Tag Archives: Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

17–19 June 1941

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Flight Captain Jackie Cochran, R.A.F. Air Transport Auxiliary. (Indian Palms Historical Society)

17–19 June 1941: Jacqueline (“Jackie”) Cochran was the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean when she ferried a Lockheed Hudson from Canada to Scotland. The airplane was a twin-engine Lockheed Model 414 Hudson Mk.V (LR), Royal Air Force identification AM790 (Lockheed serial number 414-2872).

Recognizing that the War would require all available pilots, the United Kingdom’s Lord Beaverbrook and the United States Army Air Forces Chief of Staff, Major General Henry Harley (“Hap”) Arnold, felt the need to demonstrate that civilian women could serve as pilots of military aircraft in non-combat situations. Jackie Cochran, a famous record-setting pilot, was selected for the assignment.

Cochran had previously served as a Flight Captain ¹ with the Royal Air Force Air Transport Auxiliary. After a period of six months, she had returned to the United States at the request of General Arnold, where she served on his staff.

For this ferry flight, Captain Edgar Grafton Carlisle, Jr.,² was assigned as her navigator. The Hudson also carried a radio operator, today only remembered as Coates. Royal Canadian Air Force authorities felt that Miss Cochran was not physically strong enough to operate the Hudson’s hand brakes. The arrangement between her and the R.C.A.F. was that she would be allowed to fly the bomber as First Officer, but that Captain Carlisle would make all takeoffs and landings.³

Cochran, Carlisle and Coates departed Montréal, Québec, at 1920 G.M.T., 17 June, en route to Gander, Newfoundland. They flew 931 statute miles (1498 kilometers) in 5 hours, 4 minutes before landing at 0024 G.M.T., 18 June, and remained there overnight.

Page from Form 68 Watch Log, dated 18 June 1941. (Courtesy of Diana Trafford, Flights of History.)

The following evening, 18 June, at 1857 G.M.T., they took off to fly across the North Atlantic Ocean, a distance of 2,122 statute miles (3,415 kilometers).

Great Circle Route from Montreal to Gander, and on to Prestwick. (Great Circle Mapper)

In her autobiography, Cochran wrote:

     Flying the ocean at night didn’t mean much. We were above an overcast and hardly saw water. But just before daylight, we were heard or spotted by radar and suddenly through the darkness tracer bullets came up in front and around us. There was sudden consternation on board. Carlisle rushed up to me and the radio operator came running out of his compartment with his Very pistol. He opened a hatch and by firing a certain colored bullet gave the signal of the day but this really served no purpose because the light could not have been seen from the surface of the water anyway and the firing at us was probably coming from a German submarine or one of our own friendly ships. I thought maybe the pilots in the mass meeting in Montreal were right after all and the Germans were going to make a test case of me. Anyway, the tracer bullets stopped almost as soon as they started and no noticeable damage was done to the plane. After daylight, a hole opened up in the overcast and we saw a ship burning at sea, but could do nothing about it except to make a report by radio because we had no fuel to spare to enable us to go down and cruise around. Then we caught sight of the coast of Ireland in the distance and it kept creeping up on us and growing larger and larger and more friendly. From off the coast of Ireland to Prestwick, Scotland, was a tortuous air route. The route went one way and then another—without any real pattern—and the route was changed daily to make it difficult for enemy planes or submarines to intercept. At the end of twelve hours, we came to a stop on the runway. Carlisle, under the regulation, made the landing.

—The Stars at Noon, by Jacqueline Cochran, Little, Brown and Company, Boston and Toronto, 1954. Chapter VI, Pages 102–103

They arrived at Prestwick, Scotland, at 0605 G.M.T., 19 June, after a flight of 11 hours, 8 minutes.

Page from Form 68 Watch Log, dated 19 June 1941. (Courtesy of Diana Trafford, Flights of History.)

Jackie Cochran would go on to form the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs).

The image below shows the Hudson ferried by Jackie Cochran in service later in the War. It is painted in the Coastal Command camouflage scheme.

