We’ve had the Mach 1 discussion before on this forum, and once again I refer you all to the book that discusses this in detail: “Aces Wild – the race for Mach 1” by Al Blackburn. My personal conclusion, based mainly on this book but also on other information, is that Geoge Welch should have received the credit, along with North American, the latter for designing a fully functional aircraft on its own wheels that could take off and land conventionally as well as shoot down MiGs.
It is also my personal opinion that Bell were given vital information from the M.52 project and without it they would clearly have been unable to get past Mach 1.
That’s my two penn’orth!

JoeB, I must reluctantly agree, although there is a stupendous amount of misinformation on the web, which is why I am constanly seeking to increase my library, with more trust in the printed word – although mistakes do tend to be perpetuated in printed literature too!
One advantage of magazines is that when a mistake is made and is picked up by a reader, a reputable magazine usually prints the correction in a subsequent issue.
One of my favourite features of the soon-to-be-late AE is that some extremely arcane information that would never make it into a book is/was published there. However I have now switched, to subscribe to Air Britain, which I believe will satisfy my thirst for detailed knowledge and be a good source of bedtime reading.

This will be a very sad loss for me, I hope this type of information will continue to appear in other Key Publishing periodicals! Perhaps KP could give us subscribers a clue as to where else to turn!

Gustav Hamel was the first English pilot to loop, according to “Who’s Who in Aviation History” by William H Longyard. His father was a German doctor who attended to the cream of British society. Gustav was educated at Westminster and Cambridge before learning to fly in 1910. Hamel disappeared over the English Channel in 1914. Fishermen found a mangled body later that was not positively identified but probably was his.
The same source says that Claude Grahame-White bought a Bleriot after meeting Louis at Rheims in 1909, and taught himself to fly, gaining British aviation certificate no. 6. He later joined the RNAS and participated in a raid on German bases in Belgium.

Thanks for the reminder, Newforest, as a matter of interest the 1st prototype Constellation had another “first flight” as the Super Constellation prototype, on October 13, 1960, after being owned for a while by none other than Howard Hughes.

Ballykellybrat – that was a blast from the past – as an Aircraft Apprentice at RAF Locking I must have flown in one of those two! Perhaps piloted by your father!
Two things I will never forget were:
1. A “dive-bombing” attack on Lundy(?) island in the Bristol Channel, and
2. A touch-and-go at Yeovilton.
In both cases we were standing behind the pilots – no such thing as safety belts and in the pull-up from the “dive-bombing attack” we all sank to our knees with the “tremendous” G force – probably about 2G only, but it was for us sprogs our first taste of G.
Another aircraft at Weston that we flew in was a “birdcage” Anson, I remember.
Those were the days! (93rd Entry, 1959-1962)