Peter Cadbury & Air Pegasus

[FAStoat]

The Pitts

The Pitts at Farnborough had nothing to do with 'XNZ;that was GAZPH which Neil flew until he died and then,the British Team flew with Mike Reilly having the prop fly off and force landing,and now I believe is in a Museum.The Zlin was part of the Zlin Duo run by Rothmans,flown by Williams and Black,later Jarvis and Scofield(Also of the Stampe Duo).We bought a Rothmans Stampe to replace the Pitts (GAYIJ),but that suffered from flying in bad weather,which in turn was replaced by another Zlin GAWPG,which we flew all over,in which poor Roy Legg was killed.The Pitts 'XNZ is still extant I believe ,but John Jordan repainted it from Rothmans colours into a White/Green Sunburst.The plane resided at Gransden,but I think his son sold it on.That is as far as I remember.A short PS is that Andrew Chadwick is a name that comes to mind as the engineer that Peter Cadbury got to modify the Pitts,and he fitted Spades under the Ailerons and flared them in also added droop to them to get a much faster rate of roll-I could be wrong with the name,but I remember him from somewhere at that time????We used to fly in to Farnborough fairly regularly,as Trevor Davies looked after the Walter Mikron Engines of the Zlins of Neil and James,and so ours as well.His Team at Farnborough were the only people in the UK at that time who could do CAA Approved"Lead Flashing" to restore bronze main bearings,which the Walter Engines still had-No Shell Lead Indium Bearings then,and hollow cross bolted blocks housing the Crankshaft.Exactly the same as the German Argus Engine.Very Archaic design.I have tried in vain to find any photo of the Pitts S1c as Peter Cadbury bought it in Rothmans colours still,but the name and crests painted out from the top wing and side panels,unless someone has a shot of it languishing in the back of the Shuttleworth Hangars betwwen 1971 and 74 when it was flown to Booker.Nothing either for the Jetranger,as I did not have a camera with me at the time.All I can tell you is that it had a white top with yellow sides and underside,with black stripes/flashes down the side.What I can also remember was that he had very funny stories concerning Humphrey Lestoq flying Typhoons and crashing them.My Uncle had known HL(Whirlygig) in Bray in the 40s/50s,so I mentioned it to Peter,as I had met him several times in the local store(Jones).My Uncle had flown Seafires and Corsairs,and knew Pat Shea Simmonds,another Test Pilot colleague of Peter Cadbury,so we had a lot to talk about en route Booker,as Peter had an Estate on Hawthorn Hill with an Airstrip,and that was only a few miles from my Uncle.Finally I was at Prep School with the Shea Simmonds kids,who were driven sometimes in a Vintage 31/2 Bentley,while I was driven there in a Mk5 Jag-Fantastic times,and a very small world.Humphrey Lestoq was the original Pilot Officer Prune!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!