The Membership Newsletter for The Military Aviation Museum Spring 2018

INSIde ThIS ISSue: Hurricane & One-Armed Man 2

History of the Hurricane 2

Zeppelin Ladder 3

Margaret Horton Story 3

Summer of Flight Schedule 4

Summer Camp Preview 5

Flying Proms Preview 5

RAF Centennial Celebration 6

Youth Unplugged 6

Military Aviation Museum www.MilitaryAviationMuseum.org

Virginia Beach Airport www.VBairport.com

Fighter Factory www.FighterFactory.com

Warbirds Over the Beachwww.VBairshow.com

Join the Military Aviation Museum for our 9th installment of The Flying Proms Symphony Air Show on Saturday June 16th!

The Flying Proms offers guests a truly unique experience. Getting its roots from the United Kingdom‘s traditional Proms, the Military Aviation Museum’s Flying Proms is the only event of its kind in North America. u

Warbirds Over the Beach Air Show Prepares for Takeoff

Flying Proms Preview

An impressive line-up of fighter and bomber aircraft headlines the upcoming annual Warbirds Over the Beach Air Show, May 18 -20th at the Virginia Beach Airport. Hosted by Military Aviation Museum, the air show highlights World War II aircraft. The museum is home

to one of the largest private collections of World War II military aircraft, each perfectly restored and in pristine flying condition. These planes will be in the air throughout the weekend, especially on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. In addition, many exhibitors will display their craft from personal collections around America.

A live swing band and many other period performers will provide musical entertainment while guests get an up-close look at these vintage aircraft. Visitors will also meet distinguished World War II veterans and talk with them about their personal wartime experiences. Re-enactors portraying World War II troops from Allied and friendly Axis countries will set up encampments throughout the airport grounds giving guests an authentic feel of life in the military during the 1940s. Finally, vehicle, armor, and artillery demonstrations round out the weekend activities on both Saturday and Sunday.

Come out and bring the family for a full day of great flying, interesting displays and some of the best food you have tasted from our area food truck providers. If you are here on Saturday, stay for the Hangar Dance that begins at 4PM. Come as you are straight from the Air Show field or dress up if you’d like. Some will wear vintage 40’s attire, military uniforms, or stewardess/pilot outfits! Featured dance performers, Swing Virginia, will help teach you the dance steps! Last year’s dance was a big hit—what a way to cap off a great day of flying!

For ticket information, visit www.VBairshow.com or call (757) 721-PROP (7767). q

View our Summer of Flight schedule and read more about our upcoming events on PAGe 4 .

The Military Aviation Museum is more than just airplanes and hangars. We strive to tell the stories that surround these planes. People, both men and women, had such an impact on the history of these warbirds.

In celebration of our 10th anniversary, we will begin a Summer of Flight series where volunteers will tell the stories of these aircraft. In this issue we will give you a taste of what is in store each Saturday as we feature a select warbird, talk about it and perform a flight demonstration.

The stories selected were compiled by our volunteer Historian, Felix Usis, from resources too numerous to site from around the globe. Enjoy! u

A Note from the Director:

PAGE 2 VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2

Joggin’ for Frogmen 5K Race Preview

FEATURED AIRCRAFT

In 1933, Hawker's Chief Designer, Sydney Camm, decided to design an aircraft which would fulfill a British Air Ministry specification calling for a new monoplane fighter. His prototype, powered by a 990 hp. Rolls Royce Merlin 'C' engine, first flew on November 6, 1935, and quickly surpassed expectations and performance estimates.

Official trials began three months later, and in June 1936, Hawker received an initial order for 600 aircraft from the Royal Air Force (RAF). The first aircraft had fabric wings. To power the new aircraft (now officially designated the “Hurricane,”) the RAF ordered the new 1,030 hp Merlin II engine. The first production Hurricane flew on October 12, 1937, and was delivered to the 111 Squadron at RAF Northolt two months later.

A year later, around 200 Hurricanes had been delivered and demand for the airplane had increased enough that Hawker contracted with the Gloster Aircraft Company to build them also.

