G-AMLZ Percival Prince

[Beemer]

This subject of the Percival Prince at the old airport was covered by Viscount in the old Forum and I am sure he would not mind me resurrecting it again.

These images are dated 28th February 2009, a couple of months after her delivery to Liverpool and before work to preserve and re-assemble got going in earnest.


G-AMLZ Fuselage 


G-AMLZ Fuselage interior


G-AMLZ Engines


G-AMLZ Cockpit interior

Regards Beemer

[Airbus]

[viscount]

This full airframe story for G-AMLZ, put together by Brian Jones and first published in FoLA '09/27' newsletter No.108 Spring 2009 p.40 & 41.


27th March 1965 at Liverpool Airport, parked in the centre of the apron having brought in VIP from Stewart Smith & Co from Heathrow to attend the Aintree Grand National.

PERCIVAL P.50E PRINCE 3E/6E G-AMLZ

Constructors number P50/46 was built as a Percival P.50 Prince 3E (short nose version) at Luton, and was the third from last civil Prince to be built. The last of an order for 5 placed by Shell Refining and Marketing Ltd (G-AMKK & G-AMLW to 'LZ). Although registered G-AMLZ on 23.11.51, being the last of the order from Shell, the first Certificate of Airworthiness was not issued until 14th November 1952, with delivery the same month. At this time Douglas Bader was one of Shell's corporate pilots, so it is almost certain that he flew G-AMLZ during the year and half of Shell's ownership.

In July 1954 it was sold to Winston F. Martin (of the Martin family, as in Martin Baker Ltd) and based at Tollerton and Leicester East. After just under two years the aircraft was sold again in May 1956. Sometime during 1956 the aircraft's engines were modified, the aircraft becoming a Prince 4E. At some stage (likely late 1955) the aircraft was apparently allocated the registration VR-TBN in Tanganyika, East Africa - but was never taken up. VR-TBN was actually used on another Prince 3E, C/no P.48 ex G-AMPR of Standard Motors, cancelled from the UK register 11.55, so it is possible that the allocation of the serial to P.46 G-AMLZ was nothing more than a bureaucratic mix-up in the paper work.

In May 1956 G-AMLZ was purchased by Stewart Smith & Co. Ltd. (alternatively Stewart, Smith & Co Ltd) and initially based at Blackbushe, later moving to Heathrow. In December 1958 the engines were uprated again, the aircraft becoming a Prince 6E in the process. Engineering maintenance was contracted to British Eagle and undertaken initially at Heathrow and later at Liverpool in No.1 hangar.

Traced visits to Liverpool include:

5th July 1955 (while with Winston Martin)
30th March 1957 from & to Blackbushe for the Aintree Grand National, first visit to Speke under Stewart Smith & Co ownership.
2nd March 1964 from Heathrow, at Liverpool until 26th March '64 on a 'check' with British Eagle.
27th March 1965 from & to Heathrow for the Aintree Grand National
11th April 1967 from Heathrow for a C of A Check with British Eagle, returned to Heathrow 1st August 1967
24th May 1968 again from & to Heathrow - final Speke visit during ownership of Stewart Smith & Co.
No visits to Liverpool recorded while flown by Tim Clutterbuck

I've found a record of a Stewart Smith & Co., flight routing Squires Gate-Ringway-Blackbushe on 12th August 1958
Also a record of a visit into Hawarden for Chester Races, 8th May 1962.

After 12 years with Stewart Smith & Co, she was sold in September 1968 to Timothy M. Clutterbuck and based at Leavesden. His use of the aircraft ended March 1971 and 'PZ was flown to Coventry, presumably awaiting sale. The C of A expired 18.6.71 and the registration subsequently cancelled by the CAA 18.1.73. With many second-hand, modern twins available, the future looked bleak for a dated twenty year old radial old lady, at a time before 'heritage' types could earn their keep on the air show circuit.

However, G-AMLZ was purchased by Coventry based John F. Coggins who operated a number of aviation concerns. The initial plan was to return 'LZ to the air as part of his City Airways pleasure flying operation, joining his Percival Prentice. G-AMLZ was restored to the Register on 23.10.73. However this plan never came to fruition, so G-AMLZ became an external exhibit with the Aircraft Radio Museum - another John Coggins Coventry operation. As an aside to this tale, MSAE members may recall the large box radio (from Proctor G-AIAA) that did sterling service in the Hangar 50 clubroom in the days before transistor sets - this also became an exhibit with the Radio Museum. On 9.10.84 the registration was cancelled by the CAA as 'permanently withdrawn from use'. The aircraft sat at Coventry throughout the '80s.

After over 20 years of standing out in the open at Coventry, during 1994 the aircraft was purchased by the Coventry based Air Atlantique Group and surveyed with an eye to restoration to airworthy condition. Perhaps not too surprisingly the rebuild was not proceeded with, and with the help of 29(F) Sqdn ATC, she was dismantled early in 1995 to save space.

