Magisters
 

Sorry to come so late to this thread. I have just spent a facinating hour reading it.

I havent got much to add I'm afraid but I will keep my ear to the ground.

I love Maggies, always have done. So I hope these piccies will do in the meantime. All taken at the last Shuttleworth display.

http://mysite.freeserve.com/Mil_Phot.../159_5901w.jpg

http://mysite.freeserve.com/Mil_Phot.../161_6135w.jpg

Two Maggies fly off into the sunset.
http://mysite.freeserve.com/Mil_Phot.../161_6112w.jpg

MMMMmmmmagister/ OZ Gemini
 

What a joy the Maggie has been this season. A gorgeous aircraft that is such a priviledge to own and fly.

I am so pleased that it gives so much pleasure to others too.

Looking through my latest issue of 'Classic Wings Down Under' - a great read - I see that Lyn Foster from Australia (who flew my Maggie last year) has a Gemini project for sale - VH-GBB.

HP

I've not seen the Maggie much this year, just tucked away behind that marquee at RIAT (surely the organisers could have found a better spot for her?), and then a surprise appearance at Gransden late on Sunday. A very pleasant sight, watching you float her down onto the grass. I took a couple of pictures, but they're on soggy film and have yet to be developed. If I can figure out a way of posting them up on here I'll do so at the weekend (only if they're any good, of course! :D )

By way of bumping this up to the top. A couple of snaps of the Speed 6 and Falcon at Shuttleworth.

http://mysite.freeserve.com/Mil_Phot.../171_7128a.jpg

http://mysite.freeserve.com/Mil_Phot.../171_7133a.jpg

http://mysite.freeserve.com/Mil_Phot.../171_7183a.jpg

http://mysite.freeserve.com/Mil_Phot.../171_7200a.jpg

Nice to see the Maggie parked up near the Tucano at North Weald on Sunday, and also the two Messengers that flew in.

Great turn out for the Battle of Britain fly-in.

Thanks guys!

RD :ok:

Maggie
 

Happy to take the Maggie into NW - I felt compelled to do so in view of its WW2 training role.

SPent half an hour queing for a grot-burger, gave up, flew back to Old Warden, jumped into the Robin and flew across to the Norfolk Coast for an overnight at The Crown at Southwold.

If you want to spoil somebody - take them there....

Oh yes - Maggie -

Flew it down to Headcorn at the weekend and bumped into that larger than life character Brendan O'Brien.

Well, before you could say 'Biggles flies undone' he was in the thing, turning it upside down with me shrieking like a little girl in the front cockpit.

Great experience and what a hoot of a bloke Brendan is.

We need more characters like him in aviation - superb pilot and 100% wag.

HP

Ah yes "My Names Brendan O'Brain and I'm a Pilot"

Comes across as all ego on Dic Wings, however I met him briefly when I was a nizzletwerp in his Fournier display team days. A thoroughly nice chap who took the time to chat at length to a snotty little kid (me!!).

The Fournier Team were bloody good as well.

Upside down in the Maggie, sounds like fun, shame I wasn't there with the camera.

I remember being upside down in the Magie --- Ah, nothing on the clock but the makers name (literally) ------ but that's another story...................

It was good to see the Falcon and Magisters display at Old Warden this year, but what readers may not realise is that Hairyplane has now progressed to display flying in formation. The pictures of his machine in DamianB's and Man-on-the-fence's latest threads show him strutting his stuff with the Shuttleworth Magie and resident Bulldog.

Well done 'H', we'll have you turning it upside down yourself as well in display next year, just you see......

A

Hairyplane,

Thanks for letting young MM sit in the aircraft, he is telling everyone about it. Just a shame most of them do not know what he is on about!

A lovely machine and much appreciated.

Posted on HairyPlane's behalf...

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co...ntyspilot2.jpg

Scan courtesy Barry Clay/Wings over Warwickshire.

G'day folks!
An ex-Policeman suggested I add a post here, and always delighted to oblige the law...

Also happy to keep this amazing thread going. Soon to be avaliable as "the Mmmmiles thread book - bigger n' War n' Peas"!

What we really need is a replica of the Miles Hobby. Yes, 'Hobby' is a member of the Hawk family (both natural history and Mmmmmiles) and was a one off by the Miles clan as a tiny racer with a (troublesome) retractable undercarriage. Hobby was chosen as a name as the bird was tiny - so small that alegedly it would choke on the insects it caught Swift style...

I've only seen passing references to it, and an article with plans in a French mag I've got somewhere. Anyone keen?
Cheers
James K

Miles Hobby
 

MMMmmm,

Hobby!

THe Miles M13 Hobby (as I read from 'Miles Aircraft from 1925' by Don Brown (Anybody got a spare copy I might beg, steal or....OK... buy?) is certainly a little cracker.

Little it is too.

Built for the 37 Kings Cup, it had a mere 21ft-span/ 78sq ft wing and a retractable undercarriage.

