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Did a guy called Denis (Titch) Taylor have a part in testing either of these. I know he flew some of the Avro 707 variants, and was Shorts' CTP for the Belfast
After the first flight of the Belfast, (I think it flew from Sydenham but landed at Aldergrove) Denis Taylor was mobbed by journos who asked him what it was like to fly the world's largest aircraft. He replied that he just flew the front end and the rest followed.
I too thought that it was Pegg's Brabazon quotation, although I always thought it mentioned "my side" rather than front; however, according to page 87 of the following document, the quote "Well, my side's airborne, what about yours?" is generally attributed to Tim Wood on the occasion of the first flight of the prototype Blackburn Universal Freighter and Pegg's mundane utterances were recorded in his autobiography "Sent Flying", which I've not seen.
That's what you get when you cut and paste from FAM's list of exhibits (my excuse is that you can't see the number on the photo with the info/history in my link above)!!
I finally found my copy of "Sent Flying" - cannot scan it but pp. 147-8 text reads as follows
I was sitting in a cockpit and looking out of windscreens not much larger than before, and felt that this end seemed to be operating pretty well, but what about the rest of it coming along behind ! I remember thinking about this and my mind goes back to the first time I heard the question: "Oh, Mr. Pegg, what is it really like to fly such a gigantic aeroplane " My answer was, "It is quite easy, we just fly the cockpit and the rest of it trails along."
Earlier in the chapter Pegg mentions that he spent time in the USA with the Convair B-36 ( which was flying at the time ) and I confess that I feel the response has an American flippancy about it that might well have been coined at Fort Worth...... we shall probably never know.
I think you're right, Pegg's remarks sound like they were made to a pack of jostling reporters, whereas what I'd been told that he said, sounds more like a comment made to a fellow crew member in the heat of the moment, but it seems like it wasn't his remark and so isn't mentioned in his autobiography, where according to the RAF Historical Society article, there is a record of "his far more mundane intercom exchanges" (their words, not mine) maybe his, but like you say, we'll probably never know!
Back on Thread with apologies!
I've advised FAM about the mistake in their listings of the HP 115 as XP980 rather than XP841. Well spotted T-21 and who better than JF to confirm that XP980 was a P1127, happily, I should say "is" because it survives and is also on display at Yeovilton in the same hall as the 115, if their website is correct!
I've only just joined this forum so please excuse an inane question.
What side does the canopy open on the 115?
I ask because I'm a 'kitbasher' and I've just bought the Anigrand 1:72 resin kit of the HP 115. It's a lovely little kit (all of 18 parts!!) but the canopy is so poor that I've decided to open it so as to see the cockpit detail I put in. Of course, NOW is the time I discover that I haven't any details on how the canopy opens. I'm assuming that it is hinged on the starboard side. Am I right?
Many thanks for your help
M Mortimer
Thanks for the VERY prompt reply - much appreciated!
I wouldn't mind, but I've wandered 'round that Museum S-O-O-O many times and looked at the aeroplane, but never photographed it properly (just general shots)
Thanks again
Malcolm Mortimer
Thanks - doesn't it just! If I'd only known before I started construction..... Still, I have resolved a couple of queries.
I note that you're in Minehead; I used to live in Taunton and I got the kit that I'm building from Lonewulf Models based in Watchet.
Thanks again
Malcolm Mortimer
I found out quite by chance a while ago, that the secret to unearthing close-up detail photographs of virtually any aircraft is to include the word walkaround in your search string. It works a charm, thanks to the worldwide band of avid enthusiasts (mostly modellers), who do just that and post the results under that heading. The link to the related image search is worth checking out too, often some nuggets there!
Thanks for the walkround link very useful. In the cockpit shot there is a Cosim variometer mounted to the left of the instrument panel(red and green balls to glider pilots !!) What was its purpose in a HP.115 ?
Back in 1998 (I think) I was at the St Mawgan Air Day and was shocked and dismayed to see an SC.1 unfenced and unguarded, being used as a rubbish bin by the public! Fag ends and general trash being put into one of the exhausts!! I hope it survived! I remember being appalled on two counts as not only was such an historic test aircraft being reduced to that level but the ignorance shown by the general public was allowing it to happen!!
!!
SC.1 whereabouts...
Linear Mode
