “Not such a stable
aeroplane”, says Martin, “and not
quite so nice to take to the deck,
02/03/2020 15:14
 I didn’t think. The Mk1 was very
stable — you just sat there on high
power, 93 per cent or so, all the way.
With the Mk2, of course being a
turbofan, there was a lot of delay in
the power coming on. You’d put the
power on, nothing much happened;
then it came in, by which time you
needed to take it off again. But it
had lots of ‘oomph’, and it was a
much better aeroplane, actually. In
fact, it was super.”
During another Far East cruise,
Martin left to do the Central Flying
School Chipmunk course at Little
Rissington. Then he instructed on
Chipmunks at Linton-on-Ouse
and Church Fenton, training future
naval helicopter pilots. While at the
latter, in his free
time he went
to instruct at In the ‘Thursday
Sherburn-in-
Elmet on Tiger
Wars’ buzzing
Moths. “And anything was fair
that”, he says,
“was where I first game
met a Stampe. It
was a privately owned one. I’d never
heard of it before, but I managed to
fly it a few times. Nicely aerobatic.”
Back on 800 for a year in 1970-71,
“it wasn’t quite the happy squadron
it had been before, I didn’t think, but
it was OK. We did a Mediterranean
cruise, and we were having loads
of trouble with the engines.
Compressor blades were cracking
and breaking — I forget how many
engines we had to change, and the
ship ran out of spare engines. The
whole thing turned into a bit of a
shambles. Rolls-Royce modified the
compressor blades to try and cure
the problem, which rather curtailed
the amount of flying we did.”
With the problems ironed out,
Eagle went back to sea, again bound
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for the Far East. Once more Martin’s
time on the squadron was up during
a cruise, and on this occasion it
was for good. With little apparent
future for British carrier air power,
he disembarked in Sydney, went
home and left the navy. He got his
airline transport pilot licence, but
the airlines weren’t hiring. So, in
January 1972 it was back to a familiar
environment. “I’d heard about this
Airwork outfit at Yeovilton, because
one of the other 800 Squadron pilots
who’d left had gone down there. I
thought it was worth a go.”
Martin joined the Airwork-
operated Air Direction Training
Unit, flying its Hunter T8s to train
naval fighter controllers. “We were
doing high-level
intercepts with
the D [Direction]
School, which
meant we used to
go up to 20,000ft
or thereabouts,
fly around west
of Lundy Island,
‘bat-and-balling’ backwards and
forwards — target, fighter, target,
fighter — doing racetracks for the
air direction people. Bit boring
at times, as you can imagine.
But things brightened up fairly
quickly, because Airwork had an
outfit at Bournemouth” — the
Fleet Requirements Unit — “with
Canberras for target-towing and
GA11s working for the fleet. They
shut down the Bournemouth
operation, and all the Canberras and
GA11s came to Yeovilton.”
This, at the beginning of
December 1972, was the birth of
FRADU, the Fleet Requirements
and Air Direction Unit. “We did all
the work for the ships. Some sorties
were still pretty boring: if they
were trying to set up their gunnery
systems and their radars, they’d
say they wanted us out at 20 miles
and to come in at 300kt or whatever
while they tracked us. But then, of
course, there were the ‘Thursday
Wars’, where you were missiles and
buzzing anything was fair game.
They were more exciting. Anything
a ship wanted us to do, we’d do it.
Ground stations as well: people
like Plessey, Vickers and Marconi
who had factories producing new
equipment they wanted testing.
“There were the big exercises
like ‘Northern Wedding’ in
Scotland, when we used to go up
to Lossiemouth or Kinloss. And we
went away as well, to places like
Malta, Landivisiau, Alghero and
Gibraltar, all working with ships.
We worked with the [airborne early
warning] Gannets a lot, and even
sometimes with the RAF’s Phantoms.
They were using us as targets. It was BELOW LEFT:
all much of a muchness, but one got For several years,
quite skilled in doing it.” Martin was the
And, as an added bonus, from UK’s only current
1975 FRADU had its own aerobatic Lysander pilot,
team. The Blue Herons were though he only got
to fly it sporadically.
formed for that year’s Yeovilton Air PETER R. MARCH
Day, the Hunter GA11 four-ship
being unique in having civilian BELOW:
pilots flying military aeroplanes. Landing at
The idea, Martin recounts, came Henstridge in
from the navy. “Dave Howard was Wessex Aviation
and Transport’s
commander air at Yeovilton, and Fox Moth G-ADHA,
he was always flying with us. He felt marked up in pre-
that since the navy didn’t have an war King’s Flight
aerobatic team any more, it would colours to match
be a good idea if we did it”. Under the Rapide G-ACZE.
leadership of former RAF pilot Derek The last DH83 built
at de Havilland’s
Morter, the Blue Herons gained a Stag Lane plant, this
fine reputation, especially for their aircraft is now in
award-winning performances at the New Zealand.
International Air Tattoo. Joining PETER R. MARCH
02/03/2020 15:15
 AEROPLANE MEETS Martin Holloway
RIGHT:
Turning finals at
Yeovilton in FRADU
Hunter GA11 XF368.
During Martin’s
second period with
the unit, which lasted
from 1983-92, the
whole flying fleet
of Hunters was put
into this dark grey
scheme.
ADRIAN M. BALCH
Morter were Gerry Gosnell, Pierre
Cadoret and Godfrey Cornish-
Underwood. “I was the spare”,
says Martin, “who had to take the
photographers up — not a job I liked
very much because, in a two-seat
Hunter, the photographer was sitting
on your right and you couldn’t really
see who you were formating on.”
More fun, as a hobby, was Stampe
flying. Martin bought Renault-
engined SV-4C G-BAKN in June
1973, and has owned it ever since. “I
saw it advertised, I think in Flight. I’d
got my gratuity for my navy service;
it was at Weston-super-Mare, not
a million miles
away from
Yeovilton, and I was just lining
I went to have a
look. It had just
up on his wingtip
been imported when all these rocks
from France,
and Westward went past
Airways had
done the work on it to get a brand-
new British C of A. A deal was
struck, and I was the owner.”
Having got his ATPL, Martin
says, “I thought I ought to at least
use it once”. He left Airwork and
FRADU in July 1979 and went into
the airline world with Air Anglia,
which was rapidly merged into Air
UK. The twin-turboprop Embraer
Bandeirante was his mount.
Changes of base, though, became
somewhat wearing. “I got a bit fed
up with living in a B&B. One day I
dropped into Yeovilton to say hi.
One of the chaps, who was an ex-
navy Scimitar man, had had a heart
problem and lost his medical. The
senior pilot asked me, ‘Would you
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like to come back?’ I told him, ‘Oh
yes’. I thought I’d done my bit for the
airlines at that stage.”
Martin rejoined FRADU in
January 1983. It started out much
the same, but the year brought
some change when Flight Refuelling
took over the FRADU contract from
Airwork. It pledged to replace the
Canberra T22s, and settled on the
Dassault Falcon 20. Martin flew the
new type, but the Hunter remained
his bread and butter. During 1984 he
became a fully-fledged Blue Herons
pilot when the team, disbanded four
years earlier, re-formed for a one-off
appearance at
Yeovilton. Again
Derek Morter
led, joined by
Mike Sharp,
Brian Grant,
and Martin in
the box. On this
occasion he was
flying FRADU’s sole Hunter PR11,
WT723. “I thoroughly enjoyed it. We
didn’t do anything too daring, but
people said they liked it”. Two years
later came a final hurrah, Godfrey
Cornish-Underwood assuming
leadership, with Sharp, Grant and
Holloway accompanying him.
FRADU could no longer support
a regular aerobatic team, but the
special showing at Yeovilton was a
good way to bow out.
One exercise sortie in a Hunter
stands out. “We were doing
‘Northern Wedding’, on this occasion
acting as missiles, which meant we
could fly at 50ft, balls-out — or max
continuous, which was over 500kt.
The weather was absolute crap,
solid cloud from 500ft to 30 grand,
right in the middle of a front. We
were north-west of the Isle of Lewis,
which was not a normal place for us.
Usually we were much further north
than that. We’d done the strike on
the ships and were turning round to
go back to Lossiemouth, climbing
back up to 30,000ft. The safety ship
organising the whole thing was one
of the carriers, and the chap who was
controlling said, ‘How would you
like to do a strike on us?’ They were
on the way back, virtually, so we said
we’d love to come and give them a
belt. Free beat-up, 50ft, 500kt down
the deck — just the job.
“I was the number two to the
leader, an ex-Jaguar pilot. Off we
set, and the carrier was sitting in the
middle of the biggest rain shower
you’ve ever seen. It was absolutely
teeming down, black as anything.
When we saw the ship it was just
too late. We missed it by a quarter
of a mile or something. The leader
waggled his wings so I’d come into
close echelon and we could climb
up through all this crud. Of course,
forward visibility in the GA11 was
absolutely nil because there was no
rain clearance. I was just coming up
to him, lining up on his wingtip and
looking down, when all these rocks
went past underneath. I thought,
‘Shit, what was that?’ When we were
in sunshine I got my map out again
and had a look — nothing there.
We flew back, we landed, and as we
were walking back in I said to the
leader, ‘Did you see all those rocks
just as we started the climb?’ ‘No,
02/03/2020 15:15
 have. He went off looking for the LEFT:
Comet project, Black Magic, but Getting his hands
he didn’t get it. Then there was the dirty on the BA
Swallow’s Pobjoy
Storch [actually an Argus-engined Niagara III engine
MS500 Criquet], the Lysander on a 2006 visit to
and the BA Swallow II. A couple Badminton for a fly-
of Dornier Do 27s came through in event.
from Malawi and went off to the PETER R. MARCH

