40+ Bandits Aviation Tours

<BODY bgcolor="#80B0DA" text="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#800080" ALINK="#FF0000"> <FONT FACE="Arial, Homerton"> <DIV ALIGN=CENTER> <IMG SRC="logosm.jpg" WIDTH=160 HEIGHT=115 BORDER=1 ALT="40+ Bandits Logo"><BR> <B><FONT SIZE="-1">Aviation Tours</FONT></B> <SCRIPT language="javascript">  </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language="javascript1.2">  </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language="javascript"> </SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT> <IMG src="http://www.rroom.co.uk/cgi-local/bin/tracker/statlog.cgi?pg=A;id=bandits;main=yes;javascript=no;sysrecord=yes;recrecord=yes" height=1 width=1 ALT=""> </NOSCRIPT> </DIV> <P> <DIV ALIGN=CENTER> <A HREF="tours1.html" TITLE="More information on 40+ Bandits Aviation Tours"><IMG SRC="tours.jpg" WIDTH=136 HEIGHT=50 BORDER=0 ALT="Tours" VSPACE=12></A><BR> <A HREF="contact.html" TITLE="Contacting 40+ Bandits Aviation Tours"><IMG SRC="contact.jpg" WIDTH=136 HEIGHT=50 BORDER=0 ALT="Contact" VSPACE=12></A> </DIV> <P> <FONT FACE="Arial, Homerton"> <IMG SRC="sm40.jpg" WIDTH=81 HEIGHT=48 BORDER=0 ALIGN="BOTTOM" ALT="40"> <FONT SIZE="+3"><B>+ Bandits Tours</B></FONT> <HR><P> There is tremendous interest in Second World War aviation with enthusiasts tending to favour a particular phase of air fighting or even an aircraft type. One such phase took place in the skies above Southern England in the Summer of 1940. This has come to be known as the Battle of Britain and, even with hindsight and the modem tendency to rewrite history, is acknowledged to have been one of the crucial battles of this century. Even today most people in the English-speaking world will have some idea of what the "Few" means. <IMG SRC="smphoto1.jpg" WIDTH=153 HEIGHT=186 HSPACE=3 VSPACE=3 BORDER=1 ALIGN="RIGHT" ALT="(Drawing - 11k)"> <P> For those with a strong interest in these events we are offering a 7-day tour of places that were in the thick of the action. Although S.E. England and London have changed dramatically since 1940 a surprising number of historical sites remain even though a larger part of the airfields have been given over to housing or other development. <P> To assist in recapturing the atmosphere of those days and avoid swamping the object of interest, each weekly tour will be restricted to an average of eight people. Accommodation, including breakfast and evening meal, will be at the family-owned <A HREF="http://www.spahotel.co.uk/">Spa Hotel in Royal Tunbridge Wells (http://www.spahotel.co.uk/)</A>. A small group has many advantages. It is not possible to visit every single site in one week. However some are a "must" but outside of these the sites chosen can be decided by the group. Even the most dedicated enthusiast will weaken under a diet of concentrated memorabilia so non-aviation visits or shopping in London can be arranged as the mood dictates. <P> Tours will be run Saturday to Saturday from Easter (exact date varies) to late October to take advantage of museum opening times and the weather (English weather is not as bad as wartime US servicemen claim!) A typical day will consist of a visit to a major site in the morning. Into this category comes the 11 Group control centre (the plotting table and indicator boards set to the situation on 15 September 1940) at Uxbridge or the Battle of Britain museum at Hawkinge airfield. There are various options for taking lunch but often it will be at those pubs frequented by pilots flying from a nearby airfield. <P><DIV ALIGN=CENTER><IMG SRC="photo2.jpg" WIDTH=410 VSPACE=8 HEIGHT=256 BORDER=1 ALT="(Photo - 41k)"><BR><I><FONT SIZE="-2">ME109E-4 of 4/LG2 brought down in the grounds of the spa hotel on 7 October 1940 </FONT></I></DIV><P> Where another major site exists within reasonable travelling time this can be visited in the afternoon, otherwise two or more minor sites canbe incorporated. The crash locations of many well-known pilots from both sides are known and these can be used to break up road journeys (which are not excessive anyway) although there are no material remains. As mentioned previously the time spent in any one place can be increased or reduced at will. Where a group consists of members of the same club or association in the US, the whole tour can be biased in favour of a particular theme - for instance about a dozen US citizens fought in the Battle (luckily all on our side). <P> <B>Cultural Note:</B> We believe that these tours will be thoroughly enjoyable, both for the enthusiast with a general or newly-discovered lever of interest and he who needs to know the colour of Douglas Bader's scarf. The word "he" is appropriate as interest in aerial warfare is almost exclusively male. Wives, girlfriends, daughters etc. are indeed welcome but if they see a Daimler-Benz DB601 as a heap of junk (and after falling from 20000 ft. it is) then this tour may not be their cup of tea. <P> <B>Travel to Britain:</B> As our clients come from every corner of the US and Canada it is not cost-effective for us to arrange air travel, not least because transatlantic flights are cheaper when purchased in North America. Thus we request clients to arrange their own travel to the UK, arriving on the starting Saturday of the tour with return flight on the following Saturday (unless of course the tour is part of a longer UK visit). Clients will be met by the tour guide and vehicle and for this reason we have a preference for flights arriving at London Gatwick as this is just 45 mins. from Royal Tunbridge Wells. The procedure is not as cumbersome as it may sound as eastbound transatlantic flights of all carriers tend to arrive in the early morning period. <P> Comprehensive joining instructions will be issued at time of booking. <P> <B>Places of interest include:</B> <UL> <LI><A HREF="http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/flat/hendon/index.htm">RAF Museum, Hendon</A></LI> <LI>11 Group Control Room</LI> <LI><A HREF="http://www.reading.ac.uk/AcaDepts/sn/wsn1/dept/av/en68.html">BoB Museum - Hawkinge</A></LI> <LI>North Weald airfield</LI> <LI><A HREF="http://www.nationaltrails.gov.uk/chart.htm">Chartwell - Churchill's Home</A></LI> <LI><A HREF="http://www.iwm.org.uk/">Imperial War Museum</A></LI> <LI><A HREF="http://www.spitfire-museum.com/history.htm">Manston Airfield</A></LI> <LI>BoB museum, Shoreham</LI> <LI>"The Few" Memorial Chapel - Biggin Hill</LI> <LI><A HREF="http://www.nationaltrails.gov.uk/runny.htm">Runnymede Memorial</A></LI> <LI><A HREF="http://www.croydon.gov.uk/">Croydon</A></LI> <LI>RAF chapel - <A HREF="http://webwright.n-e-t.co.uk/~webwright/webwright/abbey/home.htm">Westminster Abbey</A></LI> <LI><A HREF="http://www.stonix.demon.co.uk/rsg/reviews/places.html#Dover">Hellfire Corner (Dover)</A></LI> <LI><A HREF="http://www.berryman.ndirect.co.uk/tangmere/">BoB museum - Tangmere</A></LI> <LI>Beachy Head</LI> <LI><A HREF="http://www.iwm.org.uk/duxford.htm">Duxford Museum & Airfield</A></LI> </UL> <P> <UL> <LI><A HREF="contact.html">Contacting 40+ Bandits...</A></LI> </UL> <P> <DIV ALIGN=CENTER> <I><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF" SIZE="-2">Page design by<BR><A HREF="http://users.ox.ac.uk/~shug0684/design/">David Anderson</A></FONT></I> </DIV> </FONT> </BODY>