At the request of HP a cut and paste into the main thread of a great reminisce from Speedbird 48 now residing in America of his MMMMMMMMiles MMMMMmoments.thanks for sharing them with us!!!
MMMmmmiles aircraft
Today is a day for memories and I would like to add what little I know about various Miles airplanes.
I was a boy at Denham in the early/mid '50's where the club operated G-AFBS and G-AJZH. I went solo in ''BS and have paid it a state visit at Duxford where it was being rebuilt. 'ZH didn't make it as Janet Fergusons mother, at a late age, force landed on a disused airfield in East Anglia that had been dug up and was covered in broken lumps of concrete.
Also at Denham at the time was the Airways Aero Club and they had several Maggies in the G-AKK? series. I later helped Roy Mills operate G-AKKR from Elstree and I last saw it at the museum in Manchester. I was responsible for the non-standard venturis underneath it and the modified instrument panels that it still has.
Alf Carey owned G-AIUA and an Auster Arrow, G-AJAM that I frequently rode in to breakfast patrols. Alf bought a Miles Mercury from Switzerland which he later force landed when a rag caught fire under the cowling. I believe the inquiry showed that he was minus some essential paperwork?
The Maggie was a great machine and a good trainer that has held me in good stead for 13,000hrs. Stalls usually followed by a spin was a very interesting deal and a flat spin was even more of a gripping experience. I owe a lot to Wilbur Wright, Yvonne Pope, Eddy Hewitt and others for getting me along the right track with the help of a great airplane.