G-AEXF —

An interesting photo of a very famous British racing plane.

In 1939 Alex Henshaw set a record flying this Mew Gull from London to Cape Town in 39 hours, 23 minutes, the return trip was 39 hours, 36 minutes. Of the roughly 39 hours total time, slightly more than 30 hours were actual flying time for the 6377 miles each way.

During WWII, Alex was chief test pilot at Castle Bromwich, one of the factories producing Spitfires and Lancaster bombers. He and his crew tested every Spitfire coming off the production line, making sure each plane performed as expected.

He wrote 2 books about his adventures, "Flight of the Mew Gull", the London to Cape Town flights, and "Sigh for a Merlin". Both are excellent books and extremely interesting reads.

Thank you for this wonderful photo Eamon.

Hi Jim - thanks for the feedback. Was aware of Alex Henshaws connection to the Spitfire but not the Mew Gull. Must seek out that book. Best Regards.