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EXCLUSIVE
January 2021
Issue No 573,
Vol 49, No 1
Building and flying a German
First World War ‘speedster’
HISTORY IN THE AIR SINCE 1911
‘Winkle’
Brown
Special salute to the
great British test pilot
Farnborough’s greatest
show on earth
CHRIS
BOOK
TMAS
GUIDE
Th
e
festive best
re
review ading
ed
INSIDE…
“I was there”
Pioneering jet carrier landing
Witnessing history
w
Unpublished intervie
vy
Na
Rebuilding the German
RE8 MYTHS BUSTED
l
B-29 GUN SYSTEM
PLUS…
JANUARY 2021
£4.99
Contents
January 2021
Make it an
Christmas
See pages
24-25
for details
50
26
70
60
64
NEWS AND
COMMENT
4
6
FROM THE EDITOR
NEWS
• Concern over RAF Museum disposals
• Canberra WK163 reunited with nose
• Pioneer French flyer conserved
…and the month’s other top aircraft
preservation news
14
WORKSHOP
It’s been a long job, returning an
ex-RAF DH53 Humming Bird to
airworthiness — but it will fly again
18
HANGAR TALK
Steve Slater’s comment on the historic
aircraft world
20
FLIGHT LINE
Reflections on aviation history with
Matthew Willis
FEATURES
26
1945 GERMAN AIRCRAFT
EXHIBITION
As a young lad, renowned aviation
historian Michael J. F. Bowyer was
an ecstatic guest at Farnborough’s
unbelievable exhibition of enemy
aircraft — and some of the latest
British types
CARRIER JET PIONEER
We interview a Royal Aircraft
Establishment engineer who had a
privileged view of ‘Winkle’ Brown’s
pioneering Vampire operations on
HMS
Ocean
75 years ago, as well as
the lead-up to them
40
REBUILDING THE GERMAN NAVY
In wartime the German Navy almost
killed Eric Brown. In peacetime, he
played a pivotal role in the rebirth of a
new West German naval air arm
50 EXCLUSIVE REPORT AND PHOTOS
PFALZ D.VIII
Swedish constructor and aviator
Mikael Carlson’s latest flying First
World War reproduction is quite a
‘pocket rocket’: the very potent, very
striking Pfalz D.VIII
60
P 70s IN THE PACIFIC
The night fighter variant of the
Douglas A-20 notched up a small, but
significant, Pacific theatre ‘first’
32
64
70
AUSTER G AGTO
The unassuming Autocrat that helped
revive post-war private flying
AEROPLANE
MEETS…
ADDISON PEMBERTON
Some of the finest antique aeroplanes
in the world have emerged from the
workshops of this American aficionado
DATABASE:
ROYAL AIRCRAFT
FACTORY RE8
James Kightly explores
the development and
service of the First
World War all-rounder
— and tackles a few
myths along the way
DATA
BASE
IN DEPTH
PAGES
The first
prototype
maiden fl
RE8 was
ight on 17
serial 7996,
June 1916.
which made
KEY
COLLECTION
81
DEVELO
PMENT
its
The need
for a BE2
of a new
successor
corps reconn
spurred develo
aissance
pment
platform
Development
Technical Details
17
Bomb-toting Daimler-built
RE8 B5106 in
the markings of No 59
Squadron,
while stationed at Vert-Galant RAF,
in
summer of 1918.
CHRIS SANDHAM
the
BAILEY
ERIC BROWN SALUTE
ROYAL
T
AIRCRAFT
FACTORY RE8
WORDS:
JAMES KIGHTLY
A group of No 3 Squadron,
Flying Corps airmen and Australian
their RE8s at
Bailleul, France.
RAAF MUSEUM
ARCHIVE
AEROPLANE
JANUARY
2021
81-97_AM_Database_Jan2021_cc
C.indd 81
IN DEPTH
PAGES
17
tabase_Jan20
21_cc C.indd
82
he Royal
Aircraft
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because
it would be
of the
British Army’s
manoeuvr
easier to
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e.
organisati
e opposition
on, brought
under civilian
roughout
of populist
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Hertford
upgrade
it was meant control. Although
to
MP
the
factory designers
Billing (alongNoel Pemberton
the Royal
pre-war BE design,
experimen to be a test and
Aircraft Factory
took to address
with the
the emerging
tal
opinionat
highly
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ed
needs
new aircraft
aviation
dent Mervyn
Aeroplane
editor of
e
with new of combat
was
O’Gorman
, C.
