Having an interest in the more obscure aspects of the history of light aircraft and flying and having submitted a few posts on this topic on the Cotteridge thread, it has been suggested to me that there may be sufficient 'anoraks' - like me - to justify a separate thread on amateur flying and light aircraft in the midlands between the wars and in the years after the last war. So here's the chance for me to see if the reasoning behind that suggestion is correct!
Just to set the ball rolling, I am particularly interested in those unsung heroes of midlands aviation who designed, built and flew their own aeroplanes - but who, in true brummie style, were independent enough not to bother about the niceties of getting certificates of airworthiness for or registering their aeroplanes with the aviation authorities. They seemed to view their aeroplanes as 1:1 scale flying models that were easier to operate by getting into them rather than using radio control or control lines!
Perhaps the most prolific was Fred Taylor of Erdington. Starting off as a keen model aircraft builder, he went on to design, build and fly no less than four of his own aeroplanes at Dunton Hall Farm aerodrome at Sutton Coldfield. His first was the A101 Bedstead (!), a motor glider of 1934. In 1937 he rebuilt this into the B102. However his third was, perhaps, his best known and most successful, namely the C103 Wagtail, a parasol wing monoplane of 1938. His final effort, before the war, was the D104, a non flying ground trainer. The last three all survived the war but it seems that only the Wagtail flew again, continuing to operate unlicensed and unregistered from an unlicensed aerodrome at Dunton and latterly at Lea Marston. This continued until 1950, when Fred Taylor emigrated to Australia. His Wagtail was last seen being offered for sale at a used car lot in Digbeth in 1951. Rumour has it that Fred built another Wagtail at his home in Mount Gambier, South Australia.
One of Fred Taylor's post-war flying chums was Len Bracey. In about 1947 he built a powered glider and is said to have flown in formation with Fred Taylor and his Wagtail from Dunton. Again, his aeroplane was unlicensed and unregistered. Metaphorically it flew under the radar! As far as I'm aware, no photographs or information exists concerning this aeroplane. I'd be delighted to hear from anyone who knows otherwise!
Also connected with both Fred Taylor and Len Bracey was Don Burgoyne. His name was well known in midlands aviation circles before and after the last war. Despite having only one hand, he was a master at building and reconstructing gliders and light aeroplanes at the aerodrome at Knowle. But perhaps his pièce de résistance was the Burgoyne-Stirling Dicer. This single seat, low wing monoplane of 1939 was constructed mainly from pieces of other crashed aeroplanes. Whilst it was finished before the last war, it did not fly until afterwards. Like Fred Taylor and Len Bracey, Don Burgoyne didn't bother about the formalities before the Dicer took to the air - or for that matter at any time afterwards! However the Dicer looked to be legitimate as it bore the registration mark - G-AECN - that had belonged to a Pou de Ciel (or Flying Flea) previously owned by Don. The Dicer operated from various fields and aerodromes around the midlands until the mid 1950s, when it was last heard of stored in a barn near Burton-in-the-Wolds. At that point it disappeared off the radar.
Well that's a little bit of information about some of the midlands' largely unknown and unsung heroes of amateur aviation and the aeroplanes that they designed, built and flew. What else do others know on this subject? It would be interesting to see these memories, recollections, tales - and better still - photographs - posted to this thread. So now I wait................!