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Percival Mew Gull
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Percival Mew Gull
The Percival Mew Gull is a British racing aircraft of the 1930s. It is a small single-engined single-seat low-wing monoplane of wooden construction, normally powered by a six-cylinder de Havilland Gipsy Six piston engine. During the second half of the 1930s Mew Gulls dominated air-racing in the UK and consistently recorded the fastest times until the outbreak of war stopped all civilian flying in late 1939. In addition, the plane set many long-distance records. Its top speed was 265 mph (425 km/h) on a modest 205 hp (153 kW) in its final 1939 form.
Following the success of the Percival Gull single-engined light low-wing cantilever monoplane, Edgar Percival developed a smaller dedicated racer, and designated the type theE1 'Mew Gull'.
The prototype, G-ACND, first flew in March 1934 powered by a 165 hp Napier Javelin, but this was soon with a more powerful and reliable 200 hp de Havilland Gipsy Six engine, before its first race. All subsequent aircraft used variants of the Gipsy Six.
The type then underwent substantial redesign, with much of the work carried out by Arthur Bage. A new wing, incorporating wing-flaps was fitted. After testing, a new, much longer fuselage was fitted to the new wing, after which it was re-designated as the E2. This basic layout remained common to the E2, E2H and the E3H variants, all built between 1934 and 1938. (The incorrect designation "P6" was retrospectively applied after Percival left the company and long after the Mew Gulls were built). The Mew Gulls were built at Gravesend, with the exception of the sole E3H, G-AFAA, which was built after the company moved to Luton.
Structurally, there was very little commonality of parts between the Gulls IV/ VI/ Vega Gull and the Mew Gull, other than a few minor components. All of the Gulls, however, did use a similar generic structure. Proprietary equipment such as engines, airscrews, spinners, instruments, undercarriage legs, wheels and tyres were generally common to all series. The Mew Gulls (apart from the E1 in its initial configuration) used a fixed, conventional oleomatic main undercarriage and a fully castoring tailskid. Small manually operated, split trailing-edge wing flaps were incorporated into the mainplanes, but were "...singularly ineffective even when fully extended". -
Five or six Mew Gulls were built; the E1/E2 development prototype (sometimes counted as two separate aircraft), three E2H's and one E3H.
The prototype Mew Gull (construction number E.20), designated Type E.1, was fitted with a 165 hp (123 kW) Napier Javelin IA six-cylinder inverted inline engine and was first flown on 22 March 1934 by Edgar Percival. The aircraft was re-engined with a more powerful 200 hp (150 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Six and modified undercarriage, and on 13–14 July 1934 Percival flew the aircraft in that year's King's Cup air race, where despite reaching a speed of 191 mph (166 kn; 307 km/h), it failed to place.
The Mew Gull was re-designated as the E.2 after both the wing and fuselage were replaced with modified units. G-ACND retained its original registration. The E.2 was powered by a Gipsy Six Series I. It was temporarily fitted with a smaller 180 hp Régnier engine, again of the same form, to qualify for the Coupe Armand Esders of July 1935, a race of 1,046 miles from Deauville, France to Cannes and back. The Mew Gull was flown by Guy de Chateaubrun, the Percival representative in France, and averaged 188 mph (303 km/h) to win the race. In October 1935, with the original British de Havilland Gipsy Six reinstalled, Guy de Chateaubrun took part in the Coupe Michelin and became the only pilot to bail out of a Mew Gull, abandoning G-ACND because of fog on his way to Orly. Parts of the original airframe of G-ACND are thought to have been burned in a bonfire at Luton after the end of the Second World War.
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Percival Mew Gull
The Percival Mew Gull is a British racing aircraft of the 1930s. It is a small single-engined single-seat low-wing monoplane of wooden construction, normally powered by a six-cylinder de Havilland Gipsy Six piston engine. During the second half of the 1930s Mew Gulls dominated air-racing in the UK and consistently recorded the fastest times until the outbreak of war stopped all civilian flying in late 1939. In addition, the plane set many long-distance records. Its top speed was 265 mph (425 km/h) on a modest 205 hp (153 kW) in its final 1939 form.
Following the success of the Percival Gull single-engined light low-wing cantilever monoplane, Edgar Percival developed a smaller dedicated racer, and designated the type theE1 'Mew Gull'.
The prototype, G-ACND, first flew in March 1934 powered by a 165 hp Napier Javelin, but this was soon with a more powerful and reliable 200 hp de Havilland Gipsy Six engine, before its first race. All subsequent aircraft used variants of the Gipsy Six.
The type then underwent substantial redesign, with much of the work carried out by Arthur Bage. A new wing, incorporating wing-flaps was fitted. After testing, a new, much longer fuselage was fitted to the new wing, after which it was re-designated as the E2. This basic layout remained common to the E2, E2H and the E3H variants, all built between 1934 and 1938. (The incorrect designation "P6" was retrospectively applied after Percival left the company and long after the Mew Gulls were built). The Mew Gulls were built at Gravesend, with the exception of the sole E3H, G-AFAA, which was built after the company moved to Luton.
Structurally, there was very little commonality of parts between the Gulls IV/ VI/ Vega Gull and the Mew Gull, other than a few minor components. All of the Gulls, however, did use a similar generic structure. Proprietary equipment such as engines, airscrews, spinners, instruments, undercarriage legs, wheels and tyres were generally common to all series. The Mew Gulls (apart from the E1 in its initial configuration) used a fixed, conventional oleomatic main undercarriage and a fully castoring tailskid. Small manually operated, split trailing-edge wing flaps were incorporated into the mainplanes, but were "...singularly ineffective even when fully extended". -
Five or six Mew Gulls were built; the E1/E2 development prototype (sometimes counted as two separate aircraft), three E2H's and one E3H.
The prototype Mew Gull (construction number E.20), designated Type E.1, was fitted with a 165 hp (123 kW) Napier Javelin IA six-cylinder inverted inline engine and was first flown on 22 March 1934 by Edgar Percival. The aircraft was re-engined with a more powerful 200 hp (150 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Six and modified undercarriage, and on 13–14 July 1934 Percival flew the aircraft in that year's King's Cup air race, where despite reaching a speed of 191 mph (166 kn; 307 km/h), it failed to place.
The Mew Gull was re-designated as the E.2 after both the wing and fuselage were replaced with modified units. G-ACND retained its original registration. The E.2 was powered by a Gipsy Six Series I. It was temporarily fitted with a smaller 180 hp Régnier engine, again of the same form, to qualify for the Coupe Armand Esders of July 1935, a race of 1,046 miles from Deauville, France to Cannes and back. The Mew Gull was flown by Guy de Chateaubrun, the Percival representative in France, and averaged 188 mph (303 km/h) to win the race. In October 1935, with the original British de Havilland Gipsy Six reinstalled, Guy de Chateaubrun took part in the Coupe Michelin and became the only pilot to bail out of a Mew Gull, abandoning G-ACND because of fog on his way to Orly. Parts of the original airframe of G-ACND are thought to have been burned in a bonfire at Luton after the end of the Second World War.
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