Supermarine Channel

   The A.D. two-seat patrol flying boat of 1916 was designed jointly by Lt. Linton Hope, Harold Bolas, Harold Yendall and Clifford W. Tinson and had a flexible wooden monococque hull which unconcernedly absorbed punishment from rough seas. The wings folded forward and construction took place at the Woolston, Southampton, works of Pemberton Billing Ltd. where 27 had been completed by the 1918 Armistice. A number of these were repurchased from the Air Ministry by the Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd., successors to the Pemberton Billing concern, and converted for civil use with 160 h.p. Beardmore engine driving a pusher airscrew and with the forward part of the hull seating two passengers in tandem with a third in the bows and the pilot behind.
   An initial batch of ten, redesignated Supermarine Channels, were registered to Supermarine as G-EAED to ’EM on 11 June 1919, three of which, G-EAED, ’EE and ’EK, still bearing R.A.F. serials, began pleasure flights along the South Coast with the first Cs. of A. issued to British commercial flying boats. Brisk business was done at Bournemouth Pier and chief pilot Cdr. B. D. Hobbs organised the daily positioning flight from Woolston into a regular service. During Cowes Week a Channel stationed on the Medina was chartered on 7 August for a flight round H.M.S. Renown as it left Portsmouth with H.R.H. the Prince of Wales aboard. Later in the month ’ED received a civic send-off at the inauguration of the world’s first international flying boat service to Le Havre and a local service to Cowes also began. The Channels taxied from the Woolston works to embark passengers at Royal Pier but ’EE overturned and sank during a pleasure flight at Bournemouth on 15 August and commercial operations ceased at the end of the season.
   In 1920 Channels G-EAEH, ’El and ’EL were despatched to Norway in crates for Norske Luftreideri’s mail and passenger service between Stavanger and Bergen. From difficult anchorages, over difficult terrain and frequently in marginal weather, they operated with 94-4% regularity until the company was wound up in December 1920. A fourth Channel, believed to have been G-EAEM, was a dual control trainer for the Royal Norwegian Navy based at Horten.
G-EAEF, 'EG and 'EJ were shipped to Bermuda in April 1920 and spent the following winter in highly successful pleasure flying operations with the Bermuda and Western Atlantic Aviation Co. Ltd. One of several novel charters involved overtaking and landing alongside a United States bound steamship and transferring actress Pearl White. Shortage of spares ended their careers within a few months but ’EG was shipped to Trinidad in March 1921 to join two Channel Mk.IIs G-EAWC and 'WP.
   Powered by the 240 h.p. Siddeley Puma, these had strutted wing tip floats and watertight camera doors let into the hull bottoms. Flown by С. E. Ward and F. Bailey of Bermuda and Western Atlantic Aviation Co. Ltd., they prospected for oil in the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela, under the direction of Major Cochran Patrick. Neither carried markings and one was detached later for the aerial survey of Georgetown, British Guiana, but sank in the River Essequibo after colliding with driftwood.
   In May 1921 another unmarked Channel, actually G-NZAI, was shipped to Walsh Bros, and Dexter for the New Zealand Flying School, Auckland. It was a hybrid with 160 h.p. Beardmore and Mk.H airframe and made the first ever Auckland-Wellington flight on 4 October 1921 piloted by George Bolt. Early in July 1922 it was shipped to Fiji for a two-week, 1,000 mile, survey of the main islands of the group, flown by Capt. A. C. Upham and on its return was fitted with a 240 h.p. Puma and remained in service until 1926. Its hull was still used as a boat in 1943.
   Six more Channel Ils received certificates of airworthiness in 1920-21 for export without markings, including four for the Imperial Japanese Navy taken out by the British Aviation Mission, and one each for Cuba and Chile.

SPECIFICATION
   Manufacturers:
   The Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd., Woolston, Southampton, Hants.
   Power Plants:
   (Channel Mk.I) One 160 h.p. Beardmore.
   (Channel Mk.Il) One 240 h.p. Siddeley Puma.
   Dimensions:
   Span, 50 ft. 4 in.
   Length, 30 ft. 7 in.
   Height, 13 ft. 1 in.
   Wing area, 479 sq. ft.
   *Weights:
   All-up weight 3,400 lb.
   *Performance:
   Maximum speed 100 m.p.h.
   Ceiling 10,000 ft.
   Duration 5 hours.
   * Channel Mk.I.
   Production:
   (a) Channel Mk.I Ten aircraft of British registry listed in Appendix E.
   (b) Channel Mk.Il Two aircraft of British registry and the following for export: (c/n 1037), un­registered, C. of A. 13.7.20, British Controlled Oil Field Co., Trinidad; (1142), G-NZAI, 17.12.20; (1148), Imperial Japanese Navy, 3.1 2.21; (1149), unregistered, 24.8.21, Cuba; (1150 and 1155), Imperial Japanese Navy, 17.12.21; (1156), Imperial Japanese Navy, 20.12.21.

