Customer Reviews

Sigh for a Merlin: Testing the Spitfire

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A nation at war, all hands to the tiller. Henshaw, already renowned as a young solo long distance record-breaking pilot, after a brief spell twiddling his fingers at Vickers, Weybridge meets Geoffrey Quill - another talented young flier, already chief test pilot of the Spitfire. In no time at all, he is offered and accepts the post of production test pilot at the massive, barely finished Castle Bromwich factory in the heart of the Midlands, with its Black Country weather.
By the end of the war, Henshaw had flown over 3,000 Spits straight off the line, barrel rolled Lancasters and flown upside down along ....!
Excelling in inverted flight, Henshaw's required to demo the Spit at the drop of a hat, flight test them in appalling conditions and keep a large team of disparate pilots working foir the common good. His sheer professionalism, commitment and outstanding flying skills shine through. Modestly written, a superb account of a great plane and great pilot.

The exploits of Alex Henshaw are done some fine justice in this book. It highlights testing of dangerous airplanes during WWII and how so many people contributed without mention. any flying fan will trully love this one! A must for aviation fans.

You will not read a better book about flying the Spitfire than Alex Henshaw's "Sigh for a Merlin"! Although no combat sequences are included as would be expected of a Spitfire book, the testing of so many aircraft leads to as much tension and action as any of the best combat-based stories.

Alex Henshaw writes as well as he flies. I was reluctant to put this book down as Mr Henshaw regularly shares the flying with the reader. You are right there as he tests new aircraft and escapes from tricky situations due to aircraft failure.

For anyone who has heard a Merlin engine on any aircraft, you will understand the title. You'll make the same sigh of satisfaction/awe as you read the last page of this book...if you haven't done so already while reading the book!

I read this book several years ago but it still has an affect on me. There are some good Spitfire books out there, but this is the best.

Alex Henshaw grew up in the 1920's and 30's - his first aircraft was a Gipsy I Moth. HE set his heart on winning the King's Cup Air Race, which he won in 1938 after years of practice and experimentation. In 1939 he broke all the records for flying to Cape Town and back in a modified Mew Gull (His account of this epic feat is given in his book Flight of the Mew Gull (1980) in which Henshaw describes hazardous landings at remote bush airstrips, battling through a tropical storm, and overcoming extreme exhaustion on the return leg. The aircraft he used, G-AEXF, was restored to its Cape flight configuration in the 1980s and remains in flying condition at Breighton in Yorkshire).

Because of this peacetime experience he was asked to join Vickers-Armstrong as a test pilot when WW2 broke out. He was appointed Chief Test Pilot at Castle Bromwich, the giant Spitfire factory near Birmingham, and under his leadership the flying programe continued from dawn to dusk, despote the often appalling weather conditions. The factory built over half of the total output of Spitfires ever made, and 350 Lancaster heavy bombers. Henshaw tested both, leading a team of 25 others. The production/acceptance test flying job was essential, to ensure that faults were detected before aircraft were delivered to the frontline, but was also dangerous: two of his team were killed testing new aircraft. Henshaw survived many forced landings and a catastrophic crash between two houses in Willenhall in July 1942 which destroyed the aircraft.

It is estimated that Henshaw flew 10% of all Spitfires and Seafires, testing up to 20 aircraft a day in often foggy conditions. He would also demonstrate the Spitfire to visiting dignitaries, such as Winston Churchill, and once flying the length of Broad Street in Birmingham at low level. He was the only pilot known to perform a barrel roll in a Lancaster bomber, a feat that was considered reckless and impossible due to the aircraft's size and relatively low speed. This he did with co-pilot Peter Ayerst, fighter ace and previous member of No. 124 ("Baroda") Squadron RAF

The books really well-written, has some superb flying descriptions and fascinating stories of test-flying Spitfires. A great read and it's good to see it's still in print and available.

First published in 1979, the copy I have is 200 pages, 16 b&w photos.Henshaw wrote a third book, Wings across the Great Divide which was published in 2004. This final part of his trilogy details his experiences flying in Africa in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. Alex Henshaw died at home in Newmarket on 24 February 2007

To anyone interested in the history of both the Spitfire and the magnificent engine that powered it, this is a top read. A well-written memoir, it retains the interest from first page to last. Highly recommend it.

The man who had, by far, more experience flying the Spitfire than any other was not a fighter pilot, not even in the military, but a test pilot employed at the massive Castle Bromwich (near Birmingham) production plant to test fly Spitfires as they came off the line.

Pre-WWII, Alex Henshaw was a member of what would later become the jet-set. With his family's money he'd bought, modified and flown quite advanced private aircraft, setting a number of records in them, becoming well-known among the elite fliers of the day, not only in the UK but across Europe.

On the outbreak of WWII, instead of joining the military he became a test pilot, ultimately for Vickers at Castle Bromwich, where he (and his team) tested every Spitfire that came off the line, not only at Bromwich but a number of smaller plants in the area, as well as aircraft that had been through serious repair.

The standard Henshaw set for himself and his team was unbelievably rigorous -- if there was an aircraft that needed testing, they would do it, and in any kind of weather, from dawn to dusk. Henshaw himself took up aircraft in the dirtiest of weather, including fog and low cloud, often getting home by recognizing the smoke and steam emitted by a local powerplant among the cloud. Inevitably, given the nature of his job, he made dozens of dead-stick landings as engines and other parts failed, and was involved in one very serious crash that totally destroyed the aircraft, from which he walked away.

Henshaw became widely recognized for his absolute mastery of the Spitfire, one of the finest pilots ever to fly the aircraft. His demonstration flights became legendary, with a wide range of notables trooping through Bromwich to see Henshaw demonstrate the Spitfire -- including Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, and others. You have to read the book to believe the incredible level of precision he achieved -- it's all set out in a very matter-of-fact way, notwithstanding the spectacles he managed. While there's not a lot of boasting in the book, it's clear Henshaw knew himself to be the best technical Spitfire pilot anywhere, with minute knowledge of the Spitfire's capabilities, ability to use every nook and cranny of the Spitfire's performance, and total confidence in his ability to outfly anyone else in a Spitfire.

Henshaw also test-flew the Lancaster heavy bombers later produced at Bromwich (he rolled the machine, the first known to have done so), and despite a brutal flying schedule, also managed to raise pigs, chickens, ducks, vegetables, etc, in the typical plucky war-time Brit way.

If you have any interest in the Spitfire, in WWII aviation, flying generally, this is a must-read. Pretty well written too. Unique insight by a unique man who played a unique role in the life of the greatest British fighter aircraft of all time.