POIGNANT AIR DRAMA

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3401, 2 August 1932, Page 7

POIGNANT AIR DRAMA

£SO FOR 20 YEARS' WORK.

CRASH OF COUPLE'S HOPES

With the sale of the Heston Aerodrome, Middlesex, a few weeks ago, for £SO of a revolutionary new aeroplane, the curtain came down on one of the most poignant dramas in the history of flying, (says the Daily Herald).

Nearly 20 years ago Mr. J. G Navarro, the designer of Britain's wartime 'planes, and his wife began work on plans for a foolproof aeroplane. Four years ago, satisfied that they had accomplished their aim, they started to build a machine that they claimed would not spin, would not nose-dive, and would not sideslip.

Experts saw the 'plane and were satisfied. Sir Sefton Brancker, just before he was killed in the RlOl crash, said he considered it a very big advance in aircraft design. The machine was finished. It flew. Certain minor modifications were needed, however before it could pass the Air Ministry test. Then came the first warning of the tragedy. There was no more money.

Bills mounted up. The couple who had worked so hard sinking their personal fortunes in the project, failed after they had practically realised their dream. Their new 'plane had to be handed over to the bailiffs before it could be finished. After the machine had been sold Mr. Nararro walked sadly from the hangar where he had watched his hopes crash. His wife had not dared to face this last act of the tragedy. "I'm going home to tell her," Mr. Navarro said. "It hurts me, this, but it is going to hurt her more. . . "