FAKEi\HAM RALLY

by IOFIN BLAKE

On Saturday, 2}th February, the Fakenham Flying Group staged the flrst of the season's Rallies, to enable Group Captain Collard, who is Member of Parliament for Norfolk North and the Secretary of the Conservative Party's Aviation Committee, to see something of the way in which Groups operate light aircraft.

In spite of weather that was keeping the circuit-bashers well in sight of the aerodromes we pushed off bravely on the Lancashire Aircraft Company's Prospector into murk that turned out to be perfectly flyable-in fact. what looked from the ground like a thoroughly unflyable day turned out to have a visibility of four to six miles with a cloud base of flfteen hundred to two thousand feet. Under this, we slipped happily along all the way to northern Norfolk.

We were not the only ones to find that the weather was perfectly flyable. Sixteen visiting afucraft turned up to welcome Group Captain Collard and in spite of wind gusting to 20-25 knots at times and driving rain, all the modern visitors, the Pipers, the Propectors and the Prentice, demonstrated their performances before the spectators and the television cameras.

Group Captain Collard himseif flew the Prospector and the Turbulent and has accepted honorary membership of the Fakenham Group and the Tiger Club.

Another Member of Parliament, Mr. J. A. Leavey, M.P., was present, having arrived i:r the Piper Apache with the Marquess of Kildare. It is most important that the government of this country be made aware of the strides now being made in light aviation and these visits by Members of Parliament to active airflelds are of immense value. We have lost, iir Mr. Frank Beswick, a good friend of flying in the House, but it seems likely that more than one Member is interesting himself in our activities.

The programme consisted of a fly-past, as mentioned, of a number of aircraft and was

Popular Flying, MarchlApril, 1960

Eddie McAully (whose a:robatics are well worth watching; he was having a quiet work-out with the Bishop on Sunday morning that was a joy to soe). A visiting Olympia, flown by Barry Ternpest, also went through a repertoire of aerobatics. Ken O'Rourke, who made a parachute jump from the Prospector later in the programme, found himself taxying very fast down-wind at one point, on his way to tug the glider with ANFO, causing Norman Jones, coming along up-wind in the Jodel, to feel his brakes in a thoughtful manner. The four Turbulents made two formation runs across the aerodrome in very gusty conditions, but held their own aqainst the wind with the ease characteristic of this little aircraft.

After the flying, the rain. Torrential rain, fortunately after the display, but before we had got all the aircraft under cover. Eventually, the steaming mass of bodies crammed into the small but cheerful clubhouse of the Grcup dispersed, mostly to an evening pafiy at the Crown in Fakenham, where those of us who stayed overnight were very well received.

Sunday, like Friday, was perversely a splendidly fine day ; there was a good deal of talk and a good deal of flying out at the airfield and a lot of coffee was drunk. The Prospector was very busy demonstrating and the very handsome Jackaroo of Sheila Scott's trotted t,r'.lvo1y about with some heavy bodies inside it. It returned from one flight with a great deal of the paint missing from up frort oil top, having peeled off in flight and the alarmed ow:er looking as if she wondered where th; prcc3ss would stoP.

We left about a quarter to twelve in perfect weather, breaking our journey at Cambridg: for lunch. An unubual sight at Marshall's is the Bgnson gyrocopter, G-APUD, of Wing Comrnander Wallis ; what with oCd Air Force aircratt, Club machines, gyrocopters and various airliners, Teversham must have the most mixed bag of inhabitants of any aerodrome in the country. Fair Oaks, when we landed there, was a sight to gladden the eyes of those who support flying ; there were six aircrrft ir the circuit, several out moving on the airfield and visitors and pilots in abundance' And yet, in the hangat, a great crowd of privat: aircraft that ought, on a fi.ne Sunday afternoon, surely have been in the air.

Among the local craft at Little Snoring were two old friends ; the ex-Barton Tipsy, converted almost to Belfair standard by her previous owners and very smart in blue and *hit", and AEKV, the Fricker-Gough-VigersFakenham Drone. We have always had an affection for 'KV ; after all, it was the only arrival "officially" at the PFA's flrst rain-stoppeC-play rally at Shoreham. (Oh! what about it. Tig:r that won first Ptrze ? Ed')'