COVER IMAGE Spitfire PR.XIX PM631 of the RAF BBMF was photographed by CHRIS ELCOCK while wearing its former paint scheme. It has just completed a major maintenance and retains PR blue, though now without Invasion stripes.

Contents

April 2011 Vol 39 No 4 Issue No 456 (on sale February 22)

In News

Features16LizziegoestoWarProfilingNo4Sqn’stimeinFrancewhileflyingtheWestlandLysander, Martyn Chorlton continues our new Battle Honours series

24 Butcher Bird over Chino Michael O’Leary captured the rare sight of an FW 190 and P-40 in the skies over California

30 Weisse Eins Kathryne “KT” Budde-Jones provides an update on a combat veteran Focke-Wulf Fw 190 under restoration to airworthy condition in Florida

32 Stanley Cownie and the

Beatty Biplane Philip Jarrett tells the hitherto untold story of a privately-designed aircraft and a young pilot in Hidden History

45 Spitfire 75th Anniversary Mozzie moves

45 Spitfire 75th Anniversary 46 Assessing the first Spitfire Extracts from a 1936-dated A&AEE report detailing the flying characteristics of prototype Spitfire K5054

Page 6

50 RAF Recce Bird Jarrod Cotter profiles the history of the RAF BBMF’s longest continually flying aircraft, Spitfire XIX PM631

56 First thoughts . . . What the 19 Sqn pilots wrote about the first Spitfires to arrive on an operational RAF unit

82 Venture-Adventure An account by a founder cadet, Desmond Goch, plus a brief history of the ATC which was formed in 1941

Combat veteran Corsair Page 8

Swift at Brooklands Page 10

62 Air Baby Stefan Degraef details a beautiful light aircraft which flies in Switzerland

69 DATABASE AW Siskin Derek James traces the genesis and evolution of the RAF’s first all-metal structured aircraft to see operational service. Includes scale drawings

81 ATC at 70 Jarrod Cotter begins a series of short features on the Air Training Corps

84 Millionth Flight Gp Capt Terry Jones recently marked an ATC milestone he made in 1983

86 Air Cadet artist Profiling the work of Roy Cross

94 Old Bill’s last trip Martyn Chorlton describes the final flight of a 305th BG B-17 in May 1943

96 Get some in! Lamenting the Dominie’s retirement

B-57 Canberra Page 12

Regulars

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

23 From the Archives 38 Hooks’ Tours This month Mike Hooks presents a selection of images taken in Canada during 1971-1972

42 Aircrew James Kightly focuses on the vital work of ATA pilots who ferried the huge Short Stirling. Illustration by Ian Bott

66 Q&A Your questions asked, and answered, with Mike Hooks

89 Book Reviews

92 Events Event listings for March and April

93 Flying Visit Melvyn Hiscock quizzes Mike Moran

99 Services and next month in Aeroplane 100 Readers’ Album Snapshots from Liverpool Airport in the mid-1930s, including aircraft of Sir Alan Cobham’s National Aviation Displays, submitted by David Johnson

102 Skywriters A selection of readers’ letters

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

Marauder at Boxted Page 14

established 1911 established 1911

established 1911 Aeroplane traces its lineage back to the weekly The Aeroplane, founded by the legendary 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)

1968. It was relaunched as a monthly magazine