Peninsula Aero Club

Another mystery

Who can identify this aircraft, its country of origin, its purpose and when it was in service.  How many were built and what became of them.  Offer any other details that may set your answer ahead of the rest.

The competition is open to club members and non members.  When offering an answer, please identify yourself and your town of residence.

The winner will have his/her answer written up in this section.

Send you answer to Peter at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Good luck

 There is a Winner

Leigh Cusack from Seaford has done it again with his correct answer.  Leigh writes:

The aircraft is a Bristol 188  -  known as the Flaming Pencil.  Originally ordered by the UK government in 1953, it was commissioned as a small scale flying testbed for the yet-to-be-built Avro 730 high altitude supersonic reconnaissance aircraft (similar to the US Blackbird but with a canard).  The construction was predominantly welded stainless steel skin over a honeycomb core.  The project was severely delayed due to problems with the welded outer skin.  The aircraft was finally test flown in April 1962.  There were three aircraft built.  The project was cancelled in 1964 after a combined total of 51 flights.  A lot of testing data was subsequently used for the development of the Concorde.  Of the three aircraft, two were canabalised to keep the third one flying, then were used destroyed when used for gunnery practice.  The one pictured resides in the RAF Museum Cosford.

 Specs:  Engines  2 x DeHavilland Gyron Jnr @ 10,000lbs thrust each - 14,000 with afterburner

Speed  Attained Mach 1.88 @ 35,000ft

Supersonic Endurance  25 minutes

Well done Leigh  -  an excellent answer

Another photo below  -  Peter