SE-CAU has been in storage since it arrived.

And will remain so for a long time to come probably. It was acquired with a view to restoring it in the exchange deal with the Spitfire mentioned above, but since then the museum at Lelystad has changed hands from a non-profit organization (that ran into severe financial difficulties) to a commercial company. The latter appears to have no interest in aircraft restoration if it is not commercially justifiable (i.e. increased revenue from visitors in the long run). The amount of work the Firefly will need makes it unlikely to be on display anytime soon at Lelystad. Hopefully a third party will step in.

I see there is a Pitts 12 on there as well. anyone know where in South Wales that this stuff is?

St. Athan I would say?

On arrival at Hendon at 0930 I stopped at the booth on entering the car park and was promptly asked if I was there on business or to visit the Museum. I said I was a visitor and was told I could not enter the car park until 1000. I politely indicated to the lady in the booth that I had had a difficult journey, was not a young person and wanted to park and wait until 1000 but this fell on deaf ears.

Sounds like my experience. We arrived half an hour early as well and were not allowed entry to the car park to wait for the museum to open. A most unwelcome start after a trip involving two cars, a train and a Ryan Air flight. The car park BTW was completely empty. We opted to head back into London traffic and grab a coffee somewhere…

A good candidate date for the event would be April 7th, 1931. An F.VII of CLS running the new Amsterdam-Prague line (it had started that week) made an emergency landing ‘just under’ Ter Aar (the Netherlands) due to engine failure according to De Telegraaf newspaper of April 8th, 1931 (the day after). Mechanics from Schiphol were roaded in to fix the problem so the aircraft could be flown out. Now, coincidence or not, a Gerardus van der Pijl ran a butcher shop in nearby Aarlanderveen, and he had a son also called Gerardus van der Pijl, who also was a butcher. They were 67 and 27 years old at the time respectively. The son was born on the address of Korteraarseweg 102, which to this day is in use as a butcher’s (Slagerij Van Harten, since 1930). I know the area well. It is extremely suitable for emergency landings, with long wide open fields, and is about halfway between Ter Aar and Aarlanderveen.

The Dart has been lovingly restored some years ago, and is flying from Tibenham.

I note that one of the participants was the Dutch Sagitta prototype flown by Ordelman. Since it is being rebuilt by a friend of mine, I would love so see any pictures people might have of it at South Cerney… The restoration is superb, and has been a labour of love for nearly some decades now, nearing completion.

Is there some engineering reason why they never found broad postwar use?

It was a British design 😉

The Fokker airliners used a mixed construction. Wooden wings and a fuselage of steel tubing covered with fabric.

Actually ‘wing’. not plural. Tip-to-tip was one wooden spar, under which the fuselage was hung. This made repairs after accident quite complex.

Was wondering if anyone could help me identify this aircraft motor I came across and tell me more about it. Much appreciated.
It’s a flat 4, two-cycle engine.
Type: M2791
Serial no.: 267
Rating: 70hp- 4100rpm
Meteor – Trieste
Aircraft and electronics industry.
And has a stamp: M3

Drone engine, built by Meteor s.P.A. of Triest (Italy). Probably used for the earlier generation drones like the P.70 (may be a license-built McCullough flat four engine?).