The Martinsydes

   Immediately after the 1914-18 war, Martinsyde Ltd. produced several civil types, most of which were derived from the F.4 single seat fighter, a fabric covered, wooden biplane designed by G. H. Handasyde, with wire braced, box girder fuselage and two spar, single bay wings. Some 280 were constructed, of which only about 50 were delivered to the R.A.F., the remainder, brand new, being stored at the firm’s Brooklands works. Their unusually deep and capacious fuselages and relatively high cruising speed made them eminently suitable for civil adaptation as a means of keeping Martinsyde Ltd. in business during peace-time. Piloted by R. H. Nisbet, K-152, the first demilitarised F.4, powered by a 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon III, gained second place in the Aerial Derby at Hendon on 21 June 1919, at an average speed of 124-61 m.p.h. It was followed by four standard F.4 fighters G-EANM, ’UX, ’YK and ’YP, which received temporary civil status for overseas demonstration. The first left Brooklands piloted by F. P. Raynham on 6 October 1919, performed in Madrid, and on arrival at Lisbon on 11 November was named ‘Vasco da Gama’ to become the first British aircraft ever to fly in Portugal and the first of a number of F.4s supplied to its air force.
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   Martinsyde pilot R. H. Nesbit was 6th in the 1920 Aerial Derby in the first F.6, G-EAPI, before it was sold to the Canadian Government and taken on charge at Camp Borden for No.3 Squadron, R.C.A.F. on 9 October 1922 as G-CYEQ. The second F.6, G-EATQ, was almost certainly the aircraft sold to Bishop-Barker Aeroplanes Ltd., Toronto and flown by Lt. Col. W. A. Bishop V.C. who was uninjured when it crashed at Armour Heights Aerodrome, Toronto, on 25 October 1920 before it had been allotted a Canadian registration.
   Despite the sale of many F.4s to foreign air forces, by 1921 Martinsyde Ltd. found itself in difficulties, a victim of the post-war slump. Its last aeroplane was a low powered F.6, built for F. P. Raynham and fitted with a 200 h.p. Wolseley Viper for more economical private use. First flown at Brooklands on 29 September 1921, the machine later became G-EBDK and was converted into a single seater for racing purposes, coming second in the King’s Cup Race of 8-9 September 1922, and competing in the 1924 race piloted by J. King. Its subsequent owners, all well known, were L. C. G. M. Le Champion of Brooklands 1924-25, Leslie Hamilton of Croydon 1925-26 and Major J. C. Savage, Hendon 1927. This famous aircraft was dismantled in Dudley Watt’s shed at Brooklands in April 1930 and its remains lingered there for several years.
   The final chapter in F.4 history opened in 1921, when Martinsyde Ltd. went into liquidation. All surviving airframes were then acquired by the Handley Page controlled Aircraft Disposal Co. Ltd. and went by road to Croydon to join the surplus R.A.F. F.4s already held by the company. Four of the latter had lately become civil aircraft in the usual racing and demonstration roles, G-EAXB and ’TD being flown by Major E. L. Foote and R. H. Stocken in the 1921 and 1922 Aerial Derbys respectively. By 1927 a considerable proportion of the F.4 stock had been sold to foreign air forces, 41 going abroad with civil Cs. of A. and two more, G-EBDM and ’FA, in civil marks. To G-EBMI, one of the last to be made airworthy, fell the honour of becoming the only privately owned F.4, property of E. D. A. Biggs at Woodley in March 1930. It crashed a few months later due to failure of the tailplane spar, with the loss of instructor S. W. ‘Pat’ Giddy.
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SPECIFICATION
   Manufacturers:
   Martinsyde Ltd., Maybury Hill, Woking, and Brooklands Aerodrome, Byfleet, Surrey; The Aircraft Disposal Co. Ltd., Regent House, Kingsway, W.C.2, and Croydon Aerodrome, Surrey.

   Power Plants:
   (Martinsyde F.4)
   One 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon HL
   One 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza.
   (Martinsyde F.4 A and A.V.l)
   One 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza.
   (Martinsyde F.6)
   One 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza.
   One 200 h.p. Wolseley Viper.

F.4 and F.4A F.6
Span 32 ft. 9 3/8 in. 31 ft. 11 1/4 in.
Length 25 ft. 5 5/8 in. 24 ft. 6 in.
Height 9 ft. 6 in. 9 ft. 1 1/4 in.
Wing area 328'5 sq. ft. 320 sq. ft.
Tare weight 1,811 lb. -
All-up weight 2,300 lb. 2,300 lb.
Maximum speed 145 m.p.h. -
Initial climb 1,600 ft./min. -
Ceiling 24,000 ft. -
Duration 3 hours 3 hours

Production:
   (a) Martinsyde F.4
   Eleven British civil conversions and 29 reworked for export to foreign air forces with Cs. of A. 24.9.23 (17 aircraft for Finland); 7.10.23 (4); 2.2.24 (1); 15.10.24 (5); 4.3.27 (2).
   (b) Martinsyde F.4A
   Five British registered aircraft shown in Appendix E.
   (c) Martinsyde F.6
   Three British registered aircraft shown in Appendix E.

The Martinsydes

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   Although incorporating many F.4 components, the Falcon powered Martinsyde Type A Mk.I long-range two seater G-EAMR was a two bay biplane considerably larger than its predecessor, built in 1919 to compete for the Australian Government’s £10,000 prize for the first England-Australia flight. It fared no better than F. P. Raynham’s unregistered Martinsyde Raymor, an essentially similar Falcon III powered machine which had crashed in Newfoundland on 17 July 1919 while he was taking-off for an attempted transatlantic flight. Capt. С. E. Howell and his navigator, Cpl. G. H. Fraser, left Hounslow in G-EAMR on 12 December 1919 but after making good progress were drowned when forced down off the west coast of Corfu five days later.
   Fitted with floats the Type A became the Type AS, two of which, G-CAAX and ’DG, were acquired by Price Bros. Ltd., Quebec in July 1920 for timber survey and fire patrol work but their careers were brief for ’AX crashed at Lake Onatchiway on 18 August and 'DG at Chicoutimi on 30 May 1921.
   A second version, seating four passengers in side-by-side pairs in a glazed cabin ahead of the pilot, was designated Type A Mk.II. No market existed at home and only the first of the four built, G-EATY, was of British registry. All were exported, the first, with C. of A. issued to R. H. Nisbet on 27 May 1921 for shipment to Price Bros. Ltd. as G-CAEA to replace ’DG, spun in at Chicoutimi on 12 July 1923 while in service with the Dominion Aerial Exploration Co. Ltd., Toronto. G-EATY and an unregistered example were sold to F. S. Cotton's Aerial Survey Co., equipped with radio, cameras and interchangeable ski undercarriages for seal spotting in Newfoundland. One took part in the gold rush at Stag Bay, Labrador, in 1921. The final Martinsyde Type A Mk.II, also unregistered, christened ‘The Big Fella’ and delivered from Brooklands to Baldonnel for the Irish Air Corps on 16 June 1922, remained in service until 1927.
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SPECIFICATION
   Manufacturers:
   Martinsyde Ltd., Maybury Hill, Woking, and Brooklands Aerodrome, Byfleet, Surrey; The Aircraft Disposal Co. Ltd., Regent House, Kingsway, W.C.2, and Croydon Aerodrome, Surrey.

