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The conversation went like this....Graham Orphan hosting on behalf of the Omaka AHC said...."So I have a challenge for you, since you are an aviator and also someone adept at equestrian pursuits, how would you like to climb aboard our Fokker Triplane?" This had been prearranged with the officials from Kensington Palace whilst planning this visit. However the response from HRH Prince William was completely unexpected. "I'm not getting into a GERMAN aeroplane". Going off-script in this way left the host completely dumbstruck until the Prince, with a wry smile added, "But I'll happily climb aboard that Sopwith"! We should have realised. An RAF Officer could hardly be expected to fly for the ‘enemy’! And so his Highness wrestled his tall frame into the Sopwith Pup. At this juncture, the planned engine-start (in the Triplane) was cancelled as the cloud of castor oil that would have come from the rotary engine in the Sopwith would have doused all of the assembled dignitaries in a garment-destroying oily film. But this comical exchange set the scene for what was a very pleasant, very sociable chapter in the wonderful 2014 visit by the Royal couple that brought them to Marlborough, New Zealand, specifically to view the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre.
Image: Prince William and Kate Middleton, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge inspecting the Sopwith Pup at Omaka.
Owned and operated by the Chariots of Fire Fighter Collection, this Sopwith Pup is a replica built in the USA in the 1960s and features a number of original components including the engine, instruments and wing struts. The original Le Rhone engine is presently out of the aircraft which has now been fitted with a 100 hp Gnome rotary engine. This latter power-plant is a reproduction engineered right here at Omaka by the team at Classic Aero Machining Services. The CAMS team pioneered the modern building of WW-I aero engines and these CAMS Gnomes have now been supplied to owners in the USA, Australia, England, France and New Zealand.
Fans of World War One aviation will be delighted to take a stroll through the 'Knights of the Sky' halls in the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre.
Image: Sopwith Pup - Photo by Gavin Conroy
About Marlborough Lines Classic Fighters Omaka: The airshow is the main fundraising event for the Omaka Aviation Heritage Museum, located in Blenheim, Marlborough NZ.
