Avro 618 Ten G-ACGF

Thanks for that info, RadarArchive. What a very sad end for both aircraft. To think they may possibly have still been with us but for that fire 🙁

I can add a little to the story of G-ACGF. According to Sword in the Sky, in 1941 John Sword moved Airspeed Ferry G-ACBT from Renfrew to a family holiday home site at Tarbolton. In a field Sword had several caravans and the Ferry joined Avro Ten G-ACGF in a large tented hangar there. There were several spare engines for both aircraft as well as a Bedford bus and a teak launch for Sword’s motor yacht all in the hangar. In the summer of 1942 or 1943 the family were woken by cries of “fire” from the staff to discover that the tented hangar was on fire. It was completely destroyed, as were the AS Ferry and Avro Ten and the other contents. The engines from the Ten, as well as one engine from the Ferry remained at Tarbolton until given to the museum 45 years later in 1987.

It appears the engines and other parts were retained by John Sword following the demise of his airline and G-ACGF, which was presumably at Renfrew.  He kept several historic motor cars and may have felt the aero engines complemented his collection or it may simply have been for sentimental reasons. Following John Sword’s death in 1960 his car collection was auctioned off but the Avro parts were held in store until acquired by the National Museums of Scotland in 1987. 

I would like to thank the curators of the museum for their assistance in answering this question. 

Hopefully I’ll find that out in due course, AA. The curator is out of office at present and will send any more info available at a later date. 

Well done, MM. Another mystery solved. However I wonder where those engines had been between 1935 and 1987.

I have received a very prompt response from National Museums of Scotland! As suspected, the article in Scottish Air News was incorrect and there is no fuselage. However, the museum holds not just one but two engines from the Avro 618 Ten. They have the one from the nose plus another with nacelle, gauges and propellers. The engines arrived as late as 1987. 

That’s quite possible, AA. Good idea to contact the RSM. I’ll report back if I get any info.

Maybe the engine and forward fuselage of ‘CGF have been confused, i.e. that the RSM has the former and Scottish Air News confused that with the latter? Maybe the best way of finding out would be an enquiry of the RSM, namely what does it have and how and when did it acquire it.

Thanks, AA. Yes, it was new to me too! At first I wondered if there was some confusion with the Spartan Cruiser fuselage the RSM have but I doubt it as that had already been with them for 10 years. If it does exist then it has been kept well hidden!

From a couple of Peter V. Clegg’s books (The Quiet Test Pilot and Sword in the Sky) I understand that Jimmy Orrell flew G-ACGF from Blackpool back to Renfrew on July 25th 1934  “with a view to its being disposed of there” and that at that point it was grounded. From the BCAR entry then, it sounds like that may have been its last flight.

The RSM do have a Lynx engine from ‘GF –  http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-104-516-C 

Do they have more of this machine tucked away in a dusty corner of the reserve collection? I think we’d have heard about it before now but I’ll live in hope!

That one’s new to me, MM. I suspect that the cancellation of its registration in 1946 was part of the ARB post-war ‘housekeeping’ exercise. According to BCAR 1919-1999, it had been withdrawn from use in 1935. Thus it would therefore be interesting to know where the forward fuselage had been lurking for nearly half a century before allegedly being acquired  by the RSM in 1983 – and where it has been for the succeeding thirty seven years!