Jump to content

My Flying Control Jeep - The Ongoing Story


Jessie The Jeep

Recommended Posts

Beamish Museum "Dig for Victory" - September 3rd

The "Dig for Victory" event was in its second year at Beamish. The event was on for four days, 'though we could only attend one day. We took both Jeeps along, and were joined by another half dozen MV's, stopping at the 1940's farm for a free bacon breakfast before heading to the show field. The weather forecast was for heavy rain most of the day, and while it did start at 11am, it got lighter and stopped mid afternoon.

After a briefing, we convoyed around the site road, through the town, past the entrance, and back to the show field. After that, we were free to drive around the site at any time; around a 2 mile route. Soon after returning from the convoy, we set off to the town in 'Hope' to visit the cafe, and get a few photos of the Jeep in a period setting. As we came back out, the rain started.

beamish14.jpg

Later in the morning, we took 'Jessie' around the site, parking near the 1940's farm for a while. There were a number of displays around the farm, but as the rain was at its heaviest at this time, I stayed with the Jeep and chatted with the other MV owners parked there.

beamish19.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Chaffee replica moved around the site too, and a little while after I parked up at the farm, it fired up and headed off around the a different location. While the weather was poor, there were still plenty of public there, and they enjoyed seeing the MV's on the move around the site.

beamish21.jpg

beamish24.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

After lunch, we took both Jeeps for a drive around the site in the pouring rain, stopping at the entrance only until the trams cleared the road, before returning to the show field again. The rain started to ease after this, and it eventually dried up, allowing a wander over to the station. Late afternoon, we took both Jeeps out again, stopping in town to get photos of both Jeeps together. We returned to the show field one last time to suit up for the cold trip home, and shortly after setting off home, the rain started again. We got home with is still raining and had to put the Jeeps away with wet canvas.

beamish35.jpg

beamish41.jpg

beamish43.jpg

beamish45.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Royal Ordnance Factory - October 1st

The former Royal Ordnance Factory at Aycliffe Industrial Estate has been converted to a climbing wall and trampoline centre. It was having a 1 year anniversary open day, and we took a few vehicles along to represent the site's past use. Searching on Google Earth at the 1945 pictures, it turns out that the whole of the Aycliffe Industrial Estate area was the ammo dump for the factory.

rof6.jpg

rof2.jpg

rof9.jpg

rof8.jpg

The next trip out will be to my daughter's school in a little over a weeks time. I'll probably take one Jeep and the Dodge to give it a last run out of the season.

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I had all three of my vehicles out again on November 4th for a school history lesson visit. I posted the full story on my Dodge thread, so won't repeat it all, but needed to update the M201 and GPW threads with what is probably their last event of the year. Here's a montage of the pics from the morning which saw four vehicles and four lectures for the kids to enjoy. The head and class teachers also had a go driving the Ford GPW. It was a great morning and the kids have still been talking about all they learned this week.

blackfell.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Twelve years ago today, on February 18th 2005, Lynne and I were having a long weekend break in Scotland. It wasn't just for a nice weekend away, but we were just starting to look into buying a Jeep. St John's Town of Dalry, Castle Douglas, was the closest dealer to Washington, so that's where we started.

WHB Jeeps only had one Jeep left in stock, registration 265-0439, an ex-French Army Jeep, sold at a French Army auction in Toulouse. It was lot number 79 at the sale on 27th of January 2000. We spent the weekend phoning around other suppliers trying to compare prices and availability, and concluded it was a good deal, particularly with regards to the convenience of collection.

At the end of the weekend, we went back and paid a deposit. Before we could collect, it needed new batteries and brakes, I wanted a new roof and seat canvasses and an all over coat of OD to save me a spraying job; so we didn't return to collect it until mid April.....

.....and so began an adventure that would take me rattling and bouncing my way around events across five countries, ultimately resulting in a collection of three military vehicles and a trailer.

Here's how 'Jessie' looked when we first found her.

jeep1.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

2017 Season

Stephenson Railway Museum 1940's Event - May 1st

My first event of the season was meant to be the Yorkshire MVT Crank Up to York centre, but an MOT failure of the normal car on Friday, forced a weekend of unexpected car shopping as repair costs may be higher than the worth of the 12 year old vehicle. The Bank Holiday Monday however was free, and allowed us to get to the Stephenson Railway Museum for their first 1940's event. The weather was breezy but bright, and after a weekend of brain numbing car facts and figure comparisons, it was nice to just relax, listen to the music and ride the train.

stephenson1.jpg

stephenson3.jpg

stephenson8.jpg

Next weekend, I'm Jeeping off to Breighton Airfield again for their Spring Fly-In.

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Breighton Airfield Aaerobatics Comp and Aerojumble Fly-In - May 6/7th

My normal car was off the road, so my trip to Breighton was by Jeep! I was going to camp for the weekend, so for the first time in a few years, towed the jeep trailer with Jessie, after swapping all the bulbs back to 24 volts. The drive down on Friday saw nice blue sky, but on Saturday morning, passing low cloud interrupted the aerobatics competition, eventually resulting in its cancellation. There were however, many nice aircraft to look at, even if not all flew during the weekend.

breighton1.jpg

breighton2.jpg

breighton7.jpg

breighton8.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On Sunday, it was a Fly-In and Aerojumble, and I had a stall selling some of my Aviation Model Art pictures ( see below ). I had a few sales and a number of orders placed for other aircraft, some of which were based at Breighton. The low cloud persisted, but there were still a number of unusual aircraft flew in to visit for the day.

My trade stand and three examples of the model art I was selling, a Yak18a, based at Breighton with the Real Aeroplane Company, the de Havilland DH.88 Comet England-Australia air racer and a Miles Magister, also Breighton based.

breighton25.jpg

breighton26.jpg

breighton27.jpg

breighton28.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Blyth Battery Goes to War - May 20/21st

Blyth Battery was built during WW1 to protect the port of Blyth. It was upgraded and enlarged in WW2. Today, volunteers maintain the Battery as a museum and hold a number of events. Blyth Battery Goes to War is their main event of the year.

With the amount of heavy rain on Saturday, I think the event should have been "Blyth Battery Goes to Sea". It didn't rain all day, but when the thundery showers hit, the rain made the most of the opportunity. Saturday is always the quiet day, but there were still a fair number of public wandering around the sea front and a nice selection of WW2 and Post War vehicles were there. Day two had more settled weather, but the wind turned in from the sea, making it colder than expected. There were a few extra vehicles the second day, and a few less under covers!

"Jessie" with part of the battery behind.

blyth1.jpg

blyth5.jpg

blyth11.jpg

blyth20.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Normally, I take the Dodge to Blyth, but with the cold wet start to Spring this year, and any work needing to be done outdoors on the drive way, I haven't had the opportunity to give it its service yet.

The North East Land Sea and Air Museum were there with their Morane-Saulnier replica project.

blyth14.jpg

blyth15.jpg

blyth27.jpg

blyth16.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...