Everyone should have a Club: The FFFFF

[Plynkes]

United by a love of flight, in aviation's early years a gang of close friends established an informal club. They were fellow competitors and rivals in the first air races, and they came from all over the globe. They were reckless and devil-may-care, lovers of outrageous stunts and terrifying aerial manoeuvres, and it is a miracle that they all lived to see the year 1914. When that fateful summer came, and the members found themselves on different sides in that greatest of conflicts, they swore that they would not let the war break their fellowship. They would always remain friends. And so they rededicated their society, naming it the Franz Ferdinand Fellowship of Foolhardy Flyers. This then, is their story...

[Plynkes]

It is a none too well known fact that all the tennis grand slam events are named in honour of aviators or incidents involving aviation during the Great War. Most are familiar with the French Open tennis tournament, named after Roland Garros. Few realise the other three slams also have similar stories. Even fewer know that all three involve members of the Franz Ferdinand Fellowship. So let us begin our tour of the club with the so-called Grand Slam Three. First of all, Lt. Don Wimble, RNAS...



Name: Lieutenant Don Wimble
Nationality: United Kingdom
Service: Royal Naval Air Service
Aircraft: Sopwith Schneider
Victories: One Zeppelin (unconfirmed)



Lt. Don Wimble was in the unfortunate position of being a naval aviator to whom navigation was a complete mystery. This was compounded by short-sightedness and a tendency to "get things a bit muddled up" as he put it. He was famous for never finishing the London to Paris air race despite entering eight times. He showed up in Moscow, Münster, Machynlleth, Montpellier and Montevideo, amongst other places, but never once reached Paris. His war service was undistinguished, mostly consisting of fruitless searches for German U-Boats around the coast of Britain. But one incident shines out from his war record. In October 1916 he took part in a raid on the Zeppelin base in Cologne, where he caught an enemy airship on the ground, and destroyed it with bombs.

However, the Admiralty were unable to confirm this most glorious of victories, much to Wimble's chagrin. Incidentally, on the very same day a curious attack was recorded in Lincolnshire, not far from Skegness:



After the war Wimble went back to long-distance air racing. He vanished during the Paris-Timbuktu event of 1924, last seen over the Azores heading west. There were unconfirmed reports of a strange aircraft in the skies above Parkville, Maryland that summer, but Wimble was never seen again. Not to be outdone by the French, when establishing their new venue, the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club decided to dedicate it to Wimble and build it in his hometown. In a somewhat appropriate muck-up, they got his name 'a bit muddled up' and located their stadium in south west London rather than Wimble's native Milton Keynes.


Wimble stops to ask directions from the locals after losing his bearings on a routine anti-U-Boat patrol around the Isle of Wight.

[Plynkes]

Wimble's Schneider isn't just a display piece, she's ready to play with (I have T&T in mind):

Hunting for U-Boats.


The wires look a bit big in the photos, but they look okay in real life. Had to compromise between looks and not being too fragile to play with.


Ought to make a flying base with a sea texture on it, I suppose. I'll get around to that (one day).


Some WIP shots and close-ups, for those that like that kind of thing...













Had a few minor disasters along the way, which is why the finished paint-job looks a bit different to the WIP one. She's not perfect, but I like the way she's turned out, and it's a learning process. I think it's my best one yet. Hopefully I'll keep improving.

Coming soon: Eddie "Flushing" Meadows and Lothar Seingalt AKA The Pink Baron.

[muppetman]

In shock.. that is stunning.. nice job :love:

[PeteMurray]

Huzzah!

Huzzah!

HUZZAH!

I have been wondering what you've been keeping up your sleeve. This is not at all what I expected, and brilliant in concept and execution. Keep them coming! You must!

[DFlynSqrl]

Fantastic Plynkes!  Truely brilliant.

I love the newspaper headlines and the group shot with the silhouettes.

[Col.Stone]

Fantastic & hilarious and that's just the story!!! the plane is amazing :love:

[redzed]

outstanding piece of Historyonics and excellent modelling.

[argsilverson]

Fantastic! Truly lovely figure and aircraft!

Is it Great War mini?

[twrchtrwyth]

Excellent.

[Operator5]

Beautiful! Both the exposition and the wonderful painting and construction. This trend toward club building has been exciting and well worth the read. Who will be next?

[Helen]

Hi Poly,

Beautiful work as always and you always keep us on our toes with your captions and wonderful stories.

Nice work on the Naval aviator too.

By the way I love the band by the same name too :love:

Helen

[Driscoles]

So beautiful...A funny write up again and such great pictures.
I cant wait to read and see more.
Cheers
Björn

[Wirelizard]

Very nice - but please do tell us which companies the figure and the aircraft come from?

There's a Supermarine Walrus in 1/48 down at the local hobby shop, for a reasonable sum. It's really a very tempting piece to add to my Pulp Figures aviator figures!

[Malamute]

Very nice, Its brightened up my otherwise dull monday morning