During the production run, the fabric-covered wing was replaced by an all-metal one, a bullet-proof windscreen was added, and the engine was upgraded to the Merlin III. Before the Second World War (1939-1945), production locations expanded to include Yugoslavia, Belgium and in 1940, Canada, where it was undertaken by the Canadian Car and Foundry Company. Continued on Page 7

Hawker Hurricane and the One-Armed Man

James A. F. MacLachlan was born in 1919 at Styal, Cheshire and joined the RAF on a short service commission in March 1939. He was posted to 3 FTS South Cerney on May 8, 1939 and joined 88 Squadron at Boscombe Down on November 27th. Then equipped with Hinds, the squadron soon afterwards received Fairey Battles and took them to France at the outbreak of war. Then the squadron was withdrawn to England in June 1940, MacLauchlan was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).

MacLachlan volunteered for Fighter Command in August 1940 and was posted to 145 Squadron at Drem on August 18th. He then joined 73 Squadron at Castle Camps on September 28th. He was assigned overseas service on October 19, 1940 and on November 17th he led six Hurricanes off HMS 'Argus' for Malta, where they joined 261 Squadron at Ta Kali on Malta.

At this point, MacLachlan was a flight commander. On January 9, 1941, MacLachlan claimed two Mc200’s destroyed, on the 19th a Z506B, a Ju88, two Ju87’s and a probable CR42. During the night of February 8th he claimed two Ju88’s destroyed. For this performance, he was awarded a Bar to the DFC.

In combat on February 16, 1941, MacLachlan was hit by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and severely wounded in his left arm. He bailed out and came down on land. After three days in the hospital, his arm was amputated below the elbow. That wasn’t going to prevent him from getting back up in the air though.

He claimed his return to active service started with a friendly wager, according to an Australian newspaper. “I bet my nurse that I would be flying again a fortnight [2 weeks] after being wounded.” Official records say it was technically 16 days from operating room to cockpit.

Back on his feet, MacLachlan was anxious to see if he could still pilot a Hurricane. He discovered that his right hand was good enough to manage the controls for ordinary flying duties. He was not

satisfied with ordinary flying duties though; he wanted two hands so that he could be a fighting man again.

MacLachlan consulted with the base physician and an aircraft mechanic. The trio devised “a robot hand,” featuring steel fingers. Instrument makers improved it until he was able to move the steel fingers over the fighter controls easily. His reward came when he received notice from the RAF medical board that he was ‘fit for flying duties.’

He returned to operations on November 4, 1941, when he took command of RAF No 1 Squadron at Redhill. The squadron began night intruder operations over France. On the night of April 26, 1942, MacLachlan destroyed a Do 217 and damaged another. On May 3rd, he destroyed a Do 17 and a He 111. On June 3rd he destroyed two Do 217s and damaged two more. MacLachlan was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and on July 31st was posted to 59 OTU (Operational Training Unit), Crosby-on-Eden, as an instructor. Later that year, MacLachlan was sent on a lecture tour of the United States.

In June 1943, he went to the Air Fighting Development Unit at Wittering. On June 29th, MacLachlan, in company with Geoffrey Page, flew a Mustang on a daylight sortie, in the course of which he destroyed two Hs 126’s, a Ju 88 and shared a second with Page, who also destroyed two Hs 126’s. They took to the skies again on July 18th, but as they crossed the French coast, MacLachlan was hit by machine gun fire.

He force-landed in a field and ploughed through an orchard. He survived the crash but was taken to a German field hospital, as a prisoner of war. MacLachlan died there on July 31, 1943. He was only twenty-four years of age.

He is buried in Route de Caen Communal Cemetery, Pont L'Eveque, France. He was awarded a second Bar to the DFC posthumously. q

The History Behind the Hawker Hurricane

Throughout the Second World War, women stepped up to the plate and filled jobs, releasing the men for more combat roles. This was true in the United States where over 1/3 of the entire work force in the aviation industry were women. The story was very similar in England and the Royal Air Force (RAF). Women filled roles so men could fill combat positions. This is a short story of just one of those brave women.

