MAKING a welcome return following its debut at the 2023 Blue Light Festival is Dick Lee in his venerable Tiger Moth.
The historic biplane, which is a World War Two veteran, is one of many thousands built since the first one took flight an astonishing 93 years ago. They were used widely as trainers with the RAF and other airlines, and were also popular with civilian pilots.
While their wartime service was largely as trainers, they were occasionally employed in more aggressive roles, especially in the early days. Tiger Moths were at one stage used as spotters to seek out U-Boats.
Their use in the role was somewhat limited, since they had no radio, and were equipped instead with carrier pigeons to communicate with base. Since neither the aircraft nor pigeons were armed, their offensive ability was somewhat limited.
Pilot Dick Lee is an RAF veteran, more used to flying in more modern aircraft such as the Nimrod- an RAF derivative of the De Havilland Comet airliner - and the Jet Provost, a trainer which is a very distant descendant of the Tiger Moth.
In terms of technology the Tiger Moth isn't exactly space age.
A fair comparison- in communication terms -0 is a smartphone versus two baked beans tins connected by a length of string.
The controls of a modern aircraft are bewilderingly complex; a mass of dials, levers, and lights, which tell the pilot everything he needs to know – height, speed, weather, and whether the kettle has boiled.
Not so the Tiger Moth.
As built they didn't even have a self-starter, or even a starting handle. The would-be aviator had to switch the fuel on, prime it, and swing the propeller by hand before getting into the cockpit.
There he was faced with half a dozen dials which told him everything he needed to know.
The aircraft's wings were held together by struts and wires. This combination had been popular since the Wright brothers, and worked rather well for many years. How the wires were properly tensioned is something of a mystery – they may have required the services of a piano tuner.
In my childhood – many years ago, we called biplanes 'double wingers' and we thought that because they had an extra set of wings they must be faster. This was clearly a misconception, since there are currently no biplane Jumbo jets or supersonic fighters.
The sight of such a rare and graceful aeroplane in flight will be something to see, but for the chance to actually fly in the Tiger Moth all you have to do is spend £2.50 on a raffle ticket.
It could be you.....
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