Hawker had ambitious export plans for the aircraft, assuming other countries’ air forces would be as impressed as the RAF. One famous aerobatic display at the Brussels Air Show in 1939 was breathlessly reported by aviation magazine Flight. The pilot? Richard Reynell. The 2nd one was the ex-IWM Lambeth T.3, TV959, which was restored for Paul Allen's FHC in Seattle. Its likely that this one may well be up for sale in the future along with most of FHC's other aircraft after the death of Paul Allen. The 3rd one was FB.VI PZ474, restored for US collector Rod Lewis, but sold recently to California collector Charles Somers.

The riveting exploits of a fighter aircraft – and an underrated aerial hero of the Second World War Walker was keenly aware of the work of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), a pool of pilots who delivered aircraft from factories to airfields. With so many pilots needed for combat operations, the ATA drafted in any pilot who could fly a plane. Of the more than 1,300 pilots who flew planes to airfields, more than 160 were women.But then Germans then turned their attention – mystifyingly – to Britain’s cities, hoping that indiscriminate bombing would cause widespread panic and force Britain to surrender. The Luftwaffe decided to throw every available aircraft into the offensive. It started on 7 September. That's what I was told by the old timers when I was there several years later. The sheer mention of Mosquito would start a healthy debate between fighter pilots and bomber pilots about who should have flown it had it ever arrived..From what I heard, as it was a solid nose T.3 it had a fighter style control column rather than a yoke wheel which the glazed nose bomber versions had so it was deemed that it would be flown by a fighter pilot..... The Hurricane actually began life as a biplane, based on an earlier aircraft Hawker had built. Paul Beaver, an aviation historian and pilot, says: “If you look at the construction of the original aircraft, it had fabric-covered mainplanes [wings]. Fabric wings are very easy to repair, but they make it difficult to fly the plane robustly.” On 7 September 1940, southern England suffered what was then the biggest air raid the world had ever seen.

Rob Bell is ready for action in a Sopwith Camel. (Image credit: Channel 5) British Planes That Won The War with Rob Bell episode guide We didn't need gunners. Halifaxes bombed from 18,000 feet, but in the Mosquito it was 26,000 feet," he said Widely remembered in its fighter role and unjustly left in the shade of the Spitfire, the Hurricane’s role was varied and pivotal: as a fighter, fighter-bomber, anti-tank aircraft and used at sea. Nor was its theatre of operations any less wide: it saw action in France from the beginning of the Phoney War to the outbreak of the Blitzkrieg, in the Battle of Britain, and then as far afield as Russia, Sumatra and Madagascar.Channel 4 Paralympics presenter, former Royal Marines Commando and qualified pilot Arthur Williams presents this love letter to the World War II aeroplane he believes history has unjustly forgotten. While the names Spitfire, Lancaster and Hurricane have passed into legend, the De Havilland Mosquito languishes in relative obscurity. But for Arthur, the 'Wooden Wonder' is the plane that saved Britain. In this documentary, he meets the men who flew it, tells its extraordinary story and - 17 years after a fatal crash destroyed the last one to fly - travels to Virginia Beach in the USA to see if he can take to the skies in the world's only remaining flying Mosquito. Dir: Rob Coldstream; Exec Prod: Alistair Pegg; Prod Co: Blast Films

The aircraft defending London that day were spearheaded by the Supermarine Spitfire, an iconic single-seat fighter plane which had only entered service a few months before the start of World War Two. The Spitfire was fast, sleek and very agile – but it was outnumbered two to one by another fighter, one often ignored in the popular retelling of the battle. It was the Hawker Hurricane, and most of the RAF squadrons flying over London that day were equipped with it. In September 1942 it took part in the successful bombing of Gestapo headquarters in Oslo, destroying the records of members of the underaged resistance. And in 1944, Operation Jericho saw nine Mosquitos carry out a daylight raid on a German-held prison at Amiens, France, in which the planes flew so low they were able to blow up the walls, allowing 255 allied prisoners to escape. It was beautiful and it could do anything. It took us just over four hours to fly to Berlin, whereas it would have taken eight in a Halifax."The Hawker Hurricane was flying on the outbreak of war in 1939. Six years later, having saved Britain, it was still playing a major part in the war effort. Arthur’s love of sport, in particular wheelchair racing, was to open an entirely new chapter in his career when he joined Channel 4’s presentation team providing coverage of the London 2012 Paralympics. Since then, he has emerged as one of the most recognisable and popular aviation presenters in the UK and is often seen at the controls of his stunning 1943 Piper Cub. Most recently, Arthur completed his debut season working as guest commentator for The Blades aerobatics team as they thrilled an estimated three million spectators in the 2019 display season. The Mosquito connection Channel 4 Paralympics presenter, former Royal Marines Commando and qualified pilot Arthur Williams presents this love letter to the World War II aeroplane he believes history has unjustly forgotten. While the names Spitfire, Lancaster and Hurricane have passed into legend, the De Havilland Mosquito languishes in relative obscurity. But for Arthur, the 'Wooden Wonder' is the plane that saved Britain. In this documentary, he meets the men who flew it, tells its extraordinary story and - 17 years after a fatal crash destroyed the last one to fly - travels to Virginia Beach in the USA to see if he can take to the skies in the world's only remaining flying Mosquito. Dir: Rob Coldstream; Exec Prod: Alistair Pegg; Prod Co: Blast Films McIndoe became aware some of his patients might need years of medical treatment, and realised treating the mental effects was as vital as the physical. The pilots were able to wear normal civilian clothes or their uniforms while they were recovering and were encouraged to leave the hospital grounds when they wanted. The people of East Grinstead were asked to invite the pilots into their homes and ignore their injuries. As a result, East Grinstead became known as “the town that didn’t stare”. The pilots who went through McIndoe’s far-sighted approach set up a drinking society called “ The Guinea Pig Club” that at its peak had nearly 700 members. The club held yearly reunions in East Grinstead until 2007, more than six decades after the end of the war. Some of the club members lived to see their 100th birthdays. During the early afternoon, British radar observers hunched over their screens started seeing something massive taking shape. From airfields across France, wave after wave of German bombers and fighters took to the air, forming up into one enormous formation over the English Channel. It was so large – nearly 1,100 planes – that it covered 800 square miles (2,072 sq km). The last time a force this powerful had threatened England was the Spanish Armada, 500 years before.