Malcolm G O Payne
19th Dec 2003, 02:40
on 14 April 1955 I flew G-AIUF, a Maggie that had been converted to have enclosed cockpits. I remember that there was very little headroom. How many Maggies were converted in this way? 'UF went to Germany, the owner being an Americane ex-serviceman called Dickie Dickinson who left the USAF and set up some bars over there.
Malcolm Payne
Aerohack
19th Dec 2003, 04:02
A number of Magisters were converted to tandem enclosed cockpits at station level in RAF service, when switched from training to communications roles. Those I know of (I’m sure it’s not a definitive list) include G-AKRV, in which owner Edward Day won the 1950 King’s Cup, narrowly beating Princess Margaret’s paramour Peter Townsend in Hawker’s ‘hack’ Hurricane G-AMAU; G-AKRW, at one time operated as a runabout by Short Brothers, and later by Rochester Flying Club; and G-AJRT, which placed third in the1953 King’s Cup, flown by ‘Johnny’ Johnston. Those all had upward-opening hoods. G-AKJV had tandem sliding hoods, while G-AKGS had the front cockpit faired over and a sliding hood installed over the rear cockpit. Another Magister, G-AKMK, had an enclosed cockpit but of an entirely different design, vaguely Chipmunk-like, probably not a wartime mod.