There was a very good series of Philip Jarrett articles in Aeroplane during the Wright Centenary year (2003) about other claims to being the first to fly (Gustav Whitehead, Richard Pearse etc etc). In summary, the conclusion was that there is no firm proof of any other powered and controlled flight before the Wrights. PJ seems to have studied the subject exhaustively and scientifically so his is an opinion I tend to trust on the subject.

Even IF someone else did fly earlier, they certainly didn’t have the same body of scientific knowledge and rigour as the Wrights and so on the grounds of doing their homework the Wrights win hands-down.

Great picture! It reminds me of another pic of a hanger at Eastleigh the night before one of the mass Spit flypasts over Southampton back in the 90’s, crammed with Spits, Hurri’s and even the TFC P38!

Looking on places like Platinum and Courtesy, it’s amazing what’s available at the moment – Lysander, Swordfish, Grumman Guardian, several Spits, Seafire, I-16 Rata, Buchons and even an airworthy B26 Marauder project (although in it’s very early stages), and then there’s the Greg Herrick collection. That Avro Avian deserves a good home…

Thanks for the reply Andy, certainly sounds like a very sensible mod when you consider the transit distances between N American show venues. Has this mod been done with any other restored Spits?

I can’t give a publication date, but I do remember the pics being published. It was apparently some sort of ground-running, maintenance training rig and never flew as a twin.

I think the single-fin, ground-bound radio trials airframe was PN323 at Radlett, which is the now well-known cockpit section with IWM.