Postby paul hughes » February 3rd, 2009, 8:52 am
Hello Tony, I Don't know if this is of any use to you but i thought it may give you afew clues or leads,
In the first week of July, 1935, F. G. Miles decided to race for the King's Cup in the following September, even though at that point there was no machine available for him, and with only eight weeks until the race, there was little time to produce a suitable aircraft!. However, in those few weeks Mrs. Miles devised and directed the construction of a racing aircraft which was both fast, manoeuvrable, and pleasing to the eye.
First, a standard Hawk fuselage was taken from the production line and shortened by two feet, then standard Hawk outer wings were fitted direct to the fuselage, without the usual centre-section. Long range fuel tanks and a low, single-strut type undercarriage were next fitted, together with a standard Hawk tail, the job being rounded off with a 140 hp high compression Gipsy Major engine. With a highly polished cream and red finish, the machine was ready on time and was named the Sparrowhawk.
cheers, Paul Hughes 1807.