Serendipity

We made no real plans or reservations. We drove very across Belgium in the rain to the French coast at Calais and took the ferry to Dover.

Visited historic Canterbury, spent the night in a rural farm campsite. This morning, we had a full English breakfast and randomly headed toward Cambridge. I saw a sign for the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. I knew that name, and took the next exit.

I was in my element. Josette told me to take my time.

The airplane was obsolete by the time it was ready to ship to the British in 1940 and they turned it down. The Chinese Air Force bought 90 of them and sent them with American pilots of the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) to fight the Japanese. I arranged for former flying tiger Tex Hill to come to our flyers club in Fredericksburg, and I took my boys out of school, so they could meet one of my heroes. 

There were 8 buildings of airplanes. It took 4 hours to see them all.

An SR71 came to Rickenbacker when I was there, and we heard about it, and a bunch of is went out to watch him land. They put it inside a hanger right away. It was a very impressive airplane.

They have the original Concord, which was never in service. It flew passenger service at supersonic speed from Europe to New York. It’s much bigger than I thought.

Back to camping, this time near Cambridge