When 'Dodge' Bailey, the Shuttleworth Collection's chief pilot, took Sopwith F1 Camel reproduction 'D1851'/ G-BZSC into the air for the first time at Old Warden on 18 May this year, it brought one of the historic aviation scene's most compelling stories to a close. The West Yorkshire-based Northern Aeroplane Workshops, established back in 1973, had already turned out two superb World War One fighter facsimiles for Shuttleworth: Sopwith Triplane 'N6290'/G-BOCK and Bristol M1C 'C4918'/G-BWJM. It had been a close, fruitful and, for those involved, memorable association. The NAW had shut up shop when the Camel was moved to Old Warden for completion during the summer of 2013, but the machine's maiden flight marked the very end of the group's final project, one that has set just as high a standard as its predecessors.
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