<p>One of only six Mew Gulls built, G-AEXF was originally registered ZS-AHM and named 'The Golden City'. It was built to the order of A.M. Miller for the Schlesinger Race and was powered by a Gipsy Six Series II. Miller retired at the Belgrade checkpoint. Percival re-engined the aircraft with a Gipsy Six and sold it to Bill Humble who registered it in the UK as G-AEXF. Humble never took delivery, instead selling it to Alex Henshaw, who soon won the 1937 Folkestone Trophy with G-AEXF. In 1938 it flew with a Gipsy Six R engine and won the Kings Cup at 236mph.
In 1939 Alex Henshaw took the England - Cape Town Record, taking off on 5 February 1939 from Gravesend Airport, landing at Wingfield Aerodrome at the Cape the next day, covering the 6,377 miles course in 39 hours and 25 minutes, averaging 209.44 mph while in the air. This record stood until 2009. The return trip was just 11 minutes longer. 
It is interesting to note that during all of Alex Henshaw's adventures in this aircraft it was never damaged.
</p><p>Henshaw sold G-AEXF to Frenchman Victor Vermoral in late 1939. During the Second World War, the aircraft was stored in a hangar in France with several owners continuing to hide it from German authorities. In 1950, Hugh Scrope found and bought and with Doug Bianchi's help, refurbished the aircraft to fly it back home to England. After restoration, G-AEXF continued its racing career but it was damaged in a landing accident in August 1951 at Shoreham. J.N. Somers, the next owner repaired it and raced G-AEXF again. A new owner, Ernest Crabtree, flew it last in the 1965 Manx Air Derby. By this time however, other owners had further altered this historic aircraft, resulting in lowered performance. Eventually, the derelict aircraft, found its way into the hands of a poorly run museum, where it became damp, had its wings crudely sawn off, and many parts lost to souvenir hunters. In this state, Tom Storey and Martin Barraclough acquired the aircraft and rebuilt it during the late 1970s. Wishing to make the aircraft more practical to operate, a configuration closer to its original design was chosen, making G-AEXF look somewhat like an E2H/E3H hybrid, painted in the white and British Racing Green she wore when owned by Alex Henshaw in the 1930s. XF was again damaged at Redhill in late 1983, when an Auster taxied into it. 'XF continued to be operated in the configuration as rebuilt by Storey and Barraclough until it was offered for sale.
Desmond Penrose was the next owner, who based the machine at Old Warden. The aircraft was written-off two further times. One at the time of purchase and again a few years later. After the first of these rebuilds, the machine was re-configured to resemble its configuration for the 1939 Cape flight. G-AEXF was very extensively rebuilt yet again for a third time and continued to operate from Old Warden for some time until sold-on.
In 2002, G-AEXF was sold to Rob Fleming, and was operated by The Real Aeroplane Company at Breighton Aerodrome in Yorkshire. It was temporarily shipped over to the USA to fly in a "demonstration race" at the 2003 National Championship Air Races at Reno, Nevada, the first Mew Gull to touch American soil.
In October 2013, in its 77th year, G-AEXF was sold to the Shuttleworth Collection, where it will remain flying as part of the Museum.
c/n E.22
Seen on the morning of the 2013 Autumn Airshow.
Old Warden.
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06-10-2013
<bdi><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q33132025" class="extiw" title="d:Q33132025"><span title="photographer from the UK">Alan Wilson</span></a>
</bdi>
CC BY-SA 2.0
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajw1970/12213235514/">Percival Mew Gull 'G-AEXF'</a>