Americas. He was a bit of a wheeler-

dealer, was Brian, to put it mildly.
But he was a great ambassador for
vintage aeroplanes, and I was just
lucky enough to fly some of them.”

Most famously, they included

Lysander IIIa ‘V9281’/G-BCWL,
which Woodford had restored
by Personal Plane Services from
1985‑87. Tony Bianchi and John
Lewis test-flew it before, in
September 1988, Martin had his
turn and delivered it to Henstridge,
where it was based. “The first job
never saw a bloody thing’. But on the surrounded on three sides with trees. we had was to take it to Finningley
big map on the crewroom wall were There was one way in and one way [for the 1988 Battle of Britain ‘At
the Flannan Isles, and they had a out, and when you were coming Home’ Day]. An Australian engineer
lighthouse on the top of one of them in you were coming in, unless you who worked for Brian in Singapore,
at about 240ft. We went back that threw it away very early. Fred Bagnall, had come over for the
way the next day and did virtually “I put the Stampe down there, summer and was sitting in the back.
the same thing again. How close and then Brian came back from We set off for Finningley, and it was
we’d come to the lighthouse we had Singapore. He said he had his a nice day. I’d never done any long-
no idea…” Stearman coming over in a box, distance flying in it, and it cruised
It was around this time that and his Stampe was being done at a fair speed. It had this 90-gallon
Martin’s involvement with historic by Personal Plane Services at fuel tank just behind the seat with a
aircraft — yes, even more historic Booker. Very soon all these vintage gauge on it, and every time I looked
than the Hunters — deepened. “The aeroplanes started moving in, at the gauge it was going down. We
Stampe used to live at Henstridge, mainly restored by the late Ron got there, just. BELOW:
but then the BBC decided they Souch. Brian was an avid collector “The squadron leader who was Once part of the
were going to buy the airfield and of de Havillands — he’d got a Gipsy running the show came up and said Brian Woodford
build aerials all over it [the planning Moth, a Fox Moth, a couple of they wanted to watch my display collection, BA
Swallow II G-ADPS
application was eventually rejected]. Tigers, a Leopard Moth, a Hornet before I did it on the day. Well, what is now owned by
We all got chucked out and the Moth, a Moth Minor, a Dragon can you do in a Lysander except John Hopkins — and
aeroplane went to Compton Abbas, Rapide and a Dragonfly. A Puss go round in circles? I was flying Martin still flies it.
which was rather expensive and a Moth was one of the few he didn’t round, and the bloke on the RT PETER R. MARCH
long way from home. By pure chance
I met a chap who was ex-navy
and had been flying for the Hong
Kong police. We were talking, and
he said, ‘Have you heard of Brian
Woodford? He’s got an airstrip
near Dorchester’. I hadn’t. He told
me he had a business in Singapore
with helicopters [Heli Orient, also
a Britten-Norman and Cessna
distributor], and a manor house,
Chalmington Manor, in Dorset with
his own airstrip and his own hangar.
“There was nothing in the hangar,
so he said he’d give Brian’s brother a
ring — because his brother lived on
the site — and see if there was any
chance of me putting the Stampe
there. He did in due course, and
Brian said I could. He had a Stampe
too, which was being rebuilt with a
Lycoming. I went down there, and
it was a very interesting little strip,

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 AEROPLANE MEETS Martin Holloway
ABOVE: said, ‘Something’s just fallen off
Stampe SV-4C your aeroplane’. There was nothing
G-BAKN continues obvious to me, but I thought I’d
to give Martin much
better land. It was one of the wheel
enjoyment, as it has
since he bought it in covers, which were a bit of a bodge.
1973. NEIL WILSON Some had clips, some had bolts
through them. It was dented and
buckled, so we couldn’t put it back.
We decided to take them all off, so
we stuffed them in the back and
did the display the next day, no
problem.
“Going home,
I thought we’d I’ve made a lot of
better stop
for fuel. The friends through the
Lysander had a
hand grip-type
Stampe
brake, and it
was very sensitive, particularly on
concrete. We landed at Staverton,
and we were just trundling down
the runway, down to 20mph or so.
The man in the tower gave me some
message, and in order to get to the
button to say ‘Roger’ I must have
relaxed the pressure on the brake.
The Lysander just took off onto the
grass. I steered it round the next
runway light, back onto the runway,
and didn’t say a word. Nor did the
bloke in the tower. He didn’t even
say, ‘Did you enjoy your compass
swing?’ or anything like that…”
The Bristol Mercury engine proved
troublesome, too. Various problems
had prevented the aeroplane from
getting its permit to fly for a year, and
they reoccurred in June 1989 when
Martin tried to take the ‘Lizzie’ to
Compton Abbas for fuel. “It took off
96 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
90-96_AM_AeroMeets_Apr2020_cc C.indd 96
and started climbing, but I was just
turning downwind to go to Compton
Abbas when the engine stopped
dead. I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a bit of
a bugger’. I tried to make it back to
the field, but it was quite obvious it
was never going to make it. Fred was
in the back and didn’t say a word.
We came to earth in the field off the
end of the runway, which the farmer
had cut very nicely. It landed OK,
but we couldn’t
understand why
it had stopped.
“We found the
farmer and asked
if he minded
us parking our
Lysander in his
field for the night. The aeroplane
was recovered back to Henstridge
the next day — there was a ditch
between the field and the end of the
airfield, and they got three big RSJ-
type channels, one for each wheel,
and laid them across the ditch. Fred
got into the aeroplane, and it started
fine. They taxied it back and put it in
the hangar, where I sincerely hoped
it was going to stay.
“We started asking around, and
Tony Bianchi and Anthony Hutton
said it had stopped on them. It had
stopped on Darrol Stinton, too,
when Doug Arnold owned it, and
unfortunately it had turned over
when the wheels got jammed in
the mud. I’d totally got away with it,
though it did nearly hit a concrete
water butt in the field. They took
the carburettor off and sent it to
Vintech, where they did all sorts of
things. It came back, they put the
carburettor back on, and it started
but wouldn’t idle. Off came the
carburettor again and it went to
Vintech, where they discovered that
two holes had been left out in the
gasket between the two halves. Then
it ran OK, but we were a bit loath to
fly it, as you can imagine. The last
flight I did in it was a short trip to
Westlands at Yeovil, because [test
pilot] Harald Penrose was 90 years
old. I put it back in the hangar with
a sigh of relief, because it wasn’t
running well then either.”
Gradually, Woodford’s Wessex
Aviation and Transport collection
began to disperse as the 1990s
went on. The sorry postscript is that
Woodford ended up on the run,
wanted by the American authorities
for questioning over illegal aircraft
parts sales to Iran. Reportedly, he
was never found but was charged in
absentia. Martin says he died a few
years ago.
As for Martin’s career, being ‘aged
out’ of FRADU in 1992 was far from
the end. He flew for a succession of
regional airlines — Eagle European,
Eurodirect, Air South West, Air Kilroe
— on Bandeirantes and Jetstreams,
and had an interlude ferrying Shorts
Tucanos to the Kuwait Air Force.
And his last job before retirement
in 2003 was a delight, flying as a
civilian contractor for the navy’s
Heron Flight at Yeovilton on its
Jetstream T3s, operating VIP and
other transport missions around the
UK and mainland Europe.
But he hasn’t stopped flying
vintage aircraft. For some 20 years
he headed up the Stampe Club, and
G-BAKN continues to be a joy. “It’s
a lovely aeroplane to fly”, he says.
“It’s very stable, very responsive,
nice for doing aerobatics — gentle
aerobatics, these days — and I just
think it’s a lovely thing. I’ve made a
lot of friends through the Stampe.
But somebody wants me to sell it to
them, and I am 81 now, so it might
be time pretty soon to pass it on.”
By the time we finish talking, the
other customers have long since left
the pub. Yet there’s time before we
go to reflect on the fact that, when
Martin does hang up his helmet,
it’ll be with many happy reflections
and cheerful reminiscences. “It
was a career I wasn’t expecting to
do in the first place”, he says, “and
it’s been great. I’ve no regrets
at all.”
02/03/2020 15:15
 Britain’s Top-Selling
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HURRICANE AND FURY