“Hudson Mark V, AM790 ‘E’, running up its engines at Bo Rizzo.” ⁴ (“No. 608 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 1942–1943.” Flight Lieutenant J.E. Garrett Collection, Imperial War Museum) © IWM HU 66682

The Lockheed Hudson was a twin engine light bomber developed by Lockheed from its Model 14 Super Electra civil transport. Both types were designed by the legendary Clarence L. (“Kelly”) Johnson. The B-14L prototype made its first flight 10 December 1938 from the Union Air Terminal at Burbank, California. It was flown by two Royal Air Force officers, Squadron Leader James Addams and Squadron Leader Randle. The prototype (also identified as Model 214-40-01) was purchased by Great Britain and assigned the R.A.F. identification N7205.

The Hudson flown by Cochran, AM790, was an improved Model 414, Hudson Mk.V. This was identical to the earlier Mk.III, with the substitution of Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4-G Twin Wasp engines. The bomber was flown by a single pilot, with a navigator/bombardier, radio operator and gunner.

“Hudson Mark V, AM753/G, on the ground at Eastleigh, Hampshire, following erection by Cunliffe Owen Aircraft Ltd. After trials with the Coastal Command Development Unit, the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment and the Royal Aircraft Establishment, AM753 was passed to No. 5 Operational Training Unit.” (Imperial War Museum, Royal Air Force Aircraft 1941–1959: ATP Collection (GSA 325). © IWM ATP 11116C )
Hudson Mark V, AM863 ‘OY-E’, of No. 48 Squadron RAF based at Wick, Caithness, flying south over Loch Hempriggs. (F/L John Henry Bertrand Daventry, RAF official photographer. © IWM CH 17908 )

The Hudson Mk.V was 44 feet 3⅞ inches (13.513 meters) long with a wingspan of 65 feet, 6 inches (19.964 meters) and height of 11 feet, 10 inches (3.607 meters). It had a maximum gross weight of 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms).

The Mk.V was equipped with two air-cooled, supercharged 1,829.4-cubic-inch-displacement (29.978 liter) Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S3C4-G (R-1830-61) two-row fourteen-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.7:1. These had a normal power rating of 1,100 horsepower at 2,550 r.p.m. to 6,200 feet (1,890 meters) and 1,000 horsepower at 2,550 r.p.m at 12,500 feet (3,810 meters). The takeoff/military power rating was 1,200 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m. to 4,900 feet (1,494 meters) and 1,050 horsepower at 13,100 feet (3,993 meters). The engines turned three-bladed propellers though a 16:9 gear reduction. They were 5 feet, 3.48 inches (1.612 meters) long, 4 feet, 0.19 inches (1.224 meters) in diameter, and weighed 1,495 pounds (678 kilograms).

The Hudson had a cruise speed of 220 miles per hour (354 kilometers per hour, and maximum speed of 246 miles per hour (396 kilometers per hour) at 6,500 feet (1,981 meters). Its service ceiling was 25,000 feet (7,620 meters).

The Hudson was designed to carry four 250 pound (113 kologram) or six 100 pound (45 kilogram) bombs. It was armed with two forward-firing .303 Browning Machine Gun Mk.II mounted in the nose and operated by the pilot, with another two .303s on flexible mounts at the waist position, and 2 additional Mk.IIs in a power-operated Bolton Paul dorsal turret. Eight rockets could be carried under the wings.

409 Hudson Mark Vs were built. 207 of these were a long range variant, the Hudson Mk.V(LR).

During World War II, Hudson Mk.V(LR) AM790 served with No. 500 and No. 608 Squadrons, both units of the Coastal Command, Royal Air Force.

Hudson Mark III, V8977: cabin interior with pilot’s position on the left. Photograph taken at Eastleigh, Hampshire. Photographed 24 July 1942. (Imperial War Museum, Royal Air Force Aircraft 1941–1959: ATP Collection (GSA 325). © IWM ATP 10925F )

¹ An ATA Flight Captain was an equivalent rank to a Royal Air Force Squadron Leader.

² Edgar Grafton Carlisle, Jr., was born 17 October 1908, at Baltimore, Maryland, and was a citizen of the United States. He was the first of six children of Edgar Grafton Carlisle and Elizabeth Henderson Spafford Carlisle. A former resident of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, Carlisle was a 1928 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

He entered the United States Army as an aviation cadet at Kelly Field, Bexar, Texas, earning his reserve officer’s commission and aviator’s wings in 1930. He served as a lieutenant in the 28th Division Aviation Unit, Pennsylvania National Guard and commanded the 103rd Photo Section.

