VEF I-12 YL-ABS came to the UK from Latvia in the late 1930s. It appears that the I-12 was ‘anglicised’, to satisfy UK ARB requirements, and Rollasons, at Croydon, were appointed UK agent for the type. However, none were sold by it but one (possibly YL-ABS) was, in summer 1939, offered for sale by DRP Engines (Douglas Pobjoy’s latter company), at Gatwick, for £750. There is no record of it being sold. With the outbreak of war YL-ABS appears to drop off the radar. But one must deduce that it was stored in the UK for the duration and survived the war. It is said that it was acquired, possibly immediately post-war, by inveterate airframe collector Jim Packer of Burton, Wiltshire, and I have seen an undated photograph of it standing outside the Old House at Home public house in that village. Packer was killed when his Piper Cub ditched at sea, off Ostend, in December 1947. His large collection of redundant airframes, which presumably included YL-ABS, appears to have been disposed of by a clearance sale at his garage in Burton after his death. There the trail goes cold. Does anyone have any knowledge of YL-ABS in the period 1939-45 and/or 1946/47 and/or after 1947? If so, I’d much appreciate your input.
With my thanks in anticipation.
AA
By: avion ancien - 16th April 2023 at 15:09
YL-ABS at Burton post-WWII.
By: Mothminor - 22nd March 2023 at 20:56
Great info, Oracal. It’s very interesting to read about the personalities involved.
AA, there is a British Movietone video on Youtube of (assuming the date is correct) the 1937 Lympne Rally. YL-ABG makes an appearance 26 seconds in.
By: avion ancien - 21st March 2023 at 15:17
Thank you, Oracal. Not only does that shed light on why DRP Engines was trying to sell an I-12 (was it YL-ABG or YL-ABS?) , when Rollason was said to have the agency for the aircraft, but it also provides an interesting anecdote about Philip Avery.
By: Arabella-Cox - 21st March 2023 at 14:14
Philip Avery. was an odd chap. He was already a private pilot when he joined the ATA and the military’s assessment was that he was “An average pilot, with not too good a sense of discipline” He had several incidents and wrote-off perhaps three aircraft he was ferrying.
In 1939 Pobjoy became involved in Avery’s outer circle when he was trying to raise money to build his range of sleeve-valve engines.
Avery had fingers in many pies and was the prewar representative for Minox camera in the UK. He raced and set a number of records flying the VEF-I 12 which he had become involved with during his frequent pre war visits to Riga.
Pobjoy was working at the behest of Avery trying to sell the VEF-I 12 from his Gatwick office located in the ‘Beehive’. In September 1939 he was given notice of call-up for the Army and thus abandoned his company DRP Engines Ltd, the VEF I 12, and the work he was doing for Harry Ricardo. He was in a reserved occupation and over 40 years old, nonetheless as an Army Captain he attended re enlistment trading as of January 1940. A few weeks later he found himself a civilian again and chief engineer of Rotol Ancillaries for the duration of the war.
A parting story to demonstrate the depths of Avery’s dealings. When Pobjoy was setting up this tractor concern Avery was planning to invest money in the enterprise. Knowing of Pobjoy’s planned visit to Stockholm, Avery suggested to Pobjoy that he takeout life insurance, and Pobjoy did so to the tune of £20,000. As we know Pobjoy died in the Northolt aircrash on 4 July 1948. Avery went calling on Ellie (Pobjoy’s widow) for half the insurance payout – his reasoning? It was his idea! Pobjoy’s brother-in-law Ted Fresson travelled down from Inverness for the funeral service and cremation, and to (firmly) put Avery right on the notion of his receiving any of the insurance claim.
But that wasn’t the end of Avery’s dealings with Ellie. He kept chasing using solicitor for a stake in Pobjoy’s patents. Matters were only finally resolved 6-years later; he got nothing!
By: avion ancien - 21st March 2023 at 11:25
No, Aerotony, I don’t think that A-B got the registration wrong. Both YL-ABG and YL-ABS were in the UK in the late 1930s. There is more detail about their visits on the latvianaviation.com website:
YL-ABG
- The first prototype, it did not receive a military serial number.
- Completed in June, 1937, and test flown on June 26, 1937.
- Passed its airworthiness tests on July 8, 1937 and was issued a civil registration number.
- June – July, 1938 – in single-seater mode, used by British aviator Avery to compete in the Isle of Man aviation competition. Returned to Latvia in July 1938.
- 1939-1940 – maintained by VEF as a test bed aircraft. Survived until the Soviet occupation (1940).
YL-ABS
- Avery flew this aircraft to England in 1939 where, when war broke out, it remained.
- As it is receiving airworthiness certification, war breaks out and it is parked in a warehouse. Its subsequent fate is unknown.
What is not clear is which VEF I-12 competed at Ramsgate and Lympne in August and September 1937, but YL-ABG seems the most likely candidate. However I think it safe to assume that it was YL-ABS that competed at Folkestone in August 1939. I suspect that the answer is to be found in Flight magazine – if only its online archive was still available!
By: Aerotony - 20th March 2023 at 19:21
YL-ABG, according to “British Racing and Record Breaking Aircraft” took part in the Ramsgate races on 21 Aug 1937 and the Lympne International Rally on 28/29 Sept 1937 as well as the Folkstone Aero Trophy Race on 5 Aug 1939 referred to above. It therefore seems likely to me that A-B got the registration wrong.
This picture is captioned as being at “Ramsgate 1937”. Note the racing no. 3.
By: avion ancien - 20th March 2023 at 17:17
Thank you, MM. That’s very helpful. Presumably YL-ABS didn’t qualify for impressment and thus was left to gather dust in one of the hangars at Hanworth. Your source indicates that Jim Packer must have acquired it in 1946 or 1947. I wonder what became of it thereafter?
By: Mothminor - 20th March 2023 at 16:51
A-B has the following info on YL-ABS – took part in the Isle of Man race in May 1939 and was at Elmdon on 8th August that year piloted by Philip de Walden Avery who had negotiated a dealership with the company in 1938. It then participated in the Folkestone Aero Trophy Race according to A-B but this is at odds with British Racing and Record Breaking Aircraft which state that it was YL-ABG which took part in that race.
YL-ABS remained in Britain through the war and was re-discovered at Hanworth in 1946 with outer wings and engine removed and still wearing the pre-war race number 15 on the tail. Dismantled and still in U.K. 25.5.47
Hope something there of help, AA
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March 20, 2023 at 3:30 pm