Darren Harbar revisits the Cambridge
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120 Flypast Latest fp.indd 57 28/02/2020 10:42
 CLASSICS Portuguese Chipmunks

FOREVER
YOUNG

98 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2020

98-102_AM_Portuguese Chipmunks_Apr2020 C.indd 98 02/03/2020 09:47

R
With the type approaching its 75th
anniversary, it is remarkable that
Portuguese Air Force student pilots are
still going solo on the DHC Chipmunk
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY:
STEFAN DEGRAEF AND EDWIN BORREMANS
M
odern military
aviation has long been
dominated by a constant
quest to establish
operational structures that are
at once financially sound and
technologically superior. Shrinking
budgets, increasing out-of-area
commitments, the constant exodus
of experienced and highly trained
people and challenging conditions
for recruitment force the need to be
economical with scarce resources.
A well-thought-out programme for
screening, selecting and streaming
new personnel — especially student
pilots — is vital, preventing ‘no-
return’ training costs and enabling
them to swiftly be reorientated
within the organisation. Many air
arms outsource the pilot screening
process to general aviation flying
schools, often staffed by former air
force pilots and flying modern, state-
of-the-art light aircraft. In contrast,
the Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP,
Portuguese Air Force) returned seven
redundant de Havilland Canada
DHC-1 Chipmunks to operational
status in the mid-1990s.
Having been stored for eight
years, thoroughly modified and
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
98-102_AM_Portuguese Chipmunks_Apr2020 C.indd 99
Two of the Força Aérea Portuguesa’s
six remaining Chipmunk Mk20s
cavort for the camera over the Atlantic
Ocean, west of their Sintra base.
continuously updated, these ‘new-
generation’ Chipmunks are used
to screen pilot training candidates
and, later on, trainees attending the
renowned Academia da Força Aérea
(AFA, or Air Force Academy) at Base
Aérea No 1 (BA1) Sintra, north-east
of Portugal’s capital Lisbon.
The FAP’s Chipmunk era began in
1951 with the delivery of the first of
an eventual 76 aircraft to the Escola
Militar de Aeronáutica (Military
Aeronautical School), based at
Sintra. The DHC-1 replaced the
DH82 Tiger Moth, which had been
in Portuguese service since 1934. As
the Chipmunk celebrated its 40th
anniversary during 1986, a total
of 37 remained in use with the re-
formed Esquadra de Instruçao 101.
Attrition, on average two DHC-1s
per year, was mainly attributed to
the age and modification standard
of the DH Gipsy Major engines.
In October 1987, the FAP decided
to purchase 18 Aérospatiale TB-30
Epsilons to replace the obsolete
Chipmunks. The first of the new
French-built piston-engine trainers
arrived at Sintra in February 1989.
All the DHC-1s were withdrawn
upon delivery of the final Epsilon
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 99
02/03/2020 09:47
 CLASSICS Portuguese Chipmunks
ABOVE: in 1989 and conversion of Esquadra
Chipmunks 1339 101’s instructor pilots. However,
and 1306 flying seven Chipmunks were transferred
near the most
almost immediately to the AFA,
prominent landmark
in the Sintra area, to be used as tug aircraft for four
the Palácio da Pena, Schleicher ASK-21 gliders. They
a very fine mid-19th were assigned to the AFA’s Esquadra
century Romanticist de Voo 802 ‘Aguias’ (Eagles),
castle. responsible for the initial screening
and flying training of students
attending the academy.
A profound reform of the
FAP flying training syllabus,
implemented in 1997, saw the
renewed introduction of seven
updated Chipmunks as the most
cost-effective option for the initial
pilot screening programme,
the Estagio de Selecçao para o
Voo (ESV). The most important
changes were the installation of
a 180hp Lycoming O-360-A1A
engine to replace the original
145hp Gipsy Major, a new radio,
IFF (identification friend or foe)
transponder and metal propellers.
Five examples were modified by
OGMA (Oficinas Gerais de Material
Aeronáutico) at Alverca, which had
built the Chipmunk in Portugal, and
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the remaining two by IAC (Industrias
Aeronáuticas de Coimbra).
Having received its first two
aircraft in July 1997, Esquadra
802 officially began its screening
programme on 18 August that year.
On 17 March 1998 it suffered the
loss of serial 1312, being flown by
an Angolan student and Portuguese
instructor, in a take-off accident
at Sintra. The
aeroplane was
destroyed, but Seven Chipmunks
there were no
injuries to the
were the most cost-
occupants.
Esquadra
effective option for the
802’s main task initial pilot screening
of selecting
student pilots programme
kicks off in late
July with the arrival of, on average,
30 candidates. They have already
passed psychological, physical and
medical tests. Now, 802’s instructor
pilots assess the flying abilities
of these young men and women
during a 12-day period.
Existing AFA cadet pilots, under
the close supervision of their
instructors, give the newcomers
three or four days of academic
instruction focused exclusively on
the Chipmunk. An in-flight guide, a
checklist and a technical operating
manual are handed over to enable
self-study. A preliminary exam must
be passed with a score of more than
75 per cent if they are to progress.
Being the only military user of
the Lycoming-
engined DHC-1,
all checklists
and operating
manuals were
created in-house
at Esquadra 802.
On their fifth
day at Sintra,
the remaining
candidates
begin the in-flight screening phase
by conducting up to seven general
handling sorties. Basic manoeuvring
and straight-and-level flying are
demonstrated to the students and
copied by them, monitored by the
instructor in the back seat. Moving
on to more complex matters, stalls
and instruction in the circuit take
02/03/2020 09:47

