From a house in Coventry have emerged a pair of splendid, and contrasting, inter-war light aeroplanes — a reproduction Hawker Cygnet and restored Aeronca C3, both now flying from Old Warden
CYGNET AND AERONCA
It never ceases to warm the heart: the energy, enthusiasm and excellence of reproduction and restoration projects conducted in a front room or a garden shed workshop. Colin Essex embodies this. At his home in Coventry, his woodworking skills honed through years of furniture, classic car and boat restoration, he has turned his hand to a pair of aeroplanes that now routinely grace the skies over Old Warden, representing different facets of inter-war light aviation. And while the Hawker Cygnet and Aeronca C3 are the most visible products of this industrious chap, his contributions to aviation heritage — often aided by his brother Mark — go much further.
There’s a pleasing symmetry in this, as Colin describes. “It started with our dad Charlie Essex, going model aircraft flying. We used to go down to Shuttleworth for that — he was a founder member of the Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society model section — and for the open days, and it really all stemmed from that. When we got a bit older we got int…
