Test Pilot (Aviation Classics)

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Sarah and Helen, daughters of Terry and Mary Binns who lived at Number 15 for nearly 50 years, presented flowers to Gwendoline Duke during the ceremony. Tangmere Aviation Museum provided support for Anthony in organising the plaque and you can visit the museum to see the Hunter Hawker in which Neville Duke broke the air speed record. Reflecting the estrangement between the two branches of the family, the Nevilles of Raby, headed by Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland, had sided with the Lancastrians from the outset. Westmorland's brother John Neville, Lord of Raby was killed in the defeat at Towton. The line of the Earls of Westmorland survived the wars, but the loss of most of the ancestral estates through their inheritance by the Nevilles of Middleham and their subsequent downfall left the family a much diminished force. [33] Tomahawk Mk II B AK 367 probably coded C, European camouflage, September 1941 Fayid airfield, Note the Gladiator behind it on the left of the picture.

A decade ago, interviewed for a BBC2 documentary The 600mph Men, he painstakingly described the technique of flying the Hunter into the sound barrier and coming out across an airfield at 720mph. "Piece of cake," he concluded, in the language of another time, and smiled. But it is his air speed record for which he is best remembered. On 7th September 1953, an excited crowd gathered over the shingle beach at Littlehampton as Neville Duke attempted to break the record set by American Lt Col WF Barnes in an F-86D Sabre. Flying a red Hawker Hunter, he achieved a speed of 727.48mph in a timed run offshore, beating the record by just 12mph and falling only 33mph short of the sound barrier on that occasion. Officer who became the wartime RAF's highest-scoring fighter pilot in the Mediterranean theatre and later a test pilot of supersonic jetsI was in my final year in the Army, and two of us travelled up from Longmoor to watch the Air Show.

Duke was awarded the Air Force Cross recognising his test flying from 1947 to 1948 at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down, where he flew research flights to explore aircraft performance at high Mach numbers and high altitudes. Duke resigned from the RAF in August 1948, joining the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, flying Spitfires and Meteors from Biggin Hill. He was CO of No.615 Squadron in 1950 and 1951, whose honorary air commodore was Winston Churchill. While other recollections of the day are few, I can still see one of the engines from John Derry's aircraft careering towards and over the top of us (it came down in the crowd on the embankment some way behind).

After the war he became a celebrated test pilot for Hawker, flying the Hunter fighter to the world speed record. He also flew the Harrier. There was no panic and as the rescue vehicles rushed to the hill the vast crowd parted like the Red Sea. Tomahawk coded O serial unknown at this time, probably taken from a news reel film, note the open canopy during take off. Käsmann, Ferdinand C.W. Die schnellsten Jets der Welt (The Fastest Jets in the World) (in German). Berlin: Aviatic-Verlag GmbH, 1999. ISBN 3-925505-26-1. In January 1945 Duke became a production test pilot at Hawkers and a year later was selected to attend the fourth course at the Empire Test Pilots' School where he flew a jet fighter for the first time.In June 1946 he was one of three pilots assigned to the RAF High Speed Flight.On one occasion he was flying his Meteor at its maximum speed at 120 ft when one of its two engines failed.He managed to retain control and make a safe landing.A few months later he displayed a Meteor at an air display at Prague when he was presented with the Czech Military Cross for his wartime service.

As we walked to the railway station the first aircraft to fly over was not Neville Duke in the Hunter, it was a Brittania. It sounded so smoothe I remember saying to my wife "Why can't all aircraft be like that?" November 1941 Plt Off (later Flt Lt) Neville"Bowks" Bowker, 89773 , RAFVR, thumps in hard on a night landing at LG 122 Tomahawk Mk IIB AN338. Bowker claimed an MC 200 , but was shot up by a Fiat G50 AN338 was badly damaged Cat C but was repaired a testimony to the diligent aircraft maintenance men of the time . It wasn't SOC until 31/3/43. Date of incident 30/11/41. The CO wanted 2 enemy planes shot down by Bowker to replace this pranged plane, he was glad he was able to comply with that request a few days later. Time sometime after 0830 hrs .Neville Duke was shot down in the same action whilst flying AK402 F In January 1945 Duke became a production test pilot at Hawkers and a year later was selected to attend the fourth course at the Empire Test Pilots' School where he flew a jet fighter for the first time. In June 1946 he was one of three pilots assigned to the RAF High Speed Flight. On one occasion he was flying his Meteor at its maximum speed at 120 ft when one of its two engines failed. He managed to retain control and make a safe landing. A few months later he displayed a Meteor at an air display at Prague when he was presented with the Czech Military Cross for his wartime service.He was a remarkable man and it seems appropriate that there should be a plaque on the house where he lived with his wife all those years ago. We should be proud that he lived here in Horsham, even if was only for a year or so.” A spokesman for Tangmere Military Aviation Museum in West Sussex, where Sqn Ldr Duke was honorary president, described him as a true gentleman. The following year he left the RAF and joined Hawker as assistant chief test pilot, remaining an officer with the Auxiliary Air Force. In 1949-50 he achieved world records on flights between London and Rome, London and Cairo and London and Karachi.

His second child and heiress was Isabel de Neville (d.1248/54), [9] who married Robert FitzMaldred (1170/4-1242/8).Duke underwent pilot training and was commissioned at No.58 Operational Training Unit, Grangemouth in February 1941, before being posted to No.92 Squadron at Biggin Hill in April, flying Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vs. Operating over occupied Europe, Duke's obvious talents as a fighter pilot meant he often flew as wingman to Biggin Hill's wing leader, Wing Commander Adolph "Sailor" Malan. By August 1941, Duke had claimed two Messerschmitt Bf 109s shot down. When the unit was withdrawn for a rest in October 1941, Duke was posted to North Africa to fly with No.112 Squadron on the Curtiss Tomahawk. Edward Nevill's descendants were raised to the status of Earls and then Marquesses of Abergavenny. This line continues; the present head of the family is Christopher Nevill, the 6th Marquess. His family lands have been eroded through the passage of time (whether by subdivision or inheritance tax), but the main home, at Eridge Park in Sussex, has been in the family since 1448. [35] Titles [ edit ] Title For Scotland, 2011 data is shown (update coming soon, the Scottish census was delayed by a year unlike the rest of the UK). Tomahawk Mk IIB 112 Sqdn pilot unknown Thought to be Jerry Westenra posing in front of Pete Brunton's plane. Dad (Tom Dugdill, 19/9/40 to 7/12/45) believes that George Staly, a friend of his and an engine fitter, was the first person to paint a shark on a Tomahawk, then the rest of the pilots wanted the same and the ‘Shark Squadron’ was born. Downing two Fw 190s of Schlachtgeschwader 4 in May, Duke scored his final kills on 7 September 1944, becoming the Mediterranean Theatre's top Allied fighter ace at the age of 22. In 486 sorties and some 712 operational hours, he claimed 27 outright victories and two shared, one probable, six damaged and two shared destroyed on the ground. [5] Test pilot [ ]