   Power Plants:
   (Martinsyde Type A Mk.I)
   One 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon III.
   (Martinsyde Type A Mk.II)
   One 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza.


Type A Mk.I and Mk.II
Span 43 ft. 4 in.
Length 29 ft. 1 1/4 in.
Height 10 ft. 6 in.
Wing area 512 sq. ft.
Tare weight 1,800 lb.
All-up weight 4,600 lb.
Maximum speed 125 m.p.h.
Cruising speed 100 m.p.h.
Initial climb 650 ft./min.
Ceiling 16,000 ft.
Duration 5 hours

Production:
   (d) Martinsyde Type A
   Four Mk.I aircraft only: (c/n E4-500*) G-EAMR; (15/1) G-CAAX; (15/2) G-CADG; (E4-500*) G-EAPN.
   Four Mk.II aircraft only: (c/n 215) Cotton, Newfoundland; (216) G-CAEA; (217) Irish Air Corps ‘The Big Fella', believed reworked version of Type A Mk.I G-EAPN; (218)G-EATY.

   * As documented. Not the same aircraft.

S.E.5A

   Designed in 1916 at the Royal Aircraft Factory, Farnborough by H. P. Folland, the S.E.5A was structurally typical of the period with spruce primary structure braced with piano wire and fabric covered, a large proportion of the main production being powered by the 200 h.p. Wolseley Viper engine cooled by a car-type radiator in the nose. A basic design requirement was for the aircraft to be inherently stable and capable of being flown by relatively inexperienced pilots, so that after the 1914-18 war, when vast quantities of S.E.5A airframes, spares and engines were taken over by the Aircraft Disposal Co. Ltd. at Croydon to be reconditioned for sale to foreign air forces, the company also saw it as a potential private or sporting aircraft. Thus in May 1920 the S.E.5A F9022 was stripped of armament, registered G-EATE, and offered for civil use at £700. Eight more, G-EAXQ to ’XX, were then erected and six of them loaned to the Royal Aero Club for the one and only Oxford v. Cambridge Air Race, won by Cambridge at Hendon on 16 July 1921.
   The first privately owned specimen was G-EAZT fitted with a 90 h.p. R.A.F. IA air-cooled engine for Dr. E. D. Whitehead Reid of Canterbury, who flew from Bekesbourne to land in convenient fields when visiting outlying patients. Underpowered to a degree, it proved very slow, and its short life ended when it stood on its nose and destroyed the front fuselage early in 1923. Its replacement, G-EBCA, secured in time for participation in the Grosvenor Trophy Race at Lympne on 23 June 1923, had a venerable 80 h.p. Renault engine imparting a top speed of some 65 m.p.h.
   In civil form the S.E.5A will be associated forever with Major J. C. Savage and skywriting, his first aircraft G-EATE being used by Cyril Turner for the first public demonstration of black smoke writing on 30 May 1922. Smoke producing chemicals were carried in a specially installed tank in the fuselage and could be fed at will into the hot exhaust gases. The smoke was led through a special pipe under the fuselage and the starboard elevator fabric was partly removed to prevent charring but this system was soon superseded by white smoke led through lengthened exhaust pipes to a Y junction at the sternpost. Such pilots as Turner, L. R. Tait-Cox, M. L. Bramson and Sidney St. Barbe, legendary perfectionists in the art of mirror writing in smoke, learned at Hendon by riding the letter shapes in reverse on a bicycle. The advertising value of a word in the sky, often visible over a 50 mile radius, was so immense that to satisfy the demand, which included Daily Mail, Players, Ronuk, Persil and Buick contracts, batches G-EBFF to ’FI, ’GJ to ’GM and TA to ’IF were converted at Hendon. Eight S.E.5As were shipped to America, where they wrote ‘Hello, New York’ over the city and were then chartered for a million dollar contract with the American Tobacco Company. They operated as the Skywriting Corporation of America whose fleet eventually numbered 11, five of which were later Americanised with underslung radiators and streamlined, spin polished cowlings. In this form they continued to write ‘Lucky Strike’ until the end of 1924, when they passed into local ownership and were allotted new constructor’s and licence numbers 1-5, NC2677-81 respectively.
   The Hendon-based S.E.5As ranged far and wide over the British Isles, G-EBQB and ’QC spent much of their time in Germany, while two others, G-EBQA ‘Virgini’ and ’VB, were shipped to Melbourne. ‘Lux’ was written over the city a few times during July 1928 but the venture failed and the S.E.5As were shipped home.
   By 1929 the heyday of smoke writing was over and the fleet of tired S.E.5As then dispersed, five to Gesellschaft fur Himmelschrift und Wolkenprojektion m.b.H, at Dusseldorf and others to demolition in Coley and Atkinson’s yard in Hounslow. The one survivor, G-EBVB, gave itinerant aerobatic displays until 1934.
   With the exception of his first machine, Major Savage used only aircraft which had been obtained in new condition from Vickers, Austin and Wolseley, three of the many S.E.5A sub-contractors. Ten other S.E.5As sold by the Aircraft Disposal Co. Ltd. had seen R.A.F. service before entering private ownership, and included Dudley Watt’s G-EBOG, Mrs. S. C. Elliott Lynn’s ’PA, A. H. Wheeler’s ’QM, K. Hunter'’s ’QK, 1929 Schneider Trophy winner H. R. D. Waghorn’s ’PD, and G-EBQQ in which Lt. Gwynne Maddocks spun in and was killed at Brooklands on 9 November 1928. Nearly all appeared at the various race meetings held in 1926-27, Flg. Off. A. F. Scroggs winning the Sherburn Private Owners Handicap in ’QK on 1 October 1927, at 113 m.p.h. and Mrs. S. C. Elliott Lynn the Wattle Handicap at the same meeting at 116 m.p.h.
   Dudley Watt flew ’OG to victory in the Hotels Handicap at Bournemouth on 18 April 1927, at 114-2 m.p.h. and afterwards rebuilt it as the D.W.l powered by a 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza enclosed in a streamlined cowling and cooled by underslung radiators. The rear fuselage decking was also redesigned and built up to form a streamlined headrest. Work on the D.W.l was done in a shed at Brooklands near the Henderson School of Flying hangars in which two non-standard S.E.5As with air-cooled engines driving four bladed air­screws were erected in 1927. First of these, G-EBTK, belonged to L. R. Oldmeadows and was powered by a 90 h.p. R.A.F. IA. In July 1930 ’TK was acquired by Kent Aircraft Services and went to Kingsdown, Kent, and lay dismantled until sold to С. B. Field at Kingswood Knoll, Surrey, in August 1932, but never flew again. The other, ’TO, built for comedian Will Hay, was fitted with a 120 h.p. Airdisco motor and flew from Shoreham until January 1929, when it was purchased by W. L. Handley and moved north to Castle Bromwich.
   Today three S.E.5As of the former Savage Skywriting Co. Ltd. are the only survivors. G-EBIA, found hanging fabricless from the roof of the Armstrong Whitworth flight shed at Whitley in 1955, was reconstructed for the Shuttleworth Trust by Farnborough apprentices and staff 1957-59 and flew again on 4 August 1959 in silver as D7000 piloted by Air Commodore A. H. Wheeler. The engine was a 200 h.p. Hispano-Suiza retrieved from the Science Museum store and the aircraft was later camouflaged and given its correct serial F904. G-EBIB, last flown in 1914-18 camouflage at the 1937 Hendon R.A.F. Display by Flt. Lt. R. C. Jonas, now hangs from the roof of the South Kensington Science Museum as F937;and the third, TC, repainted as B4563 (later corrected to F938), is exhibited at the R.A.F. Museum, Hendon.
   In 1965 two S.E.5A replicas, G-ATGV and ’GW, with steel tube fuselages and 200 h.p. de Havilland Gipsy Queen 30s, were designed, built and flown at Shoreham for the film ‘Blue Max’ by Miles Marine and Structural Plastics Ltd. under the supervision of F. G. Miles, owner of the genuine G-EBPA back in 1929. For the description of six -83 scale S.E.5A replicas built by Slingsby for a later film, see Volume 2 page 37.

