1942 RAF General Hotspur II

Aeroplane identification poster, published 1942

63 x 47 cm

A particularly unusual style of aeroplane identification poster, owing to the very arty images. Most such posters rely on very plain silhouettes, this series – and we have several in this series; view them here – have a much more arty approach to the task with shading and an interesting angle view.

A particularly unusual style of aeroplane recognition poster, owing to the very arty images. Most such posters rely on very plain silhouettes, this series – and we have several in this series – have a much more arty approach to the task with shading and an interesting angle view.

The General Aircraft GAL.48 Hotspur was a military glider designed and built by the British company General Aircraft Ltd during World War II. When the British airborne establishment was formed in 1940 by order of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, it was decided that gliders would be used to transport airborne troops into battle. General Aircraft Ltd were given a contract by the Ministry of Aircraft Production in June 1940 to design and produce an initial glider for use by the airborne establishment, which resulted in the Hotspur.

Conceived as an “assault” glider which necessitated a compact design and no more than eight troops carried, tactical philosophy soon favoured larger numbers of troops being sent into battle aboard gliders. Due to this, the Hotspur was mainly relegated to training where it did excel and it became the basic trainer for the glider schools that were formed.

The Hotspur was named after Sir Henry Percy, a significant captain during the Anglo-Scottish wars who was also known as “Hotspur”.

A Hotspur Mark II (HH268) replica is on display at the Museum of Army Flying in Hampshire, England. The front fuselage of a Hotspur was preserved at the Parachute Regiment And Airborne Forces Museum in Aldershot prior to the museum”s 2007 closing, in anticipation of a move to the Imperial War Museum Duxford.

Condition: generally very good.

If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.