Carlisle married the former Miss Lillian Matarose Baker at Narberth, Pennslyvania, 9 January 1933. They would have two children.

Carlisle entered the Royal Air Force Ferry Command in September 1940. To do so, he was required to resign his reserve commission in the United States Army. In the King’s New Year’s Honors List, 1 January 1942, Captain Edgar Grafton Carlisle, R.A.F.F.C., was invested an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Honorary). The insignia of this honor was presented at Government House, 3 February 1942, by Lord Athlone, Governor General of the Dominion of Canada.

Following the War, Carlisle worked in the banking industry. He also taught Aerial Navigation at the University of Vermont.

Edgar Grafton Carlisle, Jr., O.B.E., died at Burlington, Vermont, 27 March 1994.

³ Jackie wrote: “The moment the plane became airborne Carlisle, having complied with instructions as to take-off, turned the single set of controls over to me.” —The Stars at Noon, by Jacqueline Cochran, Little, Brown and Company, Boston and Toronto, 1954 Chapter VI at Page 102

⁴ Bo Rizzo was  an Allied airfield in Sicily.

© 2021, Bryan R. Swopes

11 June–4 August 1971

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Sheila Scott on the wing of her Piper PA-23-250 Aztec D, Mythre, G-AYTO, 1971. (NASA)
Sheila Scott on the wing of her Piper PA-23-250 Aztec D, Mythre, G-AYTO, 1971. (NASA)

11 June 1971: Sheila Scott O.B.E. (née Sheila Christine Hopkins) departed Nairobi, Kenya, on her third solo around-the-world flight. On this flight she used a new airplane, a twin-engine Piper PA-23-250 Aztec D which she named Mythre. It carried United Kingdom registration G-AYTO. Scott used a NASA navigation and locator communication system to constantly relay her position to a Nimbus weather satellite, and from there to a ground station.

Sheila Scott's Piper PA-23-250 Aztec D, G-ATYO. Mythre.
Sheila Scott’s Piper PA-23-250 Aztec D, G-ATYO, Mythre, at Kidlington Airport, Oxfordshire, England, 1971. (Tim R. Badham)

Sheila Scott planned to not only fly around the world, but to fly from the Equator, over the North Pole, and back to the Equator again. She flew her Aztec from London, England, to Nairobi, Kenya, where she began the Equator–North Pole–Equator portion of the flight.

Scott took off from Nairobi on 11 June 1971 and headed northward to Khartoum, Sudan; Bengazi, Libya; Malta; arriving back at London on 21 June. From there she continued to Bodø, Norway; Andøya, Norway; Station Nord, Greenland; across the North Pole on 28 June; then southward to Barrow, Alaska; arriving at Anchorage, Alaska, on 3 July; San Francisco, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, on 11 July. She recrossed the Equator heading south to Canton Island. On 23 July, Mythre arrived at Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji, and then flew on to Noumea, New Caledonia. After a stop at Townsville, Queensland, Scott arrived at Darwin, Northern Teritory, Australia, 1 August. From there she continued to Singapore; Madras, India; Karachi, Pakistan; Bahrain; Athens, Greece; and finally completed her journey at London on 4 August. The trip took 55 days.

During the circumnavigation, Sheila Scott set seven Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Records for Speed Over a Recognized Course: Andøya, Norway, to Station Nord, Greenland, 213.61 kilometers per hour (132.73 miles per hour) ¹; Nord to Barrow, Alaska, 183.73 km/h (114.16 mph) ²; San Francisco, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, 236.56 km/h (146.99 mph) ³; Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, to London, England, 160.19 km/h (99.54mph). ⁴ Three of these records remain current. ⁵

Ms. Scott’s airplane was a 1971 Piper 23-250 Aztec (“Aztec D”), serial number 27-4568. The airplane was assigned the United Kingdom registration G-AYTO on 3 March 1971. The Aztec D was a six-place twin-engine light airplane based on the earlier PA-23-235 Apache, with a larger cabin and more powerful engines. It was of all-metal construction and had retractable tricycle landing gear. The Aztec D is 31 feet, 2.625 inches (9.516 meters) long with a wingspan of 37 feet, 1.750 inches (11.322 meters) and overall height of 10 feet, 3.875 inches (3.146 meters). The wing has 5° dihedral. The Aztec D has an empty weight of 3,042 pounds (1,380 kilograms) and a gross weight of 5,200 pounds (2,359 kilograms).

