Wings and Wheels and a Rapide

The usual trip to Wings and Wheels incorporated a change to our normal routine this year, choosing to attend Wings and Wheels on the Sunday. Michael unfortunately couldn’t make it this year and a friend of Owens, Jack, took up the offer to travel with us!
We decided to visit Duxford Imperial War Museum on the Saturday, and after our pilot and navigator (who won’t be in the front next year!) took a slight deviation from our route (I think at one stage we passed a sign for Glasgow!), we arrived just before lunchtime and began the tour around this vast site.
We took a few photo’s so I wont go into what we seen but suffice to say there is plenty to see and do and all tastes in aircraft are catered for. The American flight Museum is crammed full of planes and would take a few hours just to take it all in.

The Historical Flight Company offer short flights in Tiger Moths and the D.H. Rapide, we took the chance to go up in the Rapide even though a few of us where suffering from the night before (Jet Lag). This flight was well worth it as there aren’t too many Rapide’s around and the price was acceptable for the 20 min. flight (noisy, rattley, the smell of doped fabric, Ahhh!, and if you get the seat next to the door your in charge of the fire extinguisher and evacuation !) Great stuff! The day flew in and the staff where very helpful (letting us step over the ropes to get up close to take pic’s and touch ! Ahhh.. if I had a spare million or two). I would recommend a visit if your in that part of England and remember to bring a good camera!

Gerry made one of his famous slideshows: