WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust

We exist solely to keep the Aviation Legacy of World War 1 alive!

WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust Lands at Bicester Heritage

BE2 at Bicester 8 Sep

Bicester – November 2014

The WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust (WAHT) is delighted to announce the establishment of its new base at Bicester Heritage (BH), the former RAF station that is now the United Kingdom’s unique business park dedicated to the use, preservation and restoration of historic vehicles and aircraft.

The first aircraft touched the grass at Bicester in 1911 and by 1917 the Royal Flying Corps had firmly established themselves, making this the perfect centre for WAHT. WAHT’s new home at Bicester Heritage is the historic (and quite possibly the UK’s last remaining) 1926 Fire Party Hut. Found in highly original condition the corrugated steel exterior has been sympathetically restored and painted in British Standard colours, with a welcoming wooden interior soon to be decked out in period style.

The arrival of WAHT’s two Royal Aircraft Factory BE2es at Bicester Heritage will allow WAHT to achieve its objective of advancing education of the evolution of military aviation in the Great War for the Centenary period. WAHT will reach out to the local and regional schools to set up a comprehensive programme of visits to their hangar at Bicester Heritage and to set up a hub to rekindle public interest in technical skills. Daniel Geoghegan, Managing Director of Bicester Heritage, remarked that “WAHT and Bicester Heritage are focused on the future of skills, education and knowledge: a World War I airfield in the centre of the UK is the perfect location.”

This significant opportunity has been made possible by the kind support of The Vintage Aviator Ltd (TVAL) of Wellington NZ, who built and operate the two BE2es now in the care of Bicester Heritage’s on site storage company Historit. In conjunction with TVAL, WAHT plans on rotating many flying examples of WW1 aircraft between BH and New Zealand – a DH2, Tabloid, Morane Type F and an Eindecker to name but a few. Hopes of establishing a permanent core of aircraft at BH are developing swiftly with an excellent collection of aircraft recently pledged for the Centenary period to WAHT by the German Collector, Oliver Wulff, who is also a Trustee of WAHT.

WAHT and Bicester Heritage look forward to providing further updates as the news on this exciting venture unfolds. “WAHT’s arrival is the most significant signal yet of Bicester Heritage’s support for early aviation and commemorating the role it played in World War I.” (Daniel Geoghegan, MD, Bicester Heritage).  “WAHT has been looking for a base for over a year and we now look forward to complementing all aspects of Bicester Heritage’s ambitious programme in the air and on the ground as the perfect backdrop for reaching out to the Nation of all ages about aviation’s role in the Great War.” (Dick Forsythe, Chief Trustee, WAHT)

About The WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust (WAHT):

 

The WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust Aircraft Collection intends to provide an enduring flying collection of World War I Allied and German aircraft based in the UK flying from heritage sites. WAHT will:

  • Advance understanding of the history of the evolution of military aviation during the Great War by flying displays, dioramas and educational courses as a testament to the men and machines and their sacrifice.
  •  Demonstrate at air shows in the UK, in 2014-2018 and beyond, how the aircrews, technology and tactics evolved during WW1.
  •  Support fly-pasts and static displays at commemorative events, apprenticeships in vintage aircraft preservation and the restoration and reproduction of historic aircraft.

General Enquiries:

Dick Forsythe, Chief Trustee

Tel:         +44 (0)870 919 1914

Email:     info@ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk

 

About Bicester Heritage:

Bicester Heritage is the UK’s first and only business campus dedicated to historic motoring and aviation, situated on the former RAF Bicester station.  The organisation’s aim is to bring together the best of breed of the UK’s cottage industry of specialists on this important and atmospheric site in order to promote not just the preservation but, specifically, the use of vintage aeroplane and motorcars.

www.bicesterheritage.co.uk

Twitter: BicesterH            Facebook: BicesterHeritage        Instagram: bicesterheritage

Press and general enquiries:

Philip White and Tiggy Atkinson

Bicester Heritage

Tel:         +44 (0)1869 327928

Email:     pw@bicesterheritage.co.uk

ta@bicesterheritage.co.uk

                

Recent Posts
  • Send Your Poems to the Battlefields in our Plane

    Write your WW1 poems on paper seeded with memorial flowers. Join the 2500 other children that have already done so. See your thoughts grow into flowers on the battlefields where so many soldiers died. WW1 Poetry Registration (ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk)

  • Essex Primary Schools Reaching for the Sky

    The WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust together with YES Young Flyers completed their18-month journey visiting 60+ Primary Schools in Essex with the WW1AHT Simulator in July 2024 – thanks to a grant from the CAA’s Reach For the Sky Initiative.  One hundred and thirty-seven schools applied for the day visit so we hope this will become an enduring feature. We have applied for a further grant from the CAA for 2025 and 70 schools have applied for a visit. The Programme is to encourage and inform Years 5 and 6 about careers in aviation. It is important that they understand the origins of the flying machine and it how it surged into the front pages over a hundred years ago in World War 1. It is equally important that they are made aware of the sacrifice in the Great War as the subject disappears from the syllabus in English schools. SE5a Simulator This is exactly what the Trust is doing by visiting the Schools with their WW1 Flight Simulator.  The Pupils are all motivated by the prospect of a flight in a simulator designed in 1915 based on WW1 SE5a fighter with a VR game that includes all the missions available to a Scout pilot as they were known back in the day. While not in the Sim, they take part in a quiz about the life and times of the simulator’s designer, Major Lanoe Hawker VC DSO RFC, and take part in poetry writing workshop based on the Great War which culminates in each of them writing a poem on seeded paper as a part of another of WW1AHT’s initiatives – The Poetry Plane. This is a collaborative effort with the Poetry Postie, ArtConnexion, Hautmont College, Somme Tourism, Le Quesnoy Kiwi Association and the Sir John Monash Museum. Over 3500 poems were dropped from our Plane over the commemorations for the Battle of the Somme, Wilfred Owen and the Kiwi Division of Le Quesnoy on 1 Jul 2024 where they were collected and planted by those attending as an act of remembrance and reconciliation.  The British, French and German Memorial Flowers (Poppy, Cornflower, and Forget-me-Not) are the seeds in the paper. French and German children also wrote poems as part of a wider initiative to expand the Poetry Plane concept around the world. We have much bigger plans to include Australian, Canadian and US children in writing poems in 2025. The children in any country can join in. WW1AHT provide lesson plans, videos and links to the seeded paper as part of the concept. Watch out for updates on the plans for 2025 coming before Christmas . We plan to return to the Somme and Le Quesnoy on 1 Jul 2025 and hope also to deliver poems at the Remembrance Service at the UK National Memorial Arboretum in November 2025. Sam Dunne, the Headteacher at Colne Engaine Primary School, wrote after our visit: I would just like to say another big thank you for the wonderful opportunity the children had today.  The whole session was so very well organised, and the children have been talking about it all afternoon. They thoroughly enjoyed learning the history in class and then experiencing the simulator. We are full swing with some wonderful poetry too. Opportunities like today are those golden moments, moments that make children aspirational about their futures and know more about the endless opportunities there are out there for the taking. Who knows we may have another aviation enthusiast joining you or seeking out a new interest!  Thank you for bringing your knowledge and enthusiasm to our little school and of course being part of such a brilliant STEM opportunity. The poetry-writing was not restricted to Great Britain and N Ireland but children from France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand were invited to participate. We hope to expand it further in 2025. A small team of 8 WW1 AHT & YES volunteers are giving freely of their time.  Each visit involves 3 members of the Team for 6 hours on site – 1500 hours of volunteering.  The Programme would not be possible without the Twins, Ant and Ed, who drive the Simulator to each location and ensure its safe operation during each visit. If you want to know more, please contact dick.forsythe@ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk

  • Did you Miss It – WW1 AHT Chat Session 5-5.

    The Best Fighters of WW1 and Their Tactics On 28 Feb 2023, the WW1 AHT Pilots and Friends had their final chat session of the Winter 2033/23. The Session provides a summary of the Scout Development over the 4 years discussed by Year in the previous sessions. It also covered the tactics that evolved as the aircraft became more capable. The pace of development was set by the German Ace, Boelcke, who was the first to codify fighter tactics with his Dicta that became the byword for fighter pilots for the rest of the century. He also was major influence of the transition of the Fliegertruppe into the Luftkeitkrafte empowering German tactics to the maximum advantage. All this before his untimely death, as with his famous protégé – Richtofen, by the age of 25. Want to know more? https://ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk/index.php/product/the-best-fighters-of-ww1-and-their-tactics/

  • WW1 AHT Chat Session 5-5, The Best Fighters of WW1 & What Had They Learned By The End of The War

    As our Final Chat of this Winter season (22/23), the WW1 AHT pilots and friends will review the best Fighting Scouts of WW1 which cannot be done without framing the progression of aerial warfare from unarmed reconnaissance in 1914 to Wings of Fighters in mortal combat at astonishing altitudes over N France without oxygen by 1918. Join us on Tue Feb 28th at 1930 UTC to learn more. The Best Fighters of WW1 & What Had They Learned by the End of the War (ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk)

  • WW1 AHT Chat Session 4-5, The Fighting Scouts, 1918, A Bitter Climax

    Welcome to the 4th of five Chats on the evolution of the Scout into the fighter role that survives to this day – although the term fighter was a post-war connotation. One of the most frightening statistics is that over 2051 of the 4733 air combat casualties in N France occurred between April 1918 and the Armistice.  The WW1 AHT Pilots and Friends will chat about their experiences flying these planes. This is now only available Pay Per View

  • Did You Miss It? Chat 3-5 The Fighters of 1917

    The WW AHT Panel of Pilots from NZ and UK explored the good, bad and the ugly of both Allied and German Fighting Scouts that graced the skies over N France in 1917 from their experiences of flying them today. From the Albatros to the DH5, the Fokker DR1 to the SE5a, the Sopwith Camel to the Halberstadt and many more. Click the link to find out more

  • Chat Session 3-5, The fighting Scouts of 1917

    This is the third of our monthly chat sessions where we have been discussing the evolution of the Scout aeroplane as a fighter aircraft year by year with our pilots and their friends that fly them today. 1917 was a crucial year for the development of fighter tactics setting some of the primary principles that survive to this day. If you would like to to learn more join us for our Christmas Special at the link below. All proceeds go to help us keep our aeroplanes flying. To join the meeting, find the instructions in your My Account/Orders on our website once you have paid. Tue 20th December 2022, 1930 UTC

  • Chat 2-5, 1916 Scout (Fighter) Development, The Stuff of Legends

    Join us on Thur 17th November 2022 at 1930 UTC Want To Know More Fokker DIV

  • WW1 AHT Winter 2022 Pilot Chat Part 1-5, The Verdict

    From one who was there on the night. ‘I attended the first session of the WW1 AHT Winter Chats Programme 2022, and it was a fascinating insight into the development of the scout (fighter) aircraft of WW1 during 1914-1915. The panel presentation involved a range of pilots with current experience of flying some of these early aircraft and they gave a real insight into how these amazing aircraft performed and the challenges they faced. Their fascinating commentary was very well illustrated by a great range of photos and film, both historic and current, of these diverse early scout aircraft.’ If you missed the Chat, it is available at this link The next Chat covers 1916 which saw an Explosion of Fighter Scouts as both sides started vying in earnest for sufficient control of the air to conduct the vital roles of reconnaissance, artillery spotting, aerial photography. We have photos and videos of all these aircraft as reproductions. Some rarely seen as they did not pass into operational production in significant numbers – Halberstadt, Fokker DIV, BE12. Others became the stuff of legends – DH2, Nieuport 11 & 17, Albatros DII and Sopwith Pup. Don’t miss it. Thursday 17 November 1930 UTC

  • Weird and Wonderful Pilot Chats Programme Winter 2022 | Session 1 | Scout (Fighter) Development WW1, 1914-1915

    Some amazing aeroplanes made it to Northern France at the start of WW1.  None of them were armed.  The idea of air combat grew as they found themselves in the same air space wishing to deny the other side uninterrupted reconnaissance. Pistols, rifles, even grappling hooks lowered on a rope were the first attempts to engage the enemy.  By 1915, machine guns had made an entrance but the spoils went to the Eindecker as the first flying gun firing through the propeller achieving the its first kill in July 1915.  From them on it was mayhem until the allies found the answer in early 1916. Our Panel of expert pilots who regularly such aircraft will debunk the myths. Find out more with our Panel of WW1 aviation experts on Thur 13th Oct at 1930 UK. The whole Programme can be found here.

About WW1AHT

WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust Ltd

We intend to provide an enduring flying collection of World War I Allied and German aircraft based in the UK flying from heritage sites like Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome.

Company No 8753767

Registered Charity No 1156699

Contact:

+44 870 9191914
info@ww1aht.co.uk
rockingnacelle@ww1aht.co.uk

Photography

With thanks to Darren Harbar, Huw Hopkins, Leigh Smith and Russell Savory for their magnificent photographs

Policies:

Complaints Procedures

Privacy and Cookie Policy

Affiliated Organisations

Art Connexion
Yes Flyers | UK Youth Aviation Education
Sally Crabtree – Poetry Postie, Pushing the Envelope of Poetry

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Newsup by Themeansar.