A RED ECLIPSE - PUSS AND LEOPARD AT SYWELL

The de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth flew in September 1929 and later modified with a fabric-covered steel-tube fuselage and as such redesignated the DH.80A

The first production aircraft flew in March 1930 and was promptly sent on a sales tour of Australia and New Zealand. Orders came quickly, and in the three years of production ending in March 1933, 259 were manufactured in England.

An additional 25 aircraft were built by de Havilland Canada. Most were fitted with the 130 hp Gipsy Major engine that gave slightly better performance. The machine was a somewhat radical departure from contemporary biplanes and seated 3 in comfort with a maximum speed of 128mph.

The Puss Moth was replaced on the production line in 1933 by the de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth that, with a plywood fuselage, was both cheaper to build, and lighter weight. Being lighter, the Leopard Moth had better performance on the same Gipsy Major engine. Some 133 were built before production stopped in 1936.
1931 Puss Moth G-ABLS (C/N 2164) seen here at Sywell on 12th July 1970 happily remains airworthy.

1934 Leopard Moth G-AIYS seen on the same day also still graces the skies with an owner in Guildford.

Photos kindly supplied by Gordon Riley.

(*an eclipse is a the collective noun for moths!)

One of our Trustees has been at it again with another model for display in the Museum!

1/72 Auster J/1 Autocrat G-AJRB - Brooklands Aviation c 1950- VFR Models 3D printed kit with vacform canopy.

She was bought new by Brooklands at Sywell in 1947 and based here until 2012. Happily she is airworthy again with Nick Stone in Northumberland.

For anyone who has had a flying connection to Sywell over the past 70 years ‘RB is a bit of a legend and we have our own ‘RB on display now- hopefully the real machine will visit us again soon!

SAM Sidequest- The oldest model shop in the U.K?

Not a museum post but something which may be of interest to our modelmaking followers! Just over the Northamptonshire border - Buckinghamshire in Wolverton is Al’s Hobbies- it began as a model shop in 1927 as Lake Brothers and still has most of its original shop fittings!

At nearly 100 years old this is the oldest continuously operating model shop in the country and maybe the world…

Fantastic atmosphere - and some of the stock seems to have been there as long as the shop has! Well worth a visit if you’re passing- it really has a special feel 🙂 note this is not a paid promo post we just loved it!

Look out for more ‘SAM Sidequests’ on this page from time to time 🙂

Weekly update from the JetsTeam!

The lads under the watchful eye of Andy and Rob are cracking on with the repaint of our 1969 Handley Page HP-137 Jetstream 200 G-RAVL 'Jenny'.

Back on the tools after a short break, the team have now rubbed down both wings and yesterday primed the starboard mainplane. If the weather plays ball then it's the port side next week!

Well done Team!

Photos courtesy CSP Colbert 🌈

SYWELL’S ‘ART WIV AN ‘OOK’

The Hawker Audax first flew in 1931 and was a variant of the famous Hawker Hart series designed for army cooperation - nicknamed ‘the ‘art with a ‘ook’ (Hart with a hook) due to the message collection hook installed underneath.

It was armed with a single Scarff ring-mounted .303 Lewis gun, a fixed forward-firing .303 Vickers machine gun and could carry up to 500lb of bombs on wing racks. It was powered by a Rolls Royce Kestrel engine and had a maximum speed of 170 mph.

Some 700 were built and saw worldwide Commonwealth service until 1945 including combat in Africa and the Middle East.

This example is seen at Sywell in the early war period. We know that 6 Elementary & Reserve Flying Training School was equipped with at least one Audax (K7407) in addition to its Hinds, Harts and Tiger Moths before becoming 6 Elementary Flying Training School on the outbreak of war. This may well be that aircraft.

Sadly the photographer is unknown.

Golden hour at Sywell- 1935 built de Havilland DH.87B Hornet Moth at rest ❤️

I’M A LITTLE TIPSY - BELFAIR G-AOXO AT SYWELL

The Belfair (from ‘BELgium FAIRey’) as designed by Ernest Oscar Tips was built by Avions Fairey in Belgium and first flew on 11th November 1946. It was based on the pre-war Tipsy B but with a fully enclosed cabin.

The type broke the world distance record for aircraft in its class twice (FAI class 1A - under 500 kg). The first of these flights was made by Albert van Cothem on 21 August 1950 and covered 945 km (587 mi). The second, made by P. Anderson on 3 August 1955 nearly trebled this to 2,635 km (1,637 mi). Both records were set in the same aircraft, C/N 533, registration OO-TIC.

