I was able to make a brief visit to Stow Maries last Saturday as I was in the area. This was my first time visiting the site and the place is clearly a time capsule and a gem! You can feel the history and atmosphere as soon as you turn on to the narrow approach road to get to the airfield itself.

WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust’s BE2e

Sadly I was only able to stay for a little while and didn’t have a chance to look round the museum, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to have a look while the event was on. I intend to return as soon as possible to take a more leisurely look at the site and put together a full report for this site.

The recent arrival from New Zealand, the Sopwith Snipe, looks very at home in the hangar at Stow.

The weather wasn’t in the event’s favour on Saturday, as opposed to the Sunday, with relatively few visiting aircraft, though I did see a Chipmunk and a Cub depart amongst some other light aircraft. The highlight of my short stay was seeing the WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust’s Albatros D.Va being prepared for an engine run.

It was fascinating to watch the priming and start-up procedure of this highly accurate replica at such close quarters. Especially given the history of the setting. Sadly the Albatros didn’t fly on the Saturday, hardly surprising given the winds, but by all accounts it put in a stunning performance on Sunday.

Another two recent arrivals to the museum, the Bleriot and Morane replicas.

The hangars were full of a number of other interesting machines, with the airfield’s SE5a and Sopwith pup replicas having recently been joined by a Bleriot and Morane Bullet replica, courtesy of Tony Bianchi. Alongside the Morane were two recent additions to the UK circuit in the shape of the WW1 Aviation Heritage (WAHT)Trust’s Sopwith Snipe and BE2e. It was great to see WAHT’s fleet again after their appearances at Old Warden earlier in the year.

The Albatros being prepared for an engine run.

So a short post for now, but a more in-depth visit will follow in due course. It was great to finally visit the site and get up close to some wonderful aircraft as well.