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I recently met up with old friend who lent me some photos taken in 1962 when I worked at Shoreham Airport. They were taken on a Kodak Brownie camera & the quality leaves a lot to be desired. I've scanned a few of the better ones & thought I would post them here. These are some of the photos I woud have liked to have taken if only I'd had a camera.

I worked for the Southern Aero Club at the time. This is one of the Tiger Moths I was responsible for.


Beagle Aircraft Ltd was formed while I was there & the company was based at Shoreham. The club was persuaded to purchase a Beagle Terrier (G-ARLO) which was a revamped Auster AOP.6. The clubhouse is in the background.


The boss didn't like it & after consultation with the manufacturer it was replaced by the Mk2 version. (G-ASAX)


A very rare aeroplane owned by one of the club members. The General Aircraft Cygnet.


This Miles Hawk Trainer was owned & flown by Dick Emery the famous comedian.


Another Miles aeroplane, the Hawk Speed Six.


I had my first flight in one of these. An ex-RAF Miles Marathon. It was eventually broken up for scrap.


Another rare aeroplane. The Edgar Percival EP.9. This one was owned & operated by local crop sprayer Jim Pearce.


This is the beautiful little Beagle M.218 prototype designed by George Miles. It was before its time being constructed from composite materials.


Ken Wallis with the prototype Beagle-Wallis WA116 autogyro.


Yet another rare aeroplane. The one & only Reid & Sigrist Desford which had been converted for prone-pilot trials. The chap at far left is Beagle Aircraft chief test pilot 'Pee Wee' Judge who was sadly killed while demonstrating the WA117 autogyro at the 1970 Farnborough Air Show.


All photos by my friend Pete Godfrey.

Excellent set of photos, Doug.....Nostalgia!

Certainly a gaggle of DH Gypsy (Dripsy!) Engines amongst them!

Wonderful Flying days, long ago!

Many thanks for posting them!

Paul.... ..!

I imagine that Ken must have been very upset at the loss of WA117 Autogyro and its pilot.

Thanks for posting those.

Certently some rare airplanes!!
Thanks for showing.

Wonderful set of photos Doug and some very interesting aircraft...

Tail draggers and grass strips always go well together...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Aircraft_Cygnet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERCO_Ercoupe

Some similarities me thinks...

Wow.

ADGP.... I wanna go!

Great photos Doug, just thinking, I was only 10 years old that year.

Those are amazing Doug, thanks for sharing, they're really cool

Thanks for all the comments.

Fozzer wrote:Excellent set of photos, Doug.....Nostalgia!

Yes Paul. They certainly brought back a lot of fond memories for me.

FlyingTrucker wrote:Wonderful set of photos Doug and some very interesting aircraft...

Tail draggers and grass strips always go well together...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Aircraft_Cygnet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERCO_Ercoupe

Some similarities me thinks...

Yes Doug. Shoreham was a grass airfield in those days. This was some years before the hard runway was built.

The idea behind the Cygnet & Ercoupe was similar. The Cygnet was rather over-engineered like most British aircraft & was bigger & heavier. It was also very noisy. I never liked the idea of restricted control movements.

Thanks for the reply Doug...

Our Ercoupe had rudder pedals and could be flown with the canopy fully open.

I used to get a laugh out of our one son who was sixteen and flew the aircraft with the canopy open all the time.
He wore a leather flying helmet and white scarf.

I think he thought he was a World War One Flying Ace...

Probably took after the Old Girl...

And here she is now - (lovely photos, Doug)

Nice picture of a beautiful looking aircraft...thanks for posting the picture...

Thanks lefty.

FlyingTrucker wrote:Nice picture of a beautiful looking aircraft...thanks for posting the picture...

It's true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The Cygnet was never what I would call a pretty aeroplane. That camo scheme suits it.

Great photos Doug, thank you for the vintage eye candy.

Its a real shame about the Miles Marathon. I've never
seen that aircraft before. I like it. Is it just me or does
the fuse look a bit like the Aero Cammander?

I wonder if any of those in the pictures are still flying today??

BLAZE wrote:Great photos Doug, thank you for the vintage eye candy.

Its a real shame about the Miles Marathon. I've never
seen that aircraft before. I like it. Is it just me or does
the fuse look a bit like the Aero Cammander?

Thanks Dwayne. Yes, I suppose there is some similarity to the Aero Commander but the Marathon was bigger & heavier. It was designed as a feeder liner by George Miles & three prototypes were bult & flown before the company went bankrupt*. Production was taken over by Handley Page (Reading) who produced a further 40. 28 of these were later converted into navigational trainers for use by the RAF, some operated by No.1 Air Navigation School at RAF Topcliffe in Yorkshire. This was where I had my first ever flight in August 1957 while on Summer camp with the Air Training Corps. If I'd known the operational history of the type I might not have been so keen to go. Have a read of this. http://f-86.tripod.com/1ans.htm

* Following the collapse of Miles Aircraft Ltd George Miles was taken on as assistant chief designer (later chief designer) by Airspeed Ltd where he was responsible for development of the Ambassador. There is a marked similarity between this & the Marathon. http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac5/ROW%20Europe/G-ALFR.html

Sadly this beautiful aircraft is now mainly remembered for the Munich Air Disaster in February 1958. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_air_disaster

I wonder if any of those in the pictures are still flying today??

Some are still flying. Here's some details.

G-AOIS still registered. Now in RAF trainer yellow. https://www.caa.co.uk/applicationmodules/ginfo/ginfo_photo.aspx?regmark=G-AOIS&imgname=G-AOIS002&imgtype=jpg

G-ARLO removed from register 1979

G-ASAX still registered. Once owned by Harvey Smith. Now painted all yellow

G-ADGP is still registered & until recently could be see flying at displays & fly-ins. This is what it looks like now. https://www.caa.co.uk/applicationmodules/ginfo/ginfo_photo.aspx?regmark=G-ADGP&imgname=G-ADGP006&imgtype=jpg

G-APWX was exported to the USA in 1968. I found this video of an EP.9 flying in New Zealand in 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6a9g6LOj5c

G-ASCK was the only prototype. It was destroyed in a fire in in August 1969 while in storage at Shoreham.

G-ARRT last seen in Wallis museum at Rymerston Hall, Norfolk. http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1038981/
Not sure what will happen to the collection now Ken Wallis has passed away.