OUR VISION
The Lakes Flying Company Limited – a registered charity – has been set up to celebrate and to inform the public concerning the importance of the innovative contributions made to the development of naval and civil marine aeroplanes by Captain Edward Wakefield and by Waterbird®.
On 25 November 1911, at Windermere, Waterbird became the first aeroplane to successfully take off from and alight on water outside of France and the USA.
It was the world’s first successful flight to use a ‘stepped’ float, which was patented by Wakefield after two years of considerable experiment.
OUR OBJECTIVES
THE CHARITABLE OBJECTS OF THE LAKES FLYING COMPANY LIMITED ARE TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC BY:-
- The establishment and maintenance of a heritage centre, that will tell the story of early powered seaplanes with the emphasis on the history of their early development and their activities in and around Windermere and the Lake District;
- The construction, displays and flights of an airworthy replica of Waterbird;
- Exhibiting the replica of Waterbird in perpetuity, and
- Providing historical and technical information regarding the historical context and design of Waterbird.
THE REPLICA WATERBIRD
The replica Waterbird has so far flown as a landplane.
The prestigious Phoenix Group Diploma for 2018 was awarded to the builder and team for ‘their remarkable achievement in building a faithful replica of Waterbird’ by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale – the World Air Sports Federation.
FOR AN INTERACTIVE 3D MODEL, click here
ADOPT A PART SCHEME
We have established an Adopt a Part Scheme
QUOTES
HISTORY
The golden age of the lake was from the late 19th century until the early 20th century. It featured steam boats and hydro-aeroplanes (this photo is of Raven, which served the lake 1871-1922). Waterbird was built in 1911; the same year as steam launch Swallow, which is the sister ship of Osprey and Shamrock – the builder of all three boats was Shepherd’s of Bowness-on-Windermere. When a Sunderland flying boat (1990) and a Catalina flying boat (1994) visited the lake, Shamrock acted as tender.
FLOAT
On 25 November 1911, at Windermere, Waterbird made the first successful flight in the world to use a ‘stepped’ float, only achieved by embodying Edward Wakefield‘s two years of persistent experiments. The pilot was Herbert Stanley Adams. This telegram confirms the initial flights.
PEOPLE
PLACES
TRIBUTE
Grateful acknowledgement is given to author Peter Connon, who was a Director and Trustee of the Lakes Flying Company Ltd., without whom the story of Windermere pilots would have been lost forever – he gave voice to their testimony.
Waterbird News
TV Appearance 29th April – To the stage of a landplane
The Lakes Flying Company are delighted to announce that Waterbird will be featured in a full-length documentary on the Yesterday channel on Thursday 29th April at 9pm. The special Warbird Workshop episode will take viewers behind the scenes of our remarkable project...
An article about landing on Helvellyn, and Aviation at Windermere after 1919
Please click here for an article about the remarkable achievement of landing on Helvellyn, and the history of aviation after 1919 at Windermere. The first photo is of landing on Helvellyn on 22 December 1926, the sole witness being the eminent classicist E R Dodds;...
Clifford Fleming Williams
There is now a new page on this website devoted to Clifford Fleming Williams, who was a pioneer of making drawings from the air, an inventor, a seaplane ground school instructor, artist and general manager, a seaplane designer, a Royal Flying Corps officer, and a...