WW1 AHT Albatros and BE2 Display at Last

With rain and thunderstorms threatening, it was a great relief for the weather at Stow Maries to be warm and the wind light, albeit increasingly easterly across the runway in the afternoon last Sunday 25th July. It was also a great pleasure to have the BE2 and the Albatros serviceable and ready to go for which our thanks go to the Culture Recovery Fund and the DCMS for making it all possible. The top picture captures graphically how even more poorly placed the BE2s were when the Albatros appeared having suffered harshly with the Eindeckers. Something the crews had to endure till the summer of 1917 when eventually the RE8s started replacing the BE2. Bravely flown on Sunday by Jonathan Marten-Hale, there was little he could do prevent Jean-Michel Munn the Albatros acquiring firing positions at will. Is is a great shame that David Bremner could not join the fray in the Bristol Scout because of the crosswind especially as his team came from far and wide to be in Essex for the weekend. At least, he had the consolation of a flight in the morning. My thanks to the WW1 AHT team, Terry Dann as FDD, and all the Stow volunteers for making it all happen. DF

Pilot Chat Sessions – Rain Check

In the last 5 months, the WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust pilots have given 5 Pilot Chat sessions about their experiences flying the Trust aircraft that you see above. The Bristol Scout built, owned, and flown by David Bremner joined us for the last session about our return to Northern France for the Centenary Commemoration of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 2016. We think that with the end of the lockdown in sight that you all need a break from Zoom and propose to start again in September as the nights draw in. The remaining programme can be found here.

The break gives an opportunity to aim and adjust. It would be great if you could conduct our short survey to see how we might improve the sessions. If you missed the chance to see these fascinating insights into flying these old machines, they are available pay per view £5 Plus VAT through links on the Programme page .