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How World War One observer planes paved the way for modern aviation

Telegraph writer Richard Jones with the WW1 spotter plane BE2C replica owned by Matthew Boddington at Sywell Aerodrome near Northampton - John Lawrence
Telegraph writer Richard Jones with the WW1 spotter plane BE2C replica owned by Matthew Boddington at Sywell Aerodrome near Northampton - John Lawrence

“Does this plane go any faster?” The pilot pushes the stick in front of him, and we start to nosedive. “No, stop, please, I was just wondering…”

I am in the passenger seat of a Miles Messenger, a Second World War observer plane, doing 85 knots (approx 100 mph) somewhere above Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire. With its maroon colouring and mahogany dashboard, it is a study of aviation’s bygone elegance. But, as with all planes of the era, it is also a martyr to the elements, rattling and juddering with every gust of wind.  

And it is rather windy. I was meant to be in a BE2C, an observer plane from the First World War, to promote a new  £2 coin from the Royal Mint that is being unveiled at the Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show this weekend. 

The coin depicts shows two airmen, a pilot and his observer, performing a reconnaissance flight over an area of the Battle of Arras in April 1917, and will go into public circulation, a reminder of the dangerous and inspiring work of First World War pilots.

The Miles Messenger in action - Credit:  John Lawrence for The Telegraph
The Miles Messenger in action Credit: John Lawrence for The Telegraph

But with breezes in excess of 20 knots, the BE2C was not safe to fly today. At least I had the option; First World War pilots did not.

One such hero was Charles Watson, who served as an observer on the Western Front in 1918, and gave a thrilling account of being the last surviving pilot to be shot down in the First World War to the RAF Museum in 2002, aged 104. 

“You went up [in the sky] as the sun was rising, got your camera and took six photos overlapping each,” he said. “It was a funny feeling, aged 18, going up in the dark, and then, as you hit 6,000 feet, seeing the sun rising across the world… I went up to 20,000 feet in [a Bristol Fighter]. They were alright, but a bit flimsy.”

The commemorative £2 coin that will go into circulation today  - Credit: The Royal Mint
The £2 coin that will go into circulation today Credit: The Royal Mint

We were meant to be up in the BE2C at 1,500ft – a safe height for the plane under modern regulations. So the idea that Watson flew as high as 20,000ft is astounding.

The BE2C kept at Sywell is actually a replica, built by my pilot Matthew Boddington’s father and uncle in the 1960s, for the film Biggles Sweeps the Skies (which, sadly, never went further than the production stage). “It’s a family heirloom,” says Boddington, “so if you put your foot through it, it will be off with your head.”

Wing commander Flashheart eat your heart out - Credit: John Lawrence for The Telegraph
Wing commander Flashheart eat your heart out Credit: John Lawrence for The Telegraph

Biggles' daredevil antics against opposition fighters was a far cry from the role of the BE2C pilots when arriving in France on the outbreak of the First World War. “Initially, when the planes went to France, it was purely to observe the German army below,” says Boddington, who will be flying his BE2C at Duxford’s Battle of Britain Air Show. “In 1914, they started off with no armaments, in a very gentlemanly war. If they passed a German plane, they waved at each other.”

Eventually, the observer pilots realised that if they took a pot shot with a rifle instead, they could down an enemy plane – and one that was monitoring British troops. They stuck a lewis gun on the side of the BE2C, and airborne warfare was begun. 

Matthew Boddington flying high in his BE2C replica plane at Sywell Aerodrome - Credit:  John Lawrence
Matthew Boddington flying high in his BE2C replica plane at Sywell Aerodrome Credit: John Lawrence

“The application of an airplane as a weapon is basically conceived in the First World War,” Boddington tells me. “As such, the pilot in 1914 is a different man to the pilot at the end of the war.”

In 1918, the Royal Air Force was founded, the world’s first aerial warfare force independent of any army or naval control. At the Great War’s outbreak, the total allied air war effort was just 184 planes. By contrast, at the height of the Battle of Britain in September 1940, the RAF sent out in excess of 1,500 aircraft to defend the capital. 

It's all smiles down on solid ground - Credit:  John Lawrence for The Telegraph
It's all smiles down on solid ground Credit: John Lawrence for The Telegraph

That Miles Messenger observer plane that I went up in, the one that rocked about like a theme-park pirate ship? It had a top speed of 120 mph. Three decades after the end of the Second World War, a conflict that claimed upwards of 60 million lives, air speeds reached 550 mph. Does this plane go faster? It will do… but at a great cost.

• For more information on the new commemorative £2 coin, go to http://www.royalmint.com/ our-coins/events/first-world- war-aviation. The Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show runs today and tomorrow (iwm.org.uk/events)