QN SUMMER 23 FINAL

WEST REGION MEETINGS
Jet Age Museum
Gloucestershire Airport
Saturday April 22nd
On Saturday 22nd April new Associate
Member Darren Howlett travelled up from
Torquay to attend the Jet Age Museum
at Gloucestershire Airport, Staverton
who were running a special open day
to celebrate the 82nd anniversary of the
Gloster E28/39 Whittle’s first flight.
Darren volunteered his services after Phil
Jackson had asked for Guild members
to attend a ‘join the artist’ event at a
couple of venues, and handed me
some notes afterwards about the day.
With ex Red Arrows pilot Dan Simmons
giving guided tours, and resident Jet
Provost, and Vampire T11 displayed
taxiing ‘over the fence’ of the adjacent
airport, a busy day ensued.
I was joined by several children, (from
age five upwards) throughout the
day, as I painted the museum’s Glos.
Javelin. They drew a variety of aviation
subjects with much enthusiasm, and
seemed very pleased with their results,
So perhaps some future aviation artists
amongst them?
With double the anticipated visitors
attending, the museum hoped to stage
another such event in the future. What
a great way for the public to have a go
themselves whilst seeing our artists at
work.
Thanks to Phil Jackson GAvA our East
Anglian organiser for the heads up on
this event, to Jet Age for hosting the
Guild on the day, and to Darren for
flying solo, and waving the Guild flag!
Wallop Wheels & Wings
Army Flying Museum
Saturday July 1st
An early start for myself and Martin
Perman to be on site at 07.00, but having
just done a stretch of these for the Guild’s
Annual at Duxford we were both ready,
and looking forward to coffee and
brownies after set up!
The car packed with paintings from
regional members fresh from the
Annual, and with Michael Garner
joining us early to help out, we looked
forward to another busy day promoting
the Guild. Barry K Barnes also travelled
down from Tetbury to swell the ranks,
as the show is now attracting a larger
crowd each year, and we welcome
any members who can attend to help
spread the load on the day.
The Wheels & Wings event saw some
glorious weather with a good deal
of participating automobiles and
aircraft. Aston, Bentley, Maserati, and
VW, to Auster, Avro, and DeHavilland.
With flypasts by the BBMF Lancaster,
Navy Wings Swordfish, and Rolls Royce
Heritage Spitfire and Mustang, we
had the chance to see some classic
warbirds overhead again.
We had a steady and appreciative
audience through our one-day
exhibition being handed Guild
QN’s, flyers, Annual catalogues, and
countless questions answered about
artworks and the Guild in general. One
young chap, who amazed us with his
aircraft recognition skills, asked how old
you had to be to join the Guild as he
was only 9. I told his mother if she wished
to bring him along to a sketching day
that would be fine, as he just wanted to
draw planes!
Thank you to all the artists who exhibited
with us on the day; Barry K Barnes, Paul
Bennell, Patricia Forrest, Jack Froelich,
Laurence Hemmings, Darren Howlett,
John Wynn-Hopkins, David Young, and
of course myself and Martin Perman!
Overall, and so soon after our Annual
Exhibition, a smaller but just as successful
event for promoting the Guild to an air
minded public.
Rob Hames GAvA
Rob Hames GAvA
West Region Organiser
The excellent collection of Gloster aircraft is the real attraction of the Jet Age Museum.
Your Eds always lookout for the replica Hurricane though, as it was a mock up built for
the Battle of Britain movie back in 1968!
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