Hi Jeff
There's not actually a John Lewis at brooklands (although we did used to have fitted kitchen factory based there until a few years ago!) The nearest John Lewis is in Kingston-upon-Thames in Surrey, about 10 miles away.
The remarkable Vickers VC10....
Yes, Kingstown-on-Thames is the John Lewis location I was thinking about. It appears to be a nice shopping area. I think Kew Gardens is somewhere nearby.
This is really unusual. I was reading your message when Ken Bruce just mentioned "It's Getting Better" by Mama Cass. I know it's one of your favourites and Ken said it's a great song. It's a song I will always associate with you (along with A Little Bit of Heaven by the amazing and lovely Lisa Stansfield).
It's funny how I now associate different songs with Matt Monro forum members. When I hear a certain song, I will think of a forum member. I think I see a new game in the horizon.
This is really unusual. I was reading your message when Ken Bruce just mentioned "It's Getting Better" by Mama Cass. I know it's one of your favourites and Ken said it's a great song. It's a song I will always associate with you (along with A Little Bit of Heaven by the amazing and lovely Lisa Stansfield). It's funny how I now associate different songs with Matt Monro forum members. When I hear a certain song, I will think of a forum member. I think I see a new game in the horizon.
I believe The Liberty Belle in on view at Duxford this weekend. From the same wartime squadron as the famous Memphis Belle.
"July 4th Independence day, the Yanks are back. The Liberty Belle and crew made a grand arrival this morning in Duxford completing the very historic flight to England.
The Liberty Foundation salutes all soldiers of World War II on this important American holiday."
Marian
"July 4th Independence day, the Yanks are back. The Liberty Belle and crew made a grand arrival this morning in Duxford completing the very historic flight to England.
The Liberty Foundation salutes all soldiers of World War II on this important American holiday."
Marian
I thought maybe Michael would be interested in this small museum in Woodley in Berkshire. It was where our MG route took us a couple of Sundays ago, when the sun was actually shining.
This is an excerpt from the account of the day..
"Berkshire's dynamic contribution to aviation history is graphically re-captured at the museum. Run as a charitable trust, the museum is at the historic site of Woodley Airfield, near Reading - once the centre of a thriving aircraft industry. Miles and Handley Page aircraft built at Woodley and of course Fairey Aviation at nearby White Waltham, aircraft are being re-constructed and exhibited along with fascinating pictorial records and priceless archives.
The Museum of Berkshire Aviation, in Mohawk Way, Woodley, is crammed full of memorabilia and aircraft hardware from the heyday of aviation.
It focuses on Miles Aircraft, which was based in Woodley Airfield – then called Reading Aerodrome – from 1932 until the late 1940s and ML Aviation (MLA), based in White Waltham from the late 1930s until recent years.
Many of the projects worked on by MLA were for the Ministry of Defence and classified top secret. These included black boxes, ejector seats, pressurised helmets, a flying jeep and a remote-controlled flying surveillance unit, called the Sprite – Surveillance, Patrol, Reconnaissance, Intelligence, Target designator, Electronic warfare.
It was at Woodley that Douglas Bader, later to become a legend as a Battle of Britain fighter pilot, lost his legs in a flying accident in 1931. It was the staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading that saved his life. He later went on to be a keen golfer and flew his own Miles Aircraft."
Marian
This is an excerpt from the account of the day..
"Berkshire's dynamic contribution to aviation history is graphically re-captured at the museum. Run as a charitable trust, the museum is at the historic site of Woodley Airfield, near Reading - once the centre of a thriving aircraft industry. Miles and Handley Page aircraft built at Woodley and of course Fairey Aviation at nearby White Waltham, aircraft are being re-constructed and exhibited along with fascinating pictorial records and priceless archives.
The Museum of Berkshire Aviation, in Mohawk Way, Woodley, is crammed full of memorabilia and aircraft hardware from the heyday of aviation.
It focuses on Miles Aircraft, which was based in Woodley Airfield – then called Reading Aerodrome – from 1932 until the late 1940s and ML Aviation (MLA), based in White Waltham from the late 1930s until recent years.
Many of the projects worked on by MLA were for the Ministry of Defence and classified top secret. These included black boxes, ejector seats, pressurised helmets, a flying jeep and a remote-controlled flying surveillance unit, called the Sprite – Surveillance, Patrol, Reconnaissance, Intelligence, Target designator, Electronic warfare.
It was at Woodley that Douglas Bader, later to become a legend as a Battle of Britain fighter pilot, lost his legs in a flying accident in 1931. It was the staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading that saved his life. He later went on to be a keen golfer and flew his own Miles Aircraft."
