Percival Gull plane

Percival was fascinated by flight from a young age, and studied engineering in Sydney. He served with the British Royal Flying Corps during the First World War and returned to Australia after the war to start a flight charter company. He was also busy working on his own aircraft designs, and moved to England to co-found the Percival Aircraft Company.

Development of the Gull

In 1932 the company began manufacturing the Gull, a three-seater, low-wing monoplane, in a number of variations. Gulls had aerodynamic light wooden frames covered with doped, or lacquered, fabric. Coupled with a selection of powerful four- or six-cylinder engines, they were faster than many air force fighters.

After more than a decade of development, Percival released a series of variants on the Gull – the Gull Four, Gull Six, Vega Gull and Mew Gull – as fast private and commercial transport, racing aircraft, and for long-distance and record-breaking flights.

During the Second World War the Percival Aircraft Company developed a military version of the Gull, named the Percival Proctor, as a training aircraft for the Royal Air Force. The Museum also holds a Proctor aircraft, VH-FEP, in its collection.

Gulls set new distance flight records

The success of Percival’s monoplane design inspired other aircraft manufacturers at a time when biplanes still dominated the skies. Gulls quickly established a reputation for high performance and attracted the era’s most daring pilots, helping to inspire the public’s growing interest in aviation.

In the 1930s Charles Kingsford Smith and Jean Batten flew Gull Six aircraft to establish distance flight records. Percival himself won many competitions and awards flying his aircraft. In 1935 he was awarded the Oswald Watt medal, an Australian award for ‘brilliant performance in the air’, for flying from England to Morocco in his Mew Gull.

Preserving Percival’s design

The Museum’s Gull Six monoplane, with the registration G-AERD, was made in 1936 at Gravesend in Kent, England. A Swiss woman, Ariane Dufaux, bought the plane and took it to Switzerland, under the registration HB-OFU, for her private use.

Forty years later, the aircraft was sold to a collector in England, where it was restored and became popular on the air show circuit. The plane was involved in several crashes and passed through a series of owners and restorations before the National Museum bought it in 1986.

The National Museum’s Gull Six has never been flown in Australia but it has been regularly serviced and maintained in near flying condition. The restoration work carried out after its numerous crashes is still evident in some of the aircraft’s framework.

The Gull retains its original de Havilland Gipsy Six, Series 1 engine, maintained in pristine condition. First developed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company in 1934, these high performance six cylinder, 200 horsepower engines powered many of the racing and record-breaking aircraft of the 1930s.

Photos of the Gull during maintenance in the workshop

Percival Gull pamphlet sent to plane's original owners

This is the pamphlet with price list sent to Mr and Mrs Dufaux when they were considering purchasing a Percival Gull. The detailed listings and handwritten notations on this pamphlet show that the Gull was available with a choice of engines and came standard with a turquoise blue body and silver wings, echoed in the colour of this pamphlet.

Certificate of airworthiness for Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1937

When the Museum purchased the Gull, this certificate was found in one of the older journey logbooks of the aircraft, according to the regulations established by the Air Ministry of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.