MMMmmmiles Aircraft
Thanks, atb1943, you bought back many pleasant memories.
I did my first solo in G-AFBS at Denham in the mid 50's after 4 1/2 hrs. dual!
I think you are perhaps mistaken on a couple of points as I believe Dick Emery owned one of the old Experimental Flying Group machines and kept it at Fairoaks. I believe it was G-AKAT and painted light blue with a red rudder. Although it could have been the same machine at Blackbushe?
The other point is that Roy Mills and myself operated G-AKKR out of Elstree in the -60's as a group machine and when the ARB came out with thier infamous edict on wooden airplanes Roy donated it to the RAF museum together with a lot of spares, to be lost forever. It was painted black with yellow trim when we had it. I believe the machine in Surrey may have been another one?
I did visit Duxford a few years ago and found a very pleasant young man rebuilding G-AFBS to non-flyable status and I also went to Manchester to renew aquaintances with G-AKKR.
Miles built some great machines and the Maggie was a great trainer and character builder. A few spins with at least one flat spin would make you a believer. A go-round with full flap when heavy on a hot day was also rather interesting. On G-AKKR we deleted a couple of sections of flap by removing the actuating rods and taping them up which made it a bit better on a go-round. It is still in that configeration as the RAF museum didn't know how it should be, they just painted it. The instrument panels are also non standard.
I must return to the UK one day and try and get a flight in one of the survivors.
Regards, BaD.