View Vimy Sightings | View All Entries | Past Correspondence

Guest Book Entries Here are emails and comments entered by some recent visitors. Richard Darbourne from Hong Kong, who emailed us on 4/20/2004: Hi everyone at Silver Queen. I was one of the educational project students on the London to Cape Town trip. It was a journey that touched my whole life and something that I still treasure dearly to this day. The stories are often the focusses of many dinner tables and the freindships still remain strong. I am currently working in Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific. Its going very well. Anyway, I wanted to get in touch and offer my very best for the upcoming project. Please send my love and best wishes to Jenny, Mark, John, Patty, Pedro, Mick and Matt. Take care guys, Rich Darbourne   Chris Holombo from Mountain View, CA , USA, who visited on 6/6/2002 and learned about this site from A Search Engine, said: Yesterday, June 5, 2002, my wife and I were driving north on Highway 280 near Woodside, Ca, when we saw the Vimy flying towards us, then turning east over Woodside and disappearing behind nearby hills. Later, while hiking at Filoli (a preserved estate near Woodside) we saw it fly overhead and heard its unique sound. I had previously read about it in Sport Aviation and National Geographic but never seen it and had no idea it was around. It was a real thrill and treat to see such a magnificent plane in the air. (A note of interest; this sighting followed by only four days sightings of the B-24 and B-17 that visited Moffet Field on June 1-3. Three obsolete but great aircraft flying in the same area in 4 days.) Reginald Joaquin from Sacramento, Ca., USA, who visited on 5/30/2002 and learned about this site from An Article or Review, said: Nice looking Ship May she fly forever Hal McNall from Clifden, Co. Galway, Ireland, who visited on 4/15/2002 and learned about this site from An Article or Review, said: Have not seen you in the "Flesh" yet. Hoping to one day. Hopefully here in Ireland. please advise so I can put a film in my camera. Very best wishes with the Vimy Project. Sincerely, Hal McNall Phill Flower from Swansea, Wales, UK, who visited on 4/3/2002 and learned about this site from An Article or Review, said: I am interested in making contact with you on behalf of the 215 City of Swansea Squadron Air Training Corps, which has 80 male and female Cadets aged between 13 and 22. The Squadron was formed in 1940 and our first Commanding Officer was Sir Arthur Whitten Brown. We would like to be involed in your transatlantic flight with a possible visit of the Vimy to Swansea Airport, which would be a huge honour for the Squadron and the City. I look forward to hearing from you. Flt. Lt. Phill Flower. John Delaney from Bristol, UK, who visited on 1/30/2002 and learned about this site from A Search Engine, said: Iwas the Sec of the Vintage Aircraft & Flying Association & Director of Vintage Aircraft Ltd which designed, built & flew the Vimy replica at Brooklands, Surrey UK to celebrate the 50th anniversery of the Alcock & Brown flight in 1919. I have information regarding this project which you may find interesting. Good luck with yours. Regards, John Delaney Jerald Burtman from Minot, ND, USA, who visited on 1/23/2002 and learned about this site from A Vimy Project Volunteer, said: Thanks, Mark, for offering to come to North Dakota and talk about the VIMY project. Masybe soon, you will be flying it through the area. JB Kerry Brayley from Yucaipa, CA, USA, who visited on 1/15/2002 and learned about this site from An Article or Review, said: I have yet to see the Vimy in flight but have followed your progress since the first Nat.Geographic article.I had the joy of being "crew" on a Dehavilland Dragon Rapide in Australia in the mid 1960"s.This was a similar type of aircraft although smaller & of similar vintage.There is no sound & thrill like the sound of the air whistling through the struts & guy wires,with the engine throttled back on touchdown.Keep up the quest. Bradley Foster from Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, who visited on 11/7/2001 and learned about this site from A Search Engine, said: I hope I get a chance to see the Vimy in flight, especially in these dark times. It would remind us all of an earlier, simpler, less effete era when the Great Empires of the world stood between civilization and chaos. A time when there were great men and great deeds. Read your Kipling! Gerald Clark from St. Joseph, MO, USA, who visited on 10/12/2001 and learned about this site from , said: Please send mailing address so I can contribute to the Vimy's Atlantic flight in June of 2002. Dave Wellington from San Bernardino, California, USA, who visited on 8/18/2001 and learned about this site from A Friend, said: Watch the Vimy fly into and out of the airport by