After her 10th channel-crossing Tiger Moth D-ENDI arrived safely back home in germany on the evening of monday 21st of August carrying two rather exhausted and tired - but overly happy Pilots. … - Oh my dear … , this year`s flight to Woburn and back has been the most " tricky " one ever ( weatherwise ).
Once started on friday morning from her base in Germany , Allendorf/Eder EDFQ , a mountainous countryside where the Tiger Moth lives with us, we encountered low cloudscovering the ridges of the mountains enroute. So we decided to follow the valleys in the hope to reach lower terrain with better conditions. But soon we found us flying very low in narrow valleys more and more surrounded by rain showers an stratus-cloud patches.

The situation did n o t improve and we got stuck in one of these valleys and were forced to " hold " by flying tight eight-turns in order to wait for improvement. Finally we escaped and landed at the nearest suiteable airfield to grab a cup of tea and think it all over. Only after hours of discussing weather and options we started a second try, and managed to come through as far as Hasselt-Kiewit EBHZ in Belgium , where we decided to stay overnight. - There was an overwhelming welcome forus, and I have to mention the friendliness and " outstanding support " of those very good friends we made. Only to name one for all the others is Moth-Club-Member Jean-Marie Baerts. - Thank you very much indeed !

We spent the night in the hangar and set off for Calais next morning, since Kortrijk-Wevelgem could not supply any fuel. For Calais we were strictly adviced to use only paved runways and taxiways due to waterlogged gras surfaces. A Tiger Moth has no brakes as we all know, … but to our own surprise all handled well, and with the help of a friendly controller , who overlooked our somewhat strange ground-handling, we departed to cross the channel bound for Sywell. The warm welcome there and all the celebrations held at Sywell and Woburn is a great demonstration of tradition , style , enthusiasm and fellowship. I took a big gulp of this very unique athmosphere and try to conserve all these memories in my mind. - Simply England at it`s best - - It`s like coming home to meet such spirited and " DeHavilland-minded " people. We all say a big " thank you and well done " to you for having created such a great opportunity to meet each other …. Keep on . -

Shaking hands with so many we left Woburn on sunday afternoon and flew over to Headcorn … where Jamie Freeman was so kind to let us sleep besides our beloved Tiger in his hangar. Due to an incoming cold-front we planned departure in early twilight. And so we took off into a dark and cold early morning sky flying our 10th channel crossing in the Tiger. Prior to reaching mid-channel we again had to find our way through low banks of clouds …please see the photos attached … flying temporarily between layers over open sea in a little aeroplane such like a Tiger Moth with an occasional glance down to "sea-level" gives you an unique sense and feeling of lying in the hands of mother nature … and teaches you lessons in airmanship and respect ! … all the while the unbelievably reliable Gipsy Major engine takes care of you - … and " puuurrrrs " along in it`s trustful sonor sound and smell .

That`s what flying is all about … giving moments , impressions and experiences, which are hardly describable by word ! So once again we had more than 1.000 miles of pure satisfying aviation experience -

… that is what Sir Geoffrey DeHavilland has designed his aeroplanes for

Thank you so much

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