Good for 207mph apparently!

Did it win?

Er.....nope.

Where did it come.

It didn't....

Why?

It wasn't ready in time for the race!

Why?

When they did the retraction tests, the recesses in the wing were in the wrong place.

Ooops.....

By the time they redesigned the wing and rebuilt it, the race had been run.

They came within a gnats winkle of doing it, working day and night.

So near yet so far.

Maybe I should scan the picture and post it on the thread.

However, whilst I can pat my head and rub my (ample) tum at the same time, I havent quite worked out the magic of getting piccies onto Pprune (and please dont try to explain it - I'll just watch the next Harry Potter movie and hope he does it on screen)

Kings Cup - My (ex) Messenger won it in 1954, My Falcon won it in 1979 (better late than never) and my Magister (or at least the registration.....!) came 3rd in nineteen can't remember.

Glad you like my thread guys - lets try to keep it going.

HP

Rightho!

Just thumbing through a Swiss avmag (Cockpit) and find a photo of Challenger ZS-ALT at Lanseria. Caption goes on to say that the first ZS-ALT was a Miles Magister operated from 1938 to 1940 by SA Airways.

Must say I have enjoyed accompanying you on this thread for almost a year now, and appreciate the works of DamienB and MOTF in illustrating your aerial activities.

Best wishes,

ATB

MMMmmmiles at Abingdon
 

Kind words indeed atb!

There are clearly some wonderful old photos out there as well as anecdotes that should be recorded for posterity.

Anybody out there with any Miles photos? We want to share them with you!

Having said that, I am so guilty of the offence(!) myself.

I have some marvellous old piccies of my Falcon on skis, in Swedish military markings and pre-war with a swastika flag fluttering in the background.

I also have piccies of it in bits in 1963.

Oh yes, how about it sitting on the apron at Lymne in 1961, motor still 'ticking hot' - following its arrival from Sweden (sold subsequently for ten quid!)

I will Email them 'off to a boff' and get them posted.

OK - I surrender - how do I post a J-Peg photo here? Slow words please.

HP

Great Vintage Flying Weekend (G-VFWE) is being held at Abingdon in May this year.

THis event is a must.

I plan to do a few jolllies in the Maggie and Falcon during the evenings - happy to draw names out of a hat for a free ride.

B there or B square!

HP

Hairy,

Save your JPGs at a reasonable image size - a max of about 600 pixels wide and at 72 dpi - this is perfect for viewing on screen. You can experiment with the compression ratio - smaller = lower quality...

Save them somewhere on the Internet - perhaps you could host them in a PPRuNe folder in your company website.

Click the IMG button in the "post reply" window in PPRuNe (lurks in the VB code section) and paste in the path for your file, ie http://www.hairyplane.co.uk/pprune/falcon.jpg

Repeat for each image...

Think that's it - hope it is slow enough, PM if not and I can expand on details (particularly with file sizes) if it would help.

Spot on with the Hobby, and superbly humourised!

I have a pic of the Hobby, will try and post if I remeber to bring the book in!

Cheers

Treadders

Excellent the G-VFWE moving to Abingdon the only must attend major event of the season as far as I,m concerned!!.Hope they can organise some slightly better form of Air traffic and arrival procedures than at Kemble this year.Super event and all those lovely MMMMMMMMMMiles aircraft.Anyone know the runway alignment?crosswind options?grass options at Abingdon??.Always handy for the vintage types,red faces etc:D

"Great Vintage Flying Weekend (G-VFWE) is being held at Abingdon in May this year."

Are you finally cracking up HP, or have you gone relative on us? A new candidate for the next Dr Who perhaps? Reminds me of a limeric I heard many years ago:

There was a young lady called Wight
Who could travel much faster than light
She set off one day
in a relative way
And arrived the previous night.......

Abingdon - lovely place. Spent many happy days there with 6 AEF on Chipmunks and a decade later, helping the UTP on Jags and Hawks. If I remember right, there's two long runways, one east/west, the other north/south, with lots of good grass around them - utopia for vintage nuts I would think.....

Best Wishes to All,
A

Good news about The G-VFWE. its only about 5 minutes away from me so I shall be there (it does clash with a Shuttleworth evening bash though). I may even drag Mrs Fence along for a bit (scary!!)

Berkshire Museum of Aviation
 

Has anybody been to the Berkshire Museum of Aviation on the site of the old Miles Aircraft factory in Woodley? They have a very large quantity of old photographs of Miles aircraft as well as one or two restoration projects on the go. Not huge, but an interesting museum for anybody interested in Miles aircraft.

Berkshire Museum of Aviation

According to my (very) old 1990 Pooleys, Abingdon runways are:

18/36, 1991m x 46m Asphalt

08/26, 1463m x 46m Asphalt

Gives a rough idea, but of course that information will be 14 years old by the time of G-VFWE...