Dawn Patrol

[Phil Perry]

I thought this short vid was nice. . .

 

"Having just read Sagittarius Rising, a memoir by WWI pilot Cecil Lewis, I was inspired to fly a dawn patrol today. It was a cloudless perfect morning with a light frost covering the ground when I arrived at the airfield. As I climbed through the crisp cold air I could see fog banks obscuring the trenches. It was all quiet on the Western Front. In reality, It was the beautiful Severn Valley, Wenlock Edge and Clee Hills. I was glad I wasn’t freezing in the open cockpit of a BE2c over the Somme being shot at. It all made me consider how fortunate I was to have the freedom to fly around admiring scenery and think of the sacrifice so many made for that freedom "

 

 

H/T Graham Wiley

 

( Otherton Airfield )

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Anyone who enjoys Sagittarius Rising will also enjoy Open Cockpit or No Parachute by Arthur Gould Lee. Lots of reason for more dawn patrols. But watch for the Hun in the sun.

 

 

[yampy]

Great stuff Phil . Bought back some lovely memories of flying from the “Green “with Wilksy in a C42 and other times too in a PA28 and Cirrus SR22 . Lovely footage of the Clee Hill Golfballs and Bridgnorth as well .

 

Thanks mate for sharing this smashing video .

 

 

[Neil_S]

Anyone who enjoys Sagittarius Rising will also enjoy Open Cockpit or No Parachute by Arthur Gould Lee. Lots of reason for more dawn patrols. But watch for the Hun in the sun.

Agree about those books. I would also recommend Winged Victory by V M Yeates, and The Ideals and Training of a Flying Officer by Roderick Maclennan.

 

The latter is the diary of a Canadian who came to England in 1915 and learned to fly a BE2B, then was posted to France where he flew an SE5A. It is a rather naive, but very engaging, account of the life and times of those early pilots.

 

Neil

 

 

[Neil_S]

I thought this short vid was nice. . .

"Having just read Sagittarius Rising, a memoir by WWI pilot Cecil Lewis, I was inspired to fly a dawn patrol today. It was a cloudless perfect morning with a light frost covering the ground when I arrived at the airfield. As I climbed through the crisp cold air I could see fog banks obscuring the trenches. It was all quiet on the Western Front. In reality, It was the beautiful Severn Valley, Wenlock Edge and Clee Hills. I was glad I wasn’t freezing in the open cockpit of a BE2c over the Somme being shot at. It all made me consider how fortunate I was to have the freedom to fly around admiring scenery and think of the sacrifice so many made for that freedom "

 

 

 

Very enjoyable video.

 

I shall try to go for a flight on Nov 11th here, remembering how privileged we are to fly, and the sacrifice of all those young men.

 

Neil

 

 

[Hargraves]

G,day Phil Cecil Lewis is without a dought a genuine hero of incredible valour, who could see and view the total futility of it all but did his best anyway. All those mentioned are excellent reading as well, cheers Hargraves