The French in York

BELOW: A dramatic scene taken at Biggin Hill during the Kent

Spitfire night photo-shoot on November 12, 2011,

as Supermarine Spitfire IX MK912 has its engine run up.

PHIL WHALLEY

Page 22

The Hollywood Mustang Page 36

The Brave Beaufort Boys Page 99

Regulars

6 NEWS

All the latest preservation news, compiled by Tony Harmsworth

32 AIRCREW

James Kightly focuses on the radioman/gunner of the Douglas SBD Dauntless. Illustration by Ian Bott

46 HOOKS’ TOURS

This month’s selection covers a visit by Mike Hooks to an Open Day at Sir William Roberts’s Strathallan Collection on July 17, 1976

62 Q&A, LOST & FOUND

Your questions asked, and answered, with Mike Hooks, while Philip Jarrett looks at more items signed by founding editor of The Aeroplane, C.G. Grey

66 SKYWRITERS

A selection of readers’ letters

86 BOOK REVIEWS 88 GIFTS 93 EVENTS

Event listings through to March 2012

94 FLYING VISIT

Canadian Warplane Heritage Avro Lancaster captain and former Royal Canadian Air Force and Air Canada pilot Don Schofield talks about his flying career

105 SERVICES AND NEXT

MONTH IN AEROPLANE 106 HAIRY MOMENT

Our regular spot for your historic aviation close calls

See page 84 for a great subscription offer to Aeroplane See page 84 for a great subscription offer to Aeroplane well as some great savings, gs, we ha ve

As well as some great savings, we have a limited time offer where new subscriptions and renewals include this great Praktica monocular, with a 10x magnification – ideal for viewing your favourite aircraft even closer! COVER IMAGE: An impressive study of Supermarine Spitfire I P9374 breaking from the camera ship taken by JOHN M. DIBBS of the Plane Picture Company.

ContentsJanuary2012Vol40No1IssueNo465(onsaleNov29)

16

Features

THE SLEEKEST HUNTER Tony Buttler looks at de Havilland Blue Jay air-to-air missile trials using the Hawker P.1109

22

THE FRENCH IN YORK Jarrod Cotter visited the dedication of a memorial to two Free French Air Force heavy bomber squadrons in York Minster

46

RED DEVILS AND GUARDIAN ANGELS Stephen Chapis recounts the fascinating stories of the two little-known United States Air Force Mustang demonstration teams

50

FLYING THE SPITFIRE MK I Well-known warbird pilot John Romain describes flying the earliest configured Spitfire flown since 1940

26

ON WINGS AND PRAYERS Gary L. Rashba charts the fascinating story and many difficulties encountered in the creation of the Israeli Air Force

34

WATERBIRD CENTENARY Highlighting the 100th anniversary of Britain’s first seaplane flight, made from Lake Windermere in November 1911

36

THE HOLLYWOOD MUSTANG Frank B. Mormillo profiles Tom Cruise’s P-51 Kiss Me Kate

38

THE FIRST GATHERING OF MUSTANGS Frank B. Mormillo recalls a ground-breaking event in Chino 30 years ago, which has been repeated in similar fashion and on a grander scale several times since

60

A TRANSCONTINENTAL TREAT Details about the long-awaited follow-up to Aeroplane’s oversubscribed, coast-to-coast USA reader tour of 2007, scheduled for May 19-June 4, 2012

96

SITTING DUCKS AND PEEPING TOMS The story of unmanned aircraft in British military service has hitherto remained largely untold. Now, in a new book by Michael I. Draper, the record is set straight in astonishing detail. The author presents just a very small selection here

99

THE BRAVE BEAUFORT BOYS Martyn Chorlton outlines 42 Sqn’s operations while flying the Bristol Beaufort, which earned the unit the Battle Honours Channel & North Sea 1939-1942; Biscay 1940; Baltic 1941 and Fortress Europe 1941

WIN! WIN!WIN!

98 Competition Your chance to win a copy of the new Air-Britain book, Sitting Ducks & Peeping Toms by Michael I. Draper

In News

Anson Mk I taxying Page 6

TVAL Snipe flies

Page 7

He 162 rolled-out

Page 8

F-86D unveiled

Page 10

DATABASE

Horsa progress

Page 12

15 15 PAGES OF PAGES OF DETAILDETAIL

UARD

69 VICKERS VANGUARD Introduced just as the world had fully embraced turbojet-powered airliners, the Vanguard, like so many other British airliners of its age, sadly just missed the boat, as Roger Carvell recounts d rboj ed 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)

e,