Fury?

[FAStoat]

Yes there definitely is a Hawker Fury full size replica with a Kestrel.It was built by Viv Bellamy for Patrick Lyndsay in the late 80s,and was kept at Booker with PPS(Tony Bianchi).Unfortunately the Fuel Tank held such little fuel,it did not wander far from Booker,so very few people saw it .Tony Bianchi flew it from Lands End via several stops,after I think Viv had flown it.Patrick had Cancer and I believe he only just managed to see it fly at Booker before his sad death.Andy Sefton also flew it,and it was sold by the Patrick Lyndsay Estate,so where it is now may be abroad,or with Kermit weeks,as he is still involved with PPS at Booker on his rebuilds.The Fury was in 43Sqn colours.Viv Bellamy also finished the build of John Fairey's Flycatcher,which in fact I had started in the mid 70s.I had got Tony Harold of the RAF Museum,with Cdr White of the FAA Museum, to find what 1930s Biplane Fighters that were no longer extant,that Drawings could be found for,apart from Hawkers,as they had a very difficult to copy octagonal Main Spar,so we looked for wooden or a mixture of wood and steel-hence we came up with the Flycatcher,and Maurice Robinson was brought in to share the project,as he had built an Avro 504 for Bellamy,which went to Col Palen. Maurice was killed and the project ground to a halt,so knowing Viv well I contacted him,and he told his brother in law,John Fairey,who subsequently took the semi built project off my hands.Viv subsequently built a 1 1/2 Strutter,and Albacore,and was in the process of bringing back a Skua into life,but he died ,and Westward Aviation was taken over by his son.This was written up several times in Aeroplane Monthly,and to give John Fairey his due,he did give me credit for the Flycatcher,but he never let me fly it,as I had expressly given Viv Bellamy instuctions that I would like to be allowed to fly it,as part of the deal!!!However several Landing incidents by its owner,probably put him off letting anyone,as even Hugh Kennard had nearly done the same!!!!!It displays well at Yeovilton with a replica Jaguar engine.The Pratt and Whitney that it flew with was not so dissimilar to the Bristol Jupiter(9 Cyl radial but opp rotation) that some of the Prototypes had actually had before the Air Ministry decided on the Jaguar ,that Siskins and others were powered with,so Spares were common.

[treadigraph]

Wow, thanks for the story on those aeroplanes FAStoat. I'd forgotten about the Fury replica. I know it went to Belgium where it suffered a landing accident and it was rebuilt here - by Skysport I think - and I recall seeing it at Old Warden several years ago, though I don't think it flew. Wonder where it is now.

By the way, according to Skysport's website they have a Hawker biplane fuselage available...