23-24 June and finally
RIAT at RAF Fairford on 13-
15 July. These will be among
the record number of UK-wide
displays and flypasts to be
given by the BBMF’s five
Spitfires, two Hurricanes,
Lancaster and Dakota in this
RAF centenary year.
Of the Spitfires, LF XVIe TE311
wears a new scheme that had
been completed by mid-April.
Painted in the colours of Polish
Group Captain Aleksander
Gabszewicz’s personal Spitfire
XVI, coded SZ-G, it features a
distinctive boxing dog design just
aft of the exhaust stubs.88 | Pilot June 2018 | pilotweb.aeroOld TImers
Miles movers
BBMF’s special RAF100 Trenchard Formation unveiled
Two stalwarts of the UK vintage
aviation scene are returning to
familiar surroundings. The sole
airworthy Miles Hawk Speed Six
G-ADGP, a former long-term Old
Warden resident, is coming back,
now as part of the Shuttleworth
Collection. Meanwhile, Miles
M3A Falcon G-AEEG left the
Bedfordshire airfield in mid-
March to rejoin Shipping and
Airlines’ growing vintage fleet in
Hangar 513 at Biggin Hill.
G-ADGP was the second of
three Miles Hawk Major-based
racers modified from a two- to
single-seat configuration and
fitted with an uprated 200hp
de Havilland Gipsy Six engine.Each Hawk Speed Six received a
different designation: G-ADGP,
which first flew in 1934 being an
M2L. This characterful, bubble-
canopied machine swiftly joined
the European air racing scene,
first owner Luis Fontés − to
whom it was registered on 20
May 1935 − entering it into
that year’s King’s Cup Air Race,
an event it returned to many
more times.
Stored during WWII, the racer
resided with Miles Aircraft Ltd
until early 1948, then began a
long association with Ron Paine,
in whose hands at the post-
war King’s Cup and National
Air Races it routinely raced
successfully. Sold in September
1965, 'GP had several ownersbefore David Hood acquired
it in 1971 and put it through a
full rebuild. The Hawk Speed
Six was purchased by Roger
Reeves in September 1982 and,
by this time fitted with a smallercanopy, took up residence at
Old Warden, its home for the
best part of two decades. Most
recent custodian Roger Mills
moved the aircraft to White
Waltham but frequently flew itA spell of settled mid-April
weather with clear skies
and winds aligned with RAF
Coningsby’s shorter Runway
30 allowed the Battle of Britain
Memorial Flight’s (BBMF’s)
pilots to work up their 2018
display sequences.
OC BBMF Sqn Ldr Andy ‘Milli’
Millikin and Bomber Leader
Flt Lt Tim ‘Twigs’ Dunlop were
determined to mark RAF100 with
a very special display. The result
is a choreographed 22-minute
sequence that opens from crowd-
rear with the unique ‘Trenchard
Formation’, which is led by the
Dakota with the Lancaster in close
formation immediately astern, and
a Spitfire and Hurricane on the
leader’s wing tips. After a gentle
360-degree orbit at crowd-front,
the formation splits, the fighter
pair holds off and the Dakota and
Lancaster fly by in line-astern
before splitting in a spectacular
head-on break. It is then the turn
of the fighters to display theirmanoeuvrability in a series of
wing-overs and half-cubans.
The hard practising culminated
with the pilots displaying in front
of the Air Officer Commanding
No1 Group, Air Vice-Marshal
Gerry Mayhew, on 24-25 April.
Good aircraft serviceability
and kind weather enabled all
pilots to complete their displays
successfully and be duly awarded
their Public Display Approvals.
The first of just four public
appearances for the Trenchard
Formation will be at the Torbay
Airshow on 2-3 June, followed by
the RAF Cosford Air Show on
10 June, Weston Air Festival onVintage Miles Hawk Speed Six G-ADGP is heading back to Old Warden...BELOW LEFT: The flight’s
repainted Spitfire LF XVIe,
here at Old Warden’s
Season Premiere on 6 May
BELOW: TE311’s scheme,
features this pugnacious
dog, as on WWII Polish
Group Captain Aleksander
Gabszewicz’s SpitfireBBMF’s ‘Trenchard Formation’ of Dakota,
Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane has been
specially devised for RAF100PHOTO: PAUL FIDDIAN
PHOTO: PETER R MARCH