Airmac
This float looks like the product of the early 1920’s. Those used during WW1 were usually wooden boxy affairs with flat sides,top and bottom. By the mid to late 20’s they were usually made of metal so yours falls in the short gap in between.
The only image I can find that show something similar is of the 1924 Gloster II Schneider trophy racer, two built, one crashed, race cancelled. They appear to have that curved top line.
Can someone have a look in the Putnam Gloster book(cant find mine) as I can only find this one picture.
The one issue I have is with the four point strut attachment, although that might be for interchangeability reasons or two being for the upright struts and the other two for the spreaders.

http://avia.russian.ee/air/england/gloster-2.php

Richard

When I lived in Farnborough I could hear Concorde depart LHR if the wind was from the East, thats something like 22 miles.
Where I live now we have a farm strip, used infrequently by microlights, its attracted some noise complaints. These have been made to the council, but its obvious from the times and descriptions of type that any air movements in the area are attributed to the strip, when they obviously were aircraft just transiting through.
When sitting in said council office to discuss the complaints withe a council officer they exclaimed on hearing a engine noise outside “there’s one now, microlights are noisy”. It was the grass being mown just outside the window.

Richard

Eric
Have a look at the SVAS site, it has an update albeit several weeks old. I believe they are building a replacement engine.

http://www.svasweb.org/

Richard

When the ATP was first proposed the design, although based on the 748, was to have been extensively upgraded, including the use of carbon fibre for floor beams, floors, fairings etc unfortunately these features were dropped due lack of funding.
The fin was swept back using the 748 stucture on new mountings purely for appearance sake, and things that had been learned on the 748, like the need for good strong gust locks, were forgotten on the ATP.
The ATP’s main competitor was the ATR42/72 which has a low airframe weight allowing good payloads and performance.
I would dearly have loved the ATP to have been a roaring success but it was nailed by the lack of investment in it at the beginning.

Richard

On the subject of dayglo, a Bell UH1 Huey has just passed me heading Southwesterly towards Chichester, painted overall dark green but the door was all Dayglo with S A R in large letters. It passed the other way a few days ago.

Richard

Thing are no better with British piston powered four engined aircraft, am I right in thinking its just a couple of Lancasters, a Heron or two and Kermits Sandringham as a possible.

If you include turboprop power then you can count a Belfast.

I attended a very interesting lecture given by Ormond’s brothers, Wensley I think, about the collection and plans following Ormond’s death.
In the collection they had a boat ‘Brave Challenger’ which was the prototype of a fast patrol boat built by Vospers. It was powered by three marine Proteus, for which spares were getting difficult to find as at that time the SRN4 hovercraft were still in service and they had bought up all they could find.
One tale was of taking the boat to Monaco, where they upset the natives by doing a wet start which sent enormous flames out of the three jet pipes then departing the harbour at a very indecant speed. It was capable of 60knts or more.
It is often moored at Gunwharf Portsmouth these days, with the three jet pipes at the stern covered by what looks like stainless steel toilet seats that fold away when the engines start.

For those who were unable to attend DX——–a ready made blank to superimpose on your old warbird pics, just to make you feel like you were there.