All the DH88 Comets had the registrations on the top surface of the wings as well.

But wasn’t that full-span, e.g. “G-A” on the port wing and “CSP” on the starboard?

Some more examples of the whole registration facing forwards on the starboard upper only include:

G-AOSE (DH Dove)
G-APDA (DH Comet 4)
G-AOJJ (DH Tiger Moth)
G-ANVP (Convair 340-D2)
G-AODF (HPR3 Herald)

I think we can safely say that the reg’n on the starboard upper post-war is not an uncommon feature.

Yes… please post the photo(s)!

Cheers,
Richard

Your wish is my command 🙂

(Photo taken in 1966 and sent to me by the late Jean Frelaut in June 1986.)

I believe that the Bloch was scrapped the day the Seafire was removed.

I have a photo of the pair on the dump if anyone’s interested.

Fairey Atalanta

I believe that it was the Fairey Atalanta (not Atlanta). There was some correspondence about these hulls in Air Pictorial back around 1964-65 but I can’t get to my copies at the moment.

Flight Archive has this on the Atalanta:

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1924/1924%20-%200314.html

(go back two pages for an air-to-air)

Here’s some more details from the RAF Museum:

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/collections/aircraft/aircraft_histories/67-A-705%20Supermarine%20Southampton.pdf

Great photos.

I don’t believe that is Mr Henshaw in the overalls. In fact if anyone is Henshaw, I suspect its the young chap with the curly hair, in tweeds with his back to the camera.

The aircraft appears to be Edgar Percival’s own aeroplane G-AFAA and the event is most likely the 1938 Kings Cup Air Race. WHich Henshaw of course won in G-AEXF.

I haven’t got Henshaw’s ‘Flight of the Mew Gull’ book available to me, but I seem to remember a comment about the Comet being damaged on landing in a flight just before the race?

Well worth getting a copy, if you haven’t got one already. A brillant read!

I suspect that the guys in white overalls are from the Percival Aircraft Co. Ltd at Luton – G-AFAA was a company entrant with EWP at the helm. It may be Alex with his back to the camera, he flew in a rather smart tweed sports jacket and dark tie in G-AEXF to win the 1938 race (I have a lovely photo of him receiving the trophy which he signed for me years ago – sadly the ball point ink has faded now but I know he signed it! (Same as the shot that Arthur Clouston signed of him taxying into Croydon in G-ACSS The Burberry).

G-ACSS damaged a wing in a ground-loop at Hatfield on 1 July 1938 and was withdrawn from the race. It was moved to Gravesend by Jack Cross and stored under tarpaulins until rediscovered and restored for The Festival of Britain.

Have a look at the ITN newsreel link I posted the other day to watch video of the Sparrowjet and Mew Gull at the 1957 Kings Cup at Baginton.

I had a telephone chat with Andrea – Jerry’s widow – on Saturday evening, we’d lost touch, a great shame, as there was a memorial service for Jerry held on Friday which I would have loved to have attended. At least we are back in touch and my wife and I will be meeting up with Andrea soon.

Rolls-Royce had a total of seven Lancasters at Hucknall for various trials between 1945 & 1950 – this may be one of them.

Unfortunately I don’t have a list of serials apart from:

VH742
NG465

can anyone add the other five?