Inter-Wars

Percival P.3 Gull Six

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The prototype Gull G-ABUR flew in 1932 as a 3 seat touring aircraft, all wooden construction, powered by a 130hp Cirrus Hermes IV. The aircraft was designed by Australian Edgar Percival and constructed by Lowe-Wylde British Aircraft Company at a small glider factory Maidstone, Kent. The following year the prototype was re-engined with a Napier Javelin II, and its speed and performance was further improved. Edgar Percival flew it in races in England and it was later written off in Rhodesia during a speed record attempt to the Cape.

Percival P.3 Gull Six Article

The first production model was the Percival “D” Series Gull, 29 built by George Parnall and Company at their works at Yate, Gloucestershire under contract to Percival Aircraft Co Ltd. They were designated D.1 or D.2 depending on engine installed, top/side hatch cockpit entry and tripod undercarriage legs, but were all called Percival Gull IV. In 1934 Percival Aircraft Co Ltd established its own works at Gravesend Airport, Kent. Here 19 type D.3 Gulls named the Percival Gull VI were built, featuring side opening cockpit doors and single leg undercarriage with spats, powered by a 200hp Gipsy Six.

Gull Six VH-CCM

Gull Six
Engine: de Havilland Gypsy Six I, 184 hp at 2,100 rpm / 205 hp at 2,350 rpm. for takeoff.
Propeller: two-bladed fixed-pitch
Wingspan: 36 feet, 2 inches (11.024 meters)
Length: 24 feet, 9 inches (7.544 meters)
Height: 7 feet, 4½ inches (2.248 meters)
Empty weight: 1,170 pounds (530.7 kilograms)
Gross weight: 2,050 pounds (929.9 kilograms).
Max speed: 178 miles per hour (286.5 kilometers per hour)
Service ceiling: 16,000 feet (4,876.8 meters)
Range: 700 miles (1,126.5 kilometers).
Crew: 1
Passengers: 2

Percival P.1 Gull Four

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A liaison aircraft of 1932, twenty-nine of this type were built circa 1934.

Mk.III
Engine: de Havilland Gipsy Major, 130 hp
Max speed: 153 mph

Mk. 4
Length: 24.738 ft / 7.54 m
Height: 7.021 ft / 2.14 m
Wingspan : 36.089 ft / 11.0 m
Max take off weight : 2249.1 lb / 1020.0 kg
Max. speed : 124 kts / 230 km/h
Service ceiling : 16076 ft / 4900 m
Range : 486 nm / 900 km
Crew : 2+2

Percival Aircraft Ltd

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Percival Aircraft Ltd formed in 1932 by Australian born aircraft designer Edgar. W. Percival and E. W. B. Leake at Gravesend, Kent, moving to Luton, Bedfordshire, in 1937. Built series of successful light aircraft beginning with the single-engine Gull and later twin-engine Q-6 six/seven seat cabin monoplane. Percival Gulls were used for a number of record-breaking flights, and the type was developed into the Proctor light communications aircraft. Several Mew Gull racers were built in the late 1930s. After Second World War, production of the Proctor continued for civilian customers, while a new three-seat trainer, the Prentice, appeared in 1946 and was built in quantity for the RAF and several overseas air forces. It was followed by the Provost trainer, ordered for the RAF in 1951. Following the experimental Merganser light transport of 1946, a larger version, the Prince, flew in 1948 and was produced in civil and military versions.
During 1944 the Percival Company was absorbed by the Hunting Group in the UK.

A change of name is announced in April 1954, by Percival Aircraft, Ltd. who will be known as Hunting Percival Aircraft, Ltd. The change of name was to provide more complete identification with the parent Hunting Group, and then Hunting Aircraft in 1957.

Pennsylvania Aircraft Syndicate

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pres: E Burke Wilford
Philadelphia PA.
USA

Formed in early 1930s to develop a rotary-wing aircraft, designed in Germany in 1926 by Walter Rieseier and Walter Kreiser, and further developed in the U.S.A. by E. Burke Wilford. The Wilford Gyroplane, powered by a Kinner R-5 engine, accumulated a considerable amount of test flying.

Built the Pennsylvania Aircraft Syndicate XOZ-1 in 1934.

Penkala, Slavoljub Eduard

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Slavoljub Penkala in 1920

Eduard Penkala (Croatian pronunciation: [slâʋɔʎuːb ɛ̂duard pɛŋkǎːla]) was born in Liptószentmiklós (now Liptovský Mikuláš), then part of Austria-Hungary, to Franciszek Pękała, who was of Polish heritage, and Maria Pękała (née Hannel), who was of Dutch descent. He attended the University of Vienna and Royal Saxon Polytechnic Institute, graduating from the latter on March 25, 1898, and going on to earn a doctorate in organic chemistry. During his studies, he attended violin lessons where he met his future wife, pianist Emily Stoffregen. He then moved with his wife to Zagreb (which was then in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia). To mark his loyalty to his new homeland, he took on the Croatian name Slavoljub (Croatian for “slavophile”), becoming a naturalized Croat.

He became renowned for further development of the mechanical pencil (1906) – then called an “automatic pencil” – and the first solid-ink fountain pen (1907). Collaborating with an entrepreneur by the name of Edmund Moster, he started the Penkala-Moster Company and built a pen-and-pencil factory that was one of the biggest in the world at the time. The company, now called TOZ Penkala, still exists today.

He also constructed the first Croatian aircraft to fly in the country, the Penkala 1910 Biplane, flown by Dragutin Novak, who was also the first Croatian pilot. He constructed and invented many other products and devices, and held a total of 80 patents.

He had four children with his wife, Emily.

Penkala died in Zagreb at the age of 50, after catching pneumonia on a business trip. He was buried at the Mirogoj Cemetery.