Percival Proctor

The Proctor was developed from the Percival Vega Gull in response to Air Ministry Specification 20/38 for a radio trainer and communications aircraft. To meet the requirement, the aircraft based on the Vega Gull had larger rear cabin windows and the fuselage was six inches (150 mm) longer. Modifications were made to the seats to enable the crew to wear parachutes, and there were other changes to enable a military radio and other equipment to be fitted. In early 1939, an order was placed for 247 aircraft to meet operational requirement OR.65.

The prototype aircraft, serial number P5998, first flew on 8 October 1939 from Luton Airport,[1] and the type was put into production for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm. The prototype was tested as an emergency bomber during 1940 but that idea was abandoned when the invasion threat receded. Although the first 222 aircraft were built by Percival at Luton, most of the remaining aircraft were built by F. Hills & Sons of Trafford Park near Manchester. They built 812 Proctors of several marques between 1941 and 1945, assembling most of the aircraft at Barton Aerodrome.[2]

Whilst the very early Proctors (Mks I to III) followed very closely the last incarnation of the Vega Gull, and consequently retained most of its performance, later versions became much heavier and less aerodynamic, with inevitable detrimental effects upon their performance. The later marques of Proctor, whilst looking broadly similar, were in fact a complete redesign of the aircraft and were much enlarged, heavier and even less efficient. Flight performance was poor. There were later plans to fit them with the 250 horsepower (190 kW) Queen 30 and a larger airscrew, but only one trial aircraft was so fitted, because the all-metal Prentice was being developed to replace the Proctor, utilising the Queen 30 etc.

The Prentice proved to be a very poor aircraft, even worse than the later Proctors, and they served in the RAF for only a handful of years before being withdrawn. After their Service life, the remaining Proctors soldiered on in private hands until the 1960s, when they were all grounded, owing to concerns about the degradation of the glued joints in their wooden airframes. Several surviving Proctors have been rebuilt with modern adhesives and should be returned to the air shortly. Early Proctors still make good light aircraft, because they combine the Vega's attributes of long range, speed and load-carrying ability. Notably, all Proctors inherited the Vega Gull's feature of wing-folding.

The Proctor was initially employed as a three-seat communications aircraft (Proctor I). This was followed by the Proctor II and Proctor III three-seat radio trainers.

In 1941, the Air Ministry issued Specification T.9/41 for a four-seat radio trainer. The P.31 – originally known as the "Preceptor" but finally redesignated the Proctor IV – was developed for this requirement with an enlarged fuselage. One Proctor IV was fitted with a 250 hp (157 kW) Gipsy Queen engine. This was used as a personal transport by AVM Sir Ralph Sorley but production models retained the 210 hp (157 kW) motor of earlier marks.

Proctor 5 of Field Aircraft services on a business flight to Manchester in 1953

At the end of the war, many early mark Proctors were sold on the civilian market and were operated in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. The Mk IV continued in service with the RAF until the last was withdrawn in 1955.

In 1945, a civil model derived from the Proctor IV was put into production for private owner, business and light charter use as the Proctor 5. The RAF purchased four to be used by air attachés.

The final model of the line was the solitary Proctor 6 floatplane sold to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1946.

Three highly modified Percival Proctors, nicknamed the "Proctukas," were produced for the film Battle of Britain as stand-ins for the Ju 87 Stuka. After test flights revealed instability, they were ultimately abandoned and never appeared in the film.

P.28 Proctor I

Three-seat dual-control communications and radio/navigation trainer for the Royal Air Force, 147 built.

P.28 Proctor IA

Three-seat dual-control deck landing and radio trainer for the Royal Navy/Fleet Air Arm with dinghy stowage and naval instruments, 100 built.

P.29 Proctor

One aircraft converted to a light-bomber to carry 16 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs under the wings for anti-invasion defence.

P.30 Proctor II

Three-seat radio trainer, 175 built (including 112 IIA aircraft for the Royal Navy)

P.31 Proctor IV

Four-seat radio trainer with enlarged fuselage, 258 built.

P.34 Proctor III

Three-seat radio trainer for Bomber Command radio operators, 437 built.

P.44 Proctor V

Four-seat civil light aircraft, 150 built. RAF designation was Proctor C.Mk 5

P.45 Proctor VI

Floatplane version, 1 built.

P.46

Heavily modified Proctor IV fuselage with a new wing, built by Heston Aircraft as the Youngman-Baynes High Lift Monoplane.

P.47

Proctor VI variant with 250 hp (190 kW) DH Gipsy Queen 31

Proctor IV built by F. Hills & Son at Manchester Barton Aerodrome in early 1944. Displayed at the Torbay Museum in 1976.

A Proctor on display at the Danish Museum of Science & Technology

Australia

• P6187 / VH-UXS (VH-DUL)– Proctor I airworthy with Paul Alexander Gliddon of Kalamunda, Western Australia. It was restored by Latrobe Valley Airframes and Welding.[7][8]
• P6245 / VH-FEP – Proctor I on static display at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.[9][10]
• BV658 / VH- AVG - Proctor II on static display at the Central Australian Aviation Museum in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory,[11]
• Z7203 / VH-BQR– Proctor III on static display at the Aviation Heritage Museum in Perth, Western Australia.[12][13]
• P6194 / VH-AUC – Proctor I on static display at the Australian National Aviation Museum in Melbourne, Victoria.[14]

Denmark

• 62-605 – Proctor III on static display at the Danish Museum of Science and Technology in Helsingor, Hovedstaden.[15]

New Zealand

• AE.097 – Proctor V airworthy with the Stan Smith Collection in Dairy Flat, Auckland.[16]
• AE.143 – Proctor V airworthy with the New Zealand Sport and Vintage Aviation Society in Masterton, Wellington.[17]
• P6271 – Proctor I airworthy with the Croydon Aircraft Company in Mandeville, Southland. It is configured as a Vega Gull.[18]

United Kingdom

• AE.058 – Proctor V under restoration to airworthy at Great Oakley Airfield in Great Oakley, Essex.[19][20]
• AE.129 – Proctor IV airworthy at the Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre in St Mawgan, Cornwall.[21][22] Originally used as a corporate communications aircraft by Rolls-Royce, it was previously owned by Air Atlantique and operated as part of the Classic Air Force.[23]
• BV651 – Proctor III in storage at London Biggin Hill Airport in London.[24][25]
• HM534 – Proctor III under restoration to airworthy at Great Oakley Airfield in Great Oakley, Essex.[19]
• LZ766 – Proctor III on static display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Duxford, Cambridgeshire. It was built by Hills.[26][27]
• LZ791 – Proctor III under restoration to airworthy at Great Oakley Airfield in Great Oakley, Essex.[19]
• NP294 – Proctor IV under restoration to static display at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre in East Kirkby, Lincolnshire.[28][29]
• RM169 – Proctor IV under restoration to airworthy at Great Oakley Airfield in Great Oakley, Essex.[19]
• RM221 – Proctor IV airworthy at London Biggin Hill Airport in London.[30]
• Z7197 – Proctor III in storage at the Reserve Collection of the Royal Air Force Museum in Stafford, Staffordshire.[31]
• Z7252 – Proctor III stored at London Biggin Hill Airport in London. It was damaged in a landing accident in July 2012.[32][33]

Data from The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II,[34] British civil aircraft 1919-1972 Volume III[35]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1 / 2
• Capacity: 2 / 1
• Length: 28 ft 2 in (8.59 m)
• Wingspan: 39 ft 6 in (12.04 m)
• Height: 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m)
• Wing area: 202 sq ft (18.8 m²)
• Airfoil: RAF 48 modified[36]
• Empty weight: 2,340 lb (1,061 kg)
• Gross weight: 3,500 lb (1,588 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × de Havilland Gipsy Queen II 6-cylinder air-cooled inverted in-line piston engine, 210 hp (160 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed variable-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 157 mph (253 km/h, 136 kn)
• Cruise speed: 135 mph (217 km/h, 117 kn)
• Stall speed: 48 mph (77 km/h, 42 kn) [37]
• Range: 500 mi (800 km, 430 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,300 m)
• Rate of climb: 700 ft/min (3.6 m/s)

The Proctor was mentioned in the song "Flying Doctor" by Hawklords (1978)

It was Biggles' main aircraft in the Air Police stories by W.E. Johns

Two Proctors were modified with angular gull wings to resemble Junkers Ju 87 Stukas for the 1969 film Battle of Britain, and were dubbed Proctukas.

Related development

• Percival Gull
• Percival Vega Gull
• Youngman-Baynes High Lift

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Harlow PJC-2
• Messerschmitt Bf 108
• Miles Mercury
• Miles Messenger

Related lists

• List of aircraft of World War II
• List of aircraft of the RAF
• List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Percival Proctor.

• New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority aircraft register