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30 + Members attended the first meeting of 2005. After the Parish announcements by Graham and Steve, which included mentioning the success of the Christmas dinner and forthcoming events. Graham introduced Doug Gregory who gave us a talk on :-

Dougs interest in aircraft started at an early age watching aircraft in the Southampton area. He left school at 14 and started work in a solicitors office. A job which he found boring. His interest in aviation was still enthusiastic especially as he had a brother who was an apprentice at Supermarine and kept him informed on the development of the new fighter aircraft under construction there!! War broke out when he was 16. At 18 he volunteered for RAF aircrew duties and was inducted at Uxbridge. From here he was posted to Rhodesia for flying training. He trained on Tiger Moths and Harvards and was set to become a Fighter Pilot, but due to a shortage of Bomber Pilots had to convert to twin engine aircraft training mainly on Oxfords
He returned to a UK posting in Scotland and after 3 months joined 141 Squadron and completed 2 tours of night fighter duty. After this he made a request for Test Pilot work. As a result he was sent to Gibraltar to work with the Royal Navy flying Mosquitos, to assess the vulnerability of warships from air attack. His next stop was India where among other duties he had to check out problems with the glue holding the wooden "Mossies" together as difficulties were being experienced due to the heat and humidity. At some time after his return to the UK he developed an unfortunate health problem in the form of a blood clot causing pressure on his brain. Whilst in hospital he met and eventually married one of the nurses caring for him and she has now been his wife for 55 years. He was also told he would never fly again!

Doug had other ideas though, and returned to flying light aircraft through various clubs. It was on one such club trip in a Tiger Moth from Lee-on-Solent to Newbury racecourse with a friend that they saw an SES. They were so taken with it that they decided to build one each. Work started about 17 years ago and took Doug about 4 years to complete, being retired he was able to do some work most days.
He emphasised that two major requirements are a large shed and a sympathetic wife.
We were shown several slides taken during various stages of construction of the 7/8 scale replica. Some modern techniques were incorporated in the build but scale was strictly adhered to. It is powered by a Continental C90 flat four 3.1/2 ltr engine. It was obvious that a lot of dedicated hard work had gone into it. Boscombe Down was the site for the final assembly and its maiden flight which was a great
success.

When his friends SES was completed and another arrived on the scene, they started to perform at various airshows re-enacting WW1 aerial combat scenes. They were later joined by various other aircraft and also by a group of military enthusiasts who all dress in genuine WW1 soldiers uniforms and equipment, they camp out on the airfield during the displays and live as close to WW1 conditions as possible. Doug and his aviator friends prefer the comfort of a local hotel!

Doug is approaching his 82nd birthday, is still flying and enjoying life. Many thanks Doug for a very enjoyable presentation and to Roger for arranging it.

BRF