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British Aircraft Company
The British Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer based in Maidstone. It was founded by C H Lowe-Wylde and produced gliders and light aircraft during the 1930s. B.A.C. Ltd was registered as a Limited Company on 4 March 1931; directors were C H Lowe-Wylde, K Barcham Green and Mrs Sheila M Green. Around this time Lowe-Wylde was developing the principle of launching gliders by towing them using a powerful car. Giving demonstrations around the country, his Bentley, driven by Mrs Green, was able to launch him to a height of 300 ft, thus making hill sites and bungy-launch teams unnecessary. A public demonstration of this on the Brooklands Race Track's Finishing Straight on 9 April 1931 was filmed by British Pathe and almost ended in disaster when Lowe-Wylde clipped the port wing as he made an impressive landing under a footbridge. A school of auto-towed instruction was started at West Malling. The Sopwith Dove G-EBKY (now with the Shuttleworth Collection) was also u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it with Rochester, Kent, Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river carried much of the town's trade as the centre of the agricultural county of Kent, known as the Garden of England. There is evidence of settlement in the area dating back before the Stone Age. The town, part of the borough of Maidstone, had an approximate population of 100,000 in 2019. Since World War II, the town's economy has shifted from heavy industry towards light industry and services. Toponymy Anglo-Saxon period of English history, Saxon charters dating back to ca. 975 show the first recorded instances of the town's name, ''de maeides stana'' and ''maegdan stane'', possibly meaning ''stone of the maidens'' or ''stone of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Flying Services
National Flying Services Ltd was a company aiming to create and manage a large number of airfields and flying clubs around Britain. It relied on government subsidy, and it collapsed when the subsidy was withdrawn in 1934, because the aims had not been achieved. History Formation National Flying Services (NFS) was founded in November 1928 by Freddie Guest, a cousin of Winston Churchill, who had been the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol North, losing his seat in the general election held in May that year, and had been Secretary of State for Air in 1921-2. The objective of the company was to create a network of landing grounds and flying clubs around the UK. In 1929, the government published a white paper that effectively established a subsidy for the company’s operations, especially in training new pilots and maintaining their proficiency. This caused some controversy, as local councils were already establishing their own airfields, with flying clubs that would be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BAC Super Drone G-AEDB Duxford 1982
BAC or Bac may refer to: Places * Bac, a village in Montenegro * Baile Átha Cliath, Irish language name for Dublin city. * Bîc River, aka ''Bâc River'', a Moldovan river * Baç Bridge, bridge in Turkey * Barnes County Municipal Airport (ICAO airport code: KBAC; FAA airport code: BAC) Valley City, North Dakota, US; see List of airports in North Dakota Arts and entertainment * Baryshnikov Arts Center, in Manhattan, New York City * '' Batman: Arkham City'', a 2011 video game * Battersea Arts Centre, London, England * Benedicta Arts Center, St. Joseph, Minnesota, USA * Big Apple Chorus, New York based barbershop chorus * Boston Area Crusaders, former name of the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps Organizations * BAC-Credomatic, a Central American financial company owned by Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores * Baltimore Aircoil Company, a manufacturer of cooling towers * Bangabandhu Aeronautical Centre * Bank of America, which trades on the NYSE under the stock ticker BAC * Boe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percival Gull
The Percival Gull was a British single-engined monoplane, first flown in 1932. It was successful as a fast company transport, racing aircraft and long-range record breaker. It was developed into the Vega Gull and the Proctor. Design and development The Percival Gull was the first aircraft of the Percival Aircraft Company, formed in 1932 by Edgar Percival and Lt. Cdr E.B.W. Leake. It was designed by Percival himself, and was strongly influenced by the Hendy 302, designed by Basil "Hendy" Henderson, that he had previously owned and raced. The new company did not have the facilities to build the Gull, so the prototype was produced by the British Aircraft Company of Maidstone, Kent, and the first 24 production machines were manufactured by Parnall Aircraft of Yate, Gloucestershire. In 1934, the Percival Aircraft Company moved to Gravesend Airport, Kent, where it built its own Gulls,Grey 1972, pp. 64c–65c.Jackson 1974, pp. 93–96, 511–512. with the last gull built at Percival's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas (motorcycles)
Douglas was a British motorcycle manufacturer from 1907–1957 based in Kingswood, Bristol, owned by the Douglas family, and especially known for its horizontally opposed twin cylinder engined bikes and as manufacturers of speedway machines. The company also built a range of cars between 1913 and 1922. History The brothers William and Edwin Douglas founded the Douglas Engineering Company in Bristol in 1882. Initially doing blacksmith work, they progressed to foundry work. Joseph F. Barter's Light Motors Ltd. was one of Douglas's customers. Barter built a single-cylinder bicycle engine between 1902 and 1904; he then developed the Fée bicycle engine system. The Fée's 200 cc flat-twin engine was mounted in-line with the frame, using chain drive to a countershaft beneath (with clutch); this then used a drive belt to power the bicycle's rear wheel. Barter founded Light Motors Ltd. to build the Fée system. Production began in 1905; the Fée's name was anglicized to Fairy sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Greater London since 1965. Hendon falls almost entirely within the NW4 postcode, while the West Hendon part falls in NW9. Colindale to the north-west was once considered part of Hendon but is today separated by the M1 motorway. The district is most famous for the London Aerodrome which later became the RAF Hendon; from 1972 the site of the RAF station was gradually handed over to the RAF Museum. The railways reached Hendon in 1868 with Hendon station on the Midland Main Line, followed by the London Underground further east under the name Hendon Central in 1923. Brent Street emerged as its commercial centre by the 1890s. A social polarity was developed between the uphill areas of Hendon and the lowlands around the railway station. Hendon is l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brent Reservoir
