Take A Leaf Out Of Lettice's Book

A wonderful afternoon in lovely sunshine at The Shuttleworth Collection. Ollie dog was beautifully behaved and I very much enjoyed the company of an old mate who I met there. 

As soon as the Spitfire above took to the air and the commentator said that it was flying in tribute to Lettice Curtis, the legendary female aviator, who flew when the weather was too bad for most others to fly, I knew that was going to be my blip. I love hearing about feisty, can-do women. The intrepid Lettice was the most remarkable woman pilot of the Second World War and gained her helicopter licence at at the age of 77. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10991463/Lettice-Curtis-obituary.html I made a comment to my mate about a character called Lettice Leefe and he had never heard of her. It turns out that 'Lettice Leefe, the greenest girl in school' was created by John Ryan, the creator of Captain Pugwash, for Girl, the companion mag to the Eagle.

I think my favourite plane of the day was the shiny and powerful Spartan Executive. I took a pic of our freshly restored Triumph TR4 in front of one a few years ago at a Panshanger Revival. So sad that the North London Flying Club at Panshanger airfield no longer exists as the land has been sold for housing. :(

It turned quite cold towards the evening but it was calm enough for the Edwardians to fly. I've never seen the Blackburn Type D, Britain's oldest airworthy aeroplane from 1912,  and the French Deperdussin from 1910 in the air before. (Extras) What an absolute thrill!