Quick Shot: Those Magnificent Men
England has such an incredible collection of historic aircraft, but few as are unique as the early 1900's wood and cloth flying machines that paved the way for modern aviation. The Shuttleworth Collection, which is located near Cambridge, happens to house many of these exceedingly rare aircraft, and this is amongst them.
Although there are no flying original 1910 Bristol Boxkite left in the world, there are three replica aircraft in service, and seeing them fly is equally inspiring and mesmerizing. The Boxkite is most famous for it's role in the film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.
The setting for this particular image was very unique. Every year the Shuttleworth collection holds an airshow where the London Symphony Orchestra comes to perform while aircraft perform a show to the music. It is unlike any airshow in the United States and the Shuttleworth Flying Proms are an event not to be missed. For this flight, the orchestra appropriately played the theme song from the movie Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines while the Boxkite dazzled us. Adding to the incredible sight was a picturesque sunset.... so I took a picture! While the photograph doesn't have the sound of the orchestra, it certainly captures the magic of this aircraft and the scene.