The Aztec D is powered by two air-cooled, fuel-injected, 541.511-cubic-inch-displacement (8.874 liter) AVCO Lycoming IO-540-C4B5 6-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, direct-drive engines. The -C4B5 has a compression ratio of 8.5:1 and a Maximum Continuous Power/Takeoff rating of 250 horsepower at 2,575 r.p.m. It weighs 374 pounds (170 kilograms). The engines drive two-bladed Hartzell constant-speed propellers with a diameter of 6 feet, 2 inches (1.880 meters).

The PA-23-250 Aztec D has a maximum structural cruising speed (VNO) of 172 knots (198 miles per hour/319 kilometers per hour) at 7,500 feet (2,286 meters) and maximum speed (VNE) of 216 knots 249 miles per hour (400 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling is 19,800 feet (6,035 meters). With standard fuel capacity of 144 gallons (545 liters) the airplane’s range is 1,055 miles (1,698 kilometers). Mythre carried an auxiliary fuel tank in the passenger cabin.

After the around-the-world flight, Scott returned Mythre to the Piper Aircraft Company at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, for overhaul. Following Tropical Storm Agnes in June 1972, the Piper factory was flooded to a depth of 16 feet (4.9 meters) and Scott’s airplane, along with many others and much of the tooling for aircraft manufacture, was destroyed.

Sheila Scott's Piper Aztec, Mythre, over the North Pole, by Paul Couper, 2008
“Sheila Scott over the Top—Piper Aztec,” by Paul Couper, Guild of Aviation Artists, 2008. 62 × 52 centimeters, oil/acrylic.

This painting is available from the Guild of Aviation Artists at:

http://www.gava.org.uk/index.php?option=com_phocagallery&searchterm=Paul%20Couper&view=category&id=12&Itemid=534&picsearch=simple

Sheila Christine Hopkins was born 27 April 1922 at 12 Park Avenue, Worcester, Worcestershire, England. She was the daughter of Harold Reginald Hopkins and Edyth Mary Kenward Hopkins.

Miss Hopkins married Rupert Leamon Bellamy at Kensington, in late 1945. The marriage was dissolved in 1950.

Sheila Scott had been a nurse at Haslar Naval Hospital during World War II. She was an actress on the stage, in films and on television. In 1959 she followed a lifetime ambition and learned to fly. She owned or leased several airplanes which she entered in races or used to establish flight records.

Scott was a commercial pilot, rated in single and multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes and helicopters. She was a member of The Ninety-Nines, founding and serving as governor of the British branch. She was also a member of the Whirly-Girls and the International Association of Licensed Women Pilots.

Sheila Scott was the author of I Must Fly and On Top of the World (Barefoot With Wings in the United States).

Sheila Scott, O.B.E., died of cancer at Royal Marsden Hospital, Chelsea, London, 20 October 1988, at the age of 66 years. ¹

Sheila Scott, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 12 March 1968. (AP/Worth)

¹ FAI Record File Numbers 4622, 4623

² FAI Record File Number 14203

³ FAI Record File Numbers 4626, 4627

⁴ FAI Record File Numbers 4624, 4625

⁵ FAI Record File Numbers 4622, 4626, 14203

© 2020, Bryan R. Swopes

18 May 1966–20 June 1966: Sheila Scott

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Sheila Scott in the cockpit of her Piper PA-24-260B Comanche G-ATOY, Myth Too, 1966.
Sheila Scott in the cockpit of her Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B, G-ATOY, “Myth Too.“

18 May 1966: Sheila Scott (née Sheila Christine Hopkins) departed London Heathrow Airport, London, England, on the first solo around-the-world flight by a British subject, the longest-distance solo flight, and only the third around-the-world flight by a woman. Her airplane was a 1966 Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B, registration G-ATOY, which she had named Myth Too.

Sheila Scott's Piper PA-24-260B Comanche, G-ATOY, Myth II, after her around the world flight. The signatures on the wings and fuselage were collected at stops along the way.
Sheila Scott’s Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B, G-ATOY, “Myth Too,” after her around the world flight. The signatures on the wings and fuselage were collected at stops along the way. (Unattributed)

Departed London, England 18 May 1966
Rome, Italy
Athens, Greece
Damascus, Syria
Barhain
Karachi, Pakistan
Jaipur, India
Delhi, India
Calcutta, India
Rangoon, Burma
Butterworth, Malaysia
Singapore
Bali, Indonesia
Sumbawa, Indonesia
Darwin, Australia
Mount Isa, Australia
Brisbane, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Auckland, New Zealand
Norfolk Island
Nandi, Fiji
Pago Pago, Samoa
Canton Island
Honolulu, HI
San Francisco, CA
Phoenix, AZ
El Paso, TX
Oklahoma City, OK
Louisville, KY
New York, NY
Gander, Newfoundland
Lagens, Azores
Lisbon, Portugal
Arrived London, England 20 June 1966

The Britannia Trophy of the Royal Aero Club of Great Britain.
The Britannia Trophy of the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom.

The flight covered approximately 28,658 miles (46,121 kilometers) and took 189 actual flight hours over 33 days.

During her around-the-world flight, Shiela Scott set ten Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Records for Speed Over a Recognised Course: London to Rome, 258.13 kilometers per hour(160.40 miles per hour) (FAI Record File Numbers 4679, 4680); London to Auckland, 41.42 km/h (25.74 mph) #4660, 4661; London to Darwin, 45.67 km/h (28.38 mph) #4666, 4670; London to Fiji Islands, 34.60 km/h (21.50 mph) #4672; 4673; Lisbon to London, 244.00 km/h (151.62 mph) #4956, 4657.

Harmon Aviatrix Trophy (NASM)

For her accomplishments, Ms. Scott was awarded the Silver Medal of the Guild of Pilots; the Brabazon of Tara Award for 1965, 1966 and 1967; the Britannia Trophy of the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, 1968; and the Harmon International Trophy for 1966 and 1970.

Italy gave her the title, Isabella d’Este. Sheila Scott was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the New Years Honours List, 1 January 1968.

Sheila Scott flew around the world twice in Myth Too, and a third time in a twin-engine Piper Aztec, Mythre. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale data base lists 75 records for speed over a recognized course set by Ms. Scott. 31 of these remain current.

In a 1969 interview, Ms. Scott said:

“. . . This must be why I enjoy being in the air alone. But in fact I never feel alone in the air because one has to work so hard and experience such extremes of emotion. The senses, for example, are all highly intensified. The sense of sight. . .when you look down, a pale pink becomes a deep rose; the seas really do look as though they have turquoise gashes in them. . . The sense of smell: . . .up there you can smell everything individually. The people of each country soon learned this on my world flight. It started at Damascus where they filled the plane full of jasmine. . . .”

—The Guardian, Saturday, 22 October 1988, Page 39  at Columns 2 and 3

Sheila Christine Hopkins was born 27 April 1922 ¹ at 12 Park Avenue, Worcester, Worcestershire, England. She was the daughter of Harold Reginald Hopkins and Edyth Mary Kenward Hopkins.

Miss Hopkins married Rupert Leamon Bellamy at Kensington, in late 1945. The marriage was dissolved in 1950.

Sheila Scott, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 12 March 1968. (AP/Worth)

Sheila Scott had been a nurse at Haslar Naval Hospital during World War II. She was an actress on the stage, in films and on television. In 1959 she followed a lifetime ambition and learned to fly. She owned or leased several airplanes which she entered in races or used to establish flight records.

Scott was a commercial pilot, rated in single and multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes and helicopters. She was a member of The Ninety-Nines, founding and serving as governor of the British branch. She was also a member of the Whirly-Girls and the International Association of Licensed Women Pilots.

Sheila Scott was the author of I Must Fly and On Top of the World (Barefoot With Wings in the United States).

Sheila Scott, O.B.E., died of cancer at Royal Marsden Hospital, Chelsea, London, 20 October 1988, at the age of 66 years. ¹

Sheila Scott’s Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B, G-ATOY, “Myth Two,” photographed at Biggin Hill, 15 September 1975. (Photograph © M. West. Used with permission.)

Myth Too was built by the Piper Aircraft Corporation in 1966 and was registered N8893P. It was a PA-24-260B Comanche, an all-metal 4–6 place, single-engine, low-wing monoplane with retractable tricycle landing gear. It is flown by a single pilot and can carry three passengers, though an additional two seats can be mounted at the rear of the passenger cabin.

