The Miles Falcon a 1930s British 3-4-seat cabin monoplane aircraft, flying at Old Warden Airfield in October 2014
The Miles Falcon is a 1930s British three/four-seat cabin monoplane aircraft designed by Miles Aircraft Limited The Falcon was a clean, single engined low-wing monoplane with trousered main undercarriage and fixed tail-wheel, designed in 1934. It was structurally similar to the earlier Miles Hawk Major family, but had side-by-side seating for two behind the pilot in a glazed cockpit. It was powered by a 130 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major piston engine. The prototype, G-ACTM, built by Philips and Powis first flew at Woodley Aerodrome on 12 October 1934. The prototype was fitted with extra fuel tanks and entered into the MacRobertson Race from England to Australia in October 1934. It took 27 days to reach Darwin, but returned in a record time of 7 days 19 hours 15 minutes, including one stage of 1,800 miles (2,900 km) non-stop from Jodhpur to Basra. Twenty-nine and were delivered during 1935-6 to private owners, clubs and commercial operators in Britain and abroad. The was entered into the 1935 King's Cup Race and won with a speed of mph ( km/h). In 1936 the same aircraft reduced the to Cape record to 3 days 17 hours and 37 minutes. Pre war, three Falcon Sixes appeared in RAF garb at the Royal Aircraft Establishment for trials of a variety of wings and aerodynamic innovations. At the outbreak of the war three aircraft remained civilian as communications aircraft with various companies but, like so many civil aircraft ten others were impressed into service by the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force and the Swedish air force. Six Falcons survived the war. This example is part of the Shuttleworth Collection
Size: 4926px × 3840px
Location: Old Warden Airfield, Bedfordshire, UK
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: .3, aircraft, australia, cup, england, falcon, flying, king, macrobertson, miles, monoplane, race
