Miles Whitney Straight monoplane aircraft G-AERV flying at Old Warden Airfield in October 2014
The Miles Whitney Straight was a 1930s British two-seat cabin monoplane with dual-controls designed by Miles of Philips and Powis as the result of collaboration with Whitney Straight, a Grand Prix motor racing driver, aviator and businessman. The aim was to provide comfortable accommodation for pilot, passenger and luggage in an enclosed 'side-by-side' cockpit. It was a low-wing monoplane, with fixed main undercarriage in aerodynamic fairings plus a fixed tailwheel. Construction was mainly of wood, with spruce frames and three-ply birch covering, and the wings had vacuum-operated split flaps. It was initially powered by a 130 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major I piston engine. The sole was powered by a 135 hp Amherst Villiers Maya I engine, adding 10 mph to its maximum speed and 200 ft/min to its rate of climb. A single was powered by a 145 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major II engine and variable-pitch propeller. After the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Air Ministry impressed 23 Whitney Straights into military service, for use as communications aircraft. Twenty-one of those served in the UK, one in India, and one in Egypt. One also served with the Fleet Air Arm from 1940 to 1943, and three with the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Size: 5000px × 3862px
Location: Old Warden Airfield, Bedfordshire, UK
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -aerv, .11, aircraft, airfield, miles, preserved, shuttleworth, silver, straight, warden, whitney