types
SE5a and
the factory
Royal Aircraft G. Grey) to the
the RE8 have like the
into the developm
moved
Factory and
obscured
been
by myth
Royal
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e Royal
and calumny.
aircraft was Aircraft Factory
e BE2 types
RE1 to RE7
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realised a
ultimately
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new
going to be
available
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necessary
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ultimately
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1914, setting
going to be
607 and 608, aircraft, serials
ce
a type that
necessary
pioneering records and
could continue
;
like smaller, of 1913 looked
wireless experimen
Flying Corps
carry not
Having enabled
to
just
cousins of single-bay biplane
during the command peaked
the developm ts. the now-requ two crew, but also
of army aerial
the BE2.
‘Fokker Scourge’
RE1
developed
ent for
ired equipmen
1915 to early
army co-operati
theory, initial reconnaissance
by Busk to 608 was
of
t
1916.
at the end
the point,
some complaint Although
on
means of
of
at the openingBE2 operations
defending and the
capable of 1913, where it was
s were justi
they chose
of the Great
attack by
itself
War went
being own
ed,
to
enemy scouts. from
o ’ for long
much as
‘hands-
beyond any pursue it far
planned,
undertakin
distances,
would automatic
g several
and
As a result, rational degree.
bombing
early
the many
ally pull out
of a dive.
raids. However,
steps the
Tried
as aerial
as soon
opposition
as a oatplane, unsuccessfully
the BE’s performan developed
it later served
brie y with
,
ce
limitation
Service as the Royal Naval Air
s made it and design
disastrous
a landplane
obsolete.
example
Pre-war
ly
was named . A further
work of Edward theory, and
an early instance
the
the RE3,
Teshmake
at the Royal
r
illogic beloved of the naming
Aircraft Factory,Busk
gone towards
of
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Aircraft Factory. the Royal
the type
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e RE4 was
ability to
stability (the
not proceeded
return to
with, but
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the
level ight)
tube fuselage RE5, with a steel
to
and observer enable the pilot
structure
a 120hp Austro-Da
and
to concentra
the job of
te on
imler, had
a batch of
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24
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the drawing ordered ‘o
not yet realised
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own by Norman
to
No
52
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18,900ft on
of the machine
denote this
the first
nt,
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1914. In an
14 May
RE8 as belonging
proved tragic,
to
however.
receive the type.
Capt J. A. operational RE5,
Initial use
PROVINCIAL
Liddell of
ARCHIVES
No 7
Squadron
OF ALBERTA
82
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Lt R. H. Peck, his observer, 2nd
lanemonth
ly.com
by a Fokker were attacked
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81-97_AM_Da
In Service
Insights
www.aeroplanemonthly.com
AEROPLAN
81
E
JANUARY
2021
30/11/2020 09:01
30/11/2020
09:01
REGULARS
22
23
SKYWRITERS
Q&A
Your questions asked and answered
78
BRIEFING FILE
Looking under the skin at aviation
technology and tactics — this month,
the B-29’s complex gunnery system
98
REVIEWS
More ideas for aviation reading in the
festive season
106
NEXT MONTH
102
A DAY AT THE SHOW
Missing your fix of air displays, or just
nostalgic for how they used to be? Our
new monthly series kicks o with a
Shuttleworth spectacular from 1989
COVER IMAGE:
The then Lt Cdr Eric Brown during
his time as commander of 804 Squadron at RNAS
Lossiemouth on the Hawker Sea Hawk.
VIA NICHOLAS JONES; COLOURISED BY RICHARD JAMES MOLLOY
Your Aviation Destination
See
Key.Aero
for
details
SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE
AEROPLANE
JANUARY 2021
www.aeroplanemonthly.com
3
I
Editor
view the exhibition of German aircraft
and technology. Naturally, we accepted
it immediately, and the result does not
disappoint. Can you imagine what it must
have been like, as an aviation- xated
schoolboy, to go through the gates of the
RAE and see rst-hand an assembly of
aeroplanes like that? Probably not, but
Mike’s simply marvellous piece gives you
the best possible impression.
And the connections to that period
don’t end there. While Farnborough
was still in the throes of its weeks-
long exhibition, and Eric Brown was
preparing for his world- rst carrier-
borne feat, a Nottinghamshire motor
dealer called omas W. Shipside was
readying an airstrip at his home in
Blidworth. Private ying wasn’t set to
resume until the
start of 1946, but
Shipside wanted to
be in its vanguard.
