Aircraft Identification V

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by Krabat42

Malcolm McDowall.

Hi Krabat. That was the only Google clue that worked for me. McDowall and the Movie "Aces High". Came up with Cecil Arthur Lewis...

Cecil Arthur Lewis - The Aerodrome - Aces and Aircraft of World War I

New one...
Mosquito engine test bed. Unique engine designed for a unique jet that only made a short hop. What was the 4-engined jet?

[Krabat42]

That was a tough one, Graeme, the FFA N-20 "Aiguillon".

FFA N-20 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I read that the Mossi they used as a test bed was originally interned during the war.

OK, it's getting more and more interesting. here's another man:



Krabat

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by Krabat42

I read that the Mossi they used as a test bed was originally interned during the war.

Yeah, I was hoping that the Mossie would infer "British" and throw you off the scent! So much for that!

Test pilot for Hawker? or are you also playing tricks!

[Krabat42]

I was hoping that the Mossie would infer "British" and throw you off the scent!

It did. Though I found that the swiss interred a Mossi and used it as a testbed, from there it was a short hop.

And yes, the man was test pilot for Hawker but he also flew Thunderbolts, Beaufighters and other types in WW2. In December 1961 he ejected from a then new type of aircraft in which he also did a lot of the initial testing. He's an OBE too. That should be enough.

Krabat

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by Krabat42

That should be enough.

Actually it wasn't Krabat. My searches eventually reduced me to looking for a Hawker test pilot...with a "dimpled" chin! But I think I found him...




Do you know what the aircraft is in your photo, with "Hawker" on the tail?
I was initially obsessed with Beamont and Duke and thought that the "1961 ejection" must have been from the English Electric Lightning. Considering Bedford, it must have been the P.1127/Kestral?

[Krabat42]

Good work Graeme, a tough one. I owe you an "Ehringsdorfer" if we meet one day.

Yes, Bedford is the right one but I don't know what aircraft is in the picture. I found it here:

Test & Research Pilots, Aircraft Engineers

A lot of interesting people there. Like this one:



From Greg Goebel's website is the following text about the P1127 and Bedford's ejection:

"* The second prototype, XP836, broke Mach 1.2 in a dive in early December 1961, but it was lost a few days later, on 14 December, when one of its air intakes came loose in flight, Bill Bedford ejecting safely. Despite this setback, by this time the promise of the type was so evident that the month before, in early November, the MoS had ordered four more P.1127s, which would emerge with the serial numbers "XP972", "XP976", "XP980", and "XP984", in that order of delivery."

Oh, and by the way. In "the other" thread you posted scans of articles about Brown, the Tigercat, Hornet and the Corsair. Could you send me the complete articles by mail? I'd like to read what he said about these types. Thanks in advance.

Krabat

[Waynos]

Here is an odd sight I stumbled across, so I'd thought I'd stick the image up here for you lot to play with, and for bonus points whats behind it?;

[runningdog]

[QUOTE=Waynos;401043]Here is an odd sight I stumbled across, so I'd thought I'd stick the image up here for you lot to play with, and for bonus points whats behind it?;
QUOTE]
Looks like the remains of a Britannia to me, though I haven't a clue about the other one..........

[runningdog]

Originally Posted by Graeme

Do you know what the aircraft is in your photo, with "Hawker" on the tail?

My guess is a Tomtit, but I'm open to correction as I thought the 'civvie' Tomtit owned by Hawkers was G-AFTA, the one in the Shuttleworth Collection.


PS. Wrong, it's a Hart/Hind/Audax sort of thing. Most likely a Hind as Hawkers owned one alongside the Tomtit and a Hurricane. A Hind still flys from Old Warden, along with the Tomtit. I saw both of them there about 10 years or so ago.
They were superb..........

[Waynos]

Not a Britannia runningdog, no.

[runningdog]

Originally Posted by Waynos

Not a Britannia runningdog, no.

Ah well, thought it was too good to be true..........

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by Krabat42

Thanks in advance.

Not a problem! In the mail this week.

Originally Posted by runningdog

PS. Wrong, it's a Hart/Hind/Audax sort of thing.

Hi RD. I was thinking a Hart II (Kestrel) Registration G-ABMR.

Originally Posted by Waynos

Here is an odd sight I stumbled across, so I'd thought I'd stick the image up here for you lot to play with, and for bonus points whats behind it?

Hi Wayne. "Stumbled across" as in Britain or on the internet? I thought Britannia or Hermes as well, but the short distance from the nose to wing root looks odd. Considering what looks like a MiG-23/25 in the background, maybe a Soviet theme to the photo? Tupolev-124?

[Waynos]

Hi Graeme, not on the internet, no. its a photo I took myself here in the UK. full marks for the MiG 23. You are in the right era for the fuselage, would it help if I told you that production of this aircraft never reached double figures, nor was it only a prototype? That is why I snapped such a tatty fuselage when I saw it.

[Graeme]

So...then I thought maybe AW Apollo or Tay Viscount and in desperation maybe an Avro Jetliner. Googled "Avro Jetliner fuselage in UK"...and found this instead...

Avro Ashton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Graeme]

In a similar vein but probably too easy for a Brit....