2018 07 (543) AEROPLANE.pdf

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EXCLUSIVE
Bf 109G PAIR OVER GERMANY
July 2018
Issue No 543,
Vol 46,
No 7
HISTORY IN THE AIR SINCE 1911
FARNBOROUGH
Great moments from
the SBAC shows
Atlantic Vampires
70th ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE
DATA
DATABASE
Fairey Rotodyne
Forging a warbird
legend
Spitfire MH434’s early
civilian days
First jets across the Pond
PLUS
HANOVER STREET B-25s
�½
BATTLE OF FRANCE PILOT
JULY 2018
£4.60
OFFERED FOR SALE
Credit - John Dibbs - Plane Picture Company
1945 Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire XVIIIe
s/n: SM845 Reg: G-BUOS
Price: £1,700,000 *
1945 Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire XVIe
s/n: TB252 Reg: N752TB
Price: US$2,500,000 *
Credit - Air Leasing
1954 Hispano Aviation HA-1112-M4L (Bf-109)
Factory Dual-Control s/n: 40/2 Reg: G-AWHC
Price: US$5,999,999 *
1958 Hispano Aviation HA-1112-M1L (Bf-109)
s/n: 187 Reg: G-AWHM
Price: US$2,495,000 *
Credit - Doug Fisher
1942 National Steel Car Corp (Westland) Lysander 3A
s/n: 1206 Reg: C-FVZZ
Price: US$950,000 *
1942 Blackburn Aircraft Co (Fairey) Swordfish II
s/n: HS554 Reg: C-GEVS
Price: US$650,000 - As Is *
For complete specifications and photos, please visit our website or contact:
+1 800 210 1951
V.A.T. / G.S.T.
if applicable
*
Plus
Contents
July 2018
28
See pages
26-27
for a g
reat
subscription
offer
36
42
50
74
68
NEWS AND
COMMENT
4
6
FROM THE EDITOR
NEWS
• Spitfire PL983 flies again at Duxford
• Buchón ‘Yellow 7’ airborne
• Salis Corsair back in the air
…and the month’s other top aircraft
preservation news
NEWS SPECIAL
The return of a P-47 Thunderbolt to
UK skies
HANGAR TALK
Steve Slater’s comment on the
historic aircraft world
FLIGHT LINE
Reflections on aviation history with
Denis J. Calvert
102
REVIEWS
The latest aviation books in the
spotlight, plus a look ahead to the
Guild of Aviation Artists’ annual
exhibition
104
EVENTS
Reports from La Ferté-Alais,
Shuttleworth and Duxford, plus July’s
show dates
114
NEXT MONTH
68
74
BATTLE OF FRANCE DIARY
A Potez 63.11 reconnaissance pilot’s
vivid recollections of 1940
AEROPLANE
MEETS…
TIM DAVIES
The man who brought Spitfire
MH434 back to Britain
DATABASE:
FAIREY
ROTODYNE
A lost
opportunity,
or a dead
end? Bruce
Hales-
Dutton
assesses this
remarkable
British machine
85
16
19
21
FEATURES
28
36
42
HANOVER STREET
B-25s
In part one of a two-part feature,
the daring ferry flight that proved,
‘Mitchells do fly in IMC’
HANGAR 10 Bf 109s
Two ‘Gustavs’ fly together over
Germany for the first time in years
TRANS-ATLANTIC VAMPIRES
Behind the scenes with No 54
Squadron on one of the early jet
age’s most trailblazing exploits
P-51
TRUSTY RUSTY
Profiling what will hopefully be a
2018 Flying Legends star
FARNBOROUGH SHOW AT 70
1948’s SBAC show in retrospect —
and personal highlights from seven
decades of displays at the Hampshire
airfield
DATA
BASE
IN-DEPTH
PAGES
Fairey’s vision of
the future
DEVELOPMENT
FAIREY ROTODYNE
16
FAIREY
ROTODYNE
WORDS:
BRUCE HALES-DUTTON
t was hailed as
Party at Ripley,
the
Surrey, on 3
first true vertical world’s
June
take-off
1958 witnessed
and landing airliner,
the
Rotodyne’s public
a
machine so advanced
debut.
AEROPLANE
it
was probably
five
of any comparabl years ahead
is thought that
work that is being
a rotorcraft of
under developmee aircraft
the size proposed,
British designers devoted by
nt anywhere
to new kinds
in the world.
turbine engines, with twin
of helicopter”
But
will fulfil the
. This was
Fairey Rotodyne although the
growing demand
heralded in the
was the most
for a
report of an
innovative British
rotary-wing air
The airline’s visionary
interdepartmental
transport.”
the de Havilland airliner since
chief
The idea of aircraft
executive, Peter
led by the Ministry committee
Comet and
Masefield,
operating
had the potential
of Civil
between city
predicted that
Aviation. Also
centres
to
a machine
revealed
revolutionise
provide previously to
to carry 48 passengers able
committee’s disappoint was the
short-haul air
travel, the sole
over
of levels of mobilityundreamed- 250-mile
ment
with the helicopters
prototype
(400km) sectors
had been
ended up on
produced
and
around since
cruising at 160mph
so far by British
the scrapheap
the
(256km/h)
companies.