When an aircraft engine had been serviced, the practice was for the training instructors to run the engine and do a particular test. During the test, a fitter would sit on the tail of the plane. Sometimes, to prevent the tail bouncing up and the propeller striking the ground, fitters often rode the tail plane all the way to the takeoff point. The fitter would then be instructed to get

off the plane for the take-off. This practice had a freak outcome on Valentine’s Day 1945.

The incident involved a RAF’s Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) flight mechanic, ACW2 Margaret Ida Horton, and a veteran Spitfire. Margaret had finished work on the Spitfire, when the pilot began this test. She was assigned a familiar job of fitter. Her role: to sit on the horizontal stabilizer of a Spitfire to help hold the tail down while it taxied on a windy day. Flight Lieutenant Neill Cox was piloting the aircraft and was familiar with the normal drill for this procedure.

Typically the tail-sitter would grab the aircraft’s elevator, move it up and down a couple of times before the pilot turned onto the runway, signaling that she was getting off the plane. When Margaret gave the signal,

she saw the pilot make a casual gesture out of the cockpit that Horton interpreted to mean, “Hang on, don’t go yet.” It wasn’t until she felt the plane move forward under full throttle that Margaret realized she missed her chance to get off safely.

Lt. Cox just carried on, with Margaret Horton hanging on for dear life, totally unaware that he had a “passenger” on the tail. “I thought the aircraft was tail-heavy”, Cox would later say.

As the Spitfire accelerated down the runway, Margaret quickly flopped across the tail cone, where she was held in place by the vertical fin, her legs to the right and her torso to the left. Continued on Page 7

VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2 PAGE 3

The Newest Addition to Our Museum Collection… A Zeppelin Ladder

An Unexpected Ride: The Margaret Horton Story

This type of Zeppelin ladder was built in Germany by the Magirus Company during the late 1920s and early 1930s as a maintenance ladder for large rigid airships. The Magirus Company produced almost all of the early, movable ladders used in the construction of these airships in Germany and in the United States. The multi-extension, wooden ladders were mounted on massively constructed, wooden carriage frames with a "fifth-wheel" style, forward axle assembly. Although it appeared to be designed for horses, the ladders could be easily moved by two men. The carriage was equipped with four, hand screw type "outriggers" that would resist the ladder from tipping. The ladder did not swivel on the carriage. It was elevated and extended only towards the front of the carriage. In the "working" position, the

ladder had to be elevated to about an 80 degree angle in order to allow full extension to 85 feet. They can be seen, commonly, in early photographs of airships under construction in the 1920s and 1930s.

After the First World War, Germany had to dismantle its armament industries, and the only way for the Zeppelin Company to survive was to go into partnership with the American Goodyear Company. Thus came the Goodyear Zeppelin Company.

These ladders were used inside of the huge Zeppelin hangars and were manually operated. Once the ladders were moved to their desired location, workers would level and stabilize the main carriage, then elevate and

extend the ladder with hand cranks from a small work platform attached to the top of the ladder.

There is one other Zeppelin ladder in the world located at the National Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, Florida. However, our museum’s ladder is the only unmodified original unit that still exists. It is complete with the work platform and a pair of original wheel chocks that hang inside the base unit. The markings are also original, although the metal has been painted over.

The Zeppelin Ladder now resides in our Great War Hangar. q

Roger Freeman and Jerry Yagen

PAGE 4 VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Military Aviation Museum is pleased to announce the dates for its 2018 Warbirds Aviation Summer Camp. From Monday, July 16th through Friday, July 20th, girls and boys rising into 4th Grade through 10th Grade, will have fun learning

about the great collection of the Military Aviation Museum, warbird restoration, aeronautics, air combat, flight operations support and their future in aviation.

This year's camp will feature three groups based upon your child's school grade (see page 5).

This promises to be quite the experience and one that any young aviator surely won't want to miss! Membership discounts available. Registration is open now! Visit www.militaryaviationmuseum.org/summer-camp .