The airplane is 25 feet, 3-7/16 inches (7.707 meters) long with a wingspan of 35 feet, 11-¾ inches (10.967 meters) with an overall height of 7 feet, 5-11/16 inches (2.278 meters). Empty weight is 1,728 pounds (783.8 kilograms) and maximum gross weight is 3,100 pounds (1,406.1 kilograms).

Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B three view illustration with dimensions in inches.

The Comanche B is powered by an air-cooled, fuel-injected 541.511-cubic-inch-displacement (8.874 liter) Lycoming IO-540-D4A5 6-cylinder overhead valve (OHV) horizontally-opposed engine with a compression ration of 8.5:1, rated at 260 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m., driving a two-bladed Hartzell constant speed propeller through direct drive. The IO-540-D4A5 weighs 384 pounds (174 kilograms).

Cruise speed is 185 miles per hour (297.7 kilometers per hour). The range is 1,225 miles (1,971.5 kilometers) and the service ceiling is 19,500 feet (5,943.6 meters).

Sheila Scott holds a scale model of her Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B. (Unattributed)

Sheila Scott sold G-ATOY in 1975. It was substantially damaged 6 March 1979 when the engine lost oil pressure then seized after taking off from Elstree Aerodrome, Hertfordshire (EGTR). There were no injuries. The wreck is in the collection of the Scottish National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, East Lothian, Scotland.

The wreck of Myth Too, Piper PA-24-260B Comanche G-ATOY at the Scottish National Museum of Aviation. (Aviation Safety Network)
The wreck of Myth Too, Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B, G-ATOY, at the Scottish National Museum of Aviation. (Aviation Safety Network)

¹ Some sources give her birth year as 1927.

© 2020, Bryan R. Swopes

15 May 1941

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Gloster-Whittle E.28/39 W4041/G in its original configuration. The horizontal paint stripe was used as an indication of heating by the turbojet engine. (BAE Systems)
Phillip E.G. Sayer (Flight)
Phillip E.G. Sayer (Flight)

15 May 1941: Having been delayed by weather until 7:40 p.m., Gloster Aircraft Co., Ltd., Chief Test Pilot Phillip Edward Gerald Sayer taxied into position on the long, hard-surfaced runway at RAF Cranwell, stood on the brakes and advanced the throttle. When the engine reached 16,000 r.p.m., Sayer released the brakes and the little airplane began to roll forward.

Acceleration was slow. Relying on the feel of the flight controls rather than a pre-calculated airspeed, Sayer lifted off after 600–700 yards (550–640 meters), at about 80 miles per hour (129 kilometers per hour). At 1,000 feet (305 meters), he retracted the landing gear and continued to climb at reduced r.p.m. He reached a maximum 240 miles per hour (386 kilometers per hour) Indicated Air Speed at 4,000 feet (1,219 meters).

Sayer landed after a 17-minute first flight.

Gerry Sayer's knee board notations from the Gloster E.28/39 first flight, 15 May 1941. (Hartley Moyes, courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)
Gerry Sayer’s knee board notations from the Gloster E.28/39 first flight, 15 May 1941. (Hartley Moyes, courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)

The airplane was the Gloster-Whittle E.28/39, registration W4041/G, the first of two prototype fighters powered by a turbojet engine. (The “/G” in the registration indicates that, for security reasons, the airplane is at all times to be under guard when on the ground.) It was a single-seat, single-engine, low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction. The E.28/39 had retractable tricycle landing gear, one of the first fighter-type aircraft with that configuration.

The Gloster E.28/39 was 25 feet, 3 inches (6.696 meters) long with a wingspan of 29 feet, 0 inches (8.839 meters) and overall height of 9 feet, 3 inches (2.819 meters). It had a fuel tank of just 81 gallons (368 liters) capacity. The prototype’s takeoff weight was 3,341 pounds (1,515 kilograms).

Power Jets, Ltd. Whittle Supercharger Type 1 turbojet engine, as seen from the front. (Science Museum Group)
Power Jets, Ltd., Whittle Supercharger Type W.1 turbojet engine, as seen from the front. Air enters the compressor through barely visible intakes in the sides of the cast aluminum alloy compressor case. (Science Museum Group)
Whittle W.1 combustion chambers and exhaust as seen from the rear. The turbine section was water-cooled. (Getty Images/Science & Society Picture Library)
Whittle W.1 combustion chambers and exhaust as seen from the rear. The turbine section was water-cooled. (Getty Images/Science & Society Picture Library)

W4041/G was powered by a single Power Jets, Ltd., Whittle Supercharger Type W.1. The turbojet used a single-stage, centrifugal-flow compressor, ten reverse-flow combustion chambers, and a single-stage axial-flow turbine. The turbine had 72 blades. The W.1 produced 860 pounds of thrust (3,825.47 Newtons) at 16,500 r.p.m., burning paraffin (kerosene).

