[CCI] FW: [AB-IX] Grain Griffin 7.7.03

[Nick Forder]

-----Original Message-----
From: Barry Abraham [mailto:barryairfield@abraham61.freeserve.co.uk]
Sent: 07 July 2003 16:15
To: Mike Draper
Cc: ab-ix@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AB-IX] Grain Griffin 7.7.03


Mike,

I suspect you might find it under Port Victoria.    It's in Kent.

I did some notes about ten years ago and recorded that the first British
seaplane station was commissioned at the Isle of Grain in December 1912.
Early in 1915 the Royal Navy Aeroplane Repair Depot was also commissioned
and located a few hundred yards away from the original air station. To
distinguish it was known as Port Victoria.

As the Isle of Grain Air Stationdeclined as Port Victoria grew it became
known as the Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot with a Construction Depot
from the original Aeroplane Repair Depot. The experimental aircraft were for
example the PV.1 (don't know off-hand whether this should be P.V. 1 or
P.V. - 1 etc) which was to improve the Sopwith Baby through to the PV.9 and
then the Grain Griffin. There was also the Grain Kitten (PV.7) and the
Eastchurch Kitten (PV.8).

Of the latter N100 - N106 ordered 13.3.17 and completed 1918.

This is a generalisation of pages 329 to 345 of J.M. Bruces's British
Aeroplanes 1914-1919 second Impression 1969 (I used to crib from the
original edition in Manchester Central Library in 1957-58 instead of
studying for my professional exams!).

The Grain Griffin being covered in full detail but no service trials history
as you mention.

That's all I can add as it's really outside my main area of study.

Would be pleased to hear more on ab-ix. I don't have a plan of the station,
not located my file on it yet.

Barry Abraham
(2337)

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Draper <mike@nostalgair.demon.co.uk>
To: <ab-ix@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2003 12:39 PM
Subject: [AB-IX] Req: Grain Griffins


> Dear all
>
> I am a trifle out of depth here.
>
> At a superb Book & Postcard Fair over the weekend I picked up two
> postcards of a biplane sinking off the side of ship.
>
> No explanation but one of the pictures I discovered (this morning)
> appears in the book "Before The Aircraft Carrier" by R.D. Layman (Conway
> Publishing), Page 65.
>
> The caption in the book describes:
>
> HMS Vindictive recovering a Grain Griffin, one of two aircraft of this
> type involved in accidents during deck flying exercises."
>
> In the text Vindictive is described as spending several months of
> aircraft experiments (in 1918/1919), including the first shipboard
> trials of the Grain Griffins.
>
> Unless I have missed it, I could find no reference in Ray Sturtivant's
> book "FAA 1911-1919", nor Dick Cronin's "Shipboard Developments 1912-31"
> so can anybody enlighten me  -
>
> What is a Grain Griffin and who built it etc?
>
> Regards
> Mike (4182)
> --
> Mike Draper
>
>
> Visit our group web page for Files and Databases
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ab-ix
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>




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