Times Past
The directors of the company have been associated with beach huts since the Second World War and the present generation have many happy memories of their childhood spent in the area. As school boys, one of our particular interests was aircraft. These were the heady days of post-war British aviation. It is still possible to cast our minds back to the long summer holidays as we remember the new generation of jet fighters which regularly flew along the coast between Worthing and Bognor. Neville Duke in the Hawker Hunter and Peter Twiss in his Fairey Delta were both much admired school boy test pilot heroes from those exciting times.
It was therefore with particular interest that we heard about last autumn’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the breaking of the air speed record on September 7th 1953 by Neville Duke who flew in a Hawker Hunter over our beach at an average speed of 727 mph. The following article appeared in the Daily Mail written by Frank Brooks:
“He was flying the Hawker Hunter prototype whose paint scheme changed from the original duck egg green to red, and which can still be seen at Tangmere Museum. I met Neville Duke in 1952 when I was 14 and it left a mark on my life forever. I’ve lived within the circuit of Dunsfold aerodrome for most of my life and, riding down the A281 to the end of the runway. I would watch the Sea Hawks and Sea Furys on most Saturday mornings. When I heard Hawker were building a new type of aircraft I virtually camped out at the end of the runway and was rewarded with the sight of what I still believe to be the most beautiful aircraft ever built, landing. It was the Hawker P1087, later named the Hunter.
I wrote to Neville Duke, chief test pilot at Dunsfold, telling him I spent most of my time watching him flying the Hunter and wishing I was up there with him. I didn’t expect a reply but my father, who worked at Dunsfold, came home one day and said Neville wanted to take me flying. He took me up in a Hawker two seat biplane he owned, and this wonderful experience has remained with me all my life. One sunny summer’s afternoon I heard the Hunter take off from Dunsfold and didn’t take a lot of notice until suddenly there were two very loud superbangs overhead and the whine of the Hunter pulling out of a dive. This was the first time Neville Duke had broken the sound barrier. Wonderful days - I would not have missed them for anything. On September 7 this year I met Neville Duke at Tangmere, shook his hand and thanked him for that flight 51 years ago. At 81 he’s still piloting his own aircraft and I hope he has many more years flying”
By 1955 the World Air Speed Record had been pushed past 800mph by a North American F100 Super Sabre with a US test pilot. High above southern England, in the autumn of 1955, Peter Twiss flew the tiny Fairey Delta 2 effortlessly past the sound barrier and realised that this wonderful little aircraft had it in her to be a world beater. They showed the world that the great Fairey Aviation Company and Great Britain could still challenge the best of the best and win. Unfortunately it was not to be. The anti-social thunder arising from breaking the sound barrier caused test flights to be moved to Les Landes near Bordeaux in France. The French were delighted with this coup and even more so when the British Government abandoned the brilliant Fairey Delta. The French picked up the idea and developed the Mirage fighter which is still operational today!