MAY 26TH Dunkirk Evacuation Begins Supermarine SpitfireJUN 2ND Battle of Midway Grumman Wildcat & PBY Catalina, taxi onlyJUN 9TH D-Day Invasion North American P-51 MustangJUN 16TH Flying Proms Air Show No Summer of Flight EventJUN 23RD Operation Barbarossa Junkers JU-52JUN 30TH End of the Fokker Scourge Sopwith 1½ StrutterJUL 7TH The Fokker Scourge Begins Fokker Eindecker, taxi onlyJUL 14TH Invasion of Sicily Begins Curtiss P-40JUL 21ST Snoopy & The Red Baron Fokker DR1 *Exhibit Opening*JUL 28TH The World’s First Operational Jet Messerschmidt ME-262, flyover onlyAUG 4TH Talking Planes: First Communications Curtiss Jenny JN-4AUG 11TH Invasion of Guadalcanal Grumman WildcatAUG 18TH Battle of Stalingrad Begins Focke Wulf Fw 190AUG 25TH The First Air Races Bleriot (taxi only)SEP 1ST Japan Surrenders Goodyear FG-1D CorsairSEP 8TH The Flying Jeep Featuring Stinson L-5 Sentinel SEP 15TH Battle of Britain Day Hawker Hurricane & Messerschmitt Bf 109SEP 22ND To Be Announced To Be AnnouncedSEP 29TH To Be Announced To Be Announced

Come experience the Summer of Flight! Each week from May 26th through September 29th, the Military Aviation Museum will be showcasing historical events through unique tours, lectures and flight demonstrations. Hear the roar of the engines as history comes to life, experiencing vintage warbirds just as the heroes of the World Wars had.

Each Summer of Flight event starts at 1pm. Flights and aircraft subject to change.

What is it like to pilot an open cockpit biplane?

Lets go for a taxi ride in a B-25!

Summer of Flight is included in your general museum admission, free for museum members.

DatE: HIStORICaL EvEnt: FEatuRED aIRCRaFt:

VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2 PAGE 5

Get a Taste of English Tradition at the Flying Proms

Prom is short for promenade concert, a term whose origins may be traced to the 18th-century pleasure gardens of London. Such outdoor concerts afforded audience members the freedom to stroll the exquisitely manicured lawns and avenues, observing such choice elements of sculpture and society as might then be seen, to the accompaniment of canorous entertainments. On August 10, 1895, the first of a series of indoor promenade concerts, in the Queen's Hall, Langham Place, was inaugurated. Today, they are among the most well-known in the world: The BBC Proms, alternately The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, named in honour of their most illustrious conductor, the late, Sir Henry Joseph Wood.

As one of the world’s largest classical music festivals, today the Royal Albert Hall hosts annually more than 70 concerts, but the outdoor component is continued through Proms in the Park performances.

In 1997, a new tradition was born. The Shuttleworth Collection, a prominent aviation museum in Bedfordshire, England, took the beloved British traditional Promenade Concert and put a distinctly aeronautical spin on it. Bringing the concert back to the outdoors in the original spirit of the day, the museum added a flying demonstration set to the music of famous aviation- themed movies. The conclusion of the concert is punctuated by a grand fireworks display, reminiscent of the original Promenade Concerts held so many centuries ago in those London Gardens.

Subsequently, in 2010, the Virginia Arts Festival, came to appreciate the Military Aviation Museum's potential to host the first and, so far, only Flying Proms in North America. Taking a leaf from those original promenade concerts of Cremorne, Marylebone, and Vauxhall Gardens, this year’s edition of the Proms was, as in years past, peerless in its consummate blend

of pitch and prop.

The Military Aviation Museum is proud to bring this British tradition to America, and in its 9th season, this event is more popular than ever. Please join us for a spectacular evening of music, historic aviation flights and community.

The first half of the evening’s entertainment will feature aerial displays from the museum’s collection of historical aircraft, such as the DeHavilland Mosquito and Messerschmitt Bf-109, accompanied by musical selections from popular aviation-themed movies. As dusk falls, and the planes land, the second half of the performance will commence, featuring an assortment of patriotic and pop music. Festivities culminate with a fireworks finale provided by Zambelli Fireworks.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.TheFlyingProms.com. q

CADETS Grades 4 and 5 captains Grades 8, 9 AND 10ACES Grades 6 and 7

9:00 am – 12:00 Noon daily9 AM – 12 NOON Daily Learn about the basics of flight.

