Shortfinals – aviation and more!

By: shortfinals

Feb 12 2011

Tags: "913", 'Flight', 'Hire and Fly Yourself', 'London to the Cape - 3 Days 18 Hours', 'Sestrel' compass, 12th October 1934, 130 hp De H Gipsy Major, 1930s, 1935 King's Cup Air Race, 1936, 1940, 1944, 200 hp, 4-cylinder engine, Abingdon, Air Hire Service, Air Show, aircraft, Aircraft Distributors Ltd, Airwork Ltd, American-built, Australia, Aviation, £725, Berkshire, Berlin, Berlin Olympic Games, bomber unit, British Army, British Isles, C of A, c/n 216, Cape Town, Chief Designer, civilian firm, communications machine, Dalton Barracks, De H Gipsy Major, De Havilland, distinctive forward-sloping windscreen, England, Europe, F G Miles, F1 Wing, F1-71, Falcon Major, Flight Lieutenant, Flight Lieutenant Tommy Rose, foreign entries, G-AEEG, Germany, Gipsy 6, Gipsy Major engine, Great Britain, Henry Deterding, Heston Airport Middlesex, impressed, insurance for flying, 'heavy' bomber unit, Junkers, Junkers 86K, King's Cup Air Race, Lincolnshire, London, London to Cape Town, London to Cape Town record, M.2F Hawk Major, M.3A Falcon Major, March 1936, Miles collector, Miles enthusiast, Miles M.3A Falcon Major, military authorities, most spectacular private aircraft, Olympic Air Rally, Olympic Games, Peter Holloway, petrol and oil, Phillips and Powis Aircraft Ltd, propeller, racing and record-breaking success, RAF, RAF Abingdon, Rangsdorf, Reading Aerodrome, Royal Air Force, Schwarz propeller, SE-AFN, SE-AFW, Second World War, second-hand Falcons, Short & Mason Company Ltd., Skegness Aerodrome, Svensk Flygtjänst AB, Swedish, Swedish AF, Swedish Air Force, Swedish owner, The designer's first real cabin aeroplane, the single Tp7, Tommy Rose, Tp7, Västerås, Vultee V-1, warbird, windscreen, WW2

Category: aircraft, airshow, Aviation, British Isles, England, Great Britain, military, RAF, Royal Air Force, Second World War, warbird

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Phillips and Powis Aircraft Ltd built the most spectacular private aircraft in Britain during the 1930s, and the Miles M.3A Falcon Major was no exception. Originally developed by the company’s Chief Designer, F.G. Miles, as a cabin version of the successful M.2F Hawk Major, the prototype first flew on 12th October, 1934. Original versions of the Falcon had three seats (pilot, then seats for two passengers, with luggage space behind), although a more powerful engine allowed an extra passenger to be carried. The aircraft had a distinctive forward-sloping windscreen, rather like the American-built Vultee V-1.  An advertisement in ‘Flight’ stated, “FALCON – four-seater. The designer’s first real cabin aeroplane….in all respects similar to the Hawk Major”. Power was provided, initially, by a 130 hp De H Gipsy Major, 4-cylinder engine, but racing and record-breaking success came when the bigger Gipsy 6 of 200 hp was fitted. One of these aircraft, flown by Flight Lieutenant Tommy Rose, won the 1935 King’s Cup Air Race; Rose went on to break the London to Cape Town record in the same machine. The Short & Mason Company Ltd. made a great deal of the fact that one of their ‘Sestrel’ compasses was used in the Cape flight (‘London to the Cape – 3 Days 18 Hours’ read an advertisement). By 1936, second-hand Falcons were coming onto the market; one was being offered for sale by the well-known firm of Airwork Ltd, at Heston Airport, Middlesex, and Aircraft Distributors Ltd , of Skegness Aerodrome, Lincolnshire were offering this example, “MILES FALCON, Gipsy Major engine, Schwarz propeller, total hours 150. Price, with C of A for 1 year, £725.”

Phillips & Powis Aircraft Ltd were getting in on the act themselves, offering a ‘Hire and Fly Yourself’ service under the following terms! “Have started an Air Hire Service equipped with MILES FALCON MAJORS. The rates include insurance for flying in the British Isles and Europe. Per day – £5.5.0, plus petrol and oil; per 3 or more days – £4.10.0 per day, plus petrol and oil; per hour – £3.0.0, including petrol and oil. Reading Aerodrome, Berkshire.” A Falcon, flown by Henry Deterding, was one of 57 foreign entries (4 of them from the U.K.) which flew into the Olympic Air Rally at Rangsdorf, to the south of Berlin, to mark the ill-fated Berlin Olympic Games in 1936.

G-AEEG (c/n 216) is seen here in the sunshine at the former RAF Abingdon (now an Army base, known as Dalton Barracks). She is in a very pleasing white over blue colour scheme, with the Miles Falcon symbol under the windscreen. This aircraft was built during March 1936, but was soon sold to a Swedish owner (as SE-AFN).

Falcons in the U.K. and Australia were impressed by the military authorities during WW2, and the Swedish Air Force acquired SE-AFW as a communications machine in 1940 (as the single Tp7, “913” coded F1-71) based at Västerås, which was the home to the only ’heavy’ bomber unit in the Swedish AF at the time, F1 Wing, flying the Junkers 86K. Sold to a civilian firm in 1944 (Svensk Flygtjänst AB, as SE-AFW), after a series of adventures, it has ended up in the hands of that great Miles enthusiast and collector, Peter Holloway. It couldn’t be in a better place!