Painted in oils on canvas. 1999. 500mm x 500mm.

‘Showstopper’

In June 1937, at the RAF’s Hendon Air Display, the Miles Kestrel impressed many people with its clean monoplane design, and a speed and handling performance that approached that of the Hurricane, which was soon to enter squadron service with the RAF. However, unlike the single-seat Hurricane fighter, with its new 1,000 hp Merlin engine, the Kestrel was a two-seat trainer with the older 750 hp Kestrel engine – and it had not yet been ordered by the Air Ministry.

It was the RAF’s forthcoming change from old fashioned biplanes to high-performance monoplanes, equipped with new features such as retractable undercarriages, flaps and variable-pitch propellers, that, as early as 1936, had persuaded FG Miles there was a requirement for a high-performance advanced trainer. Rolls Royce, the manufacturers of both the Merlin and the Kestrel engines, had taken a financial interest in Phillips & Powis, and agreed to back Miles in the design of new aircraft around the old Kestrel engine.

Miles submitted a specification to the Air Ministry, but they rejected it on the grounds that no such aircraft was required. However, Miles was convinced of the need and went ahead with the design. On completion, he submitted it to the Air Ministry, who now turned it down, claiming it did not meet their specification for an advanced trainer, which had just been issued.

Miles looked at the specification and predicted that an aircraft built exactly to it would prove unsatisfactory and, with the encouragement of Rolls Royce, he went ahead with building the Kestrel as a private venture.

When de Havilland produced an aircraft exactly to the Ministry specification, it did indeed prove unsatisfactory. Now desperate for an advanced trainer, the Ministry turned to the Kestrel, which was developed into the Master I – but that is another story and another painting.

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