Saturday 31 July 2010

Green on Red


99% of my pans were properly framed - this one was perfect, except I didn't have the whole car. So I got arty!

Friday 30 July 2010

More Red Racing




The 2.5 litre straight six in the legendary Maserati 250F GP car. Twin cams, two plugs per cylinder, 280 bhp at 8000 rpm.

Thursday 29 July 2010

Red Racer


Ann liked the simple colour.

Wednesday 28 July 2010

Tuesday 27 July 2010

Les Camions les plus vites du Monde




I can't think what the French were talking about vis-a-vis the Bentleys when their Berliet cars looked like this. Nowadays, of course, they make only lorries. This restored chassis has an 8.25 litre aero engine. Note the exposed valve gear, and the exposed camshaft (just above the exhaust valves) - everything would have been covered in castor oil.

Monday 26 July 2010

Italian Style


Maserati at speed.

Sunday 25 July 2010

Blower Bentley




Images of an icon from the Classic Car Races at Silverstone this weekend. The supercharged Bentley won Le Mans five times, and the French called it the "fastest lorry in the world". Are they sore losers or are they sore losers?

Thursday 22 July 2010

Southern Martlet


Built at Shoreham in Sussex.

Wednesday 21 July 2010

Miss Kenya


One of only three de Havilland 51s built. Two went to Kenya, and this one came back. V8 engine, four-bladed prop - looks and sounds magnificent.

Monday 19 July 2010

Hawker Line-up


Demon in the foreground, Hind in the background. Where was one of the Nimrods?

Sunday 18 July 2010

Edwardians


As dusk falls over Old Warden, the Bristol Boxkite has landed, while the Avro Triplane is on short finals, steady as a rock in the hands of a frightfully keen chap.

Saturday 17 July 2010

Tutor 7


Fast and folding are OK, but beauty is something else.

Friday 16 July 2010

Spartan Executive







This aircraft was an executive express made in the mid-Thirties. It has a 300 hp Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior engine, and is fast. It looks and sounds like a T-6 (same inward-folding undercart) and handles well.

Thursday 15 July 2010

Cloudster engine


Having said that Rearwin aircraft were powered by Ken-Royce engines, closer inspection of G-EVLE's motor reveals that it is a Warner Scarab, a 125 bhp aero-engine of comparable vintage to the Cloudster.

Wednesday 14 July 2010

View from the Bridge


The Americans call their aircraft ships. This is Sally B's bridge, taken on a small compact camera.

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Sally B


What are the chances of all four props being at the same point at the same time?

Monday 12 July 2010

Bird Dog


The Cessna O-1 was a spotter aircraft used in Vietnam. Here it is slow flying, with the barn door flaps being compensated for by high engine power, hence the rudder deflection.

Saturday 10 July 2010

Dragonflies



Barton Pits this morning. 400mm lens, 1/2000 @ f/8, manual exposure, manual focus.

Thursday 8 July 2010

Rearwin 8125 Cloudster


Rearwin Aircraft was founded in 1928 by Ray Rearwin; his sons Ken and Royce built the engines. This model had 125bhp, cruised at 125mph for 625 miles (7 gph), had a ceiling of 17,000 feet and landed at 48 mph. Impressive stats, but not the most beautiful aircraft ever seen.

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Super Cub


Its tundra tyres make it look like a model aeroplane.

Tuesday 6 July 2010

!!!!


Actually, the Lysander was peeling off from echelon starboard ...

Monday 5 July 2010

Tutor 6


As well as the Americans, my favourite aircraft was flying!

Sunday 4 July 2010

Independence Day



Americans at Old Warden. Nice to see 'Sally B' back in the air.

Saturday 3 July 2010

Cortina Twin Cam




The first high-revving sports car for the masses, with a Lotus twin cam head mated to a 1500cc Ford block.