Dave spent the winter working on a 1/2 scale model and the result can be seen looking magnificent on the left. This was, by the way, no simple task. Firstly all I know about this aircraft is the picture and a statement from my grandmother that it did actually fly. There are no plans and we don't even know how tall Toby was when the picture was taken - so "half-scale" is based on a fair bit of guess work. It is, for example, very difficult to judge the wingspan from the photograph. This picture was taken at a flying day held by Dave's modelling club, The Impington Village College Model Aeroplane Club near Cambridge, England, who's website you can view from the link. So, the next question was, would it actually fly???

The picture here on the right proves that it did, and very successfully. The picture on the left is Dave holding his model. OK, on the right my photography needs a little improvement but it wasn't easy getting the thing into the frame at all, let alone planning to avoid a bright light. In this picture the aircraft is flying left to right (it's a "pusher" with the prop at the back), it is turning to the left and climbing at the same time. At first the flight time was limited with some rather interesting vertical landings but by the end of the day, this plane was flying for 45 seconds and climbing right to the ceiling of the sports hall. Rather an impressive first day in the air for something built from just a 95 year old photograph.

The story doesn't end there though. It seems that this is just a prototype for "the real thing" which will be a full-scale version destined to take to the air sometime this summer out of doors at another meeting of the Club. I will of course be there when it happens and add the photos to this page. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Dave for his interest and enthusiasm and also The Impington Village College Model Aeroplane Club for making me so very welcome on their flying day in March. It was a fascinating event with some truly remarkable models on view. If you get the chance to attend one of their days then I would recommend it since the detail and performances of some of the models are quite incredible. Thanks guys! See you again in the summer!