Before ’45 was
out, he’d taken
delivery of the
rst production
Auster Autocrat — a highly signi cant
British light aeroplane that still survives.
Its own 75th anniversary story o ers,
coincidentally, another perspective on
those immediate post-war days.
As we come to the end of this di cult
year, the team at
Aeroplane
o ers a
heartfelt ‘thank you’ for your continued
support, and our very best wishes for
the festive season. It’s going to be a
Christmas and new year period like
no other, but, hopefully, one in which
we can begin to look forward to better
times to come. Enjoy it, stay safe, and see
you in 2021 — when, incidentally, our
February issue will be out a week earlier
than normal, on 7 January.
Ben Dunnell
From the
CONNECT WITH
AEROPLANE…
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@HistoryInTheAir
f there’s a thread running informally
through this issue, it’s the entry into
a new era — the feeling of nally
having escaped from the clutches
of brutal hostilities, into an optimistic
post-war world. at theme links
several of the features, if slightly more
by accident than design. Remembering
that it was 75 years since the then Lt Cdr
Eric Brown’s rst jet operations on an
aircraft carrier was one thing. Coming up
with a new angle with which to mark it
was quite another. But then our regular
contributor Matthew Willis interviewed
Geo rey Cooper, a former Royal Aircraft
Establishment engineer who is one of
the few remaining eyewitnesses to that
day aboard HMS
Ocean,
and the die
was cast. Cooper talked authoritatively
to Matthew about
how Brown and a
DH Vampire came
to make history
in December
1945, and his
own involvement
in many trials
programmes with which the great test
pilot was also engaged. To go with
that, and to create more of a salute to
‘Winkle’ Brown on this anniversary
occasion, we commissioned Nicholas
Jones to write about Eric’s role in re-
establishing German naval aviation after
the war. e result is a unique insight
into not just that speci c job, but also
the special connection between Brown
and Germany that remained largely
una ected by the war. It’s a great read.
Eric Brown turns up in another of
this month’s articles, too. We were
thrilled this past summer when that
great aviation historian Mike Bowyer
got in touch, rst with his memories of
the 1935 Royal Review of the RAF, and
then the o er of a feature recalling his
visit to Farnborough in October 1945 to
CONTRIBUTORS THIS MONTH
NICHOLAS JONES
Nicholas is a TV producer
with a particular interest in
British aviation heroes. Via
documentaries he made
about turbojet genius Sir
Frank Whittle, he
befriended Capt Eric
Brown. Nicholas and Eric
immediately found they
shared an interest in Nazi Germany’s jet
programme, and when they made the film
Eric
Brown — A Pilot’s Story,
Germany played a huge
part in its content. Eric’s unique experience of
Germany, confided over many lunches, informs
Nicholas’ feature on the time he returned there to
train its fledgling naval air arm.
DANIEL KARLSSON
If there’s a thread
running through this
issue, it’s the entry into a
new era
“The air-to-air session with
Mikael Carlson’s
remarkable Pfalz D.VIII was
a typical example of just
how
atypical
aerial
photoshoots can be”, says
Daniel. “We spent three
days on location. The winds
were simply not favourable
for flying the rebellious World War One bird. Late
one evening it was good enough — and now
everything had to go very fast. Up, shoot, down.
Total time with the subject: four minutes. In the
gleaming autumn sunset, they were four of the
best minutes of this wearisome year.”
JAMES KIGHTLY
Fascinated by the RE8 story
since seeing the IWM
survivor under
conservation, James has
been researching the type
in museums and archives
from Belgium to New
Zealand. The RE8 is an
aircraft that is regularly
misrepresented, sometimes as a bomber and
usually as a failure. The real story, and RE8 crews’
achievements, are much more complex and
interesting than that. Presenting a synthesis of
scholarship in this month’s Database, James is
very appreciative of the help a orded by past
researchers and a recent RE8 pilot.
WARREN E. THOMPSON
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.
Warren has been writing on
military aviation for over 45
years. He started out
researching American night
fighters in World War Two
and Korea, later expanding
his areas of interest to
include not just those two
conflicts but also Vietnam,
‘Desert Storm’ and others. Since that time, he has
had in excess of 35 books and countless articles
published. Warren has now interviewed more than
1,000 pilots and other aircrew members, and this
month returns to one of his favourite topics, night-
fighting, to examine the Douglas P-70’s pioneering
kills in the Pacific.
4
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AEROPLANE
JANUARY 2021

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