TERRY SMITH tells us how a birthday treat turned into a new product from Oxford Diecast.
As I might have mentioned in my intro to the first issue of Flight Lines, I have done a little flying. Not enough to pass my test, but enough to get a plane in the air, fly it to a destination and land it with an instructor on board. All of my official lessons were in a Piper PA28 with one hour in a PA38, but you have never gone real flying until you go up in an open cockpit biplane.
About 5 years ago for my birthday present I was given a 1 hour flight in a DH82, commonly known as the De Havilland Tiger Moth. The Moth in question is G-AMNN and is the oldest aircraft in service at Shoreham Airport. It has, in recent times, been named the 'Spirit of Pashley' in honour of Cecil Pashley MBE, who flew nearly 19,000 hours mainly training pilots during both world wars. This plane first entered service with the RAF in 1940 and must have been flown by hundreds, if not thousands, of trainee pilots. It's hard to believe that our young men would do maybe 8-12 hours in one of these and then be let loose in a Spitfire; it would be like passing your test in Fiesta and then being thrown behind the wheel of an F1 car!
The Moth is one of a collection of aircraft operated by Perryair and I was to go up with Ian Perry himself. After asking me a few questions about my experience before take-off, he told me that I would be sitting in the front and doing most of the flying. He then added that the intercom only worked from him to me and that one tap on my right shoulder would mean I had control, with two taps indicating that he had it back. As I had never taxied in a tail dragger before, Ian took us up but almost seconds into the air I felt the tap and I was flying.
He had already told me that I basically had carte blanche to fly where I wanted, so I turned the plane round 180 degrees and headed towards the South Downs and then on towards Pulborough. I have to say, it is a wonderful experience flying without a canopy and the Moth is so easy to control - just a simple stick between your legs - I would urge anyone that fancied doing this to give it a go. Just before landing he tapped twice on my shoulder and said we were going to climb so he could perform a barrel-roll! I thought Ian was joking but as we climbed sharply and almost reached a stall, he then dived and flipped the Moth over 360 degrees, very impressive for such an old aircraft.
When we got back to his office to order my own DVD of the flight, I noticed that Ian had a few aviation novelties for sale, but no nice models of his Tiger Moth. Thinking on my feet I said, if I could pull it off would he be interested in a highly detailed diecast model of his plane in a presentation box – it would be something people could take home as memento after their flight? “Of course” was the reply, so I set about convincing Oxford Diecast to produce a model of “'Pash'. They were very interested as it turned out, and sent a researcher down to Shoreham to take photos and gain information. Finally, the model was released as OD72TM007 and it is fair to say that Perryair did buy quite a few, with them kindly presenting me with a model as a thank you for getting it done.
Biggles looks relaxed! Before the flight I was kitted out with fleece lined boots, flying jacket and a leather helmet – very becoming...
Normally I would taxi out and take-off, but your visibility is severely hampered sitting so high up at the front – I let Ian do it!
Just moments into the flight though and I already have control of an Iconic Tiger Moth, unforgettable.
I was instrumental in bringing this model to market. This is the wonderful 1:72 scale model of 'Pash' produced by Oxford Diecast.