Seloco
11th Jul 2005, 07:28
Like millions of others I watched with large lump in throat as City of Lincoln flew down the Mall yesterday afternoon and dropped its load of poppies.
After the emotion had died down (as well as the realisation that I have in the past flown in three of the five Rapides that gloriously led the flypast....) I got to wondering: just how were all those poppies loaded into the Lanc's bomb bay in the first place? Were they simply lying in a pile on the closed doors? In which case how did they get there as I did not think that the bay is accessible from inside the aircraft? Or were they perhaps in some form of secondary container?
I'd love to know too just how easy/difficult it was to calculate the right point at which to initiate bomb door opening in order to ensure that the poppies did actually driftdown to the Mall; in other words, is poppy dropping a science or an inspired art?
Anyone out there who knows the answers? Whatever they are, it was the most fantastic and emotional sight.
After the emotion had died down (as well as the realisation that I have in the past flown in three of the five Rapides that gloriously led the flypast....) I got to wondering: just how were all those poppies loaded into the Lanc's bomb bay in the first place? Were they simply lying in a pile on the closed doors? In which case how did they get there as I did not think that the bay is accessible from inside the aircraft? Or were they perhaps in some form of secondary container?
I'd love to know too just how easy/difficult it was to calculate the right point at which to initiate bomb door opening in order to ensure that the poppies did actually driftdown to the Mall; in other words, is poppy dropping a science or an inspired art?
Anyone out there who knows the answers? Whatever they are, it was the most fantastic and emotional sight.