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Flying in the modern world

I have just received the sad news that the Moth Club Rally at Woburn has had its last meeting. The reason is the excess of bureaucracy, combined with the growing age of the volunteers, and, of course, the increasing costs. Cost generated by the bureaucracy and the modern need for making a profit at every conceivable moment. My fear, of course, is that the end of this historic rally (the Moth Club has been meeting at Woburn off and on since 1980, and that meeting was itself a commemoration of the Flying Duchess of the 1930s) will not be unique. More and more light-hearted fun meetings are being classed as commercial shows and cost too much for the organizers to bear.Tiger Moth W-W

This picture shows me flying a wingwalker in 1989. I did my first wingwalker flying in 1988, when I took first the CAA representative, Barry Tempest, for a trial flight, and later my mother, Evangeline Hunter-Jones on the wing.

My mother raised £17,000 for the WNCCC (The Women’s National Cancer Control Campaign). She had a huge audience on the day and was featured in many national newspapers… but this would not be possible anymore. Ours was a totally voluntary action and all the organisation, done at White Waltham airfield, was gratis and for the love of flying. Today we would have been prevented by paperwork and legislation from doing anything so spirited, and yet it was not in the least bit dangerous or edgy. I was a commercial pilot, but that was not the issue, my flying was safe because I had been trained not because I had a big blue licence, my mother was safe because she used her common sense. The modern belief is that paperwork and legislation take away the need for commonsense. My view is that over legislation kills off common sense. Please fight to keep the fun in flight.

hayward

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