Mew Gull G-AEXF the HAPS/Reflectaire Years

this might make you feel old Bruce but before my time 😉

Your making me feel old, i was 5 at the time of the accident.

this might make you feel old Bruce but before my time 😉

Yes Will – early nineties IIRC – you were still in Nappies…..!

17th July 1991 to be precise.

Check out this extensive PPRuNe thread, with plenty of Input and a PDF copy of the Pilot article.

http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/354752-g-aexf-mew-gull-some-questions.html

I think it was a bit more than taxied into a ditch.
At that time EXF was owned by Tom Storey and Martin Barraclough and had been repaired after an incident where she got hit by another aircraft which was taxying at Redhill. Desmond Penrose took off in EXF to demonstrate her to a potential customer and landed either a bit fast or a bit long down the runway. He was not aware that a contractor had dug a ditch across the runway and the Mew Gull hit the ditch. I think the aircraft broke it’s back and there was talk of her being a write off again. I’m pretty sure that Desmond Penrose decided to buy the wreck partly because he felt bad about the fact that the damage had happened while he was flying the aircraft even though the CAA enquiry exonerated him from any blame.
It rings a bell that it was after the accident at Old Warden that he decided to return EXF to her Cape record form.

I think you ave also missed out it being taxied into a ditch at redhill

Yes Will – early nineties IIRC – you were still in Nappies…..!

reading this i didn’t know it had been crashed at Old Warden?

Ive forwarded this query onto someone i know of who may be able to help more. I will get back to you all if anything comes to light.

Just browsing the other night, having only just joined this forum, and was intrigued by the queries on Reflectaire and in particular, the Mew Gull. Having worked with Reflectaire (along with Dick Taylor) until 1970, the following may be helpful although after 40 years my memory isn’t as good as it was.
In answer to question (2), Reflectaire took over the assets of HAPS in the winter of 1968/9. (4)The wings of the Mew Gull were sawn off at the end of August 1970, the same day that Neil Williams flew the Mosquito into Booker prior to it’s export to the States. Can’t remember the exact date, but must plead guilty to wielding the saw. I was a warbird man and the significance of AEXF was lost on me I’m afraid and the whole exercise was a distraction we really didn’t need.
(3 & 5)I don’t know, but I don’t believe we at Reflectaire were aware that the Mew Gull was anything to do with HAPS until 1970, and it may have been the attempt at re-registration of it by someone else that prompted us to bring it into the collection before it was “appropriated by others” for want of a better description. As we were up to our eyeballs in moving from Hullavington to Blackpool at that time, not to mention completely broke, nothing happened until August – not our finest moment, but read my 2005 article on Just Jane’s missing years in Flypast and you will probably understand.

Hi Propstrike
Didn’t know about the Clairvouyant. But unlike some of the other Mew Gulls, owners of G-AEXF tended to suffer with their Wallets rather than with their lives despite the Accidents. The only person who died whilst they owned her was Victor Vermoral. Maybe the Clairvouyant knew this, or something in Hugh Hugh Scrope ‘s manner gave a ‘tell’.

However I wonder if Hugh Scrope remembered this ‘reading’ after his accident at Shoreham in 1951 which helped him to decide to sell G-AEXF.

Opssys

The aeroplane was repatriated in the 1950’s, I think by a Mr Hugh Scope, or perhaps Scrope. It was ‘fettled’ for the trip home by Doug Bianchi, who subsequently wrote a characteristically comical article for ‘Pilot’, which I have, but it is in deep storage ( tea chest in shed ).

One of the details of the article I do recall was that, for some obscure reason, Mr Scope visited a French clairvouyant, who was adament that ill-fortune would befall anyone who was associated with the aeroplane!

It certainly has had a turbulent history; chopped up by an Auster at Redhill, badly crashed at Old Warden, heaven knows what else.

First a big thank you to WJ244 for his information, memory or not it fills a major gap.

EXF has had a hard and often unlucky life. Lets hope her future continues to be much brighter than some areas of her past.

Whilst G-AEXF has really suffered, sometimes with the best of intentions. But her life in France during the war stopped the possibility of her being bombed to destruction as happened to G-AEKL and also because she stayed snug in her Hangar at Lyon Bron airfield from 1945 to 1950, did not suffer the fate of the E.2 G-ACND and E.3H G-AFAA both burnt on the Bonfire at a Royal Aero Club Garden party in July 1945 (God forgive them, they didn’t know they were destroying pieces of History – Actually I cannot forgive, but I am not God).

–o-o-O-o-o-

Not sure if I’ve already posted this on here, but her greatest feat is scheduled to be emulated in 2009 by another ‘XF’
www.capechallenge.com

I for one hadn’t seen this site , so thank you.
Hmm 50% of me hopes he does make a new record and the other 50% hopes Alex Henshaw remains unbeaten for all time.
But the site also threw up the letter from Alex Henshaw to Steve Noujaim, which was fascinating.

One of the sad parts of G-AEXF life and a little bit of a mystery so far, is the fact that after keeping her safe from 1939 to early 1945 at Villfranche-sur-Saone, her first french owner Victor Vermoral was killed in 1945, but I haven’t been able to discover the circumstances.

Anyway again many thanks to WJ244 for the info and thanks to –o-o-O-o-o- for the link.
Opssys

Not sure if I’ve already posted this on here, but her greatest feat is scheduled to be emulated in 2009 by another ‘XF’

www.capechallenge.com

This is only from memory but might be a bit of help.
I always thought that only the Lancaster and possibly the Sabre ever got to Lavenham but I could well be wrong.
Bob Batt at Southend worked/had worked for Aviation Traders and bought EXF with a view to restoring her to fly again but my understanding was that the aircraft was in very bad condition generally and that having the wings sawn off made it even more difficult. I don’t know why EXF never made it to Southend where Bob Batt based his Proctor and Prentice but presumerably some parts made it to Southend as part of the early restoration work. I believe that by this time Bob Batt was getting on in years and maybe he conceded that he would never be able to finish the restoration and passed the airframe on to Tom Storey and Martin Barraclough.
One thing does seem clear and that is that EXF has had a hard and often unlucky life. Lets hope her future continues to be much brighter than some areas of her past.