Airspeed Tern glider at Sutton Bank.
In August 1932 this well known pilot was invited to Yorkshire with the aim on adding to both the British distance and endurance records,
both had previously been achieved in Yorkshire. He was lent the Airspeed Tern by Neville Shute Norway of Airspeed Ltd, Piccadilly, York. The
exact dates for these flights and the accident at Sutton Bank are not yet known but the pilot wrote a detailed account of his flying in Yorkshire which was published in Sailplane and Glider magazine on 12th August 1932 so the incident must have occured in the days prior to this.
The first of the flights was made from the hills above Ingleby Greenhow with the aim of attempting to beat the
endurance record of 21.5 hours in the air. The Ingleby Greenhow site was one of a number of gliding sites used on
high ground in North Yorkshire during the 1930's in the early days of popular gliding. Flares (for landing at night),
food, water and a barograph were loaded into the glider and a launch was made after rounding up a number of walkers
to assist in the tow. After around an hour in the air storm clouds blew in but the glider had reached a maximum of 1,450
feet above the start level, with the previous British record a meer 780 feet. The pilot landed on the Moors after 3 hours
45 minutes because of poor weather but because of the weather and being unable to work out their position on the ground,
the pilot and his assistants spent the night on the moorland sheltering under the wing of the Tern. The glider was later
taken down from the hill and transported to Sutton Bank.
A second attempt at the endurance record was the made afew days later again after a launch through the assistance
of people to hand; this time farmers, road workers, motorists and walkers were asked to help! The glider flew at around 500 feet and
rose to 800 feet but after four hours flying the wind dropped and a landing had to be made on the landing ground fearing a forced
landing in the fields below. The photograph above shows the Tern taking off at Sutton Bank for this flight (photograph Sailplane and Glider magazine).
The accident occured during the pilots third attempt at the endurance record and ended as soon as it began. The Tern
struck a fence post hidden in heather on take-off at the Sutton Bank gliding site. The glider sustained damage to its
fuselage and any further flights were called off. The Tern was transported back to the Airspeed factory in York where
repairs were carried out.
Pilot - "Mr" F/O Edward L Mole.
Edward Mole seated in the Tern at Sutton Bank (photograph Sailplane and Glider magazine). The pilot was a serving RAF Officer and was a well known and successful glider pilot of the early 1930s. In many of his gliding exploits he is refered to as "Mr Mole".
Edward Mole was granted a permanent commission in the RAF as a P/O on 14th January 1928. He rose to F/O on 14th July 1929, and
to F/Lt around 1934 and to S/Ldr on 1st August 1937. He served in the RAF throughout the Second World War and rose to G/Cpt by 1945.
On 2nd August 1931 he achieved a record time of 6hrs 10mins for staying in the air while flying in his Proffessor glider
and in 1933 he achieved a further record of 6hrs 55mins flying a Willow Wren. Flight Magazine of the day carries many articles of
his gliding and soaring exploits. G/Cpt Edward Mole BSc later wrote the book "Happy Landings" (published by Airlife in 1984).
On 24th August 1931 Herr Carli Magersuppe flew it in a record breaking flight from Ravenscar to Scarborough. Carli Magersuppe was one of a number of young German glider pioneers who sought work in England. He would later make the first Channel crossing in a glider and hold further records. On 30th August 1931 he piloted the Scarborough Gliding club's "Scarboro" Kassel Hercules two seat glider on the same route with Mr Fred Slingsby as passenger and there by claimed the first two-seat gliding distance record between Stoupe Brow and Scalby Nabs.
Airspeed Ltd added the following to their publicity material following the first record breaking flight over the North Yorkshire Moors and coast..."On August 24th the "Tern" piloted by Herr Magersuppe, flew from Ravenscar to Scarborough under B.G.A. record conditions, a distance of 8.3 miles from taking off
place to alighting place. The flight took 33 minutes, the course being along the cliff edge in a north easterly wind. For this flight a distance record for a British built sailplane has been claimed. The flight was actually the second soaring flight made by the "Tern," the first being a 15 minute test flight." The photograph shown
at the top of this page shows the Tern being launched at Stoupe Brow for this record attempt.
Flight Magazine of the day stated that "the distance covered was 8.3 miles from a point at Stoupe Browe, Ravenscar, to a point on Scarborough North Beach. Although other distance flights have been made on a sailplane in this country, i.e., Herr Kronfeld from Lewes to Portsmouth (70 miles) and F/O Buxton from Dunstable to Luton Hoo Park (16 miles),
"The Tern's" flight is the first British Official Distance Record to be recognised by the British Gliding Association. It is expected that this record will be broken in the very near future, as this flight has stimulated keen rivalry among the British sailplane pilots."
On 27th September 1931 the Tern was flown by Major Henry A Petre DSO MC from the Ingleby Greenhow gliding site who set an official British altitude record of 780 feet above starting point. Henry Petre's brother Edward was killed in a flying accident at Redcar in 1912. Given these successes it is strange why only one Tern was ever
completed.
Only one Airspeed Tern was ever built and I will try to give as much information as I have researched about it below. Edward Mole spoke very favourably of it stating that
"no other sailplane that I have tried possessed quite the ease and certainty of control, which was a most pleasing revelation."
The following is taken from publicity material from Airspeed in Summer 1931 - "the Tern is a cantilever monoplane, of straightforward and robust design. Span 50 ft. ;
wing area 201 sq. ft. : Loading 2.06 lbs. sq. ft. The wings are of two spar construction, tapering in plan throughout their length. Ball bearing controls are utilised
throughout, in accordance with the most modern aircraft practice. We claim that the "Tern" is the most easily erected and dismantled sailplane yet produced. Each wing
is removed by withdrawing two large bolts, no attention whatsoever being necessary to the aileron control. Each tail plane is removed as a unit with the elevator by
with drawing two large bolts, no attention being necessary to the elevator control. It is very easily possible for three men to erect or dismantle the machine completely
in ten minutes. The "Tern" is fully equiped for auto-towing, and an airwheel undercarriage with 7 foot track can be supplied if desired. The skid is sprung on rubber
blocks and well faired to the body with leather. Owing to the absence of wing struts, the "Tern" is aerodynamically very clean, and has a theoretical gliding angle of
1 in 25. The machine has a B.G.A. certificate of airworthiness, and has been stressed for aeroplane towing at 70 m.p.h." Airspeed offered them for sale at £248 in August 1931.