Heston Phoenix

The Heston Type 1 Phoenix was a 1930s British single-engined five-seat light transport monoplane built by the Heston Aircraft Company Limited.

Design and development

The Type 1 Phoenix was the first design of the Heston Aircraft Company formed in 1934. The Phoenix was a single-engined high-wing monoplane, with a wood monocoque fuselage and wood-framed wing with plywood and fabric covering. It was powered by a 200 hp (149 kW) de Havilland Gipsy VI engine, and had a retractable main undercarriage in stub-wings plus a faired tailwheel. It was the first British high-wing monoplane fitted with a hydraulically operated retractable undercarriage.

The prototype Phoenix, registered G-ADAD, first flew at Heston Aerodrome on 18 August 1935, piloted by Edmund G. Hordern.

The fourth, fifth and sixth aircraft were designated Phoenix II, and were each fitted with an improved 205 hp (153 kW) de Havilland Gipsy VI Series II engine and a de Havilland constant speed propeller.

Operational history

Heston

Coordinates: 51°29′07″N 0°22′44″W / 51.4852°N 0.3788°W / 51.4852; -0.3788

Heston is a suburban area of the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. The residential settlement covers a slightly smaller area than its predecessor farming village, 10.8 miles (17.4 km) west south-west of Charing Cross and adjoins the M4 motorway but has no junction with it; Heston also adjoins the Great West Road, a dual carriageway, mostly west of the 'Golden Mile' headquarters section of it.

History

The village of Heston is north of Hounslow, and has been settled since Saxon times. A charter of Henry II gives the name as Hestune, meaning "enclosed settlement", which is justified by its location in what was the Warren of Staines, between the ancient Roman road to Bath, and the Uxbridge Road to Oxford. Another suggested etymology is Anglo-Saxon Hǣs-tūn = "brushwood farmstead".

Before 1229, Heston was part of the parish of Gistleworth (Isleworth) before being taken by Henry III, who subsequently granted it to the Earl of Cornwall. It covered until the late 19th century creation of Hounslow from outlying parts of two adjoining parishes, 3,823 acres (15.47 km²). The close association pre-dates the town of Hounslow, when that was simply Hounslow Priory, the two parishes had long been associated: the medieval manor of Isleworth covered all of that parish and this. After Henry III died in 1316, Heston was owned by the Crown, and later by the wardens of St. Giles Hospital, until it was surrendered to Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Elizabeth I granted Heston to Sir Thomas Gresham, and, after eating some bread made from locally grown wheat, insisted on a supply for her own personal use.

Heston (disambiguation)

Heston may refer to:

See also

Heston (name)

Heston is both an English surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:

Surname:

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