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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth C  Copas, Alan |
Alan Copas
Prepared the prototype Mosquito that was flown from Salisbury Hall.
| Alan Copas - Signed Aviation Art |
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| Text for the above items : |
Mosquito - The Wooden Wonder of Salisbury Hall by Robert Tomlin. (AP) On 15th May 1941, Geoffrey de Havilland Jnr, accompanied by Fred Plumb, lifts the third prototype Mosquito, the first night-fighter variant, from the unprepared fields of Salisbury Hall for the short flight to Hatfield. The Mosquito was probably the boldest private venture ever in the history of aviation and one of the most remarkable aircraft of all time. Conceived in secret in the stately home of Salisbury Hall in the great de Havilland tradition, the engineers and designers applied their genius of craftsmanship in wood to produce the war's most amazingly effective warplane. It had everything in one package. Faster than contemporary fighters, it could even carry more bombs than the Flying Fortress and roam the skies of Europe almost with impunity. The first prototype was assembled in the carefully disguised hangar at the side of the Hall, then dismantled for the short road journey to Hatfield, where it was quickly re-assembled and test flown. Such was the exciting potential of the first machine that it was decided too important to waste time with the next aircraft going through the long winded breakdown and rebuilt for the journey to Hatfield. With customary ingenuity and daring, Geoffrey de Havilland Jnr. decided that if a couple of trees were removed from the surrounding fields then he could get airbourne and fly the short hop to Hatfield, thus saving valuable weeks in the aircraft's development. Accordingly, the finished aircraft was lifted over ditches, rolled through hedges and taken to the top of the slight incline to the North of the Hall. With the tail pushed almost into the wood at the top of the field the engines were run up. With customary English awkwardness the farmer who worked the fields did not think it important enough to stop his work and he had begun to plough, de Havilland soars past the main building of Sailsbury Hall, en route to Hatfield. |
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