THE BROOKLANDS STORY This week, I would like to share with you an article written in the 1950s by Howard Pixton, a former pilot at Avro. His contribution was printed in the Avro News magazine and was discovered in a brown striped box, carefully stored away in a cabinet in the archives. The story continued in Avro News across a few pages and is both entertaining and edifying. I will share the next page next week. However, reading the story of an eyewitness, pilot and fellow

I came down the stairs and saw a group of eager children standing beside a small prototype of a biplane — the first aircraft A. V. Roe designed. “The engine was placed at the back,” the tour guide told the children, “because A.V. used to work on a ship where the propellers were placed at the back of the vessel, he thought propellers should be at the back of his aeroplane.” The children looked up at him. “Did he fly in this plane?” a little girl asked.

On realising that the diaries were missing, I asked if anyone knew where they were. The sound of gunfire echoed in the distance. The O.K. Corral was warming up, I thought. “No,” they answered. “We’ve been conducting a thorough search for them, but it has been unsuccessful so far. Maybe they weren’t included among the things donated to the museum by his children.” A second echo rippled through the room. I opened the 1906 diary and read the first entry.

MY FIRST THURSDAY AT AVRO HERITAGE MUSEUM When I returned to the museum on Thursday morning, there was a small group of members standing near the reception desk. They turned, smiled, and greeted me. It was going to be a busy day, they told me. I signed in and noticed that the lights in the hangar were not yet switched on. There was a soft, gentle calm coming from the exhibition floor. The men were engaged in conversation. News from America was as fascinating now a

Moments later, a member pulled out a box of Quality Street and waved it in the air. “It was my 80th birthday on Saturday,” he said. “I brought some chocolates to share the celebration.”

My First Tuesday at Avro Heritage Museum The Dairies The director then left me in the competent hands of the Head of Archives. We went around the room pulling out folders with labels such as Anson, Nimrod and Avro 504 on them. “Where are his personal effects?” I asked, when we continued to the library room where a round table stood in the centre, under a flood of skylight. He turned to look at me, “What do you mean?” “The raw materials,” I said. “L

"I was there to find the 'heart in Avro, the 'pulse' within the veins."