Sigh for two Merlins The 'Mossie magic' letter in the April Aeroplane brings back memories of the roar of two Merlins and the time I spent at Hatfield, involved in flight trials of the Smiths SEP5 system for autoland development in a Ministry of Aviation Comet 2E. That would have been 1963-64 and the Smiths team had an office in the flight shed. When Mosquito RR299 flew in from Hawarden for one family day at Hatfield, the flight shed emptied at the sound of it doing a low pass. I suppose many of the fitters there remembered wartime days. As I recall the 'Mossie' did not fly for the event as it had lost an exhaust stub during the flight from Hawarden. The SEP5 was due to be fitted in the Short Belfast and the DH121 Trident, but the Belfast development was late. So, the Trident was the first to be fitted - but that's another story.
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