An Oriental rehearsal? Page 16 Keeping ’em flying Page 44

To Berlin via Manchester Page 54

Features

16 Eastern Prelude In our Hidden History feature this month Vladimir Kotelnikov reveals the little-known air war between Japan and the Soviet Union which took place over Manchuria in 1939

24 People Power Philippe Couderchon and Russ Snadden describe the Memorial Flight Association’s superb restoration of the Musée de l’Air’s rare WW2 Heinkel He 162 jet-engined “people’s fighter”

ABOVE The distinctive shape of Heinkel’s He 162 Volksjäger. See page 24 for the story behind its painstaking restoration . . .

32 Airliner Archive We present an evocative 1930s image, from the Savoia-Marchetti photographic archive, of the company’s twin-engined transport, the S.M.83

36 Fierce Wind over the Deck The Hawker Hurricane proved itself a tough opponent during the Battle of Britain — but would it work as well at sea? Philip Jarrett relates the type’s transition from landlubber to seadog

44 Shuttleworth:

Warden of the Old Timers Tim Skeet opens a two-part feature in which he reports from Old Warden on the 21st Century challenges facing the remarkable Shuttleworth Collection

54 OneWay Ticket to Berlin In August 1941 Avro Manchester Mk I L7377 was caught in flak over Berlin. Andreas Metzmacher describes how a dedicated pair of German researchers pieced together its final hours COVER IMAGE RICHARD PAVER photographed Trevor Roche flying Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk IB Z7015/G-BKTH en route from Duxford to Old Warden on July 12, 2009. See this month’s centrespread.

THIS PAGE Holiday Special — this splendid portrait of BEA Airtours de Havilland Comet 4B G-APMG was taken by TERRY PANOPALIS at Madrid in July 1970. Barry Jones’s comprehensive history of the Comet begins on page 60 . . .

Contents

April 2010 Vol 38 No 4 Issue No 444 (on sale March 2)

Regulars 6 News All the latest preservation news, compiled by Tony Harmsworth

22 Aircrew This month James Kightly spotlights the role of an English Electric Lightning pilot. With an illustration by Ian Bott

AircrewAircrew

31 Picture of the Month This month’s candidate is the muchrequested Fairey Swordfish

35 From the Archives Nick Stroud revisits the aviation news and issues of 90 years ago — April 1920

42 Readers’ Archive A superb colourful array of photographs from the album of I.F. Toon, taken in the late 1950s and early ’60s

92 Skywriters A selection of readers’ letters on a wide range of topics

93 Flying Visit Melvyn Hiscock interviews Guy Westgate, team leader of the Swift Aerobatic Display Team

98 Hairy Moment Our regular spot for your historic-aviation close calls

In Database

59 D.H.106 Comet BARRY JONES describes the rise and fall — and rise again — of de Havilland’s innovative and graceful Comet, the world’s first jet airliner 60 Birth of a rising star 61 Scale drawings of the Comets 1, 2, 4 and 4B, by Juanita Franzi 65 A crack in confidence — triumph turns to tragedy for the Comet 1 69 Avon calling — a new powerplant for a new Comet era 71 The Comet in technical detail 72 Comet 4 cutaway drawing by J.H. Clark 76 The last of the line — the most elegant Comet of them all, the 4 series

PAGES INN- - D D E E P P T T H H H I H INN- - D D E E P P T T H H H I H ESSSESSESS PAAGGEESSPAAPAAESSSESSGEESSESSPAAGGEEPAA21IN-DEPTHPAGES21

IN-DEPTH

In News

Newwarbird museum Page 6

Haiti relief propliners Page 9

Spitfire for Germany Page 10

Airline History Tristar Page 13

Strikemasters in UAE Page 14

In Navigator

Our Navigator section at the back of the magazine tells you all you need to know about what to buy and where to go:

esst t a a b b l l i i s s h h e e d d 1 1 9 9 1 1 1 1 taab b l l i i h h e e d d 1 1 9 9 1 1 1 1

81 Three Greens 81 Book Reviews 85 Flyleaves 86 Information Exchange 87 Registration Update 88–89 Airshows & Events, Lost & Found 90–91 Classified 96 Aeroplane services — back-issues, subscriptions, binders, newsagent order form, annual index and more 97 Contacts and next month in Aeroplane established 1911 Aeroplane traces its lineage back to the weekly The Aeroplane, founded by the legen- dary C.G. Grey in 1911 and published until 1968. It was relaunched as a monthly magazine in 1973 by Richard T. Riding (Editor for 25 years until 1998)

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