the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California while we were working the Pomona Auto Swap in the middle of July. What a wonderful and fantastic experience to see it flying. Just couldn't believe it. Thanks for the opportunity. Dale Standard from Milan, Illinois, USA, who visited on 8/10/2001 and learned about this site from A Vimy Project Volunteer, said: I was able to see and hear about the project for the first time this year at Osh Kosh (2001). Very impressive. Not being a pilot I can't even imagine what it is like to go here and there in this aircraft. I'm sure all is not perfect in an endeavor such as this but the good times must make up for the uncomfortable times many times over. I hope that things can work out so that flying/appearance schedules can be published. Keep it flying!!! God be with you... ( I WANT A RIDE!) Donald HEWKO from El Monte, CA, USA, who visited on 8/6/2001 and learned about this site from A Vimy Project Volunteer, said: 6 AUG 2001 I viewed the Vimy in flight approximately at 14:30 HRS today heading in a southwest direction over the San Gabriel Valley area of southern California. I heard the unique sound of the engines first, then glanced upward, and to my amazement, observed the twin engine biplane flying at an incredibly "slow" speed. I thought it was a homebuilt "ultralight" and didn't pay too much attention until I drove by the El Monte Airport around 15:45 HRS and "saw" the Vimy parked and tethered there. What an "awesome" sight!! I stopped, took some pictures, and briefly spoke with the pilot, who in turn, gave me the web site for the Vimy. It's not every day that one has the opportunity to witness the world's largest "homebuilt" airworthy biplane in flight, but also to see it on the ground and appreciate the enormous size of the beautifully built aircraft. I'm glad I had the opportunity to take some precious photos of the "vivid reminder" of one of man's greatest invention -- the incredible flying machine!! Good luck with the Transatlantic flight tentatively scheduled for June of 2002. Sincerely, Donald E. Hewko (El Monte, CA) john bayldon from harrogate, yorkshire, Uk, who visited on 8/3/2001 and learned about this site from , said: aeroplanes lost something when they stopped building balconies on the front (see the Czar-of-all-the-Russias/ Kaiser Bill Et all) But what a shame the Vimy was not designed four times the size & steam (coal) driven. Now there WOULD be an aeroplane. J Bayldon. Proprietor Bradford steam aeroplane and omnibus company Glenn Woodmancy from Lawrence, KS, USA, who visited on 8/1/2001 and learned about this site from An Article or Review, said: 3rd visit to guest book. Happy to see the website again. Feel privileged to have seen the Silver Queen at two locations in July. Saw her in flight at Topeka-Forbes, KS on 22 July, Oshkosh several times and Topeka-Forbes on 31 July on her way back to CA. Saw her take-off at OSH for Iowa on 30 July. I have a picture in my camera of her take-off there; the EAA B-17 was in the same picture. I got back home in Lawrence in time to see her land at Topeka-Forbes on 31 July. Queen fans should rally in her support to help change engines before next June or July for the trans-Atlantic flight. What BMW has done to the project is pure cussedness, a bean counters lack of imagination and vision. It is ugly!!! I understand BMW didn’t even want out gracefully as evidenced by a lawsuit!! I hope a group of engine installation designers and mechanics volunteer to make the engine change to Orenda or other new engine. The Orenda 600HP looks like the answer to a lot of the marginal performance issues with the airplane and it is a reasonable change from original Vimy materials and design. Such a change also makes the next phase of duplication of historical flights more likely to get a government clearance. It would be hard for Vimy to do a “Wrong Way Corrigan flight” if a clearance to fly the Atlantic was denied. Vimy fans and BMW Rider fans ought to bombard BMW management with protests re their vicious attack on the Vimy Project!!! Product Liability concerns that have been raised by BMW management, after all that has been done since the flight to Australia, are unfounded. Glenn Woodmancy-EAA member, Lawrence, KS Richard Grigg from Peachtree City, Georgia, USA, who visited on 8/1/2001 and learned about this site from A Friend, said: Will the Vimy be comming to Peachtree City when the Confederate Airforce has it's airshow in the fall? My interest in the Vimy comes from having found a letter in my father's thing that traveled in the original Transatlantic flight with Alcock and Brown. A movie of the flight was scripted by British Lion Films in the fifties. Was a film ever produced about the flight? Displaying 1 through 16 of 83 entries. Next Page of Entries

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