place. Some basic aerobatic figures
are demonstrated by the instructor
in the latter stages of the selection
process. Each candidate flies with
two different instructors and is
evaluated on their seventh flight by
a check pilot.
Drop-outs are frequent and often
‘self-triggered’, the reasons ranging
from initial misconception of the art
of flying to difficulties in adapting to
the military way of life. To prevent
the expenditure of excessive flying
hours, Esquadra 802 instructor pilots
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 101
98-102_AM_Portuguese Chipmunks_Apr2020 C.indd 101
will prematurely halt a candidate’s
screening if it becomes obvious they
are not making progress, or if they
show a lack of airmanship and even
esprit de corps.
Once successfully streamed
through the ESV phase, cadets are
sent to a boot camp to become
familiar with military discipline
before being allowed to enter the
AFA in September. On average, half
of those who began the screening
phase eventually do so. All AFA
students, including those destined
to become operational pilots, LEFT:
study there for four-and-a-half Student and
years. Alongside the academic instructor about to
taxi off Esquadra
curriculum, trainee pilots are able 802’s line. This
to fly the Chipmunk at Sintra. aircraft sports special
For the first year this encompasses markings applied
what is called basic contact flying, to celebrate the
a 12-mission course comprising Chipmunk’s 60th
take-offs, circuits, landings and anniversary in 2006.
basic aerobatic techniques. On BELOW LEFT:
what is their 20th Chipmunk flight, An instructor from
including the seven ESV sorties, the Academia da
students undertake their one and Força Aérea debriefs
only solo trip on the DHC-1 during student Jorge Soares
their time at the AFA. This is a highly after a training
sortie, with the aid
regimented affair involving three of a rudimentary
circuits, including touch-and-go Chipmunk model.
landings. Weather limits are strict:
runway crosswinds must not exceed
5kt, with minimum visibility of 5km
and a cloudless sky below 3,000ft.
Since the Chipmunk training is
of secondary importance within
the overall AFA curriculum, some
students only carry out their solo
flight well into their second year at
the academy. Out of solidarity with
their fellow trainees, all student
pilots in each class wait to don their
Chipmunk solo patch until the last
of them has achieved the milestone.
Moving on to the second year
at the AFA, 12 missions form the
advanced contact flying course,
bringing aerobatics into the
programme. Simulated engine-out
landings are performed by reducing
the Lycoming to idle at various
points, altitudes and air speeds and
teaching the student how to land
safely at the runway threshold.
Esquadra 802 handles the
navigation and formation phases in
the latter part of the AFA syllabus,
totalling 15 sorties. Seven of them
are low-level visual flight rules
navigation missions, during which
students use the FAP’s standard
tactical pilot charts, also employed
by the TB-30 Epsilon-equipped
‘CHIPPAX’, PORTUGUESE-STYLE
M
any British air cadets will be familiar with the
‘Chippax’, a surplus RAF Chipmunk cockpit section
fashioned into a procedural trainer. The
Portuguese Air Force has its own, more advanced
version, designed to assist cadets undergoing ESV screening
and first-year AFA students in mastering the aeroplane. Two
fifth-year AFA cadets developed a low-cost but practical
Chipmunk simulator using a redundant DHC-1 fuselage. Its
employment is not mandated by Esquadra 802’s instructor
staff, but students frequently use the sim for emergency
procedures and cockpit switchology training.
02/03/2020 09:48
 CLASSICS Portuguese Chipmunks
ABOVE: Esquadra 101. In preparation,
All the DHC-1s still in instructors disseminate the
Portuguese service necessary information on the
are Mk20s built in-
country by OGMA,
mission profile: the route, turning
which produced 66 points, fuel status and desired time
examples between over target. Due to the relative
1955 and 1961. Prior inexperience of the trainees a ‘fair’
to that, 10 aircraft margin in navigation and timing
had been supplied accuracy is allowed. Nevertheless,
directly by de
Havilland in the UK.
their airmanship is continually
evaluated by the instructors, who
change the air speed and time over
target while airborne.
Once familiar with the local
ground references in their
traditional training areas around
Sintra, students — joined by
their instructors — fly longer-
range navigation exercises to the
FAP’s main fighter, transport and
helicopter bases, namely BA5
Monte Real, BA6 Montijo and
BA11 Beja. Technical stops at these
airfields also afford a first-hand
view of life on an operational unit.
Formation flying involves
eight sorties of basic two-ship
manoeuvring including formation
profiles, turns and rejoins, together
with paired landings and take-
offs. Trainees fly an equal number
of these profiles as lead and
wingman, always from the front
seat but assisted by an instructor.
To deconflict with the co-located
Esquadra 101, both use different
training areas and altitudes but
also, more importantly, individual
entry points to the Sintra circuit and
separate landing patterns.
Before graduation from the
academy, all students — both
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98-102_AM_Portuguese Chipmunks_Apr2020 C.indd 102
flying and non-flying — and
several DHC‑1s travel to Ovar
in northern Portugal for a week-
long training camp. There some
additional missions are flown by
the graduating fifth-year students
in preparation for their transfer
to Esquadra 101 and its Epsilons
to begin pilot training proper.
Since Esquadra 101 only starts one
dedicated training course a year,
AFA students stay with Esquadra
802 for some months to retain
flying currency on the Chipmunk,
depending on the weather and
aircraft
availability.
Although
The squadron
the flying stays in close touch
performance
of the cadets is with the worldwide
of secondary
importance,
Chipmunk
instructor community
pilots — in
concert with the AFA staff — try to
keep them focused on their flying-
related workload. If necessary, they
will re-route a student should there
be a high probability of their future
drop-out during initial training with
Esquadra 101.
Traditionally, Esquadra 802
is staffed by up to eight flying
instructors on extendable three-year
postings, reinforced as necessary by
guest instructors including the AFA
commander. Nowadays the majority
of the instructor pilots originate
from Esquadra 101 and from
Esquadra 502, which flies the Airbus
C-295 twin-turboprop transport
and maritime patrol aircraft out of
Montijo. Beforehand they must pass
a type rating qualification course,
including 15 general handling,
three navigation and six formation
missions.
The instructor flying programme
sees the Chipmunk’s back seat
being occupied by the trainee
instructor pilot, their ‘student’
being a senior instructor acting as a
new pupil. This takes place over 25
missions: 13 general handling, six
formation and six navigation. Each
phase includes a flight to check the
proficiency of the new instructors.
Esquadra 802’s daily operations
with its six remaining DHC-1s
add up to 1,000 flying hours per
year. Included in this total is the
type’s ongoing use as a glider
tug. The squadron still operates
three ASK‑21s, and both the AFA’s
students and instructors can take
part in gliding activities at Sintra.
The dedicated Chipmunk
maintenance section numbers 18
personnel, and works to a well-
established programme. It executes
pre-planned minor inspections
every 50, 100 and 300 flying hours,
together with a structural mid-life
update (SMLU) at each 600-hour
mark. This focuses on airframe
structural checks, including
the rudder and ailerons, and
replacement of the aluminium
wing/fuselage bars with steel ones
to improve rigidity and g-tolerance.
In order to change these bars, the
fuel tank and all airframe rivets
need to be
taken out and
replaced.
Assistance
from outside
sources
is crucial,
too. Engine
overhaul on
the Lycomings
has been outsourced to ESEFLY,
based at nearby Cascais Airport.
With the de Havilland company
long gone, the squadron and its
mechanics stay in close contact
with the worldwide community
of Chipmunk experts and private
owner-operators to help ensure the
ongoing training use of the aircraft.
Although long since replaced by
more modern and capable types
in the elementary flying training
role, the Chipmunk will remain
a vital asset for the Força Aérea
Portuguesa, especially in an era
marked by further efficiency
savings, for years to come.
02/03/2020 09:48
 


