Miles Magister

The Magister — universally the “Maggie” — was a clean low-wing monoplane that served as the RAF’s standard elementary trainer at the outbreak of war, a stablemate to the Tiger Moth biplane. Built by Miles and powered by a Gipsy Major, it gave pupil pilots their first taste of the monoplane layout they would meet in operational types, and was used by Elementary Flying Training Schools and Volunteer Reserve units. Easy to fly but capable of aerobatics, it trained thousands of wartime aircrew before the more powerful Harvard took over the advanced stages.