G-AEXF —

This is the famous Percival Mew Gull, one of the most famous aircraft in British air racing. Alex Henshaw won the 1937 Folkestone Trophy with G-AEXF. For 1938, XF flew with a Gipsy Six R engine to win the Kings Cup at 236.25 mph - fast in those days 77 years ago. In February 1939, then powered by a Gipsy Six Series II and with revised equipment, it set a new mark for the out-and-home Cape (UK to South Africa ret) class-record which stood until 2009. In this image the aircraft was being raced by Nat Somers in the mid-50's. Peter Clifford won the 1955 King's Cup with a wooden prop borrowed from Nat Somers! The original metal prop probably had the wrong pitch for the engine installed. Although rebuilt many times and essentially a replica, G-AEXF powered by a Gipsy Queen II still flies to this day in the UK. Great image copied from family archive. A replica of this aircraft with the same Registration Mark is in the RAF Museum at Hendon, North London UK.