Noo noo noo noo noo!
G-AEXF has passed through several owners in several guises and in several various of states of (dis)repair...
Most recently before its current owner, Taff Smith (a former RAF Engineering Officer) of the Real Aeroplane Company, it was owned by former DH Test Pilot Desmond Penrose. The incident was at Old Warden in the late 90's whilst they were staging a mock 1930's Handicap air race. He must have got 50 yards on take off (naturally last in the handicap!) and as the tail came up the prop took a rather large divot out of the Old Warden runway...
I missed this first time round as I was typing my question when you posted it.
A couple of years later both the Mew Gull and his Arrow Active moved north to Breighton, Yorkshire having been on the market for several months (I think he was giving the Shuttleworth Collection time to see if they could find the money for them)...
I believe that Arrow Active was once owned by the Tiger Club as I saw it during their displays at at Shoreham many years ago.
An interesting sidenote from the RACo site. Alex Henshaw had also flown the only other Arrow Active built & blew up the engine doing an outside loop. Sounds like he was lucky to get away with it.
Other unique flying types from the early 1930's include the Arrow Active II (G-ABVE). It was built at Yeadon, Leeds, during 1932, originally designed to be an advanced trainer and competition aircraft. Only two were ever built, a Mk. l and this Mk. ll. The Mk. l was lost following a crash in 1935 whilst enroute to Brough, East Yorkshire. The pilot Alex Henshaw managed to escape by parachute, which he'd only worn because it was a gift from his father, who insisted that he did! In a near perfect blue sky, Alex couldn't resist attempting an outside loop, unfortunately his engine exploded and and the aircraft caught fire. The Arrow Active Mk.II, G-ABVE, took part in the 1932 and 1933 King's Cup Air Races before a period of storage between 1935 and 1957. It was then dusted down and flown by the Tiger Club from 1957 to 1979. Its then owner, Desmond Penrose, took it to second place in the 1980 Kings Cup before embarking on a complete and detailed restoration of the aircraft which was completed in 1989.