SPECIFICATION
   Manufacturers:
   (1) The Royal Aircraft Factory, Farnborough, Hants.
   (2) The Austin Motor Co. (1914) Ltd., Northfield, Birmingham.
   (3) The Air Navigation and Engineering Co. Ltd., Addlestone, Surrey.
   (4) Martinsyde Ltd., Brooklands, Byfleet, Surrey.
   (5) Vickers Ltd., Crayford and Weybridge.
   (6) Wolseley Motors Ltd., Adderley Park, Birmingham. (The numbers in parentheses form the key to manufacturers in Appendix E.)

   Power Plants:
   One 200 h.p. Wolseley Viper.
   One 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza.
   One 120 h.p. Airdisco.
   One 90 h.p. R.A.F. IA.
   One 80 h.p. Renault.
   Dimensions:
   Span, 26 ft. 7 1/2 in.
   Length, 20 ft. 11 in.
   Height, 9 ft. 6 in.
   Wing area, 244 sq. ft.
   Weights:
   (Viper) Tare weight, 1,322 lb. All-up weight, 2,052 lb.
   (R.A.F. IA) Tare weight, 1,630 lb. All-up weight 2,050 lb.
   (Renault) Tare weight, 1,241 lb. All-up weight 1,829 lb.
   Performance:*
   Maximum speed, 137 m.p.h.
   Cruising speed, 100 m.p.h.
   Initial climb, 1,175 ft./min.
   Ceiling, 19,500 ft. Range, 250 miles.
* With Wolseley Viper engine.

