The Slingsby T.15 Gull 3 was purchased by Hawkridge after the war as a wreck. The fuselage was in two pieces and both wings had had their spars broken. The Gull 3 was, at that time, finished in the standard pre-war finish of clear varnish but RAF roundals had been applied, and the name ‘Kittiwake’ had been stencilled on the fuselage underneath the cockpit. No RAF serial was allocated to the Gull, and the open cockpit was of the same shape as the Slingsby T.12 Gull 1.
Hawkridge repaired and rebuilt the Gull using the name Kittiwake, and incorporated many modifications including the fitting of a bubble-type canopy.
C of A No. BGA 643 was issued in November 1949, using the name Kittiwake, and it was owned by Prince Bira in the late forties/early fifties. It was later based at Weston-on-the-Green with members of the Oxford Gliding Club where it was generally referred to as the ‘Cantilever Gull’.
All Aero 