Shapley Kittiwake Explained

The Shapley Kittiwake is a 1930s British two-seat gull wing monoplane designed and built by Errol Spencer Shapley at Torquay, Devon.

Development

The Kittiwake was a monoplane with a gull wing and a fixed landing gear.^[1] The first aircraft, a Mark 1 registered G-AEZN,^[2] with a single-seat open cockpit was powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) Continental A50 piston engine and first flown at Roborough in June 1937, but was damaged in a crash landing later that year.^[3] The second aircraft, a Mark 2 registered G-AFRP,^[4] was a larger two-seat cabin monoplane powered by a 90 hp (67 kW) Pobjoy Niagara III engine and first flown at Roborough in 1938.

The Mark 1 aircraft was dismantled before the Second World War. The Mark 2 was stored during the war only to crash on Dartmoor in December 1946.

References

Bibliography

• Book: Jackson, A.J.. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 3. 1974. Putnam. London. 0-370-10014-X .
• Ord-Hume. Arthur. British pre-war ultra-lights: No. 9: Shapley Kittiwake. Aeroplane Monthly. December 1976. 4. 12. 664–665.

Notes and References

1. Shapley . . 282. 1938-03-24 .
2. http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AEZN.pdf UK Civil Aviation Authority Aircraft Register G-AEZN
3. Ord-Hume 1976, p. 684.
4. http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AFRP.pdf UK Civil Aviation Authority Aircraft Register G-AFRP