Unfortunately, the Belfair was a victim of the glut of light aircraft on the market following World War II. The aircraft was priced at BEF 200,000, when war-surplus Piper Cubs and similar aircraft were selling for around BEF 30,000. Consequently, although six airframes past the prototype were under construction, only three had been completed when Tips made the decision that the aircraft was simply not commercially viable and sold the remaining airframes "as is". They were purchased by D. Heaton of Speeton, Yorkshire and completed in the UK, with a further aircraft converted from a prewar Tipsy Trainer to the same standard.

G-APIE, ex OO-TIE remains airworthy while another (c/n 536, G-APOD) is apparently under long term restoration.

The aircraft pictured here – G-AOXO (C/N 537) - first registered 7th November 1956 - sadly crashed at Eastbach Farm, Herefordshire on 26 August 1975 and was written off.

This photograph was taken by Gordon Riley at Sywell on 12th July 1970 with thanks to him.

Jetstream Wednesday update!

Work continues on the restoration of our 1969 Handley Page Jetstream 200 G-RAVL.

Efforts have now switched to the main planes after the top fuselage was primed a few weeks ago. The wings are in generally good condition since in 2017 they were given a spray coat of clear lacquer when she was ‘tarted up’ for an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of Cranfield University. This had been slowly flaking off and hence was easy to remove but it did a good job of protecting the panels for the last few years.

The main landing gear bays were filthy with dirt, old oil and hydraulic fluid and they have been given a good clean too. Again whilst unsightly, the fluids have helped to stave off corrosion.

The JetsTeam hope to have the whole machine buttoned up and in primer by the end of the season in readiness for a full repaint next year.

Photos courtesy of CSP Rob Colbert 🫡

SCENES FROM SYWELL

This series of photographs appears to have been taken at Sywell in the mid war period and shows staff at Brooklands Aviation undertaking their day to day duties. Of note we can see DH.89A Tiger Moth T-6028 assigned to 6 Elementary Flying Training School (nothing more is known about her save for her serial number 84191 and that she was struck off charge on 5th June 1950).

The full camouflage with yellow painted underneath rather than mid-way up the fuselage indicates that the shots come from around 1942 onwards.

We can also see one of the resident 3 wheeled Thompson Aircraft Refuellers in camouflage going about its business and a visiting DH.87 Hornet Moth (with early tapered wings).

A snapshot in time – sadly the photographer is unknown – can you put any faces to the names?

A HANDLEY PAGE DOUBLE DONATION TO SYWELL AVIATION MUSEUM

Thursday 10th July saw Museum members head north to the RAF Museum Reserve Collection facility at RAF Stafford to collect some very special items for display.

For those unfamiliar, the RAF Museum (hereafter RAFM) are presently relocating some 50,000 items from their reserve collection to a new facility at RAFM Cosford. Rather splendidly they are calling it the ‘Crate Escape’ – more info here:

www.rafmuseum.org.uk/news/join-the-crate-escape-and-support-our-fundraising-mission/

As part of the removal process they have undertaken a full collection review and have been offering surplus items to other Museums, We put in a bid for two items relevant to Sywell and were delighted when we were successful.

The first is a lovely 1933 model of a Handley Page Heyford which will be described in detail in a future post after receiving a few repairs. Suffice to say this year marks the 90th anniversary of The Daventry Experiment, when on 26th February 1935, Heyford K6902 was detected by RADAR at a small site near Daventry, Northants – see here:

www.facebook.com/SywellAviationMuseum/posts/pfbid02zwzQPyaDZ6M78mdZM5akSHVWmyYz57wSoNrCEzG3tev5MVx7YK6HgxGw1Tz2CTyGl

The second is a superb 1/16 model of Handley Page Jetstream G-AXEK. First flown at Radlett 2nd January 1969 as G-8-4 she was sent to Kidlington 3 January for completion by CSE Aviation. She returned to Radlett 19 May she flew again as G-AXEK on 31st May 1969 for use as the H.P. demonstrator in conjunction with CSE and extensively demonstrated in Australia. Later sold in America to South Central Air Transport as N1FY (later N103SC) she was broken up for spares in Natchez, Missouri in the early 1980s.

The model has already been placed on display in our Jetstream exhibition but we couldn’t resist a few photos of her outside!

With thanks to Ewen, Courtney, Guy and Russell and all at the RAF Museum.