''AH574'' was a Bell Airacobra I used by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

for test work during and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Initial history

''AH574'' was initially ordered in 1940 for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) as part of the Airacobra I serial number block ''AH570''–''AH739'' ( No. 601 Squadron RAF). When the Airacobra type was rejected by the RAF, ''AH574'' was transferred to the Royal Navy for test work.Brown 2006, p. 93.

Test work

On 4 April 1945, ''AH574'' became part of aviation history when

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Eric "Winkle" Brown landed it on the flight deck of HMS ''Pretoria Castle''—the first carrier landing made by an aircraft with retractable

tricycle gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

—due to a declared emergency during initial trials for landings on rubber decks planned for future carriers. In his autobiography, Captain Brown described the circumstances thus:

I had already collected a few 'firsts' in aviation, and I rather wanted to be the first pilot to put a tricycle aircraft down on a flight deck. The Airacobra was not officially cleared for such a landing, but the boffins had told me privately that it would probably take the strain.
This was not on the official programme at all, but I hoped that I could persuade Captain Caspar John of the ''Pretoria Castle'' to turn a blind eye to what I had in mind. I wrote to him beforehand and asked him if he would be prepared to take me aboard in the event of sudden engine trouble. He at once saw what I was after, of course, and was good sport enough to go along with it. He suggested that it might be a good idea if my engine trouble occurred on my last approach.
Strangely enough it did. I began my approach, then, just for the record, called up the ship and complained that my engine was running rough. Would they accept me? Back came Captain John's instant 'affirmative'. I put the hook down, and caught the wire with no trouble at all.

The trouble started when the time came to take off, as the Airacobra had a long take-off run—which was one of the reasons behind the type's rejection by the RAF—and 'Winkle' only managed to get airborne because ''Pretoria Castle'' was steaming full speed ahead at the time.

Fate

In March 1946, a visiting Bell test pilot oversaw

laminar flow Laminar flow () is the property of fluid particles in fluid dynamics to follow smooth paths in layers, with each layer moving smoothly past the adjacent layers with little or no mixing. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral m ...

experiments being conducted with Bell P-63 Kingcobras.

Just for a laugh I asked him to test my old Bell Airacobra, which I had been using for so many hops around the country. He took off, did one very quick circuit, and came back ashed-faced. 'I have never,' he said, 'flown in an aeroplane in such an advanced state of decay. This machine should be
scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap can have monetary value, especially recover ...
ped forthwith.' So, on 28th March, I went up for a last aerobatic session in her, then bade a sentimental farewell. The last laugh was on me.

AH574 was duly scrapped shortly afterward, and Brown was later given a Fieseler Storch as a replacement.Brown 2006, p. 149.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Brown, Eric. ''Wings On My Sleeve: The World's Greatest Test Pilot tells his Story''. London: Orion Books. 2006. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Ah574 Individual aircraft 1940s British experimental aircraft Low-wing aircraft