— literally —
invention of the 1930s. The
could replace
Most were considered
after
helicopter
fixed-wing
government got the
advanced it. After
too
aircraft on all
small to be viable
cold feet and
but the longest
the Second
withdrew funding.
World War the
domestic trunk
transport vehicles public
availability of
routes.
At first the name
reliable and practical
Masefield’s vision,
had been certifi and only one
‘Rotodyne’
rotorcraft
revealed in a
cated
was a generic
suggested it
lecture to the
carrying fare-paying for
one which the
was
Helicopter
Fairey Aviation
of time before just a matter
Association of
passengers.
Company
city-centre
Great Britain,
applied to a new
heliports
would
was of London
But the newspaper
kind
be available to
in the
helicopter it claimed of
also
support the creation
1960s being served late
reported details
of a
of
invented. In January to have
network of air
fixed-wing airports. by just two
which represente a proposal
services linking
1949 the
Heathrow
d “a
company sent
towns and cities
and Gatwick,
departure from
in
he believed,
TOP: The sole flying
the Ministry of
all
Supply a brochure
Fairey
northern Europe. the UK and
could provide
types of moving previous
Rotodyne prototype,
all the necessary
wing
ideas for an
XE521.
outlining its
In 1951 British
capacity. The
aircraft,
machines”. At
European
crucial point was
this stage of its
have
CHRIS SANDHAM-BAILEY
“which we Airways inaugurate
termed a ‘Rotodyne’
that commercia
evolution it was
l helicopters
.”
envisaged as
Fairey explained,
MAIN PICTURE: XE521
world’s first regular d the
had to be allowed
carrying 23 passengers
captured
air-to-air during the 1959
helicopter though“It is not a
helicopter services, passenger
and
into city centres. to operate
SBAC
cruising at 135mph
between
If operations
display at Farnborough.
it has all the
characteristics
(216km/h).
Cardiff and Liverpool
were banned
According to
of a helicopter.
on grounds of
and later,
the
” between
AEROPLANE
In a covering
excessive noise,
Guardian,
“The
Manchester
Birmingham and
letter, James
Masefield
company has
Bennett, head
London. It used
warned, “most
been authorised
of
Westland-built
of the case for
to
rotorcraft division,Fairey’s
Sikorsky S-51s.
the transport
with the preliminary proceed
said the
The airline
helicopter falls
company had
wanted to build
to
the ground”.
development
evolved what
on
It was
work
it
considered to
experience using this
prophetic remark. to be a
constructing this involved in
be,
entirely novel
satisfactory confi “a
bigger and more something
In March 1951
machine.”
guration for a
the British
heavy-duty single-roto
viable, and this commercially
public received
This “novel machine”
led it to issue
r
its first
rotorcraft”. Bennett
a
specification for
was
intimation of
the Rotodyne.
added, “It
a 30-40-seat
what the
The
‘BEALine Bus’.
Manchester Guardian
behind its planned reasoning
called,
operating
“the large amount
model was that,
of secret
although it
would be slower
than a
86
www.aerop
85-100_AM_Da
I
The Helicopter
Association Garden
●
Fairey’s vision of the
city-to-city
●
Killed off before its
time,
AEROPLANE
JULY 2018
●
Test pilot Ron Gellatly
transport future
on flying the Rotodyne
tabase_July18_
or an inevitable demise?
85-100_AM_Database_Jul
y18_cc C.indd 85
www.aeroplanemonthly.com
IN-DEPTH
PAGES
04/06/2018 16:57
16
lanemonthly.com
Development
Flight Testing
Technical Details
Insights
cc C.indd 86
AEROPLANE
JULY 2018
Cancellation
Cancellation
04/06/2018
16:57
85
REGULARS
22
24
82
SKYWRITERS
Q&A
Your questions asked and answered
BRIEFING FILE
Under the skin of aviation technology
and tactics — this month, examining
the innovations that made the
Douglas DC-3 so successful
50
54
111
AEROPLANE
ARCHIVE:
CHRISLEA SUPER ACE
A British light aeroplane that could
never hope to live up to its name, no
matter how unusual it was
COVER IMAGE:
Vickers VC10 prototype
G-ARTA making its public debut at the 1962
SBAC show, with the Hunters of No 92 Squadron’s
Blue Diamonds and the Lightnings of No 74
Squadron’s Tigers lined up behind.
AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM COLLECTION
AEROPLANE
JULY 2018
www.aeroplanemonthly.com
3
H
Editor
From the
Shuttleworth Collection’s recent efforts to
bring on new talent are well-known, and
have this year seen Clare Tector becoming
possibly the first woman ever to pilot a
Bristol F2B Fighter. The Bremont Great
War Display Team has inducted several
new names, including its first female
pilot, multiple aerobatic champion Emily
Collett, who flies an SE5a replica. On the
heavier warbird side, Plane Sailing now
has two younger Catalina display captains,
Matt Dearden and Sébastien Mazzuchetti
— and Jon Corley, for so long chief pilot
for the Air Atlantique Classic Flight, is
to convert on to B-17G Flying Fortress
Sally B.