The Brent Reservoir (popularly called the Welsh Harp) is a reservoir in North West London. It straddles the boundary between the boroughs of Brent and Barnet and is owned by the Canal & River Trust. The reservoir takes its informal name from a public house called The Welsh Harp, which stood nearby until the early 1970s. It is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the only SSSI in either borough and among more than 30 SSSIs in Greater London. The reservoir is fed by the Silk Stream and the River Brent. Its main outflow is the River Brent. Its smaller outflow is a feeder channel to the canal system. It holds an estimated . In 1994 when the reservoir was drained more than of fish were captured, 95% of which were roach. However, fishing is prohibited. The reservoir has a sailing centre, home to Welsh Harp Sailing Club, Wembley Sailing Club, the Sea Cadets, and the University of London Sailing club. In 1960, it also hosted the Women's European Rowing Champions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rochester, Kent
Rochester ( ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about from London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rainham, Strood and Gillingham. Rochester was a city until losing its status as one in 1998 following the forming of Medway and failing to protect its status as a city. There have been ongoing campaigns to reinstate the city status for Rochester. Rochester was for many years a favourite of Charles Dickens, who owned nearby Gads Hill Place, Higham, basing many of his novels on the area. The Diocese of Rochester, the second oldest in England, is centred on Rochester Cathedral and was responsible for founding a school, now ''The King's School'', in 604 AD, which is recognised as the second oldest continuously running school in the world. Rochester Castle, built by Bishop Gundulf of Rochester, has one of the best-preserved keeps in either England or France. During ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Medway
The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a total distance of . About of the river lies in East Sussex, with the remainder being in Kent. It has a Drainage basin, catchment area of , the second largest in southern England after the River Thames, Thames. The map opposite shows only the major tributaries: a more detailed map shows the extensive network of smaller streams feeding into the main river. Those tributaries rise from points along the North Downs, the Weald and Ashdown Forest. Tributaries The major tributaries are: * River Eden, Kent, River Eden * River Bourne, Kent, River Bourne, known in the past as the Shode or Busty * River Teise, major sub-tributary River Bewl * River Beult * Loose Stream * River Len Minor tributaries include: * Wateringbury Stream * East Malling St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. Kipling's works of fiction include the ''Jungle Book'' duology ('' The Jungle Book'', 1894; '' The Second Jungle Book'', 1895), ''Kim'' (1901), the '' Just So Stories'' (1902) and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888). His poems include " Mandalay" (1890), " Gunga Din" (1890), "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919), " The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If—" (1910). He is seen as an innovator in the art of the short story.Rutherford, Andrew (1987). General Preface to the Editions of Rudyard Kipling, in "Puck of Pook's Hill and Rewards and Fairies", by Rudyard Kipling. Oxford University Press. His children's books are classics; one critic noted "a versatile and luminous narrative gift".Rutherford, Andrew ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palestine (region)
Palestine ( el, Παλαιστίνη, ; la, Palaestina; ar, فلسطين, , , ; he, פלשתינה, ) is a geographic region in Western Asia. It is usually considered to include Israel and the State of Palestine (i.e. West Bank and Gaza Strip), though some definitions also include part of northwestern Jordan. The first written records to attest the name of the region were those of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt, which used the term "Peleset" in reference to the neighboring people or land. In the 8th century, Assyrian inscriptions refer to the region of "Palashtu" or "Pilistu". In the Hellenistic period, these names were carried over into Greek, appearing in the Histories of Herodotus in the more recognizable form of "Palaistine". The Roman Empire initially used other terms for the region, such as Judaea, but renamed the region Syria Palaestina after the Bar Kokhba revolt. During the Byzantine period, the region was split into the provinces of Palaestina Prima, Palaestin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Gliding Association
The British Gliding Association (BGA) is the governing body for gliding in the United Kingdom. Gliding in the United Kingdom operates through 80 gliding clubs (both civilian and service) which have 2,310 gliders and 9,462 full flying members (including service personnel), though a further 17,000 people have gliding air-experience flights each year. History A gliding event first occurred in the UK on a hill at Itford in East Sussex in 1922. The meeting was largely a publicity stunt by the ''Daily Mail'' newspaper which had offered a prize of one thousand pounds for the longest flight. However little gliding happened in the UK for several years after until reports of long flights in thunderstorms in Germany appeared in ''The Aeroplane'' magazine. Douglas Culver suggested a lunch meeting at the Comedy Restaurant in London on 4 December 1929 for anybody who was interested. Fifty-six people attended and a committee was formed. Shortly after the BGA was founded to start the spor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
