Whilst researching another subject, I came across the following press cutting in a French aviation journal dating from 1933. Translated, the caption to the photographs read:
‘Mr Porter of Wentworth, Surrey, England constructed for his son a miniature seaplane, equipped with a small motor and an appropriate propellor. As these photographs represent it, here is the young pilot in the course of filling up with petrol. The ‘bowser’ is practical and not cumbersome : an empty bottle of Rami syrup offers sufficient capacity. After the tasks of the ‘filling up’ and the ‘getting under way’, the young Porter surrenders himself to the joys of hydroplaning and directs his machine with a skill worthy of Agello. But the pilot of the small seaplane contents himself with an average speed of ten knots. This is pleasant already.’
Has anyone else before come across this delightful plaything or know of any other photographs of it or have any information about it, its story or its fate?
By: l.garey - 4th February 2015 at 14:22
Chitts: If that last kid had taxied any faster he would have done like the Victor did at Bruntingthorpe.
By: Chitts - 3rd February 2015 at 17:53
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/cineviews-in-brief-no-61/query/flying+flea
Film here too, scroll to 1:06 unless you wish to view cotton picking and fashion accessories for Mrs Cholmondley-Warner.
By: Chitts - 3rd February 2015 at 17:50
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Eric Morris in his Flying Flea!
By: mike currill - 2nd February 2015 at 14:44
I think they are brilliant ideas for gettingyounsters interested in aviation.
By: antoni - 2nd February 2015 at 14:30
Crown Prince Simeon Tarnovski.
By: Versuch - 1st February 2015 at 22:13
With a VERY feisty power plant .
I want one!
Cheers Mike
By: avion ancien - 1st February 2015 at 22:04
Thank you. That’s wonderful footage.
By: antoni - 1st February 2015 at 21:48
Perhaps a hyperlink for we ‘challenged’ souls?
Is that what you want?
By: QldSpitty - 1st February 2015 at 21:32
If anyone is interested, I can post a reprint of the feature.
Yes please. 🙂
By: avion ancien - 1st February 2015 at 21:30
Perhaps a hyperlink for we ‘challenged’ souls?
By: wieesso - 1st February 2015 at 21:14
@Chitts – very nice find!
By: Chitts - 1st February 2015 at 18:11
If you type ‘Baby Hydroplane’ into youtube you will find a Pathe newsreel showing young Mr Porter taxiing his seaplane.
By: bazv - 31st January 2015 at 23:02
Great find Martin/wiesso – lovely pics 😀
By: J Boyle - 31st January 2015 at 22:58
When I was in the service, a neighbor, a B-52 commander, built his son a plywood Fokker Triplane that fit over his standard tricycle. Wingspan was 4 feet and length was about 5 feet
I wrote it up with plans (I went to the alert facility one night when he was on alert) and it was published in a national DIY woodworking magazine.
If anyone is interested, I can post a reprint of the feature.
By: chumpy - 31st January 2015 at 22:22
Agello with the MC72
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By: chumpy - 31st January 2015 at 22:20
For those on a budget there was this…(vintage postcard from the time). Plus Agello with the big-boys version!
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By: wieesso - 31st January 2015 at 21:24
You’re right! Virgina Water once was a famous place http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/windsor/info/grtpk.html#anchor445739
By: avion ancien - 31st January 2015 at 21:22
Well found, Martin. Those are much clearer images. However the sad feeling I have is that, perhaps, some ten years later that young lad might have been flying the real thing – in less idyllic, less innocent and more demanding circumstances.
By: wieesso - 31st January 2015 at 20:48
AA thanks so much for posting! Amazing model!
August 7, 1930
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Caption:A small boy riding in the model seaplane owned by Mr Porter of Virginia Water, Surrey.
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Caption:The model seaplane belonging to Mr Porter of Surrey being driven to the nearby lake, Virginia Waters strapped to the roof of a Rolls Royce.
Martin
By: Meddle - 31st January 2015 at 20:34
I hope father carried out a risk assessment first. Open bodies of water like that can harbor Leptospirosis for starters… emissions, hot exhaust pipes, spinning props, deep water, everything to make modern parents’ toes curl.
The aircraft looks wonderful and it would be nice to see some clearer photos and to learn of its fate.
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January 31, 2015 at 6:18 pm