ABOVE Enterprise following its belly landing in the dunes near Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital, in February
- The type’s high wing was certainly an advantage, the damage to the wing and Wright Cyclone engines being
kept to a minimum. The crew made its way to the beach nearby and was rescued by an RAF Short Sunderland.
20 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21
ABOVE & BELOW Back on its undercarriage again, the Ensign has had its interim French civil registration applied
with the simple substitution of the British “G” prefix letter with a French “F”. One of the chief problems facing the
groundcrew tasked with maintaining the big British airliner was the availability of spare tyres for the mainwheels,
which were an impressive 6ft 3in (1·9m) in diameter. Happily for the crews, a cache of spares was located in Paris.