'Edwardians at Old Warden – 3rd June 07

I must admit that I have never seen wonderful machines flying before and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle that they put on. Fortunately the cloud that had bubbled up during the afternoon had parted and there was sunshine and blue sky for their display.

First up was the Deperdussin……..

….but decided to suffer from vertigo and never left the ground…..

…and with a helping hand, was turned around and trundled back to the safety of the hanger.

Next up was the Boxkite……..

…that rapidly, for the Boxkite, leapt into the air………

…and sedately sailed above the Bedfordshire countryside doing flat turns.

At the same time as the Boxkite was flying around, the Avro Triplane joined it……

…and seemed to thoroughly enjoy overtaking the Boxkite…..

…and probably stayed in the air longer than all of them put together.

As the Boxkite and Triplane were in the skies above, the Bleriot XI……

…started its run, but only in straight lines along the length of the runway, achieving daylight beneath its wheels……

….and for its last run got quite high up.

Last but not least was the Blackburn Monoplane…….

…and rather spookily, on the take off run the pilot was wearing his flat cap, backwards of course……

…and having turned around and flew back, his hat was GONE.

A very enjoyable half hour.

Brian