Mel's Challenge
 

No takers apart from Bri. Must be time for a clue. It was a British aircraft.
Mel

Thanks Mel. The Gosport Tube and the P.8 Compass should account for the British origin, but I can't find a match.:ugh:

Mel's Challenge
 

Whilst one of the cleanest biplanes ever built it only had a very limited production run (single figure).
Mel

Was the challenge aircraft from a "Big Name" manufacturer...

(I was going to go for The Bristol (Lucifer) Trainer... but apparently 24 were built which rules it out.)

Mel's Challenge
 

windriver. Yes it was from a "Big Name" manufacturer but not Bristol.
Mel

Not having much luck here... but one more question please...

Did the challenge aircraft have a nosewheel? The "angle" of the fuselage suggests this might be the case....

Mel's Challenge
 

No she was a conventional tail dragger. I think "angle" of the fuselage was due to the way the photograph was taken. This aircraft flew mid 1930s.
Mel

Avro 636 ?

Mel's Challenge
 

That is the one Bri.:ok:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c6...t/avro-636.jpg
The Avro 636 was designed in November 1934 by Roy Chadwick, Avro's chief designer as a one or two seat fighter trainer, and was planned to reproduce the flying characteristics of single-seat fighters.
Only one order for 4 aircraft was received from the Irish Air Corps in December 1934. These aircraft were powered by old Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IVC engines. Although the Jaguar IVC powered aircraft was planned to be designated as the Avro 667, they were always referred to as Avro 636s.
The four aircraft were delivered in August 1935, and remained in service for several years.
You have control.
Mel

Definitely a taildragger!! .... Doesn`t look like one of Chadwick's finest either... looks like it might have been difficult to see where you were going on the ground ... so he got that bit right.

Excellent challenge Mel! Interesting design. The landing gear legs are especially clean. Examining designs from Fairey, Parnall and even Simmonds-Cirrus, (the cockpit doors are similar), led me to the Avro Tutor and Cadet family, which, after seeing the gun paddles on the front joystick, made me consider the rare 626. Here is the next cockpit challenge:

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r.../WCP080804.jpg

Time for a clue: The aeroplane was designed for aerial survey.

AS 39 Fleet Shadower perhaps?

Sorry, not the AS 39 Fleet Shadower.

Wild guess (as usual)

Lockheed Electra Junior (as used by Sidney Cotton)

ASI appears to go up to 100 in 20s, I can't see engine instruments or switches. The levers on the left could be mixture and throttle, if so it only has one engine, but where, this has the feel of a cockpit right at the front. Or perhaps those levers are trim and airbrake?

Is this a glider?

DFS230?

Sorry, not a Lockheed, nor is it a glider. It was powered by two De Havilland Gipsy Major engines. A later version was designed as a general purpose aircraft, and one was even converted to a seaplane.

Can we rule out the DH Dragon?

Yes, you can rule out the DH Dragon. The aircraft was not made in Great Britain.

Deeeeeevious!

No doubt it willl turn out to be a Phutney-Creech Air Yacht Mk7 or similar that no-one has ever heard of...

I love this thread!