Museum Guide
Welcome to a special feature showcasing a selection of top aviation
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Stallion51_fp.indd 1 29/01/2018 14:07
 Reviews
REVIEWS RATING
★★★★★ Outstanding
★★★★★ Excellent
★★★★★ Good
★★★★★ Flawed
★★★★★ Mediocre
Enough said

The latest books and products for the discerning aviation enthusiast
Tales from the
Frontline
by Ray Deacon
published by Pen & Sword
Tales from the Frontline is Ray
Deacon’s second volume on
RAF Middle East Command
in the 1960s, but this time
with a different slant. Its focus
is again on Hunters, namely
the FGA9s of Nos 8, 43 and
208 Squadrons and the FR10s
of No 1417 Flight. Middle East
Command had eight stations, but M
Khormaksar on the southernmost
tip of Arabia became the major
operational airfield, with a peak
allocation of 46 Hunters in 1963.
The author, who served with No 8
Squadron — and with the squadron’s
football team — at Khormaksar from
1962-64, sets the scene, but the main
body of the text comprises stories and
anecdotes from those who served on the
squadrons, either flying the Hunter or
maintaining it. Contributions
have been made by some 50
serving personnel including
Deacon himself, each penning
a sub-chapter of his own.
Among these, the names Nigel
Walpole and Alan Pollock —
and, no doubt, others — will
surely be familiar. Many of
the tales are a true delight,
well-written (and quite
possibly also well-edited), at
BOOK times irreverent and delivered
of the with the unmistakable authority
of someone who was there at
ONTH the time. The photo selection is
excellent, almost every shot being
of the ‘Not seen that one before’
variety. Many are in colour, something
both surprising and welcome for the
1960s, and their reproduction rates at least
‘decent’. Denis J. Calvert
ISBN 978-1-52672-146-4; 9.5 x 6.4in
hardback; 372 pages, illustrated; £30.00
★★★★
ludicrous decisions
of the 1957 Defence
White Paper) were
the cause of the
downward spiral,
but this would be a
simplification.
Here, the author
reviews events
chronologically.
To anyone familiar
with the history of
those times, it is
like watching a slow-motion train crash. He
recalls the events that shaped the industry’s
future in a suitable degree of detail and, as far
as is possible in such things, dispassionately.
That said, there are errors which may well
rankle. There are two references on page 157
to a trans-Atlantic air arm called the ‘USF’,
the TSR2 made 24 (not 25) flights and the
English Electric P17A (a forerunner of the
TSR2) was not a V/STOL design. Illustrations,
in black-and-white and with an acceptable
standard of reproduction, support the text,
but the tandem Bristol helicopter shown on
page 191 is the Type 173, not the military
Belvedere as captioned. DJC

