Lea Valley and Flight Trials
July 2009 Celebration of the Centenary of the First All British Flight at Lea Valley, Walthamstow
On 12th July 1908 A.V Roe became the first man to fly an all-British aeroplane (pilot, aeroplane and engine) when he flew some 120 feet in his 9hp JAP powered Roe 1 Triplane. Alliott had relocated here after having been evicted from Brooklands the previous summer and had rented two railway arches by the River Lea, which two boarded up and used to build his new Triplane.
Celebrations took place on the exact spot on the 13th July 2009 including the completed replica of the Triplane that was built in Manchester by the Roe 1 Heritage Group. A plaque commemorating the historic flight was unveiled on the railway arch and the Royal Aeronautical Society presented the Roe 1 Heritage team with one of only three Special Centenary Awards. The other two went to the Cody Flyer Project and the Vulcan to the Skies team.
The event was organised by the Lee Valley Parks Authority, inspired by Lindsay Collier of the Lea Valley Experience and with particular thanks to Peter Rosen, Waltham Forest Council, RAF Museum Hendon, Colin Dodds, The Roe Heritage Group and Manchester Museum of Science and Induustry (MOSI).
2009 Replica of 1909 Roe 1 Triplane Project
The Roe Heritage Group is a team of skilled ex employees of A.V Roe & Co and latterly Hawker Siddeley, now BAE Systems. Over a period of two years the team, led by Mike Turner and Peter Teagle have painstakingly recreated a replica of the Roe 1 Triplane keeping all details as close to the original as possible. They incorporated a period two cylinder JAP engine and used materials as close as possible to the original in all areas.
Originally located in the old Avro hangars at A.V. Roe's old base at Woodford they relocated and completed the project to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) Avro Triplane.
Flight trials took place in October 2009 but the engine was not delivering enough power to achieve a flight. Work continues on the gearing, propeller and engine in the hope that greater success will be achieved in 2010.