Marian
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michduncg
- Posts: 1332
- Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:03 pm
- Location: Oxon, UK (Originally from Yorkshire)
Hi Marian
Thanks for thinking of me with your note there - I was aware that Handley Page were based around Reading, but not Miles Aircraft as well.
HP were pretty well known and built some classic aircraft including the classic HP42 'Hannibal' & 'Heracles' bi-plane airliners of the early 1930's. Famously described as having 'built in headwinds', these aircraft managed to scrape 100mph while the Germans and the Yanks were pushing at 200mph with their contemporary machines. Imperial Airways, the HP42 operator, claimed that its slow speed allowed a 5 course meal to be served on the 2 hour flight to Paris! Just 30 years later, BEA Tridents managed to operate a 45 minute service to Paris, although curiously the journey time has now gone back up to 1 hr.
Anyway - Miles were designing the worlds 1st supersonic aircraft in the mid 1940s but the project was cancelled before the 1st prototype flew, and all of the research was handed to the US under the Marshall Plan. Good old British support of new technology!
Thanks for thinking of me with your note there - I was aware that Handley Page were based around Reading, but not Miles Aircraft as well.
HP were pretty well known and built some classic aircraft including the classic HP42 'Hannibal' & 'Heracles' bi-plane airliners of the early 1930's. Famously described as having 'built in headwinds', these aircraft managed to scrape 100mph while the Germans and the Yanks were pushing at 200mph with their contemporary machines. Imperial Airways, the HP42 operator, claimed that its slow speed allowed a 5 course meal to be served on the 2 hour flight to Paris! Just 30 years later, BEA Tridents managed to operate a 45 minute service to Paris, although curiously the journey time has now gone back up to 1 hr.
Anyway - Miles were designing the worlds 1st supersonic aircraft in the mid 1940s but the project was cancelled before the 1st prototype flew, and all of the research was handed to the US under the Marshall Plan. Good old British support of new technology!
Michael
Here I go again, I hear those trumpets blow again.......
Here I go again, I hear those trumpets blow again.......
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Lena & Harry Smith
- Posts: 21514
- Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:05 am
- Location: London UK
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cmartin_ok
- Posts: 104
- Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:27 pm
- Location: Surrey, UK
(ho hum) I was lucky enough to win a ticket to the Brooklands 100 years celebrations last year and I can confirm that the VC10 was there, fitted out like a flying palace. Having checked the photos I took that day, sadly I don't have any of it. There is also a Concorde there, which you have to pay extra to visit, and the "model Concorde" that stood outside the Heathrow tunnel for so many years until its place was taken by a model A380 Superjumbo
Re: The remarkable Vickers VC10....
Monrovians....
Geeez ...I love this forum !!
The more I look around this site , the more gems I find.
Matt Monro AND British aeroplanes - what better topics could there be.??
I am staggered to see how many of you have had involvement with the industry.
I only ever got 'up close' to a VC-10 at Filton near Bristol in 1995 when BAeS were doing checks on our (QANTAS) A300's.
The VC-10's were being modified as tankers for the RAF.
I seem to recall the aircraft's fuel capacity alone was more than the empty weight of a Boeing 727. Wow.
And those RR Conways....what a sweet racket. What a world beating aeroplane.
Of the Brits that emigrated to Oz in the 60's many came from various parts of the UK aircraft industry to work with Trans-Australia Airlines..
As a TAA apprentice I recall talking to a bloke named Harry Cook who worked on the TSR-2 line. He said grown men were crying like babies when the production
jigs were cut up. You've got to wonder about politicians don't you..
Geeez ...I love this forum !!
The more I look around this site , the more gems I find.
Matt Monro AND British aeroplanes - what better topics could there be.??
I am staggered to see how many of you have had involvement with the industry.
I only ever got 'up close' to a VC-10 at Filton near Bristol in 1995 when BAeS were doing checks on our (QANTAS) A300's.
The VC-10's were being modified as tankers for the RAF.
I seem to recall the aircraft's fuel capacity alone was more than the empty weight of a Boeing 727. Wow.
And those RR Conways....what a sweet racket. What a world beating aeroplane.
Of the Brits that emigrated to Oz in the 60's many came from various parts of the UK aircraft industry to work with Trans-Australia Airlines..
As a TAA apprentice I recall talking to a bloke named Harry Cook who worked on the TSR-2 line. He said grown men were crying like babies when the production
jigs were cut up. You've got to wonder about politicians don't you..
"We should have met, Some years ago"