The Art of
Roy Cross
by Roy Cross
published by
Crowood Press
Should you not
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of Roy Cross, you may need only to turn to
page 72 in this large-format volume. Here
you’ll find the box art created by him in the
mid-1960s for Airfix’s 1:72 Wellington III
plastic kit that will surely trigger a nostalgic
response in anyone of a certain age. Cross’s
paintings for Airfix underlined speed, action
and excitement, the very attributes that
appealed to kit purchasers of the time. The
Wellington image has the aircraft at low level
over an enemy industrial complex, guns
blazing, bomb doors open and with tracer,
explosions on the ground and burning
buildings aplenty. This, I should add, was
before such ‘realism’ on box art ceased. And,
indeed, before the requirement to add the
disclaimer ‘No Germans were hurt in the
making of this painting’.
The text details Cross’s career, which
started as an illustrator at Fairey Aviation
and continued with the production of ISBN 978-0-7509-9302-9; 9.2 x 6.1in
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by Keith McCloskey
published by Keith McCloskey
ISBN 978-1-78500-641-8; 11.3 x 12.3in
hardback; 128 pages, illustrated; £45.00 In his commendably
★★★ honest introduction,
McCloskey
explains how this
In Turbulent Skies volume came
about. Originally
by Peter Reese
intended as a joint
published by The History Press
(six-person) work
The story of Britain’s post-war aircraft (before covering the history
it was ‘aerospace’) industry is not a happy of aviation in the
one. While the companies emerged from Glasgow area, the
World War Two with confidence, first-class collaborative effort faltered after 10 years’
engineers and forward-looking ideas, within work. As a result, he decided to go it alone
30 years many of these advantages had been and publish this book containing the areas he
squandered. Consensus opinion is that the himself had researched. This is not, therefore,
heavy hand of central government (think the comprehensive history once intended.
Brabazon committee, over-protection of the That said, the 14 chapters offer much that is
state carriers BEA and BOAC and the slightly of interest. One, on BEA maintenance and the

108 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE APRIL 2020

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 carrier’s test pilots department, details the

Essential Library
engineering activities at Renfrew (Glasgow’s
‘old’ civil airport), initially involving DC-3s
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on maintenance checks, on the problems Need ideas for your aviation library? Look no further than our
of spares provisioning and on the industrial monthly item, in which regular Aeroplane contributors pick
unrest in 1953-54 that followed the decision four of their favourite volumes. This month’s author is Pete London, whose
to transfer the work to Heathrow. interests include the early days of flight
Three further chapters cover more general
aspects of airline operations at Renfrew, with British History of British Aviation
several tables listing visiting aircraft. Others Aircraft 1908-1914
take in subjects as diverse as Rudolf Hess’s Before the by Ronald Dallas Brett
one-way flight to Scotland on 10 May 1941
and civil gliding in the Glasgow region. The Great War published by Air Research Publications,
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text reads well and has decently reproduced by Michael H.
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those on the laminated cover. DJC Albert E. Tagg magazine’s archive
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Christopher Ward’s and, amazingly, it’s profusely illustrated — his book, first
new Military Collection strewth! published in 1933 as two volumes. Images
takes in three models — are ghastly, but the text weaves a great feel
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AEROPLANE APRIL 2020 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 109

