What aircraft is this?
'Winkle' Brown flew Monitor Mk.11 NP406 at Woodley in late 1945. My old friend Alan Goodfellow (Fleet Air Arm test pilot) was seconded to Miles Aircraft during the war and flew the Monitor quite a lot. Both Pilots' reports on this aircraft can be read in 'Miles Aircraft The Wartime Years' by Peter Amos.
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'Winkle' Brown flew Monitor Mk.11 NP406 at Woodley in late 1945. My old friend Alan Goodfellow (Fleet Air Arm test pilot) was seconded to Miles Aircraft during the war and flew the Monitor quite a lot. Both Pilots' reports on this aircraft can be read in 'Miles Aircraft The Wartime Years' by Peter Amos.
Give us a precis
Dave
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Alan Goodfellow tested NF904 (2nd Prototype) and NP407 (2nd Production) at Woodley. The impression I get from reading his report, which is published in full, is that the aeroplane was a bit of a Curate's Egg. Incidentally Alan (Peter) Goodfellow flew a great range of aeroplanes including nearly all the wartime Spitfire Mks. He told me that his favourite aeroplane to fly was the Mitchell and that his biggest regret was that he never got the chance to fly the Whirlwind.
That's interesting - I knew some guys who'd flown a lot of types and they reckoned the Mitchell was " a bit hot" for such a large aircraft - could be a handful they said
...the Mitchell was " a bit hot" for such a large aircraft - could be a handful they said
Back to the Monitor. Ignoring the cockpit section, it reminds me of some other twin, but I can't place it. Does anyone have any thoughts?
With a bit of dihedral on the tailplane, maybe a Havoc/Boston/A20?
Gnome de PPRuNe
Slightly reminiscent of the Tigercat aft of the cockpit (and drop the wing/fair in the turret!)
Thanks for the suggestions chaps, but VG has it - it was the Botha I was thinking of!
As I was typing this, I realized I didn't know the origin of the name. Now I know:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Botha
As I was typing this, I realized I didn't know the origin of the name. Now I know:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Botha
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Always wondered, did any other air forces request "fresh sheet of paper" new designs to fill the role of drogue tower? The UK came up with the Monitor, Sturgeon (postwar, but was it originally designed for other duties?), and the Miles Martinet, may have been others. However, I think the vast majority of aircraft employed on drogue towing duty would have been obsolete aircraft which could do a reasonable job without too much serious modification. Cannot think of any other country that thought drogue towing aircraft should be specifically designed for this role from the start, but I could be wrong! And when did the first drogue towers appear in any air force? I'm guessing in the mid to late 1930s. Apart from fighter aircraft, much drogue towing was carried out for land-based A/A units, armed ships (including merchant vessels in wartime), and also large military aircraft with manual and powered gun positions, including flying boats.
