The Whittaker Excalibur ... What's that ??

[Guest David C]

Looking through my old slides I came across this one from c1974 . Yes I know that puts me in the wrinklie bracket but at least us oldies can bombard you young uns with useless information and photos of aircraft that are almost unrecognisable .. Well this one is the Whittaker Excalibur , a one off that was withdrawn from use in 1976 and now adorns a shopping mall in England . If you ever wondered what a ducted fan version of the Sadler Vampire would look like , then look no further ( member Ultralight should take note ) . The airplane behind it is interesting too , this was the Lockspeiser LDA , another proof of concept aircraft that had a short life . It was a regular at the Farnborough Airshow and made the trip across the channel to appear at the Paris show too I recall . It certainly makes you feel old when you find a statch of old slides ... Oh why did I find them .

 

 

Dave C

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Oh so glad you did. Show us more, please.

 

 

[Guest David C]

Deskpilot ,,

 

In the meantime here's one just for you ... Not exactly ultralight though , just ultraquick !!:big_grin: RAF Greenham Common mid 70"s ..

 

 

Dave C

 

 

[Deskpilot]

You beauty

 

Are you ex RAF by any chance?

 

 

[Yenn]

Slides by Agfa?

 

 

[Guest David C]

Yenn , yes they are Agfa and Deskpilot , no I wasn't RAF , just a mad spotter from way back ..

 

Dave C

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Great photo. is the LDA the canard aircraft.? the other to the left is a 'flea'?

 

Interesting. more please

 

ozzie

 

 

[Guest David C]

Ozzie ,

 

Yes the canard aircraft is the Lockpeiser LDA1 ( Land Development Aircraft ) . It was registered G-AVOR , I wonder if that was a coincidence . It was designed , built and flown by Mr David Lockspeiser who saw a market for a light utility aircraft that could service third World communities . Like many other projects it faded away into history . I have no idea what happened to the aircraft , although it was a regular sight on the airshow scene in the UK in the early 70's . There does appear to be a flea in the photo , I hadn't noticed it !! .. Probably a HM model Pou D'Ceil I think they were known as . Here are are few more copies of slides of the time , many of them registerable now as Ultralights , I wonder how many are still around ??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave C

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Nice and simple designs, all taildraggers. great photos nearly all have something interesting in the background. hate to try and guess them all.

 

ozzie