Explore the wonders of propulsion with your very own homemade rocket.

Talk to real pilots.

9 AM – 4 PM DAILY Learn about fighter planes,

how pilots fought them, and how you can fight them, too, on a

computer simulator.

9 AM – 4 PM DAILY Learn what it takes to keep these

warbirds in the air, how to get them ready for flight, protect them from fire and

see how they are moved. q

PAGE 6 VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2

OUR COMMUNITYOur Community

For the second year in a row, the Museum opened its doors to the Saving Kids Dreams Foundation to help host their Youth Unplugged Event. Founded by the co-owner of Blue Pete’s Restaurant here in Pungo, Aristotle Cleanthes and his wife created this special foundation. Their goal is to get kids outside and enjoy a world unplugged from computers, televisions, iPads and headphones. Parents brought their children out for an opportunity to learn how to shoot a bow or ride a pony for the first time. A great, fun-filled, free day of enjoying the outdoors, including archery, BB gun shoot, pony rides, dirt digging, bounce houses, face painting, and much more!

Over 5,000 people jammed onto the Museum grounds to enjoy a beautiful day of outdoor activities. The first 1000 youngsters received Shimano fishing rods and two lucky families won museum plane rides.

One of the many benefits to our community outreach is the ability to introduce hundreds more people to this unique destination. We are thrilled to help this worthy charity accomplish their dream! q

4th Annual Youth Unplugged Event Museum Hosts Royal Air Force

Centennial Celebration

“Good afternoon Sirs, Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like to formally welcome you to the RAF Centennial Event here at this wonderful location, the Military Aviation Museum on this glorious spring day. I am sure you would agree, the setting is very poignant, befitting of the RAF’s 100th birthday.” These opening remarks by Squadron Leader Neil Eccleshall kicked off the afternoon family celebration by RAF personnel assigned to numerous commands through-out the area. Hampton Roads has the largest Royal Air force contingent in the United States.

With several senior NATO staff present, the RAF was indeed proud to stand on parade amidst flying examples of the Mossie, Spit, Hurricane, Tiger Moth, and Chipmunk. These men and women may be the only currently serving RAF in the world to have done this.

RAF Group Captain John Sullivan delivered a concise and inspiring presentation. He presented the Museum with a plaque to be mounted in the Goxhill Tower “As testament to the unique and special bond between our two countries”.

This event was about Commemoration and Celebration of the RAF’s history, its past and present achievements and hopefully, it inspired some young boys and girls for future service in their countries' Armed forces.

This plaque will be placed in a prominent location in Goxhill tower. q

Top: A brief ceremony reflecting the past 100 years of RAF; Middle: A glorious April day with

our historic Spitfire on parade behind serving RAF;Bottom: RAF Group Captain John Sullivan

Left: Several families came out to enjoy Youth Unplugged; Bottom: One of the many great outdoor activities

VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2 PAGE 7

August 1940 brought what has become the Hurricane's shining moment in history: The Battle of Britain. RAF Hurricanes accounted for more enemy aircraft kills than all other defenses combined, from both air and ground. Some claim that the Hurricane was the best fighter in this first air-only battle ever; others are convinced that the Supermarine Spitfire was the absolute winner. Perhaps England is the real winner, for without both aircraft the outcome of the Battle of Britain would have been different.

The fact is that the Spitfire had better performance and better maneuverability. However, they were not numerous enough to be decisive by themselves. The Hurricane was slower and less maneuverable than the Spitfire, but it was still more agile than the Messerschmitt Bf 109, and faster than the German Bombers. They were armed well enough to take on any aircraft of the time, responsive enough to give chase to the bombers, and agile enough to evade attacks from the German escorts. But without the protection of the Spitfires, the Hurricanes would have been forced to evade too much, unable to have a clear shot at the bombers. Thus, the Spitfire enabled the Hurricane to do its job; of which it acquitted itself very well.

