News and Press We'll be adding new stories about the activities taking place as part of BAC 100 throughout 2010. Children's Activity at Kemble Bristol Aero Collection at Kemble hosted a day of special activities for children on 21 August at the museum. Participants had fun making foam-plate and wooden gliders, stomp rockets and a mini-light, and the parents took a full part too. 100 Boxkites Pupils at schools in Bristol and South Gloucestershire created 100 boxkites in workshops led by volunteers from Bristol Aero Collection in association with the Bristol International Kite Festival. They were to celebrate the centenary of the first Bristol Boxkite flight which took place on 30 July 1910. Nearly 50 of them were flown at Durdham Down on 17 July. This was where British & Colonial mounted the first public display of the Boxkite for the people of Bristol in November 1910. The schools taking part in the workshops were Charborough Road Primary (Filton), Coniston Road Primary (Patchway), Filton Hill Primary, Hillfields Primary (Fishponds), Shield Road Primary (Filton) and St Michael's Primary (Stoke Gifford). Filton's Fabulous Flying Machines A 30-minute documentary on the history of the local aviation industry was broadcast on BBC One (West) on 26 July. From the humble Boxkite to supersonic Concorde, military historian Saul David celebrated a century of aircraft production in the Bristol area. The programme explored how the industry helped to win two World Wars and changed the way we get around forever. It included a dramatic dogfight reconstructed in the skies over New Zealand and Tony Benn's home videos from one of the early Concorde test flights. Boxkite Centenary Walk at Larkhill Nearly 30 people took part in a centenary walk around Larkhill in Wiltshire on 30 July to mark the first flight of the Bristol Boxkite. The two-hour walk was led by National Trust volunteer Ted Mustard. Al Foot brought along his scale-model flying Boxkite which unfortunately was damaged by a sudden gust of wind. His Wright Flyer did get airborne, however. You can see footage of a successful flight by the Boxkite model made earlier this year on You Tube. Bristol Central Library Flight Exhibition Dawn Dyer from Bristol Central Library has created a display about early flight that features items from Local History, Reference Library and private collections. Among the artefacts on show is a flap from Samuel Cody's British Army Aeroplane No 1, as flown and crashed at Farnborough in 1909. The exhibition runs to December. Details in the Calendar. Older stories... Newer stories... |
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