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 News from 1940
Ben Dunnell looks back 80 years to see how The Aeroplane covered the momentous events of 1940
5 April 1940
Insofar as wartime secrecy
allowed, this issue presented an
interesting insight into the RAF’s
barrage balloons — albeit a rather
speculative one, given how their
effectiveness had yet to be tested to
any degree. “Since last September”,
The Aeroplane’s reporter wrote,
“the inhabitants of most of the
large cities of Britain have come
to regard the Barrage Balloons as
more or less permanent fixtures
in the (occasionally) blue vault of
Heaven”. On a more practical note,
‘Cobber’ Kain (right) and other
members of No 73 Squadron with
one of the unit’s Hurricanes in France
during early 1940.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
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“Each balloon requires a crew
of ten men, and is anchored to a
lorry fitted with two Ford V8 30hp
motors, one to drive the lorry, and
the other to drive the winch”. How
useful would they be? The author
speculated that “any sane bomber
crew will be careful to steer clear
of them”, adding how the balloons
would be especially effective against
low-level and dive-bombing. In
the event, the Luftwaffe’s relatively
brief use of these tactics over
British cities somewhat negated
their effectiveness, but balloons
continued to proliferate.
Further afield, towards the end
of March there was a resumption of
major aerial fighting over France.
The engagements provided,
the weekly ‘The War in the Air’
column said, “irrefutable evidence
of the superiority of British over
German fighters”, even when the
RAF was outnumbered. Certainly
there were notable successes. The
piece reported the efforts of No 73
Squadron’s Fg Off Edgar ‘Cobber’
Kain, who, on 26 March — not propaganda leaflets dropped by the ABOVE:
the 27th as stated — was leading RAF to the German people at this A translated
a flight of three Hurricanes that stage of the war. example of one of
the propaganda
encountered fully 13 Bf 109Es from ‘bomphlets’ dropped
3./JG 53 over eastern France, near 12 April 1940 by the RAF over
the frontiers with Germany and Germany.
Luxembourg. He shot down two, The RAF was, this edition said,
before himself falling victim to a “right on top” in the aerial battles
Messerschmitt’s guns. “He escaped over France. It would take just
by parachute”, said The Aeroplane’s a few weeks for such notions of
account, “and landed in No Man’s superiority to be disabused. For
Land near a French outpost, from the moment, though, there were
whence he was rescued by the increasing numbers of engagements
French”. Despite burns and wounds, between RAF and enemy aircraft
Kain rapidly returned to his unit to describe, such as the Coastal
and resumed flying. These two kills Command Sunderland — from
added to three already amassed No 204 Squadron, though this, in
over France, making him the first keeping with wartime practice,
RAF ace of the war. But the report’s was not disclosed — patrolling off
overall assessment can now be seen Norway on 3 April that became
as simplistic, especially as regards embroiled with six Ju 88s. It downed
the comparative merits of RAF and one in flames and caused another
Luftwaffe fighters. to force-land in neutral Norway,
Bomber Command continued “where the crew set it on fire before
to be active over Germany. The being arrested and interned. The rest
Aeroplane published a page of so- tried, unsuccessfully, to bomb the
called ‘bomphlets’, examples of the Sunderland. The Sunderland’s
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 111
02/03/2020 09:50
 News from 1940
first and second pilots
were both slightly injured
by bomb splinters,
and some of the boat’s
controls were damaged,
but it returned to its base
at the end of its patrol.”
The same day, the RAF
suffered its first Spitfire
loss to enemy action.
Having shot down an
He 111 over the North
Sea, the pilot “found
that his machine was on
fire. He reported the fact
to his base by radio and
alighted on the water.
The Spitfire sank before
he had left the cockpit
and he was carried
down some distance before he
could free himself. His heavy flying
clothing made it difficult for him to
keep afloat, despite the help of his
life jacket, but he was eventually
picked up by a British trawler, near
which he had descended”. “He”
was Flt Lt Norman Ryder of No 41
Squadron, then based at Catterick,
and his mount Spitfire Ia N3114.
Since he was the first Spitfire pilot
to ditch at sea, he was able to make
recommendations that found
their way into training. Later in the
month, Ryder was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross for the
“coolness and courage” he displayed
on this sortie.
Coincidentally, several pages
of this issue were given over to an
account of the history, development,
technicalities and early service of
the Spitfire, albeit a quite heavily
restricted one. Truly in-depth
accounts would have to wait until
peacetime.
BELOW:
The German cruiser
Königsberg ablaze
19 April 1940
in Bergen harbour
after the attentions The German invasion of Denmark
of Fleet Air Arm and Norway, 10 days earlier, was
Blackburn Skuas. the primary topic this week. The
112 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
111-112_AM_AeroArk_April2020_cc C.indd 112
lack of local bases for RAF aircraft
engaged in the Norwegian theatre
— they “had all been seized by the
Luftwaffe before opposition could
be organised” — was commented
on. So was the “chief success of the
week”, the actions by Fleet Air Arm
Skuas in sinking a German cruiser
in Bergen harbour. Not named here,
the Kriegsmarine vessel in question
was the Königsberg, the presence of
which had been ascertained by RAF
reconnaissances.
The full story, which The
Aeroplane could not yet report, was
remarkable. Efforts on 9 April by
RAF Wellingtons and Hampdens
to sink it and another cruiser, the
Köln, proved unsuccessful. On
board one of the RAF aircraft,
though, was the senior observer
of the FAA’s 800 Squadron, Lt Cdr
Geoffrey Hare, present to help
locate naval targets. On returning
to base he made for RNAS Hatston,
Orkney, where the Skua-equipped
800 and 803 Squadrons were
based, and started planning a dawn
attack. One of the few details The
Aeroplane could publish was that,
“Mr Winston Churchill in the House
of Commons said that the Skuas
flew from Orkney”. Indeed they did,
Bergen being right at the extent
of their range
from Hatston.
Nevertheless, All the Skuas
16 aircraft
launched just made it, even though
after 05.00hrs
and all made it, the two squadrons
even though the
two squadrons
became split up
became split up
during the transit flight and ended
up making separate attacks, albeit
almost simultaneously. Striking
soon after sunrise, they achieved
the element of surprise. The Köln
had gone, but the Königsberg was
hit by multiple bombs, set alight
and subsequently sank. One Skua
was lost during the return flight; all
the rest returned safely to Hatston.
It ranks among the FAA’s finest
achievements of the war.
26 April 1940
Further coverage of events in
Norway reported British attacks
on German-occupied airfields:
by the RAF against Sola airfield in
Stavanger and Kristiansand, and by
the FAA on Bergen. Bad weather,
meanwhile,
was disrupting
operations on
the Western
Front. There
the RAF’s lack
of numerical
strength when
compared with
the Luftwaffe
had been a subject of concern in
The Aeroplane’s pages. Efforts to
bolster British production by way
of American aircraft were well
under way, and this week brought
news that the Allied Purchasing
Commission was soon to sign
contracts for Curtiss P-40s, Douglas
A-20s — called the “B-20A” here —
and other types. Speculation as to
what those might be was “running
its usual course”. One possibility was
the Bell P-39, but the magazine’s
writer opined, “We shall be greatly
surprised if the Commission
elects to order Airacobras”. The
type’s “unorthodox placing of the
engine” and “relatively inadequate
armament” were deemed to “offer
a maximum of potential troubles in
exchange for a few miles an hour
more in speed”. This time,
concern about an American
aeroplane was well-founded.
AEROPLANE APRIL 2020
02/03/2020 09:50
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