Just thought I'd post this link to our blog for a very special Remembrance Day event:
AIRCO DH.2
We are flying the replica Airco DH2 based at Wickenby in Lincolnshire to France for the 11 November 11. The aircraft, accompanied by its Chipmunk support aircraft, has reached Headcorn in Kent where it is waiting for good weather to hopefully make the crossing to the Somme tomorrow. On Friday afternoon it will perform a flypast during the unveiling ceremony of a new memorial to Major Lanoe Hawker VC, DSO; Hawker was the first 'ace' of the RFC, the first airman to be awarded the VC for aerial combat and the first Commanding Officer of Number 24 Squadron, the first single seat all-fighter squadron.
Having led 24 Sqn to defeat the 'Fokker scourge' and gain air supremacy over the Somme sector (his famous tactic: 'Attack everything!') he was killed on 23 Nov 16 after an epic encounter with the then unknown Manfred Von Richthofen. His defeat effectively marked the end of RFC domination in the face of new advanced German fighters & the road to 'Bloody April' 1917.
Whilst in France the DH2 will also be appearing at the Thiepval Memorial just after 1100 to make a poppy drop. It will be the first of its type to cross the Channel & fly over the Western Front since 1918.
Bert Angel