Sir,

Knowing your interest in flying between the wars, especially in light aeroplanes, I thought you would like to have the enclosed photostat copies of two price lists of aircraft offered for sale by Brian Lewis & Company. I cannot date them exactly but would think the first was issued in late 1934 or early 1935 —the clue is that a DH Gipsy Major Moth is included, with the information that it was built for but not used in the England-Australia air race which was in October 1934. The second list was probably 1936—the last page (hard to read) refers to a demonstration DH Hornet Moth “now available”, which would be about that year (fully equipped, ex works £875).

In your feature “Cars in Books” in April you wrote that the Duchess of Bedford had one of the last of the open-cockpit DH Gipsy III Moths. I seem to remember that she bought the air race Gipsy Major Moth mentioned above – registration letters G-ACUR – and had it converted back to a more normal specification. I wonder if this was the aeroplane in which she was lost in 1937?

P.E. Gordon-Marshall – London, SW7.

[The lists are most mteresting. £200 for a Hermes II Spartan to £1,000 for a new racing Gipsy Major Moth. Ed.]