old sarum, Saturday afternoon
Would I be right in thinking whilst standing on Old Sarum fort at around 1630 this afternoon watching some modern a/c do circuits and bumps that a beautiful vintage taildragger was doing the same. What was it?, from distant memeories of standing in Plough Lane gazing over the expance of Croydon Airport of yesterday, it seemed like a Hilson Praga but with an inline engine rather than an the horizontally opposed one in the Hillson. I suspect that it might be the Foster Wickner that has starred on South Today, am I right ? if so what happened to the strangly named Foster?Wickner Dingbat that was stored in the sheds next to Plough Lane, Willy's Hole Aviation ?, also the Short Scion which sometimes ventured from the Air Enterprises hangar next to the main viewing enclosure.
I also rember the Accident in Ridge Park, on the high ground towards Banstead in about 1947, when a light twin, possibly a Gemeni crashed against a house, facing the direction it came from.
Living also on that high ground I found the sound of the early morning newspaper flights thundering over my parents house seemingly feet away from the roof somewhat disconcerting, perhaps thats why I have always been an early riser!