Sopwith Gnu

   Introduced in May 1919, the Sopwith Gnu three seat tourer or taxi machine was one of the first cabin aircraft designed for civil use and was an orthodox two bay biplane of fabric-covered wooden construction, seating the pilot in an open cockpit under the centre section, one panel of which was left open for improved vision. Two passengers sat side by side in the rear cockpit under a hinged and glazed cabin roof.
   Fresh from his historic mid-Atlantic rescue, Harry Hawker flew his wife from Brooklands to Hendon in the Bentley B.R.2 powered prototype Gnu, K-101, on 29 May 1919, to attend the reception given to the crews of the successful American transatlantic flying-boats NC-1, 2 and 4. The honour of making the first passenger flight in the Gnu, piloted by the idol of the aviation world, fell to a Miss Daisy King of Leeds, who paid 60 guineas in an auction conducted by Claude Grahame-White. K-101 then went to Southport to give pleasure flights piloted by C. D. Barnard but was damaged beyond repair on 10 June after a life of but a few weeks.
   Twelve Gnus were completed, the second of which, K-136, flew to Hendon in formation with the prototype. In common with several later specimens it was powered by a 110 h.p. Le Rhone but the cramped cabin was not popular and commencing with the next machine, K-140, the majority of Gnus were open models.
   Although the post-war slump ended production in six months, several were sold abroad including K-169 and G-EAIL shipped to the Larkin-Sopwith Aviation Co. Ltd. in Melbourne. As G-AUBX and ’BY they gave quite outstanding service for many years, and one, piloted by W. ‘Skipper’ Wilson, won the speed prize in the first Australian Aerial Derby at Mascot, Sydney, in 1920. In 1924 they joined Sopwith’s Wallaby and Antelope on the Adelaide-Sydney mail route of Larkin’s pioneer company, Australian Aerial Services Ltd., and were thereafter based at Hay, mid-point of the route. G-AUBX was destroyed when taking off from Mildura on 23 August 1924 but ’BY was re-engined with a 110 h.p. Le Rhone and later with a Wright Whirlwind with which it came 11th in the East-West Air Race in September 1929 piloted by K. R. Farmer.
   Four Gnus, G-EAME to ’MH, remained unsold in the Kingston works when Sopwiths closed down and the cabin model exhibited without registration at the Olympia Aero Show in July 1920 was probably G-EAMG (Bentley B.R.2), the only one of the four to receive a C. of A.
   Only the first and fourth production Gnus had lengthy careers in the United Kingdom. These were the cabin model G-EADB and the open cockpit ’GP. The latter became the property of Lt. Col. F. K. McClean and won the Grosvenor Trophy at Lympne on 23 June 1923, piloted by Flt. Lt. W. H. Longton. The 404 mile course round Southern England was completed at an average speed of 87-6 m.p.h., the Filton-Croydon leg being covered in 62 minutes. The other Gnu, G-EADB, was owned and flown during 1923—24 by Brooklands racing driver E. A. D. Eldridge but in June 1925 was sold to J. R. King who entered it for the Lympne Races on 1—3 August 1925. The Gnu’s performance was not outstanding, and 'DB came fourth at 86-95 m.p.h. in the 100 mile International Handicap, and fifth at 84-86 m.p.h. in the 50 mile Private Owners’ Handicap.
   Both Gnus were then purchased by the Southern Counties Aviation Company of Shoreham and spent the remainder of the 1925 season giving pleasure flights from fields along the South Coast. In the following year they were taken over by G. M. Lloyd, a professional stunt man, who extended their activities to embrace the East Coast and to include exhibition flying to attract would-be passengers. It was their undoing, the first to go being ’DB, which stalled on the approach to a field at Horley, Surrey, on 2 March 1926, injuring the pilot, L. R. Goodman. Two months later ’GP spun into a cemetery at King’s Lynn, the pilot. A. O. Bigg-Wither, being killed after the engine failed at the conclusion of a wing walking exhibition by G. M. Lloyd. A small passenger, Arthur Golding-Barrett (later to be Avro test pilot and the Tiger Club’s well known ‘G-B’), was unscathed.

SPECIFICATION

   Manufacturers:
   The Sopwith Aviation Co., Canbury Park Road, Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey. Name changed to The Sopwith Aviation and Engineering Co. Ltd., June 1919.

   Power Plants:
   One 200 h.p. Bentley B.R.2.
   One 110 h.p. Le Rhone.
   One 300 h.p. Wright Whirlwind J-5.
   Dimensions:
   Span, 38 ft. 1 in.
   Length, 25 ft. 10 in.
   Height, 9 ft. 10 in.
   Weights:
   All-up weight, 3,350 lb.
   Performance:
   Maximum speed, 93 m.p.h.
   Initial climb, 645 ft./min.
   Range, 300 miles.
   Production: One prototype and twelve production aircraft, all British registered: (c/n A 16) K-101/G-EAAH and two production batches to Works Orders 2976/1 to 6 and 3005/1 to 6. See Appendix E.

Vickers F.B.27 Vimy and Vimy Commercial

   The Vickers F.B.27 Vimy twin engined bomber of 1918 saw no war service but was the fastest weight lifter of its age. Designed by R. K. Pierson as a three bay, fabric-covered biplane of mixed construction, powered by two 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIIIs, it found employment in many peacetime Service roles and six became famous as civil aeroplanes. The first of these was the 13th Weybridge-built machine which was shipped to Newfoundland in April 1919 to be made ready for its historic Atlantic crossing. This was some weeks before civil flying was permitted officially and it was therefore too early to receive a registration. Piloted by Jack Alcock and Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown, it took-off from St. John’s, Newfoundland on 14 June 1919 with 865 gallons of petrol and 50 gallons of oil at an all-up weight of 13,300 lb. and touched down 1,890 miles away at Clifden, Ireland, 15 hr. 57 min. later, bogged and broken at the end of the world’s first transatlantic flight. After reconstruction at Weybridge it was presented to the Science Museum in London.
   The first prototype Vimy, B9952, with 260 h.p. Salmson engines was allotted markings G-EAAR on 1 May 1919 but these were never carried and during its short career - a flight from Brooklands to Amsterdam in August 1919 for static display at the First Air Traffic Exhibition - wore the constructor’s number C-105. Active flying by the Vickers contingent was done by K-107, the Vimy Commercial prototype which had first flown at Joyce Green on 13 April and used the standard Vimy wing structure and tail unit mated to a rotund, oval section, plywood monocoque front fuselage seating 10 passengers. Entry was via a narrow opening in the port side, closed by a roller blind, and two pilots sat in an open cockpit high in the nose.
   First flown on 20 September 1919, the next civil Vimy, G-EAOL, was a three seat bomber which left Brooklands in the following month for demonstration to the Spanish Government at Madrid. Although it disappeared into obscurity, its sister ship, G-EAOU, achieved immortality as winner of the Australian Government’s £10,000 prize for the first England-Australia flight. Piloted by Capts. Ross and Keith Smith and carrying Sgts. W. H. Shiers and J. M. Bennett as engineers, ’OU left Hounslow on 12 November 1919 and landed 11,340 miles away at Darwin, N.T., 27 days 21 hr. later on 10 December having averaged 75 m.p.h. for 350 flying hours, an incredible feat for those days and for which both pilots were knighted. After Sir Ross Smith’s 'death in the Viking IV accident at Brooklands (see page 206), the Vimy was stored for 35 years but in 1957 it was taken south from Canberra on two R.A.A.F. trailer vehicles for permanent exhibition in a glass memorial hall specially erected at Adelaide airport. Mainplanes, airscrews and cowlings were damaged by fire at Keith, 160 miles east of Adelaide while in transit on 3 November 1957 necessitating lengthy repairs which delayed final display for two years.
   Inspired by the Australia flight, the Daily Mail put up a £10,000 prize for a flight from Cairo to the Cape for which three aircraft competed including Handley Page O/400 G-EAMC (Volume 2, page 226) and Vimy G-UABA ‘Silver Queen’ manned by Lt. Col. P. Van Ryneveld and Flt. Lt. C. J. Quintin Brand who left Brooklands on 4 February 1920 but crashed at Korosko in Upper Egypt. They continued in a borrowed R.A.F. Vimy named ‘Silver Queen II’ which crashed at Bulawayo.
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   After its success with the F.B.5 Gunbus replica (see page 351), the Vintage Aircraft and Flying Association built a Vimy replica, G-AWAU, powered by two Eagle VIIIs found in Holland, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Atlantic flight. It was first flown at Wisley on 3 June 1969 by B.A.C. test pilot D. G. Addicott who flew it to the Paris Air Show a few days later. Repainted in R.A.F. colours as H651 it then went to Ringway for exhibition to Alcock and Brown’s fellow Mancunians but was seriously damaged by fire due to the heat of the sun on 16 July. After repair it was donated to the R.A.F. Museum, Hendon, bearing a different R.A.F. serial, F8614.

SPECIFICATION

   Manufacturers:
   Vickers Ltd., Vickers House, Broadway, Westminster, S.W.l; Brooklands Aerodrome, Surrey and Joyce Green Aerodrome, Kent.
   Power Plants:
   Two 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII.
   Dimensions:
   Span, 67 ft. 2 in.
   Height, 15 ft. 3 in.
   Wing area, 1,330 sq. ft.
   Length (Vimy IV), 43 ft. 6 1/2 in. (Commercial), 42 ft. 8 in.
   Weights:
   (Vimy IV) Tare weight, 7,101 lb. All-up weight, 12,500 lb.
   (Commercial) Tare weight, 7,790 lb. All-up weight, 12,500 lb.
   Performance:
   (Vimy IV) Maximum speed, 103 m.p.h. Initial climb, 300 ft./min. Ceiling, 10,500 ft.
   (Commercial) Maximum speed, 103 m.p.h. Cruising speed, 84 m.p.h. Initial climb, 375 ft./min. Ceiling, 10,500 ft. Range, 450 miles.
   Production with export C. of A. dates: Forty-three Vimy Commercials: (c/n 1-40) China, including (39) G-EAUY and (40) G-EAUL; (41) G-EASI; (42) F-ADER Lions 23.12.21, Lorraine-Dietrich 30.6.22; (43) Russia 18.9.22.

Vickers Viking Amphibian

   The prototype Viking, G-EAOV, was a four seat cabin amphibian of wooden construction designed by R. K. Pierson and powered by a 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon III mounted under the top centre section driving a four bladed pusher airscrew. It was first flown at Brooklands in October 1919 but crashed while making a precautionary landing in fog near Rouen while en route to the Paris Aero Show on 18 December 1919 flown by Sir John Alcock of transatlantic fame who was killed.
   The Viking Mk.II, G-EASC, with 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII, increased wing span, wider undercarriage track and three rudders, was first flown at Cowes by Capt. S. Cockerell in June 1920 before exhibition at the Olympia Aero Show in July. In August it gained first prize in the Antwerp Seaplane Trials but was then withdrawn from use in favour of the Viking Mk.III, G-EAUK, with 450 h.p. Napier Lion, longer nose and wide chord wings, which won the £10,000 first prize in the Air Ministry Amphibian Competition held at Martlesham and Felixstowe in September 1920. In January 1921 it was sold to the Air Council as N147 and wearing both this and its civil marks, made trial landings on the Thames at Westminster on 7 February and 17 March, and on the Seine in Paris on 29 April, to test the feasibility of a service between city centres.
   The successful performance of G-EAUK led to orders for the Viking Mk.IV production version, 28 of which were built, some with folding wings. The first, Type 54 F-ADBL, delivered to the French Navy in October 1921, was followed by eight Type 55 (and two further crash replacements) with increased span for the Dutch East Indies Air Force; two Type 58 for the Imperial Japanese Navy and a third, serial A6073, for the U.S. Navy; two Type 59 tested by the R.A.F. in Iraq as N156 and N157; one Type 64 for Russia; two Type 73 with cabin tops for the Buenos Aires - Montevideo service of the River Plate Aviation Co. Ltd.; four Type 84 for the Argentine Navy; and two Type 85s, G-CYES and ’ET, for Royal Canadian Air Force forestry patrol work, for which six more, G-CYEU to ’EZ, were built by Canadian Vickers Ltd. at Montreal.
   Type 60 G-EBBZ was a special Viking Mk.IV with long range tanks for Sir Ross Smith’s round-the-world flight. After Capt. Cockerell made the first flight at Brooklands on 13 April 1922, Sir Ross took-off in it with his mechanic Sgt. Bennett but spun off a turn into the Byfleet banking and was killed. The only other British registered machine, Type 67 G-EBED, was demonstrated in Spain in 1922 4nd chartered to Belgian financier Alfred Lowenstein for flights between Croydon and Nice between January and March 1926. In the following July it was sold to Capt. Leslie Hamilton who ran a winter sports taxi service with it from St. Moritz.
   One Type 69, G-CAEB, with 360 h.p. Eagle VIII, delivered to the Laurentide Air Service in June 1922, was based initially at Remi Lake, Moonbeam, Ontario but moved west in 1929 for survey work in the Vancouver area with Aero Mineral Locaters Ltd. and was written off there in an accident on 16 September 1932 after a long and useful fife.


