Aeroplane Monthly 1977-11
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Personal album
Avro 504K H3083, built by The Brush Electrical Engineering Co Ltd at Loughborough, seems to have been in use as a “hack” with 99(B) Squadron at Bircham Newton until this crash in 1925.
Vickers Virginia IX night bomber J7709 of No 58 Bomber Squadron after bisecting itself at Worthy Down in 1930. Originally a Mk VI, it was one of 27 Virginias modified to a Mk IX by the addition of a lonely gunner’s position in the extreme tail, necessitating tailplanes of increased span and decreased chord to counteract the increased yawing and pitching moments. No 58 Squadron used Virginias from 1924 until 1937.
View of another unhappy Virginia. J6857 was originally the second of the two Virginia prototypes, designated Mark II and completed on April 5, 1924. After the initial development programme it went to No 7(B) Squadron at Bircham Newton for service trials. The accident depicted, when Fg Off Moss was in command, took place after the aircraft had been modified to Mark VII standard with six degrees of sweepback on the mainplanes. In the lower picture the opening beneath the rear fuselage for a gun position is just discernible.
Virginia Mk II J6857 of 7 Sqn photographed at Fakenham in February 1927 following a forced landing. It was rebuilt as a Mk VII and concluded its Service career as a Mk X with 58 Sqn.
Hawker Woodcock single-seat fighter J7960, bearing the distinctive double zig-zag markings of No 17 Squadron, based at Hawkinge, along its fuselage sides. No 17 was the second of the two Woodcock squadrons, and received its first examples in March 1926.
Handley Page HP24 Hyderabad J7744, from the first production batch of 15 aircraft, after a crash at Bircham Newton whilst serving with No 99 Bomber Squadron. No 99 was the first squadron to receive the type, which began to replace its Avro Aldershots late in 1925. J7744 has the original fin and balanced rudder, later replaced by a more angular affair in which the rudder had inset hinges. The early Hyderabads, powered by Napier Lion IIB engines, were highly regarded by their crews.