Aer Lingus "Iolar" Question

Here she is in all her beauty:

Thanks Tim and agree with you re media confusion,this keeps cropping up!
The a/c was fully restored from the ground up in 1985/6 for the 50th anniv. of Aer Lingus and more recently had a major hangar visit in preparation for the 75th anniv.in 2011.
It has been kept as original as possible i.e as it would have been presented to Aer Lingus passengers in 1936 so no polished copper/brass or chromed nuts etc. just a serviceable working aeroplane.
Any changes from original were kept to a minimum and were mainly due to legislation/performance requirements,a few obvious are original DH props replaced by more efficient and slightly finer pitch Hoffmans.
Seat belts for pax. and shoulder straps for pilot.
Polyester covering on wings and controls in lieu of linen for weight saving.
Gaps between inner/outer wings at folding point taped over,gives a noticeable speed increase .(temporary measure).
Finally, Its as original as you will get!! J…..

I had the privilege to go on a ride in Iolar a few weeks ago in Düsseldorf.
The staff told us that the plane was indeed 76 years old and that its first flight had been with Geoffrey de Havilland at the controls.

I read somehwere it used to be displayed at Dublin airport for decades.

That is correct – EI-AFK (although painted as EI-ABI) was on show in the terminal years ago but was subsequently restored to flight status.

Tim

Thanks for your help guys!

I had the privilege to go on a ride in Iolar a few weeks ago in Düsseldorf.
The staff told us that the plane was indeed 76 years old and that its first flight had been with Geoffrey de Havilland at the controls.

I read somehwere it used to be displayed at Dublin airport for decades.

The Dragon concerned is genuine and original – I think the media are confusing the fact that it is not the original “Iolar”. The aircraft that survives started life as G-AECZ and later went to Eire as EI-AFK. It is painted now to represent EI-ABI which was “Iolar”.

Tim