Vintage Air Rally's First Crete2Cape Event

Nick, Colin and I arrived in the UK Monday October 10. We rented a car and drove south to the quaint Sussex village of Alfriston where we are staying in a private residence through Home Exchange until we depart for Crete on the 25th.  Being an Anglophile, I'm so happy to be back in colorful, historic England.  Our lovely home away from home, Martlets, belongs to hospitable and fun Rosalind who is an amazing gardener.

From here, London is only an hour and forty-five minutes away, and Shoreham By Sea where  re-assembling of aircraft is going on, is 35 minutes away.  Alfriston has numerous tea rooms and the best book store I have ever been in.  If you visit Alfriston and you're a bibliophile AND enjoy British history and literary culture, you must visit Much Ado Books.

We gathered in London the afternoon of the 11th at the Horse Guard Parade Grounds to watch the changing of  HRM's Horse Guards which coincided with the first public exhibition event of Vintage Air Rally/Crete2Cape.  As none of the real Vintage  aircraft could land or be transported there, a mock-up of a 1920's biplane was in place with an informational poster about the rally.  Participants who happened to be in London were present - most in 1920s flying garb.  Some journalists and many airplane/travel enthusiasts showed up too.



We had the pleasure of meeting Martin Barraclough who wrote The Race for the Cape -- a history of an early race to Capetown via the route we will be taking.  The photographs are amazing.

 Martin Barrraclough

We had a great time at the parade grounds and had many curious people come up to us and ask what this rally adventure is all about. It was nice to field questions from so many interested and interesting people.

Setting up display aircraft.

HRM's Horse Guards.

This changing of the Guard, like all Guard movements in London, is extremely well choreographed.  However, on this day, the white horse made it very clear that he was not amused by the trumpet behind him that announced the next step in this process.  The other horses turned and looked at him as if to say, "Get a grip, Mate! You won't get your pension if you keep that up."

Nick with scarf and goggles really enjoyed sharing flying stories with enthusiasts who had plenty of amazing flying stories of their own from bygone decades.

After the parade grounds, Team Alaska, Team Barnstormers (Keith - in hat - and Colin), Team Lotmead Tiger (John -- with beard---and Janice Baxter), and Team SoCal Travel Air (Pedro -- in black next to Janice) enjoyed a pint at one of Whitehall's neighborhood pubs.

That evening, we changed from flying attire to vintage evening attire for an amazing reception and dinner at London's Draper's Hall with a hundred rally participants, event sponsors, journalists, and guests.  The Draper's Guild goes back to the 14th Century when manufacturing guilds were gaining prominence. The guild bought this building from Henry VIII who 'took it over' from his Chief Minister Thomas Cromwell who got on the king's bad side and was subsequently executed. The building burned in the great London fire of 1666 and was quickly rebuilt.

Team Alaska with Team Frog and Kiwi (Cedric and Alexandra from Belgium)

In the dining room of Draper's Hall

The walls here are lined with seven foot tall portraits of monarchs from William and Mary to Queen Victoria.  My friends who know that I sometimes suffer from insomnia and eventually fall asleep NOT counting sheep but naming off the monarchs from Richard III to Q.E II will appreciate my enjoyment of looking up from our table at these giants of British royal history and being grateful for the roles they played in helping me fall asleep.

We had wonderful dinner guests at our table who had lots of experiences to share with us.  I always knew that one of the benefits of being part of the Vintage Air Rally would be meeting interesting people.