CLW Curlew

In the early 1930s Francis Welham and Arthur Levell conceived a new single spar duralumin wing structure that promised weight savings without loss of strength.

[1] The wing was built around a cross braced, girder-like box, with the front and rear members attached to it with cantilever ribs.

Cole of EKCO radio, they set up a company known by their initials as CLW Aviation, based at Gravesend, Kent and built a wing for testing.

[1] The Curlew was an all-metal aeroplane, apart from the fabric covering of its elliptical, cantilever wing, and so an unusual light plane for its time.

[2] Sqn Ldr F.W.H.Lervill (another CLW director) had clear ideas on training aircraft and the Curlew was intended to place the pupil at the front to familiarise him or her with the sensation of flying alone.

The machine was advertised as suitable for other engines up to powers of 130 hp (97 kW) and the de Havilland Gipsy Major was specifically mentioned.

Though Cole had by this time withdrawn his financial support, things for a short while looked bright for CLW, with talk of an Australian order for 50 Curlews, but they were over extended and went bankrupt.