SPECIFICATION
   Manufacturers:
   Vickers Ltd., Vickers House, Broadway, Westminster S.W.l; and Brooklands Aerodrome, Surrey
   Power plants:
   (Viking Mk.I) One 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon III
   (Viking Mk.II and IV) One 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII
   (Viking Mk.III and IV) One 450 h.p. Napier Lion

Viking Mk.l Viking Mk.III Viking Mk.IV Type 60 Viking Mk.IV Type 69
Span 37 ft. 0 in. 46 ft. 0 in. 50 ft. 0 in. 50 ft. 0 in.
Length 30 ft. 0 in. 32 ft. 0 in. 35 ft. 0 in. 34 ft. 0 in.
Height 13 ft. 0 in. 13 ft. 0 in. 14 ft. 0 in. 14 ft. 2 in.
Wing area 368 sq. ft. 585 sq. ft. 635 sq. ft. 635 sq. ft.
Tare weight 2,030 lb. 2,740 lb. 3,728 lb. 4,020 lb.
All-up weight 3,600 lb. 4,545 lb. 5,600 lb. 5,650 1b.
Maximum speed 104 m.p.h. 110 m.p.h. 105 m.p.h. 100 m.p.h.
Initial climb 500 ft./min. 475 ft./min. 950 ft./min. 350 ft./min.
Range 340 miles 420 miles 925 miles 500 miles.

   Production:
   Twenty-eight Viking Mk.IV (with export C. of A. dates):
   Type 54 (c/n 1) F-ADBL, 10.10.21; Type 55 (2-9) Dutch East Indies, 23.12.21; Type 58 (10) U.S. Navy Bu A6073, 24.3.22; (11-12) Japan; Type 59 (13-14) N156, N157; Type 60 (15) G-EBBZ; Type 64 (16) Russia, 14.11.22; Type 67 (17) G-EBED; Type 69 (18) G-CAEB, 20.6.22; Type 73 (19-20) River Plate Aviation Co. Ltd., 6.4.23; Type 55 (21-22) Dutch East Indies, 13.4.23; Type 84 (23-26) Argentine R-3 to R-6; Type 85 (27-28) G-CYET, G-CYES, 25.5.23.

Vickers F.B.27 Vimy and Vimy Commercial

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   The first prototype Vimy, B9952, with 260 h.p. Salmson engines was allotted markings G-EAAR on 1 May 1919 but these were never carried and during its short career - a flight from Brooklands to Amsterdam in August 1919 for static display at the First Air Traffic Exhibition - wore the constructor’s number C-105. Active flying by the Vickers contingent was done by K-107, the Vimy Commercial prototype which had first flown at Joyce Green on 13 April and used the standard Vimy wing structure and tail unit mated to a rotund, oval section, plywood monocoque front fuselage seating 10 passengers. Entry was via a narrow opening in the port side, closed by a roller blind, and two pilots sat in an open cockpit high in the nose.
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   After Martlesham trials the Vimy Commercial K-107 was fitted with rectangular windows replacing the original portholes and an additional door with built-in ‘airstairs’ in the rear fuselage. Carrying the permanent registration G-EAAV, it too left Brooklands for the Cape, a week or so before G-UABA, on 24 January 1920. It was sponsored by The Times and flown by Capts. S. Cockerell and F. C. G. Broome but crashed at Tabora, Tanganyika, on 27 February.
   Large scale production of 40 Vimy Commercials for China then began at Weybridge. They inaugurated a mail service between Pekin and Tsinan and two were named ‘Ta Peng’ and ‘Chengku’ but the majority remained in their crates unused. The 39th was allotted, but never used, the registration G-EAUY and the 40th, G-EAUL, was runner-up in the Air Ministry’s Heavy Commercial Aeroplane Competition at Martlesham in August 1920 flown by Capts. Cockerell and Broome.
   British air transport pioneers S. Instone and Co. Ltd. took delivery of the 41st Vimy Commercial G-EASI, named ‘City of London’ for its inaugural flight from Croydon to Brussels with jockeys on 9 May 1920. This aeroplane, Vickers Type 66, was the best known of all pre-1939 passenger aircraft, flying continually, almost relentlessly, on the Paris, Brussels and Cologne routes piloted by F. L. Barnard, G. J. Powell and others. As early as July 1921 it had completed 360 hr. flying and had carried 10,600 passengers, many on pleasure flights, and when handed over to Imperial Airways Ltd. on 1 April 1924, had flown 107,950 miles. It was scrapped in 1926 but the inimitable K.L.M. representative at Croydon, Spry Leverton, acquired the cabin as a summer house in the garden of his house in Waterer Rise, Wallington, where it was finally burned in 1935.
   The 42nd aircraft, shown at the Paris Aero Show in November 1921 in Grands Express Aeriens livery as F-ADER, later returned to Brooklands to be re-engined with 400 h.p. Lorraine-Dietrich units and left again for Paris in June 1922. This and the 43rd machine, supplied to Russia in September 1922, were similar to the R.A.F. Vickers Vernon, with Napier Lions faired into the lower mainplane.
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SPECIFICATION

   Manufacturers:
   Vickers Ltd., Vickers House, Broadway, Westminster, S.W.l; Brooklands Aerodrome, Surrey and Joyce Green Aerodrome, Kent.
   Power Plants:
   Two 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII.
   Dimensions:
   Span, 67 ft. 2 in.
   Height, 15 ft. 3 in.
   Wing area, 1,330 sq. ft.
   Length
   (Vimy IV), 43 ft. 6 1/2 in.
   (Commercial), 42 ft. 8 in.
   Weights:
   (Vimy IV) Tare weight, 7,101 lb. All-up weight, 12,500 lb.
   (Commercial) Tare weight, 7,790 lb. All-up weight, 12,500 lb.
   Performance:
   (Vimy IV) Maximum speed, 103 m.p.h. Initial climb, 300 ft./min. Ceiling, 10,500 ft.
   (Commercial) Maximum speed, 103 m.p.h. Cruising speed, 84 m.p.h. Initial climb, 375 ft./min. Ceiling, 10,500 ft. Range, 450 miles.
   Production with export C. of A. dates: Forty-three Vimy Commercials: (c/n 1-40) China, including (39) G-EAUY and (40) G-EAUL; (41) G-EASI; (42) F-ADER Lions 23.12.21, Lorraine-Dietrich 30.6.22; (43) Russia 18.9.22.

