Painted in watercolours. 1999. 160MM X 200mm

‘Miles Master II’

In 1938, with the efforts of Rolls Royce concentrated on the production of the vital Merlin engine, Kestrel engines, as used on the Master I, were no longer being built. Stocks were almost exhausted and the Air Ministry requested Phillips & Powis to redesign the Master with a Bristol Mercury air-cooled radial engine, still in large scale production for the Bristol Blenheim.

The Master II, as it was known, was first flown in November 1939 by Tommy Rose, who had recently become the company’s Chief Test Pilot. The Mercury engine was more powerful than the Kestrel used on the Master I, resulting in the Master II being 16 mph faster.

Eventually some 1,800 Master IIs were built, both at Woodley at a Government-owned ‘shadow-factory’ at South Marston, near Swindon.

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