Aviation Photography - Woburn Abbey International de Havilland Moth Rally 2003

The de Havilland Moth Club
23rd International Moth Club Rally
Woburn Abbey
August 16-17, 2003

77 'Moths' of various types graced this attractive Wobern Abbey grass airfield over the weekend of the de Havilland Moth Club's 23rd International Moth Club Rally. It was not just a day of Tiger Moths but a number of other de Havilland types included a Dragonfly, a Dragon Rapide, a Heron and 33 Chipmunks.

The DH Moth Club currently represents the following de Havilland types; DH.51, DH.53 Hummingbird, DH.60 Moth, DH.80 Puss Moth, DH.82 Tiger Moth, DH.83 Fox Moth, DH.84 Dragon, DH.85 Leopard Moth, DH.86, DH.87 Hornet Moth, DH.88 Comet, DH.89 Dragon Rapide, DH.90 Dragon and the DH.94 Moth Minor. Many of these types were represented at the fly-in.

Twenty or more trophies and cups were awarded for such things as; best of each type, youngest pilot, spot landing, most recent restoration and best owner restored aircraft. The 'Tavistock Trophy' was awarded by The Dowager Duchess of Bedford, to Kenneth Fraser's DH.83 Fox Moth, G-AOJH.

Modern 'tins' which would spoil the period look are excluded, however other welcome visitors included; a 1932 Blackburn B2, a German registered Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz, a Miles Magister and even a helicopter in the shape of a SARO Skeeter. The Skeeter was invited as it is powered by a Gipsy Major engine.

The flying was constant throughout the weekend, most of the visitors arrived on the Saturday and some of the pilots even camped over-night.

Every year Woburn Abbey hosts the de Havilland Moth Club's International Moth Club Rally and this year's event, the 23rd, was up with the best of them.

Left to right: Photographs taken here often only have parkland in the background and so the images could easily be mistaken for photographs taken up to 70 or 80 years ago

I had seven of my images published in this issue with the Woburn 2003 feature and a special thank you must to Stuart McKay, editor of 'The Moth', for passing on my details to interested pilots of my photographs.

I made the front cover of this issue of 'The Moth' with this shot of Moth Minor G-AFPN. The caption was; 'Front Cover. As straight as a die and firmly on the ground assisted by the big airbrake, with a touch of right aileron to counter the crosswind. The Davy family DH.94 Moth Minor G-AFPN wheels-in at Woburn 2003 where she was active throughout the weekend'. Again thank you to Stuart McKay for his assistance.

Moth Minor G-AFPN.

Left: Star of the show was the DH.84 Dragon flown by Torquill Norman. G-ECAN was restored by Hants Light Plane Services and flew for the first time on May 29, 2003. Woburn was the Dragon's first flight from its home base at Chilbolton.
Right: DH.90 Dragonfly (G-AEDU).