The Spitfire, on the other hand, would have to give up too much of its superiority to attack the bombers, becoming too vulnerable for the escorting German fighters. In pure performance, the Spitfire was on par to the Messerschmitt, but the deployed tactics that

were enforced by Reichsmarshal Goering rendered any potential advantage of the Messerschmitt nil.

The German fighters were forced to stay close to the bombers, so the Spitfires and Hurricanes could position themselves in a tactically advantageous position, making sure that their speed was higher than their Messerschmitt adversaries. Here enters the third factor in winning the battle: the British net of radar stations. These stations were instrumental in the early warning system, and supplied Fighter Command with the parameters of any German attack: number of aircraft (rough guess), height, speed and direction.

Apart from the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane saw a lot of action else was in the world. In the North African theater, the Hurricane was first used as a fighter-bomber against the forces of Rommel's Afrika Korps, where it was moderately successful. In the Far East, Burma, it was used as such, and there proved that even a design as old as the Hurricane was quite well suited for the kind of operations there.

The Hurricane underwent many modifications during its life, resulting in many major variants, including the Mk IIA, with a Merlin XX engine; the Mk IIB, with interchangeable wings housing twelve 7.7mm (0.303in) guns and carrying two 500lb bombs; the Mk IID, a tankbuster with two 40mm anti-tank guns plus two 7.7mm guns; the Mk IV, with a universal, multi-purpose wing, and powered

by a 1,620hp Merlin 24/27 engine; and the Canadian-built Mk XII, with a 1,300hp Packard Merlin 29 engine. During the war, Hurricanes were sold to Egypt, Finland, India, the Irish Air Corps, Persia, Turkey, and the USSR.

One could argue that the Hurricane was undoubtedly one of the greatest and most versatile fighter aircraft of the Second World War. It remained in service with the RAF until January 1947.

The Military Aviation Museum’s Hawker Hurricane was built in Canada by Canadian Car and Foundry (CCF) at the Fort William (Thunder Bay) plant under license from Hawker. CCF plants in Fort William, Amherst, NS and Montreal produced over 1,400 Hurricanes. The Canadian built Hurricane LF Mk XII was essentially an Mk II with a 1,300 hp Packard Merlin 29 replacing the original Rolls-Royce Merlin XX engine. It was armed with twelve 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns. One can see the gun ports for the 12 machine guns on the museum’s aircraft. The museum’s Hurricane was accepted by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as RCAF 5667 on February 3, 1943. It was sent to Eastern Air Command and assigned first to No. 1 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RCAF Bagotville; reassigned to the Victory Loan Drive (Ottawa) on October 23, 1944; then assigned to No.1 Air Command on January 25, 1945; finally to No. 2 Air Command on May 9, 1945. Two conflicting reports indicate that it was either stricken from military records on January 1, 1946 or October 1, 1946. It was storied and finally sold in 1948, where it sat derelict on a farm in Saskatchewan from 1948 until 1965. Reports state that in June 1965, the Hurricane was sold to Mr. Neil M. Rose of Vancouver, Washington. Mr. Rose performed a beautiful restoration, using parts from another RCAF Hurricane Mk XII (RCAF 9409). The Hurricane is almost completely original including its Packard built Merlin-29, 1,300 horsepower liquid cooled engine. It first flew again as N2549 on May 10, 1994. Unfortunately, 12 days later the aircraft was damaged while landing in Yakima, Washington and repaired. It was obtained by the museum in 2001 with Civil Registration N2549 and no Squadron Codes. It was repainted as 151 Squadron aircraft DZ-O with serial number V6793 and the Civil Registration changed to N943HH. q

As Cox took off with Margaret on the tail, the combination of her weight on the tail and her grip on the elevator very nearly had disastrous results, but fortunately Cox was able to maintain control.

As unlikely as it may seem, Horton rode this way, clinging to the vertical stabilizer, all the way through the flight pattern, all the while the pilot was still unaware that she was clinging to the tail.

Another WAAF who’d seen what was happening dashed off to tell a flight sergeant, who ran to the control tower. By now, the Spitfire had climbed to 800 feet or more. Cox knew something was wrong because of the sluggish response of the controls and the apparent-tail heaviness, but from his vantage point, he was still unable to see anything that could be causing the problem.

