spadvii

Spad VII B9913 was photographed near hangar 8 at Mather Field, Sacramento, California on April 14, 1919. Capt. John Hambleton, Victory Loan Flying Circus, Far West Flight, flew the ship on that day.

A8794 was the first of 100 Spads 7 in the A 8794/8893 batch built by the Bleriot and Spad Aircraft Works of Addlestone and wears standard RFC camouflage colors of PC10 and "Battleship Gray." The complete absence of louvers in A8796's flank cooling panels is noteworthy. You can barely see the pitot tube on the port forward interplane strut. Also note the style of serial number, which is different on A8796 also shown on this same page. They apparently quickly recognized that black numbers on PC10 were much more difficult to distinguish than white. The RFC in France did not like these British-built Spads, and A8798 and A8799, for example, ended up being re-allotted to the Training Brigade on July 17, 1917. They particularly objected to the fairing over the gun, although photograph focus makes it hard to distinguish it here. See Wind-Sock Datafiles 8, Spad 7.C1, p. 3 (1988).

Looking approximately northwest, five boys and a civilian, wearing an ex-serviceman’s hat, watch Lieut. Frank Carroll’s mechanics assemble his Spad VII B1374 at the North Memphis Driving Park infield, northwest sector on April 12, 1919. This was the Victory Loan Flying Circus, Mid-West Flight's 2nd air show on their Midwest tour.