This trend is not only welcome
— it’s vital for the continued health of
our historic aircraft scene. More power
to the elbows of those, whether pilots or
operators, who are making it possible.
With the RAF’s
centenary very much
in mind as some of the
biggest celebrations
approach, now seems a
good moment at which
to mention a fundraising
appeal relating to one
of the service’s many
‘founding fathers’.
To mark the upcoming
100th anniversary of the
RAF College at Cranwell,
which was opened by
Lord Trenchard on 5 February 1920, it has
been decided that a statue of Trenchard
should be erected in front of College Hall.
Vivien Mallock has been commissioned
as the sculptor, and donations towards the
£120,000 cost are being sought. For more
details of this very worthwhile endeavour,
go to www.oldcranwellians.info, while to
enquire about donating you are advised to
e-mail Mike Horton at
appealtreasurer@rafca.org.uk.
Ben Dunnell
CONNECT WITH
AEROPLANE…
www.facebook.com/AeroplaneMonthly
@HistoryInTheAir
ow to develop a new
generation of British warbird
pilots? This has been a
question on many lips for
years. Now, the signs are that it’s definitely
happening. Of course, a lot of pilots may
get to fly lighter vintage aeroplanes, and
do so with great aplomb, but opportunities
to progress to the heavier historic metal
are — for obvious reasons — not always
forthcoming. However, certain necessities
have come into play. The long-established
names, inevitably, can’t go on flying
warbirds forever. Their expertise, whether
of the aircraft themselves or the demands
of the display world, needs to be passed
on to some fresh blood. And the growth
in warbird passenger flying means, in
practical terms, that more pilots are
required. This can only be a good thing.
Some examples of the new breed are
obvious: Richard Grace, for
one. But there are plenty of
others — former Aerostars
Yak-50 team pilot Mark
Levy, for example, along
with the two men who
make up the Fireflies duo
of Vans RV-4s, Jon Gowdy
and Andy Durston. All
have recently progressed
to become fully fledged
warbird pilots, and each
represents an excellent
choice. They have
plenty of taildragger experience and are
seasoned airshow campaigners, having
flown high-quality aerobatic displays for
many seasons. This is the route many
existing warbird campaigners took into
such aircraft, and it provides an ideal
grounding. Witness the litany of leading
historic aircraft display pilots who took
their first steps into the business via
the Tiger Club — it’s much the same
principle.
And it’s not all about finding people to
fly Spitfires, Mustangs and so forth. The
CONTRIBUTORS
THIS MONTH
DENIS J. CALVERT
It is probably fair to say
that Denis is in his element
when writing on the
subject of Farnborough
and its 70-years-young
airshow, which he’s been
attending for the majority
of its life. In his feature
‘Stars of the Farnborough
Stage’ to mark the event’s 70th anniversary, he
relates a few of his favourite Farnborough
moments from over the years. Some of these, like
the Black Arrows’ 22-ship Hunter loop, are well-
known and already part of aviation history, while
others are relatively insignificant but nevertheless
made a lasting impression on him.
GILLES COLLAVERI
The civilian
aerobatic route is the
one many existing
warbird campaigners
took into such
aircraft, and it
provides an ideal
grounding
An aviation enthusiast
since he built Airfix kits in
his youth, Gilles now works
in the Airbus group within
its ATR regional airliner
subsidiary. He is also
developing the aviation
archaeology scene in
France, the idea being to
remember forgotten crews and aircraft. Gilles is
involved in the management of the brand-new
Aeroscopia museum in Toulouse, located near
the Airbus A380 assembly line.
BRUCE HALES-DUTTON
“Like many others”, says
Bruce, this month’s
Database author, “I’ve
always had a soft spot for
the Fairey Rotodyne, but
documents in the National
Archives reveal the division
of opinion in Whitehall.
One comment contained in
an internal minute clearly went to the nub of the
argument: did the Rotodyne represent a
promising and original line of development or
was it a freak which would lead the industry up a
blind alley? I’m not sure there’s a definitive answer
to that question. To this day the Rotodyne
remains an enigma.”
STEVE RICHARDS
ESTABLISHED 1911
Aeroplane
traces its lineage back to the weekly
The Aeroplane,
founded by C. G. Grey in 1911 and published until 1968. It was
relaunched as a monthly in 1973 by Richard T. Riding, editor for
25 years until 1998.
In the 1970s and ’80s Steve
contributed many
photographs and some
articles to aviation
magazines and books.
Blindness has now
curtailed his photographic
work. Nevertheless, Steve’s
most recent book,
The
Luftwaffe over Brum,
sold out, necessitating a
reprint which was issued at the end of 2017 (for a
review see
Aeroplane
December 2015), and for
us he’s put together a fascinating retrospective on
the making with B-25s of the film
Hanover Street.
He is married with two grown-up daughters and
lives in Solihull.
4
www.aeroplanemonthly.com
AEROPLANE
JULY 2018

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