The emergency services were called out by the tower. The tower contacted Flight Lt. Cox and he was

given a routine re-call. Nobody told him about Miss Horton in case he panicked on the way down. Back on the ground the Spitfire stopped and Horton climbed off. The pilot then revved up and roared away, still unaware of the ordeal.

Just how daft the [bureaucratic] machinery of the RAF could be was shown when Horton was reprimanded for her unofficial flight and charged for the loss of her beret!

After her ordeal, Miss Horton was taken to the sickbay with a strained arm. There, she was visited by Flight Lieutenant Cox in the course of the official enquiry. During the conversation, Cox said “Put yourself down for ten minutes for flying time.”

She was posted later to West Raynham and, despite her ordeal, survived into her eighties. Margaret Horton’s flight is recreated in a display in the women in the Air Force exhibit. Her story, with photographs,

is also featured in the ‘WAAFs on display’ at Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, UK.

What about the aircraft that Lt. Cox was piloting? The Spitfire in question was AB910. Spitfire Mk Vb AB910 flew 143 operational missions in a remarkable wartime ‘career’ that spanned almost 3 years on ‘ops’. AB 910 continued to fly operationally up to July 1944, serving with 242, 416 and 402 (RCAF) Squadrons, flying numerous cover patrols with the latter over the D-Day invasion beachheads on June 6, 1944 and afterwards.

From mid-July 1944, AB910 was relegated to support duties initially with 53 OTU at Hibaldstow and later 527 Squadron (a radar calibration unit). It is now painted in the color scheme of a 64 Squadron Spitfire at the time of ‘D-Day,’ with full invasion stripes. AB910 is presented as Spitfire Mk Vb, EN951/RF-D, the aircraft of Squadron Leader Jan Zumbach, Commanding Officer of 303 (Polish) Squadron in 1942. q

An Unexpected Ride: The Margaret Horton Story, Continued

The History Behind the Hawker Hurricane, Continued

eLeCTRONIC SeRVICe RequeSTed

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDVIRGINIA BEACH, VA

PERMIT NO. 235

PAGE 8 VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2

EVENT CALENDAR

1943 hawker hurricane

Mid-Atlantic Dawn Patrol

Early 1900’s Radio Control models will take to the air as builders and enthusiasts

convene near the museum’s World War I hangar to display and demonstrate their

work as part of Tidewater Radio Control’s 6th annual Mid-Atlantic Dawn Patrol.

Come out and enjoy the fall event!

Biplanes & Brews Air Show

Come join us for Biplanes & Brews, a unique event commemorating the centennial of

the end of World War I. Aviation, history and handcraft beer connoisseurs come together

to witness vintage aircraft in flight while experiencing the local tastes

of Coastal Virginia breweries.

Summer of Flight

The Military Aviation Museum will be showcasing historical events through unique tours, lectures and

flight demonstrations. Hear the roar of the engines as history comes to life, experiencing vintage warbirds just as

the heroes of the World Wars had.

Flying Proms Symphony Air Show

This distinctive outdoor occasion combines the best of both worlds:

a live performance by the musicians of Virginia Wind Symphony, in concert

with demonstration flights by the aircraft of the Military Aviation Museum.

Warbirds Aviation Summer Camp

Register your children for this memorable Military Aviation

Museum summertime tradition. Camperswill learn the fundamentals of flight.

Ideal for boys and girls in grades 4 through 10.

MAY 26 - SEP 29 Jun 16 Jul 16 - Jul 20

Snoopy & the Red Baron Exhibit

This one-of-a-kind traveling exhibit from the Charles M. Schulz

Museum and Research Center tells the full story behind one of Snoopy’s most

recognizable comic strip personas, the World War I Flying Ace.

OCT 3 - OCT 7JUL 21 - OCT 14 Oct 6 - Oct 7

Membership Newsletter for the Military Aviation Museum

1341 Princess Anne RoadVirginia Beach, VA 23457

(757) 721-PROP

Open Daily 9:00 am - 5:00 pm