Gloster-Whittle E.28/39 W4041/G, front. (Gloster)
Gloster-Whittle E.28/39 W4041/G, front. (Gloster)

The E.28/39 had a single large air intake at the nose. This split into two ducts which passed around each side of the the cockpit, following the inner contours of the fuselage, and then entered a plenum chamber. Intake air was compressed approximately 4:1 and passed to the combustion chambers. Fuel was mixed with this heated, compressed air, then ignited. Flame temperatures approached 600 °C. (1,112 °F.) This very hot, expanding gas flowed through spiral ducts to the turbine blades, causing the turbine disc to spin to a maximum 17,750 r.p.m., above 4,000 feet (1,219 meters).

Diagram of fuselage arrangement of E.28/39. (Air Cdre Sir Frank Whittle)

The turbine drove the compressor at the front of the engine through a central drive shaft. The exhaust gas left the engine and passed through a straight pipe to the rear of the fuselage. The high velocity gas exiting the tail of the aircraft—thrust—resulted in the aircraft being propelled forward at a proportional velocity.

Gloster-Whittle E.28/39 W4041/G, rear (Gloster)
Gloster-Whittle E.28/39 W4041/G, rear (Gloster)

Because of limitations in materials technology, the Whittle W.1 had a limited service life of just ten hours. To keep the most time available for flight tests, early static and taxi tests of the Gloster prototype were made using an engine built from non-airworthy parts and spare components. This engine was designated W.1X.

Over the next thirteen days, Gerry Sayer made fourteen flights, totaling ten hours. The E.28/39 reached a maximum of 25,000 feet (7,620 meters) and 300 miles per hour (483 kilometers per hour). W4041/G was restricted to 2g maneuvers because of stress placed on the cast aluminum compressor case.

Gloster test pilots conducted three series of flight tests with W.4041/G. With Gloster test pilot John Grierson in the cockpit, on 24 June 1943, W4041/G climbed to 41,600 feet (12,680 meters) in 27 minutes, and reached an absolute maximum altitude of 42,170 feet (12,853 meters). This flight completed Gloster’s flight test program and the airplane was turned over to RAE Farnborough.

A second Gloster E.28/39 was built, W4046/G. Using an improved Whittle W.2/700 turbojet engine, the second prototype reached a maximum speed of 505 miles per hour (813 kilometers per hour) in level flight at 30,000 feet (9,144 meters)—0.74 Mach.

On 30 July 1943, W4046 was lost when its ailerons jammed at high altitude. The pilot bailed out and parachuted safely, but the prototype jet airplane was destroyed.

Wreckage of W4046/G
Wreckage of the second prototype Gloster E.28/39, W4046/G

On 27 April 1946, Gloster-Whittle E.28/39 W4041/G was placed in the National Aeronautical Collection, Science Museum, South Kensington, 27 April 1946.

Chief Test Pilot Phillip Edward Gerald Sayer, Esq., was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) on the New Years Honours list, 30 December 1941. He was killed in flying accident 22 October 1942, probably the result of a mid-air collision.

RECOMMENDED: “No Airscrew Necessary. . .” by Robert J. Blackburn, Flight and Aircraft Engineer, No. 2131, Vol. LVI., Thursday, 27 October 1949, at pages 553–558

Gloster-Whittle E.28/39, W4041/G, piloted by Squadron Leader J. Moloney, takes off from RAE Farnborough for a test flight. (Flight Lieutenant Stanley Devon, Royal Air Force Official Photographer. © Imperial War Museum CH 14832A)
Gloster-Whittle E.28/39, W4041/G, now in standard camouflage and RAF markings, piloted by Squadron Leader J. Moloney, takes off from RAE Farnborough for a test flight. Note the small outboard vertical fins on the horizontal stabilizer. (Flight Lieutenant Stanley Devon, Royal Air Force Official Photographer. © Imperial War Museum CH 14832A)

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes