Old Photos of the Forest of Dean - Lydbrook and district

Tipsey Trainer I aircraft at Eastbach

Courtesy of: John Ricketts Uploaded: Feb 2008

Tipsey aircraft at Eastbach

John wrote (Feb 2008): "....show a Czechoslovakian aircraft the model - a Tipsey. This was constructed before WW2 not assembled, but crated and stored until after the war. It was then acquired by Tony Liddiard ( he worked for the Milk Marketing Board). He restored the plane to airworthiness at Hubert Knight's farm at Eastbach just above Lydbrook in the early 1960s".

"The bottom photo was taken during take off (camera rather shaky!) and is of the Old Cable Works at Lydbrook".

In the top photo, the East side of the Lydbrook valley (Forge Hill?) can be seen in the background to the left.

Thanks also to Mike Edwards who pointed out (Feb 2008): "Tipsy’s were Belgian in origin, being designed by someone called Mr Tips. The most famous design was the Tipsy Nipper, a fully aerobatic single seater powered with a VW beetle engine. This looks like an early Tipsy Trainer. Most of Tips’ designs could be built in your garage or workshop by an amateur".

"The engine, however, is a Walter Mikron, which is Czech by design and manufacture. Good little engines for their time".

"The strip John refers to is one field down the hill from the present airfield. It’s now used for horses, though it was the original Eastbach Farm strip (the current one is known as Eastbach Spence field)".

– the aircraft is still flying! ..

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WANTED: Old photos, old postcards, ephemera and memories of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. U.K.