Mission Impossible

If you catch any of the trailer of the next Mission Impossible film due out next month you might spot a couple of Stearman biplanes. Some of the action was done out of Duxford where I happened to catch Mr Cruise and film crew back in October 2021 heading off to do some filming.

Douglas Devastator

An Airfix kit that an Aunt gave me around 50 years ago and has sat around looking sorry for itself for many years with a couple of missing parts, notably the undercarriage. However some random parts came up on ebay recently which included the undercarriage so I have put ut back together. The wing corregations are a vit rough in places due to a previous paint job but its nice to see it whole again.

Helicopter Museum

The Helicopter Museum is situated on the former Weston Airfield just outside of Weston Super Mare. They have over 50 helicopters on display in their hangar, another 3 outside and some spares/reserve machines that can be spotted behind the hangar. The number of exhibits on display is set to increase later this year as a new display hangar has recently been built but is not yet open to the public. The old airfield control tower has been restored and now houses an interesting display on local aviation history.

If you have an interest in aviation it is certainly worth a visit and there is also a canteen area that serves reasonably priced food.

We visited yesterday and this is some of what we saw.

Bill Townsend

Bill Townsend, or more properly William, was a pilot with 617 squadron during WWII and took part in the famous Dambusters raid in 1943. He and his crew were tasked with a secondary target and bombed the Eneppe dam although it was not breached. His Lancaster, landing on three engines, was the last to successfully return to base after the raid. The plaque below is on his boyhood home in Chepstow.

Gloster E28/39

The Gloster E28/39, often referred to as the Gloster Whittle, was the first British turbo jet powered aircraft to fly back in 1941. Its first short flights took place at Brockworth in Gloucestershire using a development engine before being moved to Cranwell for a full first flight test. A stone commemorating the initial short flights can be found at the Brockworth site (complete with nature garden), which is now Gloucester Business Park.

Charles Rolls

Charles Rolls was born in 1877. He was to become a motoring an aviation pioneer who effectively became a household name following his meeting with Henry Royce and the subsequent formation of Rolls-Royce Limited in 1906.His interests then turned more to aviation and he is credited as being the second Briton to go up in an aeroplane when he flew with Wilbur Wright in 1908. He then purchased 6 Wright Flyer aircraft licence built by Short Brothers and after gaining flight experience in March 1910 became the first person to fly across the channel and back without landing. However, in July of that year he became the first Briton to die in a flying accident involving a powered aircraft when the tail of his Wright flyer broke off and he crashed fatally during a flying display near Bournemouth.

Although born in London Rolls had maintained strong links with the family ancestral home near Monmouth and consequently a memorial to him was erected there in 1911 where it has remained ever since. We checked it out yesterday and were surprised to find it was literally yards away from a pub where we had lunch on our honeymoon back in 1985 and I never noticed it. Guess I had other things on my mind!

1985:

Morgan Owners outing

A tenuous link to this blog due to the markings on the car! Anyway, we headed to Norchard for a trip on a steam train (see here) and as we entered we came across this Morgan Owner's outing. They looked quite smart in the spring sunshine so here they are: