Margaret very kindly let me go out to play for the whole weekend. On the Saturday I drove over to attend the Light Aircraft Association Rally at Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire. The LAA is responsible for the administration of home built aircarft. It performs a similar role for those aircraft that no longer have manufacture support. I was therefore able to walk amongst a huge variety of aircraft.
This picture is of a Jodel D9 single seat, open cockpit aircraft. It is home-built and powered by a converted Volkswagen engine. In many ways it is typical of the type of aircraft I was able to see. The picture also gives some idea of the scene and the fact that a cold wind was blowing from the north the whole time I was there !
I stayed overnight in a hotel before joining friends at the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire. I was treated to an excellent picnic lunch (thank you again Sally), to an excellent airshow, and to surprisingly warm weather. The sunshine will certainly have topped up everybody's vitamin D.
The picture shows just two of the wonderful old aircraft that have been restored to flying condition by the Shuttleworth Collection which contains both aircraft and vehicles. It was wonderful meet up with friends and to be allowed "out" by Margaret.
One final news item: The gentleman who bought the aircraft salvage after my incident last year, has been in touch to ask if I might want to buy it back once it is restored later this year. We will just have to see !
This month's saying is thus especially apt:
As men get older, the toys get more expensive
(Marvin Davis)
Keep well and YOLO
Stephen
