NEWSLETTER #49 - DECEMBER 2004 WHAT DO YOU KNOW
Member Jim Colver hoped to identify Spitfire designer R J Mitchell in the Supermarine Royal visit card shown in September by comparison with another photo of the same event but cannot be sure. However Mitchell is definitely on the right in this (non postcard) shot of the same event.
A report in "Flight" says that, apart from local dignitaries, the party included the head of the Spanish Naval Air Service. It also referred to R J Michell as " one of our foremost flying boat designers". This at age 29, having been Chief Designer at Supermarine from age 24.
Even so, aircraft in playgrounds are not unknown but this one is nothing ordinary. It is a Douglas Skyrocket, rocket powered research aircraft - basically the US Navy s answer to the USAF Bell X-1. It attained over 1300 mph in 1953 after air-launch from a B-29. ,But whereas the Bell resides in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, the Skyrocket appears to have ended up being tested to destruction by kids in Pennsylvania - does anybody know why, or , if, like the Vikings in WASG , it was ever rescued. Even when the above was taken the rudder had already disappeared.
Next, to follow on what seems to be a theme on interior views, there is a Pan American official card from the 1930s. It is titled "Aboard a Flying Clipper Ship".
The real Hughes of course would not have been seen anywhere near Pan American which he saw, correctly, as using every fair or foul means to thwart the ambitions of his own TWA to develop international services. Anyway, the one thing the card does not tell is , "Which Clipper ?". I reckon the choice is between the Sikorsky S.42 and the Martin 130 - I have a vague feeling that I have seen this shot or one similar on a cigarette card somewhere too.
He can be contacted at beejaysocent@hotmail.com or 275 Overdown Road, Tilehurst, Reading RG31 6NX. Tel./Fax 0118 9424448. I have pointed out other possible football connections like teams sponsored by airlines and special paint schemes for World/ European Cups.
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