G-ABVB  Westland Wessex                                     (c/n  WA.2156)

                                 

                                      A not-very-good Westland copy of an oft published shot.  This Wessex was used by the Portsmouth,
                                      Southsea and Isle of Wight Aviation Company in the early 1930s for their ferry route between Pompey
                                      and Ryde on the island.   It was a somewhat modified machine in that it had accommodation for eight
                                      passengers (versus the usual six for a Wessex) plus the pilot's cockpit had been raised for better visibility.  
                                      Both Imperial Airways and SABENA were airline operators of the Wessex.   G-ABVB was written off
                                      in a crash at Ryde on 20 March 1936 in which the pilot was killed.