BEAGLE HUSKY - XW635 - Ex-5 AEF -Where is she now
 

Flew her often as a Staff Cadet at Marshalls, she was sold in the late '90's. Would love to fly her again. Remember the big bungay undercart made her a bitch to land!

G-Info on G-AWSW/XW635 shows she's not flown for a couple of years, and is probably at Spanhoe.

Link

For those who are not aware she was given to ATC/AEF by Hughie Green.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/...2c37aea9e3.jpg
Beagle D.5 /180 Husky XW635 by ray_hilluk, on Flickr

More pictures here

Lovely ... XW635 !

Had a check ride with S/L John Shelton 29 September 1978 up at Cambridge. Seem to remember her brakes we "cannibalised" from Chipmunk stores !

Best regards ...

Coff.

Is that the aeroplane Hughie Green gave to the ATC? If so I flew in it a few times when I had a short spell as a VR(T) officer with 1095 (City of Ely) Sqn

I made my first ever flight in that plane! Happy days :)

'Demobbed' site says it's at Spanhoe, now G-AWSW and G-INFO shows it as still registered although PTF may have expired.

G-AWSW is actually a 'non-EASA' aircraft. So it could prove a valuable asset to anyone wishing to buy it. You wouldn't need any EASA pilot licence and could quite happily fly it on a UK PPL for the foreseeable future whilst the rest of the UK struggles with the nonsense of pointless €urocracy.

It is also something of an historical aircraft, so deserves to be well looked after.

If anyone is interested I could pas by Spanhoe, check and report back. I live nearby. Pse send PM

Yes please. I flew a great deal in her, great ac for first timers. Flew most oft with Jonny Blackmore and John Shelton..sadly both ex-of this world..went to both of their funerals :(. She was sold on after I'd left 5 AEF as a staff pilot...

You could just ring up? 01780 450205 ;)

The Beagle Husky (sounds like one of our regular contributors with a sore throat). First tail dragger I ever got to land (but not this particular example) . Nice machine, useful but slow as it had a banner towing prop on it.

First time I mentioned here on PPRuNe I'd flown the type and in passing that it was a side by side two seater, I got berated by SNS3Guppy; and Nutloose! Even after showing a photo of the aircraft, they were convinced it had tandem seating.

Anyway, it would be nice to see XW635 fly again, especially as the name of "Hughie Green" always makes me think "how appropriate", bearing in mind the aftermath of some AEF flights by nervous Air Cadets.

i.e. :yuk:

Many people probably don't realise that Hughie Green had served as a pilot with the RCAF in WW2, principally ferrying aircraft across the Atlantic. Not as simple as people might imagine, in those days.

In 1970, he set up 'Opportunity Flights' to maximise Air Cadet air experience flight opportunities, by persuading sponsors to offer cadets free trips in corporate business aircraft and with major airlines. He also presented G-AWSW to 5 AEF.

After being hounded by the red top media for his somewhat colourful lifestyle, the poor old sod lived out his twilight years in relative obscurity before finally succumbing to lung cancer in 1997.

G-AWSW deserves to be well looked after, having given so much pleasure to so many future RAF members, thanks to the generosity of Hughie Green.

"And I mean that most sincerely!"

I also benefited from one of those flights on a BA - oops! BEA Trident to Glasgow and back. Damn. I said the 'T' word.

Thanks for that, if the number was for me. I was planning to get a photo as well, plus I want to check on an eccentric gentleman who is doing things to an ex-Luftwaffe F 104, plus there is a Valiant crash site to visit plus the Harringworth pub does a great lunch. One has find things to do to fill one's life!

"First time I mentioned here on PPRuNe I'd flown the type and in passing that it was a side by side two seater, I got berated by SNS3Guppy; and Nutloose! Even after showing a photo of the aircraft, they were convinced it had tandem seating."

Er....it's a three seater. Two up front, one behind. I used to fly G-AWSW at Cranwell when it was loaned to the flying club there and I definately remember getting both my father and brother in law in it. They were probably thinking of the American Aviat A-1 Husky which looks very similar and is a tandem two seater.

http://www.dove-aviation.org/images/aviathusky.jpg

The Beagle Husky is quite a good aeroplane - it's a effectively a Lycoming powered Auster. The 180HP gives it a good take off performance, but then it was power against drag and not worth thinking about cruising above 90knts. And the split flaps make it a real dragmaster and good for short strip landings.

I've also flown the Aviat Husky (which is a bit like a Cub on steroids) and the two are very similar. The yank machine has a 180hp Lycoming as well, but with a CS prop. It's got truly enormous flaps and even better short field performance than the Beagle Husky. But the British aircraft is nicer to handle.

Both would make an excellent glider tugs!

Some fairly recent pictures of Spanhoe's other residents here

Thanks Dan, that's were i got the tandem seating from.

Airborne the F104 has been "restored" and is for sale, later pics here

Jet Art Aviation

Lovely to see it. I flew in that as a young space cadet from Duxford, and had not seen it since.
On a recent trip to Duxford I asked if anyone had any memories of the aircraft, and no one I spoke to had even heard of it.

Wasn't Hughie Green shot up by Migs when flying down the corridor into Berlin to record a show there? Seem to think he was flying a Cessna twin.