In memory Sadly I must record the recent passing of three distinguished aviators. Renowned post-war test pilot John Farley, AFC, OBE, died on 13th June aged 85 having long been a dedicated supporter of the Museum and having fond memories of flying our Harrier G-VTOL and P.1127 XP984. On 11th July Battle of Britain fighter ‘ace’ W/Cdr Tom ‘Ginger’ Neil, DFC and Bar, AFC, AE passed away aged 97; he attended a Brooklands Aviation Day in 2000 and had a personal interest in our Hurricane having also served with 249 Squadron at RAF North Weald and flown in formation with Z2389 on at least one combat patrol in
1941.Thirdly, Britain’s oldest surviving female Air Transport Auxiliary pilot Mary Ellis (née Wilkins) died on 24th July aged 101. Many ferry flights of Hurricane fighters and Wellington bombers were included in her log-books. Fortunately, for anyone wanting to learn more
about the remarkable lives of these inspirational people, they all had detailed obituaries in the
CLASSIC CARS IN CUBA
The late great test pilot John Farley sitting in Harrier G-VTOL in 2005 (John Downey).
national media as well as recalling many fascinat- ing aspects of their flying careers in autobiogra- phies, books, magazine articles and also gave numerous interviews.
Julian Temple Update
For this Bulletin, in place of the normal Motoring Volunteers’ update, we have this special report by one of the team members.
Hard-working Ford Consul taxi (John Phillips). I
n April of this year I was fortunate to spend two weeks, with my son, in the Caribbean is-
land of Cuba, a country that is remembered for its revolution, holding off the Americans at the Bay of Pigs and remaining a virtual time warp in the 21st century. When we first arrived in Havana, the capital
city of the island, we were surprised by the heat of the tropical evening. The atmosphere and noise of the surroundings and the colourful people
54
Racy looking Austin A35 (John Phillips).
were such a strange mix. Spanish is the principle language spoken, but a few people speak Ameri- can English. Luckily my son can converse in Spanish, so we were able to get around without too much difficulty. Our plan was to visit as many old towns and
UNESCO sites as time would allow. Our travel ar- rangements mainly consisted of taxi and coach journeys, trains being almost non-existent. What we had not realised was the sheer size of the
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