Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 15, 2007 21:59:59 GMT 12
This is neat
Chocks away for Charles' birthday
12.03.2007
ROGER MORONEY
What better way for a veteran flyer to spend his birthday than to go flying?
Which is exactly what Napier's Charles Bowly did yesterday to celebrate his 86th year ... with a little help from his friends.
Celebrating their mate's birthday also gave the members of the Hawke's Bay Aviation Heritage association a good reason to get together, and take a slightly more adventurous flight themselves if they felt the urge to "get back amongst it".
Many of the members are WW2 air crew veterans like Mr Bowly, who flew for the RNZAF as well as the RAAF in P40 Kittyhawks, Seafires and Spitfires.
So the chance to get together at the Napier Aero Club for a few yarns, a few drinks and plenty of laughs is always an occasion looked forward to.
What sparked the birthday-flight idea was the arrival for Art Deco Weekend of ex-RNZAF and RAF pilot Ray Mudgway and his aerobatic Pitt Special Biplane.
During the weekend, Wellington-based Mr Mudgway got talking to a few of the veteran lads, including Mr Bowly, who found himself going up for a spot of aerial gymnastics which saw him return to earth grinning from ear to ear.
Hearing of the approaching birthday, Mr Mudgway said he'd like to return to give Charles an aerobatic treat for his 86th, as well as meet his fellow veterans and give them a bit of a run-down about his days with the RAF's 6 Squadron which flew Jaguars in a strike role, including operations in Iraq.
"I said 'I'll come back and take you up for your birthday, Charles," Mr Mudgway said.
"Look at these veterans, look at these guys," he added. "This is not an effort for us to come and do this. This is great."
His wife, Amy, nodded: "This is a tribute to these veterans."
While age had wearied one or two just a little too much to get into the confines of the Pitt Special's cockpit, those who took flight were left beaming and in admiration of Mr Mudgway's skills.
And how did Charles find celebrating his 86th big day upside down, sideways, spinning, rolling and diving? "Oh, it was wonderful. We took off and went straight up and then he did an almost stall turn."
Not that Mr Bowly was too worried, as he described his new aviation chum as "a terrific pilot".
"I knew he could do it," he said and laughed.
Mr Bowly had seen a Pitt Special go through its aerobatic paces about 20 years ago but never dreamed he would get up in one. He has become interested in flying again only in the past five or six years, after hanging up his goggles and gloves in 1946 after a crash-landing on an aircraft carrier.
"I said never again."
But with new mates like the Mudgways, and after hearing that there's a Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk (which he once flew) restored and ready to fly, he's got his second aviation wind.
"The Kittyhawk has got a dicky seat behind the pilot ... that'd do me," he said.
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www.hbtoday.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3725497&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
Chocks away for Charles' birthday
12.03.2007
ROGER MORONEY
What better way for a veteran flyer to spend his birthday than to go flying?
Which is exactly what Napier's Charles Bowly did yesterday to celebrate his 86th year ... with a little help from his friends.
Celebrating their mate's birthday also gave the members of the Hawke's Bay Aviation Heritage association a good reason to get together, and take a slightly more adventurous flight themselves if they felt the urge to "get back amongst it".
Many of the members are WW2 air crew veterans like Mr Bowly, who flew for the RNZAF as well as the RAAF in P40 Kittyhawks, Seafires and Spitfires.
So the chance to get together at the Napier Aero Club for a few yarns, a few drinks and plenty of laughs is always an occasion looked forward to.
What sparked the birthday-flight idea was the arrival for Art Deco Weekend of ex-RNZAF and RAF pilot Ray Mudgway and his aerobatic Pitt Special Biplane.
During the weekend, Wellington-based Mr Mudgway got talking to a few of the veteran lads, including Mr Bowly, who found himself going up for a spot of aerial gymnastics which saw him return to earth grinning from ear to ear.
Hearing of the approaching birthday, Mr Mudgway said he'd like to return to give Charles an aerobatic treat for his 86th, as well as meet his fellow veterans and give them a bit of a run-down about his days with the RAF's 6 Squadron which flew Jaguars in a strike role, including operations in Iraq.
"I said 'I'll come back and take you up for your birthday, Charles," Mr Mudgway said.
"Look at these veterans, look at these guys," he added. "This is not an effort for us to come and do this. This is great."
His wife, Amy, nodded: "This is a tribute to these veterans."
While age had wearied one or two just a little too much to get into the confines of the Pitt Special's cockpit, those who took flight were left beaming and in admiration of Mr Mudgway's skills.
And how did Charles find celebrating his 86th big day upside down, sideways, spinning, rolling and diving? "Oh, it was wonderful. We took off and went straight up and then he did an almost stall turn."
Not that Mr Bowly was too worried, as he described his new aviation chum as "a terrific pilot".
"I knew he could do it," he said and laughed.
Mr Bowly had seen a Pitt Special go through its aerobatic paces about 20 years ago but never dreamed he would get up in one. He has become interested in flying again only in the past five or six years, after hanging up his goggles and gloves in 1946 after a crash-landing on an aircraft carrier.
"I said never again."
But with new mates like the Mudgways, and after hearing that there's a Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk (which he once flew) restored and ready to fly, he's got his second aviation wind.
"The Kittyhawk has got a dicky seat behind the pilot ... that'd do me," he said.
______________
www.hbtoday.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3725497&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
