1916 Morane Type N ‘Bullet’ monoplane

[lenny100]

OK I know its not a true "what if", but the story behind the pilot of this aircraft read like a Biggles book,

Claude Ridley was born on 15 November 1897 in Sunderland as the third child of wealthy parents Louis and Eleanor Ridley.
His parents moved to London where they lived in fashionable Royal Crescent at Notting Hill and he attended private schools in London and then Sandhurst College as a Cadet.
On the outbreak of the war he received a temporary commission into the RFC although this was short lived as he resigned when offered a full commission at RMC Sandhurst, after passing out he joined the Royal Fusiliers but continued his interest in flying by becoming attached to the RFC in 1915.

He joined 3 Squadron in France where he soon engaged in battles with the Germans and inevitably in August 1915 during a fight with 2 German planes he was wounded in the foot which meant that he was no longer able to fly and returned to the UK for convalescence.
Once fit to fly he was posted to one of the new London defence airfields at Joyce Green to deal with Zeppelin raids.
On the night of 31st March 1916 7 Zeppelins crossed the Suffolk coast intend on bombing London. Then they split up causing havoc with sighting and bombs all over East Anglia.
Zeppelin L15 continued towards London on a path that took it near to Joyce Green. Ridley scrambled his BE2c and then caught a glimpse of the Zeppelin in a searchlight. He started to fire his machine gun at the Zeppelin and closed the distance but as he did so the Zeppelin moved out of the searchlight and was lost by Ridley.

A few minutes later over Purfleet the Zeppelin was again picked out by a searchlight and an anti aircraft battery made a direct hit splitting the fabric of the airship and allowing gas to escape. Once again the zeppelin was lost but badly damaged it crashed into the sea off Margate.
The London Gazette on 16 May 1916 records the award of a Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry and good work during zeppelin raids.

Ridley now moved back to France with the new 60 Squadron where he became the expert in the perilous job of flying spies into German occupied territory at night. This was a dangerous task as he had to reconnoiter the area in daylight before the landing and choose a suitable grassy field from the area. A night or so later he would take off at night with the spy and return to his selected field where he would land, drop off the spy and take off again.
60 Squadron were equipped with French built Morane Bullets. These were quite fast with a capability of 90mph but at that speed the machine gun would refuse to fire and at lower speed the plane was very unstable liable to stall and spin on any manoeuvre other than blatant fast straight flying.

On 3 August 1916 Ridley took off with his spy and landed in his chosen field near Douai. Two bad things happened firstly the Germans had that day taken over a nearby filed as a temporary airfield and secondly his engine died and he was unable to take off again.
The book 60 Squadron by Group Captain AJL Scott tells the story of what happened next-
His adventures were remarkable. His spy got out, told Ridley to hide for a little, and presently, returning with civilian clothes and some money, told him that he must now shift for himself.
Ridley did so with such address that he eluded capture for three months on the German side of the line, and eventually worked his way via Brussels to the Dutch frontier and escaped.
This was a good performance, none the worse because he could speak neither French nor German. The method he adopted was a simple one  he would go up to some likely-looking civilian and say, " I am a British officer trying to escape; will you help me ? "They always did. He had many interesting adventures. For example, he lay up near the Douai aerodrome and watched the young Huns learning to fly and crashing on the aerodrome where he saw one of our B.E.s brought down, and the pilot and observer marched past him into captivity ; later the conductor of a tram in the environs of Brussels suspected him, but, knocking the man down, he jumped into a field of standing corn and contrived to elude pursuit. Starting with the new aerodrome near to his crash Ridley kept notes of all enemy activity and on his eventual escape  via the neutral  Netherlands he was able  to supply good information.
On 14 November 1916 the London Gazette records the award of a Distinguished Service Order for conspicuous gallantry and judgment in the execution of a special mission. When his machine was wrecked he used great resource and obtained valuable information. It is rumoured that Ridley had a personal audience with the King to congratulate him on his escape.
Ridley returned to his Squadron in France but he was not allowed to fly as were he to crash behind German lines then he would be shot as a spy given his actions while he was on the run.
In view of that, at the age of 19, he returned to the defence of London and was given command of 37 Squadron at it's new base at Stow  Maries.
At the age of 19, not only was he in charge of flying but he had responsibility for the numerous survive men and women as well as the civilian staff required to keep the base operational.
Although no doubt he was frustrated not to return to his front line squadron, given the life expectancy of a front line pilot at about 6 weeks, the posting may well have helped him live through the war.
In 1928 following postings at several stations he retired with the rank of Squadron leader but the new conflict saw him back in uniform although now with the rank of Wing Commander.
Despite leaving Stow Maries after just over a year Ridley maintained an attachment to the village.
In 1925 he donated an illuminated cross  to replace the weathervane on the steeple of the church where 3 of his men were buried.
In June 1925 he married Lilias Elizabeth McAlpine of  at St Marks in Audley Street,London with a reception at Claridges Hotel. Such was his standing that no fewer than 3 air commodores were guests at the wedding.
Sadly he died from natural causes in 1942 whilst off duty in London.
He always recalled happy times in Stow Maries and it was in respect of his wishes that he was buried in the Churchyard that could be seen from the southern end of his aerodrome. Many years later he was joined there by his wife Lilias.

did i mention that it not the plane i posted is it 1/1 scale........

[lenny100]

ok this is the work me and the small team have made this week 



the cockpit, with one of the air cadets that is giving a hand , he is just under 6 foot tall and dos not fit in the cockpit, I am responsible for the woodwork



the first time we fitted the rear fuselage to the front



A few days later the rear fuselage with it many wires fitted and tightened and the side and bottom ribs and stakes dry fitted

[Old Wombat]

I've always known how small & fragile the old WW1 scouts were but it's when you see them like this, being built, that it really hits home just how tiny & fragile they really were.


Great work going on there! Well done, you & the team, mate! Keep it up!

[NARSES2]

Some great work going on Lenny  Where's it being done ?

[lenny100]

we are building it in the back of the restoration hanger at the NESLAM museum next door to Nissan, We will have what we have done at this weekend at front-line sedgefield event, if you in the area come along and say hi http://www.frontline-sedgefield.co.uk/

[Captain Canada]

Great stuff ! Such a cool looking aeroplane

[NARSES2]

we are building it in the back of the restoration hanger at the NESLAM museum next door to Nissan, We will have what we have done at this weekend at front-line sedgefield event, if you in the area come along and say hi http://www.frontline-sedgefield.co.uk/

I just spent two weeks about 3 miles down the road 

Still, probably up in early August for a short visit

[lenny100]

we are building it in the back of the restoration hanger at the NESLAM museum next door to Nissan, We will have what we have done at this weekend at front-line sedgefield event, if you in the area come along and say hi http://www.frontline-sedgefield.co.uk/

I just spent two weeks about 3 miles down the road 

Still, probably up in early August for a short visit

if you let me know i give you a full tour and see if i can get the keys to one or two of the aircraft and get you behind the wire

[lenny100]

this weeks work up till now

the front and aft fuselage are now mated and we can now work on the upper-works

 

and the tin work is now in primer 



looking good   

[PR19_Kit]

At that rate you'll have it flying by the end of the month! 

[NARSES2]

we are building it in the back of the restoration hanger at the NESLAM museum next door to Nissan, We will have what we have done at this weekend at front-line sedgefield event, if you in the area come along and say hi http://www.frontline-sedgefield.co.uk/

I just spent two weeks about 3 miles down the road 

Still, probably up in early August for a short visit

if you let me know i give you a full tour and see if i can get the keys to one or two of the aircraft and get you behind the wire

Cheers mate