Is it too late?

So I guess it’s too late to submit another one ?

🙂

It’s still around. Or was a few years ago.

John

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/Aeroclub/StearmanHammondY1s.jpg

Seems it’s owned by the Hiller Museum in California – unless it’s another type altogether?

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNumSQL.asp?NNumbertxt=15522&cmndfind.x=17&cmndfind.y=6

Here’s another one:

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/nnumsql.asp?NNumbertxt=15521

I wonder why it’s listed as a “Miller P D” rather than a “Stearman-Hammond” ?

Was there ever a ‘production’ Spitfire (or Seafire) with a Griffon and contra-rotating props?

Seafire 45, 46 & 47

B-24 and B-25 on the ramp at Spokane (GEG) Tuesday morning

Waiting for my United flight from Spokane to Chicago yesterday I wandered over to the window while sipping my Starbucks and there were the Collings Foundation’s B-24 and B-25 parked in the sunshine (7:00am).

The local paper had a shot of the B-17 on the front page – it was stuck at Paine Field with a blown cylinder and due into Spokane at lunchtime so I didn’t get to see that.

There was a Beech 18 taxying about too!

BTW – Had a ride in a Beaver floatplane at the weekend … awesome … pics to follow!:)

ref – wings, I believe DB is right – they are ‘new build’

I always thought of the Q.6 as a ‘monoplane Rapide’ if you can imagine that!

TT

Yes they are new-build (although about 15-20 years old now!). They were designed and built by Speedwell Sailplanes using Proctor wings as the basis for the design. I believe the same company had rebuilt the wings of the Mew Gull G-AEXF for Tom Storey & Martin Barraclough.

I can remember trying to track down the originals – no luck – and another pair had been destroyed at Leavesden in the 1970’s too!:(

Some were built from F Hills and Sons Ltd, Manchester and some from Percival Aircraft Ltd, Luton (especially the V’s). But don’t know the connection with the different prefixes (Ae, As, H, K).
http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=675

Percival used a letter designator for each type,eg the Type D Gull, Type E Mew Gull, etc. These were further sub-divided to denote engine type etc and major new versions, so the Gull – which could have the Gipsy, Napier Javelin or Cirrus etc was the D.1, D.2,D.3 and so on.

When they got to “Z” they started over with Aa, Ab, Ac, etc. The post-war Proctors were the Types Ae and As. The pre-war Proctors were Type K (same as the Vega Gull) and I’m pretty certain that the “H” c/n signifies it was built by F. Hills & Sons in Manchester.

The post-war P. numbers were allocated retrospectively and never used by Percivals when the aircraft were in production. Edgar P used to get very hot under the collar over such things….Luckily on the few occasions that he rang me he was always very complementary about what I had written about his products!

One thing I forgot to ask him was what were the Types A, B and C … I have my suspicions but I’d love some concrete evidence rather than a ‘thin but robust’ theory!

The Irish Swoop

The best shot I have of it I’m afraid (taken by Geoffrey Wikner at Eastleigh where it was assembled after having been shipped in from the USA)

It was a Bellanca 28-70, powered by a 700hp P&W Twin Wasp Junior SA-G. Bearing c/n 902 it was specifically built for the 1934 England – Australia Air Race. After it failed to start it was shipped back to the USA, re-registered as NR190M and named “The Dorothy”. As such it was used by Jim Mollison to break the Trans-Atlantic record in 13hrs 17mins from New York to Croydon on 30 October 1936. On arrival it was re-registered as G-AEPC.

He made an unsuccessful attempt on the London – Cape Town record, starting on 29 November 1936, but the aircraft was shipped back to Croydon where it remained until flown away in 1937.

I don’t know its final fate – although this website http://aerofiles.com/bella-flash.html suggests it was sold to Repubican forces in the Spanish Civil War.

(I would think that Barton is the Barton near Manchester, my Dad was an instructor at Sealand and Barton was not that far away – at least not by Tiger Moth!):)

Here’s a link to information on the air race itself: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,882277-1,00.html – must dash, oddly enough one of my jobs is at Mildenhall and I drive on and off the base a couple of days a week … I’m just off there now! (The race is commemorated in the stained glass windows of the base chapel with a lovely red D.H.88 Comet)

(Makes a change from Spitfires – just finishing the chapter on the Mk.XVI survivors if anyone’s interested!)

Here, Here, Black Night, also it would be nice for her to take up her old registration of G-AIDN.

I always thought this scheme was rather attractive:)