General Aircraft Hotspur - Operational History

Operational History

Due to changing operational requirements, no Hotspurs were used in combat operations, and were instead exclusively used for training purposes; it was the glider in which all pilots belonging to the Glider Pilot Regiment received their initial instruction. Although relatively heavy with a high sink rate, the Hotspur exhibited good flying characteristics and could even be flown aerobatically, allowing novice pilots to quickly gain proficiency. The first glider pilots were curiously named "glider coxswains".

Glider pilots first trained at an Elementary Flying Training School on de Havilland Tiger Moths or Miles Magisters before converting to glider training. At the Glider Schools, a Hotspur MK III was first employed for dual instruction with the rear seats weighted for ballast and only the instructor and student aboard. The gliders were usually towed by Hawker Hector or Hawker Audax biplanes (later Miles Master and Westland Lysander "tugs") during training. Some 8 to 11 dual-instruction flights usually preceded the student's first solo flight. At Operational Training Glider Schools, the flights were made with troops instead of ballast in Hotspur MK IIs. Release at high altitudes and night-flying was also part of the training.

A total of 250 Hotspurs were retained for operational use if they were required, but the rest were used as training gliders. In 1942, 22 Hotspur Mk IIs were sent to Canada, eventually six were redeployed to the United States Navy and one to the United States Army Air Forces. In the build-up to Operation Overlord in 1944, a scheme was considered in which Hotspurs would have been used to transport cargo and equipment, but this did not get past the planning stage. At war's end, the type was retired and relatively few Hotspurs were preserved for display.