In February 1997 fortunes apparently changed as 'LZ was transported to Caernarfon Airfield and re-assembled soon after for display with Caernarfon Air World Museum. A 1998 repaint replaced the Stewart Smith & Co dark blue and white scheme with a simplified scheme in a lighter shade of blue. However, for the next 10 years she was effectively abandoned in a compound beside the Museum, as the Prince did not fit any of the themes inside. Salt laden seaside air and winter Irish Sea storms began to take their toll. The wheels were filled with concrete in an attempt to prevent the aircraft moving so limiting further storm damage.

Although offered for sale, the price was high considering the deteriorating condition she was in. In September 2007, with the compound she was in designated for new hangars, a process of cutting her up for a move indoors began. Horrified that the last remaining civil Prince was being cut-up (as against dismantled), in an eleventh hour rescue the Jetstream Club stepped in and dismantled her properly and transported her by road for indoor storage with the RAF Millom Museum in Cumbria on 5th October 2007. After initial work at Millom, G-AMLZ was on the move again a year later, being transported to Liverpool by road on 23rd November 2008 and delivered onto the former airport apron behind the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Work has progressed during the winter with anti-corrosion paint applied, cockpit window replaced and much surface preparation, until in mid March the wings and engines were re-attached and she once again stands on her own undercarriage.

References:
Air Britain Historians information service website for full Prince/Sea Prince/Pembroke/President production lists compiled by Derek King and Bernard Martin.
www.forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?p=1326867
Back issue of MSAE/MAS Flypast mags and Phil Butler's airport logs.

[Samba]

Here's one when she was earning her living while at Luton.

[northwestern]

Progress continues

Click over the logo and the attached photo will open up.

Attachments:

[ghostrider]

Well done to all involved looking really good.

Andrew

[viscount]

Not the best exposed transparency, rescued a little on digitalisation, a photo of G-AMLZ at Coventry, most likely either 1975 or 1980, but could be anytime later '70s through the '80s. Note the 'Prince' on the nose and the 'City Airways' titles under the windows (not very clear) as mentioned in the history above. At this stage the colour scheme is still that used by Stewart Smith & Co (see the 1965 images) but with the addition of the registration on the fuselage, in order to satisfy a change in CAA regulations regarding registration presentation.



The next photo shows that she clearly was repainted in a paler blue and a simpler scheme, almost certainly during 1998, soon after arrival at Caernarfon

While at Caernarfon G-AMLZ was effectively in open storage outside the Museum hangar. A early 2007 photo shows her in rather a neglected and forlorn state.

[Cityflyer]

Here is a shot of it whilst in storage @ Millom

[Cityflyer]

To bring things up to date, some shots taken in the early morning sun in October 2013

[viscount]

There is a bit of story to this image of G-AMLZ.

The photo itself is taken at Luton in November 1953, very likely in the days just prior to the first flight. The aircraft is being 'compass swung' at the time on a specifically laid out and marked circular pad. Note that the top of the DF (direction finding) loop housing on the fuselage above the wings does not have the streamlined top attached as it would for flight, and it looks as though the cabin does not have seats fitted yet. The colours are those of Shell Petroleum, the first owners of the aircraft.


The damaged large format negative was purchased by Phil Butler around the time the Jetstream Club acquired the aircraft at Caernarfon (the damage fortunately being in the sky area). When news came out that 'LZ would be coming to Liverpool, he high-res scanned the photo and attached it to me with an e-mail. My IT image handling skills at the time were worse than basic and I could not resize the image to print, so I called on the IT department who printed it out as a newspaper image as it was a b&w picture. I forwarded the e-mail attachment on to the Jetstream Club (later SAHG) who used the image as a template in the painting of G-AMLZ into its Shell colours a year or two later. A few days after receiving the image, my e-mail provider shut down, pulled the plug, and my 'copy' was lost forever as I had not appreciated the need to save to hard drive at home. Well, that is until the recent discovery of the print being kept flat in an envelope of stuff that should have been in the bin years ago! Today I have had an exchange of PMs and e-mails on the topic of 'LZ and reminded myself that it is high time that this rare photo was shared with all. So although the texture looks a little odd, here is an image of G-AMLZ when 'factory fresh'.

[cebu]

Would it be possible for someone to update with a recent photo G-AMLZ, i would be very grateful. The last one posted in 2014 has a copyright text over the fuselage etc and I would like to admire the restoration. Which colours has it been restored to - Shell ? Also any shots of the interior and cockpit. Many thanks

.

[viscount]

Cebu,

There are a selection of recent shots, including the Prince, taken in mid-October this year and can be found on:

derbosoft.proboards.com/thread/22831/vist-sahg-crowne-plaza-site

The colours she has been re-painted in are indeed those of Shell, her first owner. The recent cockpit interior shot contrasts with those in an earlier post on this thread.

[viscount]

I've been meaning to get hold of a scan of this Don Stephens photo of G-AMLZ on the apron at Speke for some time. My thanks to Don and Graham Ward (who has used this photo in FoLA's 09/27 in the past) for permission to share it here.



The occasion is Grand National Day at Speke Airport on Saturday 27th March 1965. Arrivals parked on the apron to drop passengers are the Stewart Smith & Co Prince 6E G-AMLZ from Heathrow and partly obscured behind is a Gregory Air Taxis Twin Comanche 160, G-ASON from Denham.

