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

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

24–27 April 1929

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Sqadron Leader A.G. Jones-Williams and Flight Lieutenant N.H. Jenkins at RAF Cranwell, June 1929. (Flight)
Squadron Leader A.G. Jones-Williams, M.C. and Bar, with Flight Lieutenant N.H. Jenkins, O.B.E., D.F.C., D.S.M., at R.A.F. Cranwell, June 1929. (Flight)

24–27 April 1929: At 0937 GMT on the 24th, Squadron Leader Arthur Gordon Jones-Williams, M.C. and Bar, and Flight Lieutenant Norman Hugh Jenkins, O.B.E., D.F.C., D.S.M., both of the Royal Air Force, departed R.A.F. Cranwell, Lincolnshire, England, aboard the Fairey Long Range Monoplane, J9479. Their destination was Bangalore, in the Kingdom of Mysore, British Indian Empire. They were attempting a long distance flight record.

Fairey Long Range Monoplane J9479, front view.
Fairey Long Range Monoplane J9479, front view.

Their departure had been delayed for several days while waiting for favorable conditions for takeoff. It was decided to limit the Monoplane’s takeoff weight to 16,000 pounds (7,257.5 kilograms) and wait for at least a 10 mile per hour (16 kilometers per hour) headwind before attempting to takeoff.

After 16½ hours in flight, Jones-Williams and Jenkins were overhead Istanbul, and reached Baghdad 10½ hours later. After another 22 hours airborne they were overhead Karachi, Sindh, in the Bombay Presidency (now, Pakistan). With an estimated 6 hours fuel remaining they were unable to reach Bangalore and elected to land at Karachi while it was still daylight.

The duration of their flight was 50 hours, 37 minutes. They had flown a distance of 4,130 miles (6,646.6 kilometers) on their non-stop flight.

Fairey Long Range Monoplane J9479, right side view.
Fairey Long Range Monoplane J9479, right side view.

Arthur Gordon Jones-Williams (1888–1929) was a second lieutenant in the Welsh Regiment during World War I. He was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as a fighter pilot. He shot down 11 enemy airplanes and was awarded the Military Cross, followed by a Bar (a second award). Jones-Williams was promoted from Flight Lieutenant to Squadron Leader in the list of New Years Honors, 1 January 1928.

Flight Lieutenant Norman Hugh Jenkins, DFC, DSM, Royal Air Force, was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 3 June 1925.

Fairey Long Range Monoplane
Fairey Long Range Monoplane J9479, right rear quarter

The Fairey Long Range Monoplane was an experimental airplane designed and built in 1928 by Fairey Aviation Company, Ltd., at Hayes, Middlesex, England, for the Royal Air Force to investigate methods of increasing the range of airplanes. The agreed price was £15,000.

It was flown by two pilots and had a bed for crew rest. It was a high-wing monoplane with a wing built of wood and covered by fabric. The Monoplane was 48 feet, 6 inches (14.783 meters) long with a wingspan of 82 feet (24.994 meters) and height of 12 feet (3.658 meters). The maximum takeoff weight was 17,500 pounds (7,937.9 kilograms).

J9479 was powered by a water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 1,461.135-cubic-inch-displacement (23.944 liter) Napier Lion XIA (Special) dual-overhead-cam (DOHC) “Triple Four” or “broad arrow” (three banks of four cylinders with a common crankshaft), now generally referred to as a  W-12 engine. The cylinder banks were separated by 60° angles. The Lion XI had four valves per cylinder and a compression ratio of 6:1. It produced 530 horsepower at 2,350 r.p.m., and a maximum of 570 horsepower at 2,585 r.p.m. It was a geared engine with a 1.885:1 gear reduction. The Lion XI was 5 feet, 1 inch (1.549 meters) long, 3 feet, 6 inches (1.067 meters) wide and 3 feet, 3 inches (0.991 meters) high. The engine weighed 995 pounds (451 kilograms). The XIA (Special) was specially-tuned for the Fairey Long Range Monoplane, and had a slightly higher compression ratio.

The cruise speed was 110 miles per hour (177 kilometers per hour). The fuel tanks in the wings had a capacity of 1,043 Imperial gallons (1,252.6 U.S. gallons/4,741.6 liters).

Fairey Long Range Monoplane J9479, left front quarter.
Fairey Long Range Monoplane J9479, left front quarter.

Because of headwinds encountered, the April flight was short of the record. Another attempt was made, this time with a destination in South Africa. On 16 December 1929, however, J9479 crashed at Djibel Lit, south of Tunis, French Tunisia. The airplane was destroyed and both A.G. Jones-Williams and N.H. Jenkins were killed.

Fairey Long Range Monoplane. J9479, right front quarter.
Fairey Long Range Monoplane. J9479, right front quarter.

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes