Tag Archives: Old Warden

This is Not a Canberra or a Lightning!

The name English Electric is well known in aviation circles. Before it was subsumed into the British Aircraft Corporation, it had produced the Lightning interceptor and the Canberra bomber. The Lightning might have got more glory, but the Canberra was by far the more successful type with excellent performance. However, there is a lesser-known type that came from the company a long time before.

I first heard of the Wren when I read about it in Roly Beamont’s book. He was the chief test pilot at English Electric, and he described this vintage aircraft with very limited power that the company restored and hopped along the runway at Warton many years before I worked there. The aircraft now lives at Old Warden and it was brought out to fly during the Shuttleworth Festival of Flight. It was towed up to the far end of the field in preparation for its flight. The conditions were smooth, so it was going to be able to perform.

Having read that it was not over-endowed with power and that the Warton tests had involved some basic hops along the runway, this was what I had anticipated would be the case here. However, they were more ambitious. After flying the length of the field, a turn was made for a return run. I have to admit, when I first saw the turn, I did fear that all was not well. The whole flight was at low level, so the turn was also low. The angle made it look like the plane was heading for the trees. However, this was quite normal and in control. Even so, every turn made me tense up slightly. I guess by the end of the flight, I was getting used to it. Even so, it was quite unlike most flying I have watched.

Multiple passes were made during the flight. The light was definitely playing ball along certain parts of the passes so I was able to grab quite a few shots. It’s not the most elegant looking plane and I imagine the view for the pilot is pretty minimal. Even so, as rarities go, it is right up there so to see it fly was a nice result.

Vintage Buses at Old Warden

The Shuttleworth collection includes many vintage vehicles. Amongst these are buses. Some of them are on display in the hangars but some come out and get used to shuttle visitors around the grounds. During the air shows I went to this year, I saw a few of them on display and in use. I didn’t take a ride on either occasion, but I did grab some shots of them.

The Oldest Flying British Aircraft

The very earliest days of aviation meant a lot of experimenters and innovators were trying their hand at flying. Some had success and many didn’t. Most of those early planes were never preserved (and many probably didn’t deserve to be. Even those that led to further success for their creators didn’t necessarily get to survive because things were moving on so fast and the historical significance would only become apparent many years later.

Consequently, it is quite a treat when something this old not only survived but is still airworthy. The oldest flying British aircraft is the Blackburn Type D. I guess the fact it is a Type D tells you that Blackburn had three preceding types that either didn’t work or didn’t survive (or perhaps both). This plane dates to 1912 although the engine is a later version. It has been in Shuttleworth’s hands since the late 1930s and it will fly if the conditions are right. Fortunately, they were when I was there for the Festival of Flight.

Unlike the two older planes that flew before it, the Type D seemed a lot more capable a plane and it was able to climb and manoeuvre around the display area with relative ease. The conditions were good to it, and we got to enjoy a lot of time with it before it landed. An amazing piece of history to witness on display.

The Bleriot Gets Airborne – Just!

The Shuttleworth Trust has a Bleriot XI aircraft that is airworthy. This is not the first one I have seen because I saw the one Eric Presten kept in Sonoma, but I never got the chance to see that one fly. The Festival of Flight show at Old Warden had ideal conditions for flying the old planes and the Bleriot came out. They limit it to flying up and down the runway. No messing around with turns. Instead, they hop along the runway, turn around on the ground at the end and then come back.

It is not an overpowered aircraft, and I did wonder whether it would get airborne or not. It would bounce up off a bump and then fly along for a while, before settling back down. I don’t know how much they push the performance given that this is an extremely rare and valuable aircraft so maybe it could do more. However, watching it I did find myself wondering about what would make someone want to take something like this across the English Channel.

The Sky Was Looking Good But I Need the Sun!

Late in the day during the air show at Old Warden, I was really hoping for some lovely evening light to illuminate the planes as they display late in the day. The clouds towards the horizon were not assisting my mission. However, they did make for some pretty skies. Now, was this thwarting my hopes for aircraft photos? Yes, it was. Did that mean I wouldn’t take photos of the sky? Of course not!

I Need to Be Grateful to the Flamant

When I went to the military air show at Shuttleworth earlier in the year, I had a really good time. I then saw a bunch of advertising for the Festival of Flight which they described as their biggest show of the year. Having had a really good time previously, I didn’t feel a strong need to go back. I was quite happy to skip this one until… On the Friday, I saw some images from people that were there of the planes arriving. There was a lot of stuff there including all sorts of unusual old types. One plane in particular caught my attention and that was the Dassault Flamant.

Now I was thinking about going. Saturday we already had plans, and I wasn’t going to mess with those. Sunday was a bit more open, and the forecast was certainly looking better. When Nancy said she didn’t have anything specific she wanted to do, I made the decision to go. This was absolutely the right call. The show turned out to be an absolute blast. The afternoon displays were excellent and then, after the pause, the evening display was started a little early. I will talk about the rest of the show during other posts, but this one is all about the Flamant. A transport aircraft that Dassault built for the French military, a few of these are apparently still around. It is such an interesting looking plane and seeing it operate at close quarters in such a nice location was great.

Performers Keeping the Crowds Happy

As a plane guy, I can often be a bit dismissive of the non plane related things that are brought to air shows. I do realise that making an appealing day out for everyone is necessary and I am in the minority. The Shuttleworth show had some performers in the crowd to amuse the visitors. There were two women that were walking through the crowd on stilts. They were keen to engage with everyone which, of course, is what they are there for.

Additionally, there was a guy creating large bubble clouds. The kids were certainly loving these and I suspect a few adults were too even if they were pretending it was all for the kids. I love bubbles so I bet they might too.

The Conditions Are Calm at Last

During my first show at Old Warden, there was a reasonable amount of wind throughout the day. This was in the back of all of our minds, and we wondered whether things would calm down enough to launch the Edwardian planes later in the day. The forecast was not for this to happen. As the sun started to get lower in the sky, I was quietly optimistic that the wind would calm but it was proving me wrong for the longest time.

Then, very quickly, things seemed to change, and the organisers realised that there would be a chance to get some more fragile types up in the air. Then it was just a question of what would be willing to fly. Getting these vintage types airborne requires, skill and effort but also a bit of luck. They didn’t all play ball, but the Avro Triplane was up for the challenge. I know it is a reproduction but that doesn’t stop it being great to see it fly in the lovely evening conditions.

Getting the Shutter Speed Wrong Makes Editing Quicker

I have made this mistake before and, no doubt, I shall make this mistake again. Setting up the camera for one shot and then not changing the settings before shooting something else. I had the 200-800 lens on the camera, and I dropped the shutter speed down to 1/100th of a second for some take off shots. This is where I left it while shooting the flying display of a couple of aircraft. A long focal length and moving target with a slow shutter speed means that there are a ton of shots that are totally unusable. That really does help in the process of deleting shots. Most of them are toast. A few did survive and that was quite a relief!

These Old Cars Are a Bit Temperamental

There was a parade of old cars as part of the Festival of Flight at the Shuttleworth Trust. It was a very hot day so possibly not ideal for cars that were designed a very long time ago. Sadly, one of the vehicles found the conditions not to its liking. The driver had to hop out and see what could be done to sort it out. There didn’t seem to be an immediate solution as, the last I saw of it, a bunch of people were pushing it away. I hope it was nothing too serious. I suspect owning a car this old comes with regular moments of this type.