Day 18: SPITFIRES!

June 30, 2015

I got to sit in the cockpit of a Spitfire!

Leo found this place called Enston that has a Flying Club that is building 90% scale model Spitfires and that will eventually have a whole squadron of them. Seriously, a WHOLE squadron. They have 2 built now and are building a third and each Spit will have owners (shared ownership who can fly the plane) and a ground crew. One has been airborne and I got to sit in it!

You can buy a stake in one of them you know. Hey Mark, how about it!?

Anyway it was really cool.

BTW, for those that don't think these are "real" Spitfires they kind of are. "Real" ones, i.e. vintage ones are, according to Flying Club owner Paul are not really original anyway because the entire plane has been more of less rebuilt anyway. He said when the pilot took the flyable Spit up he landed with a HUGE smile on his face. He was thrilled to fly it and thought it was fabulous!

As far as cycling, it was a very hot day riding and very long. The temperature combined with the humidity made it feel like Virginia in July, though truth be told I would rather have heat than rain. I liked it for the most part.

Anyway, we saw some other cool things today including an "ancient" maze called the Troy Town Maze and we ended up in a place called Stow On The Wold which was kind of strange because there were American flags all over town! Apparently they are willing to let bygones be bygones (re the revolutionary war) and help us celebrate the 4th of July. They have a classic car show and a big festival too boot.

Stow On The Wold also has a Cricket Museum though we didn't go in. And when I say Cricket museum I am talking about the game that is similar to baseball only more confusing, not my cat.

The final thing Stow On The Wold had was Neal and Caroline who are friends of Leo and Steph. We had a great dinner tonight and they will ride with us tomorrow morning.

Until then...

Leo arranged this visit by the way. Thanks Leo!

Ya can't have too many Spit pics, can you?

Here is Spit number 3 on the assembly line

Oh yes, and we did ride. Here is one of Leo and Steph

The bikes taking a well deserved rest. BTW that kind of wall is typical in this area.

Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 566 miles (911 km)

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