The Prince is not parked that far from where she is currently sits, although today faces the other way around.

A delightful, evocative shot of Speke in the mid '60s. On such a nice day I'm surprised that others have not come forward with shots of 'LZ from the balcony.



Somewhat similar shot, taken from virtually the same position, but with a different camera, loaded with black and white film.

[Deleted]

Slightly off topic but as it's mentioned here G-ASON is still flying in the UK as N30NW.

www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001027599.html

[viscount]

THE RESTORATION OF PRINCE 6E G-AMLZ BY S.A.H.G.

This is a post I've been aiming to get around to for some time. Some months ago the early part of this thread was tidied up and images replaced where Photobucket had watermarked them. Now, having reorganised my folders of aircraft images at Liverpool it is much easier to locate images in my files for this post. This is a record of the magnificent restoration of Prince G-AMLZ by the Speke Airport Heritage Group from 2009 through to 2017.

I was never personally involved in the restoration work beyond researching the history time-line for the aircraft. These images are arranged in date sequence, the annual dates reflect my visits rather than the date when work was undertaken.

2009

Logic is to start at the beginning, although there are already good images of the aircraft at Millom and after arrival onto the Crowne Plaza apron November 2008 earlier on the thread. Although some initial work was undertaken at Millom, mainly to reattach the rear fuselage with a strap just aft of the passenger door, after rescue from the scrapman at Caernarfon, she was not in particularly good shape on arrival at Liverpool after years out in a salty environment.





Looking like a part assembled Airfix kit when seen in January 2009. Degradation of the aluminium skin can be seen on the underside of the engine mounting, along with storm damage to a wing tip. A big job ahead, however once the team got organised, work proceeded rapidly.







Once the wings and engines were mounted back onto the fuselage it immediately started to look more like an aeroplane and facilitated the stripping of paint and cleaning of all external surfaces back to solid metal. The next 3 images date end of March 2009.







Once stripped and rubbed down an initial layer of protective primer coat was applied. The wheels had been filled with concrete at Caernarfon to prevent the aircraft moving in storm winds. For a while replacing the starboard main wheel was an issue, so a purpose-made stand held the aircraft level. This set of 3 images taken in late April 2009



By the middle of July the fin had been re-attached, with the fillets not yet refitted after cleaning and primer coating.

2010

By August 2010 coats of silver paint provided both the correct colour and protection for the metal beneath. She had also been moved from the west end of the apron behind and to one side of the Britannia, to a new location at east end, with the former No.2 hangar as a back-drop. The move was an anxious time as the aircraft had not been moved across an apron for very many years, the undercarriage stayed locked down and the wheel bearings rotated, so the move was completed safely.





By early November 2010 the engine cowls had been refitted. During winter 2010/2011 whenever the weather permitted a big push to fit various fillets to the base of the fin along with remounting the rudder.

2011

With the exterior complete, a start made to applying detail paintwork to take 'LZ back to the days of its initial owner, Shell Aviation Ltd. This photo dated April 2011.



The importance of getting the outside weather proofed is shown in this image during winter of January 2013. However water ingress continued to be an issue that concerned the restoration team. The addition of duct tape to seal around the cockpit windows is clear but drips through the wing centre section proved difficult to locate.

2013

With the arrival of Avro 748 G-BEJD by road from Blackpool in October 2011, work for a while slowed on the Prince as the restoration team got distracted.



By the time of the SAHG Air Fair in July 2013 G-AMLZ had been moved again, this time to a very appropriate position below the control tower. The wide double door of the Prince is shown to advantage here as the restoration is inspected by the public. The completion of the external paintwork was delayed by the effort put in to working on the Avro 748 fuselage sections. It was not only water entering from outside that caused a problem, but also condensation inside which would not drain away that took many frustrating hours of time away from the restoration work.







By the end of October 2013 the remaining paintwork detail had been added. The Prince standing resplendent in her new colours outside the hotel, under the lee of the Control Tower. The 1950s aircraft looking most appropriate outside the 1939 Art Deco terminal building. There are photos earlier in this thread of her sat not that far away on the apron on Grand National day in March 1965, some 48 years earlier.

2014/2015

G-AMLZ sitting in the wet in May 2014.



October 2015, with more tape added around the cockpit windows. By now the problem of water seepage from the wing section was distracting time away from the job of refitting interior décor in the cabin. The water issue having to take priority.

2016

February 2016







This final set of 3 shots were taken in October 2016 and show that work has commenced on the passenger cabin and the cockpit - although both are already a huge improvement on the 2009 photos in the first post of this thread. Naturally Covid lock-downs and subsequent restrictions prevented further progress during 2020 and slowed progress in 2021.

If anyone who as access would like to post shots of the progress of interior work to bring this post up to date, I'd be very pleased. A very great deal has been achieved since a scrap-man cut the tail off in November 2008. A huge effort by a dedicated small team has brought her back from the brink to be a fantastic exhibit outside a fabulous building.