St Edward's School, Oxford, and Brisfit

Universal Aircraft Services of Witney must have liked the type – perhaps oddly, in the 1930s, for an aeroplane deriving from Great War – as its ownership of G-ABYE (1935-38) was preceded by that of G-ACCG in 1933. Or maybe they had the misfortune to take two of the “old crocks” – as Jackson delightfully calls them – in part exchange for something more modern!

Ah, “old crocks”, now there’s a term that I haven’t heard in many a year – in fact since my childhood, when parents used to take me to see the “old crocks” participating in the London to Brighton veteran car run – but according to Jackson it was the “old crocks” event in which the remaining, superannuated Brisfits participated at the Hendon RAF displays in the second half of the 1930s.

Oh and by the way, does anyone know anything about the fate of G-ABYF which was dismantled at Redhill in 1939 but whose registration was not cancelled until 1945?

Who has the ‘Other Mag?’ For Oct 2007?

http://www.simnetwork.com/SIMNETWORK/downloads.php?cat_id=29&rowstart=15

“1934 Brisfit to Baghdad. The idea for this real-life flight came from the pages of the October 2007 edition of “Aeroplane Monthly’, a magazine which has been the source of inspiration for a couple of flights. In this one, two university undergraduates – one the pilot, the other a friend who wanted to go to Iraq to see his parents – fly an old Bristol Fighter from England to Baghdad via France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Syria and then return via Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Italy and France. The ‘Brisfit’ they bought for 100 pounds. Built in 1918, it had been declared surplus by the Air ministry in 1924 and was registered G-ABYE. The journey began on August 10th, 1934 and they returned on September 17th”

JDK – Prehaps you could use one of your contacts? Prehaps even do an “Aircrew” on it?

James, I think the St Edward’s School Roll also has him with two “t”s, so easily done…

Adrian

and, according to G-Info, in the ownership of Universal Aircraft Services Ltd in 1935, at Witney, and removed from use 1938.

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-ABYE.pdf

So in Oxfordshire at the right time…

Adrian

Just to confirm Jackson’s book does say Emmett. Error?

Putnam’s British Civil Aircraft Vol 1 by A J Jackson gives (-page 515) G-ABYE (7559), F4721 14.12.32 M. Emmett, Woodley; Universal Aircraft Services Ltd, Whitney [Which is Oxon] 3.35; registration cancelled 4.38.

Well, that was a bit of fun, now back to what I’m supposed to be doing! 😀

G-ABYE

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1930/untitled0%20-%200910.html?search=Emmet

Far Right First Row…

Agh – if I’d thought to look for the name instead of the school and the aeroplane….:o No doubt it’s the right chap, though, because I bought the photo in an antiques shop in Saffron Walden. Fantastic, Paul, thank you!

Yes, an ID (and that photo…) of the plane would be icing on the cake, and if it was still in the air in 1936, a good candidate for the camera platform.

Now all I need to do is undo the beautiful job the chap I lent the picture to made of reframing it so I can scan it…

Adrian

Now we need an ID!

Do you Trust the Guardian?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2001/mar/21/guardianobituaries.highereducation

Maitland Emmet

“A lively interest in natural history continued at Sherborne school, where Emmet was allowed to keep a pet jackdaw he had reared from a nestling. While reading greats at University College, Oxford, his dominant interest became rowing; he also learned to fly, and bought a government surplus biplane which, as a master at St Edward’s school, Oxford, he would sometimes land on the playing field. “

JDK is right, of course – I do have a “contact” who, to my delight, saved me researching the photo by doing it himself when I lent it to him (one thing crossed off the “when I have time…” list). Not knowing about the Brisfit, though, he didn’t enquire about it.

I was just hoping someone here might recall it as well, and maybe have an old magazine handy…

Adrian

He was the Latin Teacher (according to Wikipedia 🙂 ) in 1930

It certainly is still an avery active school

http://www.stedwards.oxon.sch.uk/

Obvious I know, but how about taking to the school? It’s the kind of thing that there’d be records held of, but you’d need help from a librarian or an interested teacher to get a decent ‘trawl’ of the school’s records.

I’m assuming the school’s a) Public and b) still going, my interest in British education in Oxon now being firmly historical.

I know that the Oxfordshire Museum has very little aviation material of any kind, but it might also be worth talking to the Oxford Museum or more likely the City and the County library and archives. Not sure who I’d know who’d be there now, but a proper approach would be better anyway.

Interested if you find anything!

Well, I guess it would have been appropriate if Warby had taken a photo…

No, it was definitely a housemaster who had the Brisfit – and I cannot for the life of me remember his name. The name on the back of the photo is Emmet, but having had some research done locally I think he became a housemaster too late to be the chap in question, and 1936 (the photo shows a building dating to 1936, so cannot be earlier) might be a bit late for the Brisfit, but I’d like to rule it out.

Allegedly something like 1 in 8 of “The Few” were St Edward’s old boys – that sounds high to me, but you never know…

Adrian

A quick google reveals the following old boys,

Douglas Bader
Sir Geoffrey de Havilland DSO OBE CBE
Guy Gibson VC
Adrian Warburton DSO DFC

Any of them could have taken an aerial photograph of their old school?