Beschreibung:

Flying Flea. Scott Flying Flea aircraft engine circa 1935, with data plate stamped TYPE M.C.2.-B4, No 5D450914, presented on a stand for display, 75 cm high x 56 cm wide, together with two blade propeller, finished in black with aluminium sheathes, the boss stamped 'CAU 280, SAL 135 C7 9NC', the opposite side stamped 'TYPE 433 N11800', 214 cm long, cockpit instrument panel, aluminum and perspex construction with speedometer, plus other items including two related books including The Flying Flea by Henri Mignet (Quantity: 1) Frenchman Henri Mignet was an aircraft fanatic, born in 1893, who built his first monoplane as early as 1912. Between 1931 and 1933 Mignet designed a light aircraft, HM-8, and this lightweight machine was designed so that the amateur aviator could build his own aircraft from plans supplied. Mignet came to England in August 1935 with his ‘Le Pou de Ciel’, Flying Flea, to promote this new flying machine. At the Scott factory in Yorkshire William Cull was contemporaneously developing a two-cylinder, air-cooled, two-stroke engine which, upon completion, was marketed as an inverted, twin-cylinder engine with separate cylinder barrels sharing a common crankcase. Bore and stroke were 73mm x 78mm and cubic capacity was 652cc. This engine developed a maximum 28hp at 4,000rpm, but at a more leisurely 1,350rpm would propel the Flying Flea at 50mph. Testing was carried out at nearby Yeadon Airfield (now Leeds/Bradford Airport). The Flying Flea had a wing span of just 22ft. Sadly the aviation authorities were called in to investigate safety following a number of fatalities and all licences were revoked – Mignet’s ‘Pou de Ciel’ had seemed a good idea at the time but was ill-conceived. Mignet went on to develop further light aircraft for amateur builders, notably the HM-14, and continued at his design board until the 1960s. See lot 287.