G rass Roots Fly-in

01 Beautiful BA Swallow II, powered by a Pobjoy radial engine, was flown in by Charlie and Anna Huke

02 Adventurous German RV-8 homebuilder Hermann Schiele completed an amazing sightseeing trip to Greenland this summer. He’s put together what must be one of the most stunning flying videos I’ve seen, which is definitely worth taking the time to watch You can find Hermann’s fantastic video on YouTube tinyurl.com/RV8Greenland

03 Stuart Green’s lovely Tipsy Nipper G-CIZS was one of the aircraft to delight spotters by making an appearance, as it normally spends its time aerobatting near its home base not far from Bristol. The Nipper’s very smart overhaul was carried out by Nympsfield-based LAA Inspector Toby Willcox.

04 Ian Coates meticulously finished RV-7 was awarded the Andy Nowicki Trophy for Best Van’s Aircraft RV. Ian constructed the aircraft from a flat-pack kit over a number of years, and finished it in 2018. It is powered by a 180hp Lycoming with a Catto three-blade propeller.

01 This AutoGyro MTO Sport caught plenty of eyes with it’s great colour scheme that pays homage to the Ken Wallis-designed WA-116 Agile Little Nellie, which starred in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice

02 James Stringer imported his RV-8 from the USA. He had been thinking of repainting it, but says people’s reactions to a polished RV were so popular he’s going to keep it this way…

03 The appearance of the tiny Z1R Stummelflitzer, with its Rotec 2800 radial, always stops people in their tracks. A former winner of the Air Squadron Trophy for Best Plans-Built aircraft, the aircraft is still a fine testament to the art of scratch-building.

04 The wonderful Percival Proctor with it’s very throaty De Havilland Gipsy Queen 2 engine was flown in by owner James Allison.

01 and inset Steve Markham was awarded the RAA Canada Trophy for Best Kitbuilt aircraft for his Mk26 Spitfire. Steve spent over 16 years and more than 12,000 hours building the aircraft, which was finished and detailed to a very high standard.

02 Jan Mangelschots’ (left) and friends collected and delivered the trophy for Best Vintage/Classic for Willem Ronge.

03 Wim Beelan (centre) came to the first Sywell PFA Rally in 1972 on his bicycle from Holland, and has returned for the following 50 years, with the exception of Covid, to help set up the Rally. Thanks for being such a great volunteer, Wim!

A cake was cut in Wim’s honour in the presence of David Faulkner-Bryant (right) and LAA Rally Chairman Eryl Smith.

04 Dan Ruiters and his RV-6 from Switzerland at the EAA AirVenture fly-in at Oshkosh in July. He recently completed an epic 132 hour flying tour, travelling 19,449nm. Dan noted that on his travels, his lowest landing was at Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California @ -210ft, while his highest landing was at Leadville Lake, Colorado @ 9,934ft.