The Aviation Historian 08.pdf

The Aviation Historian ®

The modern journal of classic aeroplanes and the history of ﬂ ying

“It is my most

beautiful aeroplane . . .”

Issue no 8

THE AVIATION HISTORIAN

Issue No 7

The Aviation Historian ®

Published quarterly by:

The Aviation Historian

PO Box 962

Horsham RH12 9PP

United Kingdom

The modern journal of classic aeroplanes and the history of ﬂ ying

Subscribe at:

www.theaviationhistorian.com

ISSUE NUMBER 8

(published July 15, 2014)

Editor’s Letter

EDITOR

Nick Stroud

e-mail nickstroud@theaviationhistorian.com

MANAGING EDITOR

Mick Oakey

e-mail mickoakey@theaviationhistorian.com

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Amanda Stroud

FINANCE MANAGER

Lynn Oakey

OUR COVER LINE — “It is my most beautiful aeroplane” —

comes courtesy of Sir Sydney Camm, who described his

supremely elegant Hunter design thus. The shapely Hawker

ﬁ ghter features in three of our stories in this issue. One of

them covers its use by the Indian Air Force in Exercise Shiksha ,

a little-known 1963 operation in which Nato forces gathered

for a show of strength in response to Chinese aggression on

India’s border. In another, it makes an impish appearance in

Niels Helmø-Larsen’s true-life tale of a Danish Hunter which

arrived, intact, back at its base without its pilot. Finally, it

plays a central role in the life story of test pilot and aircraft

designer David Lockspeiser, who died in March, and whose

life we celebrate with a tribute from friends and family.

The lot of the test pilot informs the third part of our exclu-

sive serialisation of Frederick Warren Merriam’s long-lost

book manuscript, in which John Lankester Parker recalls his

early years in aviation, when he had to overcome not only

considerable physical shortcomings but also the withering

initial scepticism of the man who would become his long-term

employer, Horace Short. We continue our ongoing World War

One centenary commemorations with Mike Goodall’s look at

Noel Pemberton Billing’s fabulously eccentric four-winged

“Battle Planes”, and we visit the more recent past with Ben

Dunnell’s fascinating feature on the British post-Falklands

evaluation of Argentina’s much-vaunted IA-58 Pucará.

And that’s just the half of it. So, without further ado . . .

For all telephone enquiries:

tel +44 (0)7572 237737 (mobile number)

EDITORIAL BOARD

Dr David Baker, Ian Bott, Robert Forsyth,

Juanita Franzi, Harry Fraser-Mitchell,

Dr Richard P. Hallion, Philip Jarrett,

Colin A. Owers, Julian Temple,

Capt Dacre Watson

WEBMASTERS

David & Angie Siddall,

David Siddall Multimedia

Published quarterly by The Aviation Historian,

PO Box 962, Horsham RH12 9PP, United Kingdom

ISSN 2051-1930 (print)

ISSN 2051-7602 (digital)

While every care will be taken with material

submitted to The Aviation Historian, no responsibility

can be accepted for loss or damage. Opinions

expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reﬂ ect

those of the Editor. This periodical must not, without the

written consent of the publishers ﬁ rst being given, be

lent, sold, hired out or otherwise disposed of in a

mutilated condition or in any unauthorised cover by way

of trade or annexed or as part of any publication or

advertising literary or pictorial matter whatsoever.

FRONT COVER A typically magniﬁ cent study of the ﬁ rst production

Hawker Hunter F.1, WT555, taken by the company’s in-house

photographer CYRIL PECKHAM in early 1955. It was very nearly

Peckham’s last photograph — all will be explained in TAH soon!

BACK COVER: Clockwise from top left: KLM Douglas DC-2 PH-AKI

at Fornebu Airport, 1939; the Short Mayo Composite; a Heinkel He

111 of KG 26 in September 1939; Fairey Fulmar N1854/G-AIBE at

Farnborough in 1962; the prototype Chrislea Super Ace.

If you do not wish to keep your copy of

The Aviation Historian (impossible to imagine, we know),

please ensure you recycle it using an appropriate facility.

Printed in the UK by

The Magazine Printing Company

using only paper from FSC/PEFC suppliers

www.magprint.co.uk

MADE IN BRITAIN

Issue No 8

THE AVIATION HISTORIAN

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THE AVIATION HISTORIAN

Issue No 8

CONTENTS Issue No 8

3 EDITOR’S LETTER

6 AIR CORRESPONDENCE

12 DAVID LOCKSPEISER

We pay tribute to the former Hawker test pilot and aircraft

designer, who died in March 2014

20 FLYING THE PUCARÁ

Ben Dunnell talks to the pilots tasked with evaluating an

Argentinian IA-58 Pucará captured during the Falklands War

32 THE FOUR-WINGED FARRAGO

Using previously unpublished documents and photographs,

Michael H. Goodall details the evolution of Noel Pemberton

Billing’s World War One quadruplane “Battle Planes”

40 LÖWENGESCHWADER’S BIG BANG

Marking the 75th anniversary of Germany’s 1939 invasion of

Poland, Alexander Steenbeck reveals how Luftwaffe bomber

unit KG 26 lost an entire Staffel with no enemy contact at all

44 EXERCISE SHIKSHA

Doug Gordon recounts the little-known 1963 Nato operation

in India in which Javelins, Super Sabres, Gnats and Hunters

defended India’s major cities against “enemy” Canberras

56 ECHOES FROM DAWN SKIES: PART THREE

Our serialisation of British pioneer F.W. Merriam’s long-lost

manuscript of memories from his contemporaries continues:

John Lankester Parker recalls his dificult early lying days

66 MERLIN MAGIC AT FARNBOROUGH

In 1962 photographer Kenneth Brookes captured some

magniicent images of Merlin-powered “old boys” at

Farnborough — we publish them here for the irst time

68 PLAN H: AMERICA’S UNBUILT SPYPLANES Pt 1

Dr David Baker introduces a series on the USA’s ambitious

Cold War spyplane projects with the contribution of British

engineer Randolph Rae and his hydrogen-power concept

76 THE AEROPLANE THAT FLIES ITSELF

Richard T. Riding tells the full story of the Chrislea Aircraft

Co, from the pre-war Airguard to the Ace, Super Ace and

Skyjeep series. If it hadn’t been for that control system . . .

88 DISTANT THUNDER

Warren E. Thompson proiles the 27th Fighter Escort Wing’s

operations with F-84E Thunderjets in Korea during 1950–51

98 BEFORE & AFTER

Arvo Vercamer and Roger Tisdale detail the markings of the

1914 Schneider Trophy-winning Sopwith Hydro-Seaplane

100 THE UGLY TRUTH?

An unusual collection of wartime photographs of American

ighters being delivered to Liverpool docks prompts Philip

Jarrett to wonder why they were all marked as “UGLY”

108 CAPITAL GAINS: OSLO-FORNEBU 1934–40

Rob Mulder celebrates the opening of Oslo’s Fornebu airport

75 years ago with the story of its pre-war development

120 ARMCHAIR AVIATION

125 LOST & FOUND

126 WHO NEEDS A PILOT?

In January 1960 Royal Danish Air Force Hunter 47-415

landed back at its base at Skrydstrup. Nothing unusual in

that. Except that its pilot was dangling from a parachute

several miles away, as Niels Helmø-Larsen relates

130 OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

Issue No 8

THE AVIATION HISTORIAN

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