Date:	Wednesday 3 July 1940
Time:	day
Type:	Percival Mew Gull
Owner/operator:	private
Registration:	G-AEKL
MSN:	E21
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lympne Airport, Hythe, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Standing
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Lympne, Hythe, Kent (LYM/EGMK)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
First registered [C of R 7068] on 30.6.36 as G-AEKL to Percival Aircraft Co Ltd., Gravesend Airport, Gravesend, Kent. C of A 5564 issued July 1936. Fitted with a De Havilland Gipsy Six engine and flown by Edgar Percival in the King's Cup and Folkestone Trophy Races of 1936.

Sold on and re-registered to Air Publicity Ltd., Heston Aerodrome, Heston, Middlesex, having been re-engined with a DH Gipsy Six Series II. G-AEKL was entered in the Schlesinger Air Race (Portsmouth to Johannesburg) along with Percival Vega Gulls ZS-AHM and ZS-AHO.

However, G-AEKL did not take part, as it was substantially damaged 19.9.36: Flying Officer Salter, Assistant Adjutant and Chief Flying Instructor of 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, having landed in a Hawker Hart, collided with Mr Tom Campbell Black (famous for piloting DH Comet racer G-ACSS 'Grosvenor House' to victory in the 1934 England Australia Air Race) at Liverpool (Speke) Airport, who was waiting to take-off in Percival Mew Gull G-AEKL

Campbell-Black had been at Speke for sponsor John Moores (of Littlewoods fame) to name the Mew Gull "Miss Liverpool" prior to competing in the England to South Africa Air Race. Tom Campbell Black died of his injuries. The Hart biplane was written-off; Mew Gull G-AEKL was substantially damaged, but rebuilt in 1937. G-AEKL went on win the 1937 Newcastle Air Race for its new owner. It is lifetime, G-AEKL was rebuilt twice, was fitted with three different engines and had a total of six paint schemes.

Sold on and re-registered in 1937 to C.E. Gardner, Hamsey Green, Kingswood Lane, Warlingham. In the 1937 King's Cup Race, the rebuilt and re-painted G-AEKL was 1st with Charles Gardner at the controls (in his house-colours of dark blue with pale-blue lettering and trim (See Alex Henshaw's book "Flight of the Mew Gull", page 91.)). He averaged 234 mph over the 1,442-mile course.

Re-registered [C of R 8502] on 14.5.38 to Giles Guthrie (formal name: Sir Giles Connop McEachern Guthrie Bart OBE DSC JP) Lavenham, Suffolk. Aircraft based at Ipswich Aerodrome, Ipswich, Suffolk. Probably acquired as a replacement for Percival P.10 Vega Gull G-AEKE, which he had sold on 23.10.36.

The 1938 King's Cup Race was a 1,012 mile event and this time, Alex Henshaw's much modified Mew Gull E2H G-AEXF came in 1st at 236 mph and Giles Guthrie in his red "standard" E2H Vega Gull G-AEKL placed 2nd.

Written off (destroyed) 3.7.1940 when destroyed by bombing during an air raid whilst parked at Lympne Airport, Hythe, Kent.

Registration G-AEKL belatedly cancelled by the Air Ministry post war, on 1.1.46, due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl form use of aircraft". A note on the aircraft's record card states "(Census 1945)"; which indicates that the Air Ministry were only made aware of the demise of G-AEKL after a return from the last registered owners, in response to the Air Ministry's 1945 census into the existence (or not) of all UK-registered pre-war civil aircraft

1. http://www.south-lancs-aviation.bravepages.com/K3044.htm
2. CAA: http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AEKL.pdf
3. http://www.a-e-g.org.uk/the-ghost-of-speke.html
4. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/79-register-gb-g-ae
5. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=183387
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Mew_Gull#G-AEKL
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A9.html

c/n PFA/013-14759. Built 2013. Faithful replica based on Mew Gull 'G-AEKL' and appropriately registered 'G-HEKL'. Seen displaying at the 'Best of British' flying evening. Old Warden. 18-7-2015:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
10-Jan-2016 23:05	Dr.John Smith	Added
26-Jan-2018 22:57	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative]
26-Jan-2018 23:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code]
28-Jan-2018 16:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]