Harry Robinson

BY THE late 1930s it was generally accepted that all-metal construction and engines of 1000 hp or more were essential requirements for any aircraft expected to set new speed records, but in Europe a number of constructors continued to build high-speed machines of wood and to make use of relatively low-powered engines. In England, de Havilland engineers repeated the success of their 1934 racing Comet with the remarkable allwood Albatross airliner, and successive models of Edgar Percival's Mew Gull continued to record the fastest speed in each year's King's Cup Race. Across the Channel, Marcel Riffard, Technical Director and Chief Engineer of Avions Caudron, continued to use wooden construction for a wide variety of racing, sport, training and even military aircraft.