The Parnall 382 was a 1930s
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
single-engined
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
trainer aircraft
A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...
with two open cockpits, designed and developed by
Parnall Aircraft
Parnall was a British aircraft manufacturer that evolved from a wood-working company before the First World War to a significant designer of military and civil aircraft into the 1940s. It was based in the west of England and was originally known a ...
Ltd.
Design and development
The Parnall 382 was designed to meet UK
Air Ministry Specification
This is a partial list of the British Air Ministry (AM) specifications for aircraft. A specification stemmed from an Operational Requirement, abbreviated "OR", describing what the aircraft would be used for. This in turn led to the specification ...
T.1/37 for an 'ab initio' trainer, and was also known as the
Parnall Heck
The Parnall Heck was a 1930s United Kingdom, British four-seat cabin monoplane built by Parnall, Parnall Aircraft Limited at Yate, Gloucestershire. Originally a Hendy design, few were built. It combined the strength and comfort of a cabin aircra ...
III. Its competitors were the
Heston T.1/37 and the
Miles M.15. The
Airspeed
In aviation, airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air. Among the common conventions for qualifying airspeed are:
* Indicated airspeed ("IAS"), what is read on an airspeed gauge connected to a Pitot-static system;
* Calibrated a ...
AS.36,
General Aircraft
General Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1931 to amalgamation with Blackburn Aircraft in 1949 to become Blackburn and General. Its main products were military gliders and light transport aircraft.
His ...
GAL.32 and
Percival
Percival (, also spelled Perceval, Parzival), alternatively called Peredur (), was one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. First mentioned by the French author Chrétien de Troyes in the tale ''Perceval, the Story of the G ...
P.20 were also proposed against specification T.1/37, but not accepted or built. None of the designs was selected for production orders; it has been suggested
that the required performance could not be achieved within the constraints of the Specification.
Construction was primarily wooden, with plywood-skinned spruce frames. The cantilever oleo-pneumatic fixed main undercarriage legs were faired with spats. The undercarriage, tail unit and outer wing panels were adapted from the
Parnall Heck
The Parnall Heck was a 1930s United Kingdom, British four-seat cabin monoplane built by Parnall, Parnall Aircraft Limited at Yate, Gloucestershire. Originally a Hendy design, few were built. It combined the strength and comfort of a cabin aircra ...
2C. The propeller was a
de Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...
fixed-pitch type. Student and tutor sat in open, tandem cockpits, but the rear cockpit was later enclosed.
Operational history
One example of the Parnall 382 was built by Parnall Aircraft Ltd as a private venture project. The first flight was by G.A.C Warren at
Yate
Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswolds, Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol city centre and from the centre of Bath, Somerset, Bath, with regular rail services ...
Aerodrome in February 1939, with B conditions registration J1. In September 1939 it was registered G-AFKF. In June 1941, as the Parnall Heck III, it was allocated serial R9138 under contract 23979/39.
In trials at the
Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment
The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992. Established at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, the unit moved in 1939 to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where its work ...
(A&AEE) at
Martlesham Heath
Martlesham Heath village is situated 6 miles (10 km) east of Ipswich, in Suffolk, England. This was an ancient area of heathland and latterly the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield. A "new village" was established there in the mid-1970s and th ...
, it was assessed as pleasant to fly and generally good as a trainer. Notwithstanding a few modifications, no order was forthcoming, and it was SOC (struck off charge) on 5 March 1943. It was allocated the serial 3600M
and ended its days as an
Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...
instructional airframe at Jones' West Monmouth School, Pontypool.
Specifications
References
{{commons category, Parnall 382
1930s British military trainer aircraft