Westland Limousine

   Designed by Arthur Davenport, the Limousine I was the Westland Aircraft Works’ first commercial aeroplane and one of the earliest attempts to introduce saloon car comfort into flying. It was a two bay biplane of conventional fabric-covered, wooden construction powered by one well-proven and economical 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon III, complete with Bristol Fighter type radiator. Situated amidships, the cabin was a plywood-covered structure for three passengers and pilot, the latter in the port rear seat, 30 in. higher than the passengers, with his head through a hole in the roof, open cockpit fashion. The prototype, K-126, first flown at Yeovil by chief test pilot Capt. A. S. Keep in July 1919, made a considerable number of publicity flights in 1919-20, including one during which Westland director R. J. Norton’s secretary typed letters to his dictation in flight.
   October 1919 saw the completion of the Limousine II, G-EAJL, also with a 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon but externally identified by the rectangular radiator and increased fin and rudder area. The prototype, now registered G-EAFO, was demonstrated at the air meeting held at Winton Racecourse by the Bournemouth Aviation Company on 1 May 1920. Later, on 13 September 1920, it was leased, together with G-EAJL, to a new company known as Air Post of Banks Ltd. for an experimental Croydon - Le Bourget express mail service during which it made fastest time of the month by crossing in a time of 1 hour 52 minutes. The firm’s chief pilot was F. T. Courtney but after two months the Limousines returned to Yeovil where G-EAFO became the manufacturer’s communications aircraft. It gave useful service until struck and demolished by a Fairey Fawn on the ground at Netheravon in September 1925, while on a business visit, piloted by Major L. P. Openshaw.
   A third Limousine, also Mk.II, had flown in April 1920 as test bed for the new 400 h.p. Cosmos Jupiter but later reverted to standard. It was followed by a small batch of four, two of which, ’RE and ’RF, flown in October 1920, were leased to Instone Air Line, flying regularly on the Paris and Brussels routes until purchased outright in June 1922. Limousine ’RE, which was fitted with a 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza, set up a new London-Brussels time of 2 hours 8 minutes later in the year.
   Publication of the rules for the 1920 Air Ministry Commercial Aeroplane Competition resulted in the construction of the Lion powered Limousine III, a much larger, three bay biplane for pilot and five passengers. It was fitted with wheel brakes and a nose wheel to permit their maximum use in the short landing test. Fuel tanks were fitted under the lower mainplanes to reduce fire risk and to allow smoking in the cabin, a feature also incorporated in the Instone Air Line Limousine IIs. Piloted at Martlesham by A. S. Keep, it just beat the Sopwith Antelope to win £7,500, first prize in the small commercial aeroplane section. An interesting sidelight was the presence of maker’s serial W.A.C.7 on the rear fuselage in contradiction of the aircraft’s documents, which quoted W.A.C.8. It is therefore probable that construction of the true W.A.C.7, the final Limousine II, G-EARH, was not completed. Although inherently stable and in advance of the time - Capt. Keep was able to leave the controls and join his passengers in the cabin - the market for commercial aeroplanes was non-existent due to the post-war slump, and only one other Limousine was built. This was a Mk.III supplied to the Air Council in April 1921 under a Contract placed on 11 November 1920 and was to have appeared in R.A.F. markings as J6851 but was registered G-EAWF instead and joined the small fleet of miscellaneous transports on loan to approved firms under the Government’s subsidy scheme. It thus became the Instone Air Line reserve aircraft, joining its smaller brethren ’RE and ’RF at Croydon until all three were pensioned off in 1923.
   Competition winner G-EARV pioneered air transport in Newfoundland with the Aerial Survey Company (Newfoundland) Ltd. formed in November 1920 by Maj. F. S. Cotton, A. S. Butler and Capt. S. Bennett. Successful, if difficult, seal and fishery spotting on wheels and skis in January 1921 was followed by a long charter flight to Cartwright, Labrador, piloted by T. K. Breakell during the gold rush. In July 1922 the Limousine Ils G-EAJL and ’MV were overhauled for C. of A. renewal and then also shipped to Newfoundland, followed in November by G-EARG.
   The company operated in Newfoundland until the end of 1923, carrying mail and passengers between remote outposts. The large Limousine III G-EARV was then purchased by Laurentide Air Service Ltd. for $5,000 and registration G-CAET was reserved but on arrival at the company’s maintenance base at Lac a la Tortue near Grand’Mere, Quebec, the aircraft was condemned and scrapped because of rot in the wooden structure.

SPECIFICATION

   Manufacturers:
   The Westland Aircraft Works, Yeovil, Somerset.
   Power Plants:
   (Limousine I and II)
   One 275 Rolls-Royce Falcon III.
   (Limousine II)
   One 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza.
   One 410 h.p. Cosmos Jupiter III.
   (Limousine III)
   One 450 h.p. Napier Lion.
Limousine I Limousine II Limousine III
Span 38 ft. 2 in. 37 ft. 9 in. 54 ft. 0 in.
Length 27 ft. 9 in. 27 ft. 9 in. 33 ft. 6 in.
Height 10 ft. 9 in. 10 ft. 9 in. 12 ft. 6 in.
Wing area 440 sq. ft. 440 sq. ft. 726 sq. ft.
Tare weight 2,183 lb. 2,010 lb. 3,823 lb.
All-up weight 3,383 lb. 3,800 lb. 5,850 lb.
Maximum speed 100 m.p.h. 100 m.p.h. 118 m.p.h.
Cruising speed 85 m.p.h. 90 m.p.h. 90 m.p.h.
Initial climb 600 ft./min. 650 ft./min. —
Ceiling 17,000 ft. 17,000 ft. 12,300 ft.
Range 290 miles 400 miles 520 miles

   Production:
   One Limousine I: (W.A.C.l) K-126/G-EAFO.
   Five Limousine II: (W.A.C.2) G-EAJL; (W.A.C.3) G-EAMV; (W.A.C.4) G-EARE; (W.A.C.5) G-EARF; (W.A.C.6) G-EARG.
   Two Limousine III: (W.A.C.8) G-EARV; (W.A.C.9) J6851/G-EAWF.
   Note: (W.A.C.7) Limousine II G-EARH not completed.