Museum ID: WNDRB : 1977.640
This 20.hp AVRO Cowley engine was bought by the Windsor Aero Club from famed Irish aviatrix, Lilian Bland. It cost them £25.00. Miss Bland, who built and flew her own aeroplane, the Mayfly, was persuaded by her father to give up on aviation because it proved too costly and dangerous a hobby. The aeroplane was subsequently broken up and sold on, and this is how the engine came in to the possession of the Windsor Aero Club. Let it be said though, that Miss Bland proved that pioneer aviation was not merely a male stronghold. This engine, in a comedic but disastrous turn of events, was to lead to Sydney‘s first, and possibly only, brush with the law. When it arrived, presumably by train on the GWR, the young enthusiasts hurried home to try it out. They bolted it to Camm’s father’s workbench in the garden of 10 Alma Road and tried to start it. At first this proved to be immensely difficult. Of course, anyone with experience of aero engines will know there is a knack to getting them started which can take a long time to develop. However, an attempt on a Sunday afternoon, when all were dressed in their Sunday best, proved successful. The engine fired and roared into life! The Engine has been on loan and displayed for many years to Brooklands Museum as there was no place for it to be displayed in Windsor but was brought back to the museum at Windsor Guildhall temporarily in 2016 as part of and exhibition on Sydney Camm..Categorised under: Transport and Aviation