Percival

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · United Kingdom

Percival

Percival Aircraft Company · Percival Aircraft Ltd

An Australian barnstormer built the fastest, prettiest light aircraft of the 1930s, flew them to records himself, then sold the firm that went on to train the RAF.

1933Founded
Merged into Hunting Aircraft in 1954Status
9Aircraft on record
5Air forces flying its types
Photo: glenn turner / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
CountryUnited KingdomFounded1933FoundersEdgar Percival, E. B. W. LeakHeadquartersGravesend, Kent, then Luton Airport, BedfordshireOwnerHunting Group (from 1944)StatusMerged into Hunting Aircraft in 1954
The story

Percival: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Out and back before dinner

One day in 1935 Edgar Percival took off from Gravesend at half past one in the morning, flew one of his own Gulls to Morocco, and landed back at Croydon that evening. He was the first pilot to fly from Britain to Africa and back in a single day, and it won him the Oswald Watt Gold Medal. That flight sums up the company that carried his name: fast, graceful aircraft, flown hard by the man who drew them.

A Light Horseman designs aeroplanes

Percival was born in Albury, New South Wales, in 1897, served as a trooper with the 7th Light Horse in Palestine, and came home with surplus aircraft for barnstorming and charter work. He won an Australian light aircraft design competition in 1924. Back in England from 1929 as an Air Ministry test pilot, he founded the Percival Aircraft Company with E. B. W. Leak in 1933. The first Gull flew in 1932, built for him by other firms; the company then moved to Gravesend Airport to make them itself, and in 1936 became Percival Aircraft Ltd and moved to Luton.

Gulls that crossed oceans

The Gull was a record machine. Charles Kingsford Smith flew one from Lympne to Darwin in 1933 in 7 days and 4 hours. Jean Batten crossed the South Atlantic to Brazil in her Gull Six in 1935 and flew Lympne to Darwin in 1936, and Amy Johnson flew to Cape Town and back in under eight days. The tiny Mew Gull racer, only five built, dominated British air racing; Alex Henshaw won the 1938 King’s Cup in one at 236 mph, a class record still standing in 2020.

From racers to trainers

War turned the Vega Gull into the Proctor radio and communications trainer, 1,143 built. Percival resigned from the board to serve in the RAF Volunteer Reserve and in 1944, when the company joined the Hunting Group, sold his remaining shares. Under new ownership Luton built the Prentice trainer, 526 built, the Prince and Pembroke twins, and the Provost, first flown on 24 February 1950, the RAF’s basic trainer of the 1950s. In 1954 the company was renamed Hunting Percival, and Edgar Percival started again with a new firm at Stapleford.

An Australian barnstormer built the fastest, prettiest light aircraft of the 1930s, flew them to records himself, then sold the firm that went on to train the RAF.Percival · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

Percival in numbers

The company

In short
Founded 1933

  • Founded 1933 by Edgar Percival with E. B. W. Leak
  • Moved to Gravesend Airport, then to Luton in 1936
  • Part of the Hunting Group from 1944
  • Renamed Hunting Percival in 1954

Production

Best known for
Gull, Proctor, Provost

  • Gull: 48 built 1932–1938
  • Vega Gull: 90
  • Proctor: 1,143
  • Prentice: 526
  • Provost: 461

Today

Now
Absorbed by Hunting, then BAC

  • Renamed Hunting Percival 1954 and Hunting Aircraft 1957
  • Taken over by BAC in 1960
  • Mew Gull G-AEXF preserved and flown from Old Warden for many years

The numbers

Gull built
48
Vega Gull built
90
Proctor built
1,143
Prentice built
526
Provost built
461
The aircraft

Every notable Percival aircraft

Percival PrenticeBasic trainer · first flight 1946 · 526 builtPercival ProvostBasic trainer · first flight 1950 · 461 builtPercival PembrokeMilitary transport · first flight 1952 · 128 built

Photos: RuthAS / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0); Tony Hisgett · CC BY 2.0; Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
Percival Gull Touring and record aircraft 1932 48 Retired
Percival Mew Gull Racing aircraft 1934 5 Retired
Percival Vega Gull Touring aircraft 1935 90 Retired
Percival Q.6 Petrel Light twin transport 1937 27 Retired
Percival Proctor Radio trainer and communications 1939 1,143 Retired
Percival Prentice Basic trainer 1946 526 Retired Includes licence production in India
Percival Prince Light twin transport 1948 75 Retired All variants
Percival Provost Basic trainer 1950 461 Retired
Percival Pembroke Military transport 1952 128 Retired Retired by the RAF in 1988
Who flies them

Percival aircraft in the world’s air forces

5 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Percival types. 0 of them still have one in service.

Air force In service Formerly flown
German Naval Aviation Percival Pembroke C.54
Lebanese Air Force Percival Prentice T.1, Percival Proctor IV
Myanmar Air Force Percival Provost T.53
Royal Air Force of Oman Percival Provost T52
Sudanese Air Force Percival Provost T.53, Hunting President and Percival Pembroke
Places, people, records

Where Percival built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • Gravesend Airport · Gravesend, Kent — First own production of the Gull
  • Luton works · Luton Airport, Bedfordshire — From 1936

People

  • Edgar Percival · founder, designer and pilot — 1897–1984
  • Jean Batten · record pilot — Gull Six G-ADPR
  • Alex Henshaw · racing pilot — 1938 King’s Cup winner in a Mew Gull

Records and firsts

  • Kingsford Smith, Lympne to Darwin in a Gull Four, 7 days 4 hours 44 minutes, 1933
  • Jean Batten, England to Brazil and Lympne to Darwin in a Gull Six, 1935 and 1936
  • Amy Johnson, Gravesend to Cape Town and back to Croydon, 7 days 22 hours 43 minutes, 1936
  • Alex Henshaw, 1938 King’s Cup in a Mew Gull at 236 mph, a class record
Timeline

Percival, year by year

1932

Prototype Gull flies

1933

Percival Aircraft Company founded

1933

Kingsford Smith reaches Darwin in a Gull Four

1934

Mew Gull first flight

1935

Percival flies Britain to Morocco and back in a day

1935

Jean Batten crosses the South Atlantic in a Gull Six

1936

Becomes Percival Aircraft Ltd and moves to Luton

1938

Henshaw wins the King’s Cup in a Mew Gull

1939

Proctor first flight

1944

Company joins the Hunting Group

1950

Provost first flight

1954

Renamed Hunting Percival Aircraft

The family tree

Before and after Percival

Came afterHunting AircraftRenamed Hunting Percival in 1954Read the Hunting Aircraft page
Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about Percival

Who founded Percival Aircraft?
Edgar Percival, an Australian pilot and designer, with E. B. W. Leak in 1933.
What was the Percival Gull famous for?
Long-distance record flights by Charles Kingsford Smith, Jean Batten and Amy Johnson in the 1930s.
What happened to Percival Aircraft?
It joined the Hunting Group in 1944, became Hunting Percival in 1954 and Hunting Aircraft in 1957, and was taken over by BAC in 1960.
What was the Percival Provost?
A piston-engined basic trainer first flown in 1950 and used by the RAF; it led to the Jet Provost.

Continue the tour

Around Percival

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Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked

Verified 2026-10-03.