1.- F-VIIb-3m c/n 5187: PH-AGR "Reiger" flew almost 7 years with KLM until it was officially sold to Crilly Airways on the 12th of August 1936. According to Gerald Howson the true story was a little different but far more spectacular. The accredited Spanish air attache in Paris and London had been one Commandante Carmelo de las Morenas Alcala, who, sympathetic to the Nationalist cause, had resigned his post on 23 July, after having endeavoured to persuade Spanish embassy officials to join the rebellion. He had then negotiated the purchase of a number of aircraft from Poland on behalf of the Nationalists and, on 1 August, had gone to Amsterdam to buy two F VIIb-3ms (PH-AFS Specht and PH-AGR Reiger). The Dutch government had, however, already declared for a policy of non-intervention and forbade the sale. Hearing that four ex-British Airways Fokker F XIIs were back at Gatwick after an abortive attempt to reach the Nationalists in Burgos, he returned to the UK on 3 August to see if he could arrange for the purchase of these larger trimotors via his "Polish Connection" and thus attempt once more to get them to Spain. He was still optimistic that, by some means or other, he would be able to acquire the two KLM F VIIb-3ms as well, as was demonstrated by his engagement of the celebrated racing pilot, Capt T Neville Stack, to fly one of them to Spain!
As pilot for the other F VIIb-3m, Stack suggested to de las Morenas that he employ Donald Salisbury Green, who was both familiar with the Fokker trimotor and with the northern Spanish terrain. Salisbury Green was invited to meet Spanish representatives at the Savoy Hotel, London, on 10 August, where he was introduced to de las Morenas, Juan de la Cierva and another Spaniard (believed to have been the Duke of Alba). It was proposed that he and Stack be given bank drafts of up to Fl 40,000, fly to Schiphol and there buy the F VIIb-3ms privately, subsequently flying them to Burgos. Early in the morning of 11 August, the two British pilots arrived at Schiphol, but KLM refused their offer while indicating that they would be willing to sell the Fokkers to Crilly Airways (with whom they had dealt with before) for Fl 37,000 (£5,000) provided they be flown to the UK by KLM pilots.
The necessary arrangements were speedily made and two KLM pilots, Fraenkel and Scholte, flew the Fokkers to Croydon where they arrived on the evening of the same day. Five gallon (22,71) fuel drums were strapped to the passenger seats at Croydon, the intention being to transfer their contents to the wing centre section tanks by means of a hand pump and rubber tube inserted in the feed pipe between the passenger salon and flight deck. This endowed the F VIIb-3m with sufficient range to reach Burgos non-stop but dictated inclusion of a second crew member. Stack already had a very competent mechanic, but Salisbury Green, having insufficient time to engage a mechanic that he could trust, enlisted the services of an old friend who, in the event, proved to be an alcoholic who found flying nerve-wracking! However, there was no time to find a replacement. De las Morenas warned them that French fighters might attempt to intercept them over the Bay of Biscay and force them to land in France. Moreover, to reach Burgos they would have to cross the mountainous province of Biscaya which was in Republican hands and they would therefore have to fly at their maximum attainable altitude of 15,400 ft (4700 m). As somebody suggested that, at such an altitude, the fuel drums would explode, holes where made in the top of each drum with a large nail! Finally, the two Fokkers took-off from Croydon at first light on 13 August, Stack flying PH-AFS and Salisbury Green flying PH-AGR.
Shortly after take-off, the engines of PH-AGR cut as a result of an airlock in the fuel supply. Fortunately they spluttered to life again when the aircraft was down to about 20 ft (6 m) above the suburban roof-tops. The engines cut once more over the sea, and as the aircraft began to lose altitude, Salisbury Green was alarmed, on glancing over his shoulder, to see, as he recounted to the author, a "little Niagara" of petrol pouring from the drums, over the seats and down the fuselage! No less alarming was the condition of his second crew member who had somehow succeeded in smuggling two bottles of gin aboard and, under the combined effects of the gin and the petrol fumes, to say nothing of the slipperiness of the petrol-soaked floor, was barely able to stand! Salisbury Green succeeded in restarting the engines once more and, by subterfuge, also got rid of the partly-consumed bottles of gin. The remainder of the delivery flight was surprisingly uneventful, the Cantabrican coast and the mountains of Biscaya being crossed, and Salisbury Green diving virtually to ground level as soon as he recognised the road to Burgos,landing at Gamonal airfield after a flight of exactly 7 hr 15 min. Upon their arrival at Burgos, the two ex-KLM F VIIb-3ms were assigned vacant matriculation numbers, PH-AFS becoming 20-1 (the original aircraft to which this number had been assigned being in Republican hands) and PH-AGR becoming 20-4 (the original, Anciano, having crashed a week earlier).