Cream of the crop preparing for take-off
» THESE pictures are from Christine Mitchell (nee Tartaglia) of Leckhampton whose late father Michael is at the right hand end in the group photo wearing overalls.
Christine writes: “As I recall Dad worked in the photography department at Dowty Equipment Ltd in his youth before joining the family business of Cotswold Dairy Ice Cream Ltd.
“The two pictures of him with the Dowty-made landing gear were taken in the early 1950s I think. He was asked to be in the photos to give scale.
“The larger of the two undercarriages was for the Brabazon, while the smaller was the tail wheel from a Typhoon fighter, the latter of which were built at Brockworth by the Gloster Aircraft Company.
“The Bristol Brabazon, notoriously, was one of the biggest flops in aviation history. Conceived as a luxury transatlantic airliner, the huge plane carried only 100 passengers and was never commercially viable. Only one was built.
“Dad, who was one of six brothers, left Dowty’s to work in the family business, Cotswold Dairy Ice Cream Ltd.
“The firm was based off the lower High Street in Park Street, Cheltenham. All the brothers worked six days a week as their father (my Grampy) expected the brothers to work hard to build up the ice cream business.
“It is extraordinary they built up a business from nothing in Cheltenham and went on to achieve national awards for their ice cream.
“In later years Dad worked at Staverton airport as ground crew. He used to wave in aircraft on runways and put chocks under the wheels. He had a lifelong interest in aircraft that started after his national service days
“Dad moved to Bournemouth in the late 1970s but I always used to take copies of the Echo on my visits as he loved seeing pictures and stories about Cheltenham his home town.
“I have donated the original photos to the Jet Age Museum.”