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AndyG43
September 2nd, 2011, 06:25
A great British aviator... no, simply a great aviator, nationality is unimportant .... went to join the great squadron in the sky on Wednesday. Peter Twiss will forever hold a place in avaition history, as the first man to fly at more than 1000 miles an hour in level flight; on his record breaking flight he actually reached 1132 MPH, which was a touch faster than the current record (held by an F-100 Super Sabre) - actually, it was about 300 MPH faster!! In his time with Fairey he flew many unusual aircraft, including the Rotodyne, with which he set a record for rotorcraft! And he was a minor film star, appearing in both "From Russia With Love" and "Sink The Bismarck", where he was flying another Fairey product, the Swordfish.

Mr Twiss, I salute you. :salute:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Twiss


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-14760941

The aircraft he flew, the Fairey Delta 2 should have been the basis for a family of world beating fighters from Fairey; but this was the time of the infamous Duncan Sandys white paper, so it was not to be. Marcel Dassault himself said "If it were not for the clumsy way in which you tackle things in Britain, you could have made the Mirage yourselves". As it was, the aircraft made a valuable contribution to the design, and testing of design features, of Concorde; the famous drooping nose was a Fairey design feature, adopted on the airliner. Two aircraft were built, and both survive WG777 at Cosford and WG774 (the record breaking aircraft, in it's later, modified form as the BAC 221) at Yeovilton as part of a Concorde exhibition. Both versions are actually available in FS9, the earlier version as Classic Wings and the later version is from the inimitable Kaz Ito.

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Pauke! Pauke!
September 2nd, 2011, 10:37
I was particularly struck with his WWII military service in the The Merchant Ship Fighter Unit </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>and long-range intruder operations over Germany. Here's some info on the MSFU and CAM Ships. Lieutenant Commander Twiss certainly had a pair to say the least. Truly a great pioneering aviator of the 20th century.

Care of Wiki:

The Merchant Ship Fighter Unit</SPAN> (MSFU) was a Royal Air Force</SPAN> operational aircraft unit based at </SPAN>RAF Speke during </SPAN>World War II</SPAN></SPAN>. The aircraft operated by the MSFU were </SPAN>Hawker Sea Hurricanes</SPAN></SPAN>. These planes were operated from 35 merchant ships outfitted with a catapult on the bow, referred to as Catapult Aircraft Merchant ships </SPAN>CAM ships</SPAN></SPAN>. The MSFU was formed at Speke on May 5, 1941 and provided detachments to the CAM ships, each vessel being equipped with one Sea Hurricane plus an </SPAN>RAF</SPAN></SPAN> pilot and support crew.</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>

The single catapult consisted of an eighty-five-foot runway, along which a trolley carrying a Hurricane (later Hurricats were used for this) would be forced by a battery of three-inch rockets over a diameter of sixty feet. Using thirty-degree wing flaps, a pilot could make a perfect takeoff without losing height.\</SPAN>
</SPAN>
Most notable was the inability of the CAM ship to recover the aircraft, and as a result launches beyond the range of the aircraft were one way rides that required the pilot to bail out and use an inflatable dingy until a passing ship happened by. Eventually CAM ships were replaced beginning in 1943 with the completion of escort carriers.
</SPAN></SPAN>
CAM fighters were credited with seven Luftwaffe kills and numerous scare offs.


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</SPAN>I also found this old documentary about the RN Feet Air Arm.

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nigel richards
September 3rd, 2011, 02:14
Indeed a tragic loss to British aviation! Thankyou Andy for reminding us all.

And the less said about 'Mr.' Duncan Sandys and his blasted white bit of paper the better!

Roger
September 3rd, 2011, 03:27
Thanks for all the information given in this thread:applause:

RIP Peter Twiss:medals: