Lunch with the Tigers

Went to a private airfield at Luskintyre in the Hunter Valley on Saturday with a Porsche group to have lunch with the Tiger Moths and the other interesting vintage aircraft which are housed there.The only disappointment was the weather-searing heat and very strong gusts of very hot wind which totally ruled out the possibility of any flying.Another time... Going up in a Tiger Moth is now on my bucket list.

The Tiger Moth is a very simple biplane designed before the second world war and used as basic trainer by the RAF in the UK and throughout the Commonwealth countries.Thousands of Tiger Moths were built in the UK and elsewhere and thousands of pilots learnt to fly on them in WW2.Now enthusiasts covet them and the group at Luskintyre are real Tiger enthusiasts.

As well as the Tiger Moths the restoration workshop is full of interesting aircraft in various states of repair and restoration including a rarer than rocking horse droppings WW2 Hawker Hurricane fighter which is being restored.The whole place has a wonderful laid back vintage atmosphere-untidy but not dilapidated.With the heat and the flies and the glorious vistas it was not difficult to imagine that I had been transported back to a summer's day in 1950's/1960's Australia.I fully expected to see Tony Abbott,Australia's Prime Minister, coming up the driveway as I left because that's where he lives-the 1950's and 1960's.

Luskintyre Tigers is a private airfield not a museum but you can visit on the first Saturday of the month by prior arrangement.Leica X Vario photos.