Tag Archives: Early Flying

March 26, 2012 · 1:28 pm

Inspiration for my novel writing ~ The five elements influencing my blog

There are now five major influences on my creative writing although these are ever evolving:

  1. My Family History ~ My quest to find out that my great-grandmother who was born on the island of Alderney and, not out of choice, relocated to Woolston Southampton.
  2. The island of Alderney itself. It is wild, beautiful and like no other and each time I visit I come to love it more.
  3. Woolston, Southampton, which holds many happy memories of visits to grandparents and holidays as a child.
  4. Social History ~ learning, and to a certain amount predicting, how events in history had an impact on everyday lives.
  5. Early Flight ~ With my uncle and grandpa working at Supermarine before the war, until it was bombed and they were relocated. Once I started my research I became fascinated by those early pilots; their daring in venturing into the unknown.

I have written a great deal about one, two and three above and so my next two blogs will focus on four and five. You can see these influences in the cloud of topics to the right hand side of this blog and, for those of you who like things neat and structured, I apologise. I can only follow where my heart leads me and I am glad many of you have enjoyed and shared my thoughts.

My ideas for future writing are beyond these five elements, but all seem to share a common thread.

What are the influences in your writing?

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September 29, 2011 · 2:23 pm

The History of Aviation – A personal journey of discovery

A few years ago, if you had predicted that I would be fascinated by old aircraft and that I would carry out a substantial amount of research into flying boats and early aircraft carriers; would be a member of the SVAS, the Shuttleworth Veteran Aviation Society and also  regularly attend air shows, I would have been highly amused.

Don’t misunderstand me. I have always been interested in history, especially social history, and thinking about the lives of the people who flew in, worked on or maintained these aircraft, has made them even more precious to me.

On Saturday I was privileged to attend a Meet the Pilot Flying Day at

Shuttleworth, and if you enjoy air museums and have not already done so,
visiting this airfield in the heart of the Bedfordshire countryside is a must.

Firstly we strolled among the aircraft, pulled out from their hanger museum for our delight. When I look closely at the 1938 Hawker Hind, I thought of my elderly friend Norman who, at 102 years of age still remembers being a Capstan machine operator, making nuts and bolts at Hawkers back in the thirties.

Then, reaching further back in time to the 1918 Bristol Fighter F2b, I can’t help but look closely at the wings and admire the webbed stitching, probably carried out by the first women allowed to work in the factories during WW1.

It was an amazing day. Half way through the superb exhibition of flight, the commentator willed us to concentrate on the air sacks across the field, and within an hour our wish was granted and the air was still; perfect for flying the Old Edwardians.

As the 1912 Blackburn Type D Monoplane, the oldest British aircraft still capable of flying in the world, took off we gasped with pleasure, enjoying every moment of the display. Then, as the sun dipped below the cloud line, leaving a sunset of many coloured hues, the 1909 Bleriot XI lifted off the ground, filling us with a collective sense that we were experiencing a never to be forgotten moment in history.

The BleriotXI 1909 – September 24th 2011

My next novel to reach the press will refect my growing interest in the history of aviation.

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