ThamesMOG members joined more than 30 other Morgans from various local Centres for a splendid day at the West Tisted Vintage Fly-in. It is a fly-in for vintage mostly aircraft and the pilots vintage mainly. I lost count how many classic and vintage aircraft were there. They ranged from 15 Tiger Moths to a Harvard T-6 trainer owned by the pop start Gary Nuwman.
Also there was a surprise from Reading. What some of you might not know is that Reading was a centre for aircraft production, based at Woodley Aerodrome, Reading, on what is now Woodley town east of Reading.
In the years before WW2, numerous aviators visited Woodley, including Charles Lindbergh and Amy Johnson. Douglas Bader lost his legs in a flying accident on the airfield in 1931. He was in the RAF and had been forbidden from doing low level stunts because of the danger. He recorded the accident in his log book "Crashed slow-rolling near ground. Bad show".
In 1937 Phillips & Powis Aircraft (Reading) Ltd started production of the Miles Magister, a two-seat monoplane basic trainer aircraft. It quickly became praised for its handling qualities, increasing the safety and ease of pilot training, while also delivering comparable performance to contemporary monoplane frontline fighters of the era. A fine example of one these trainers was just one of many different aircraft at the fly-in.
It was a splendid day out and one we would hope to repeat another year. We would like to thank SogMOG for the invite, and John Glover for arranging such lovely and interesting day.